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Epochs of Church History
EDITED BY
MANDELL CREIGHTON, D.D., LL.D.
BISHOP OF LONDON
THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
EPOCHS OF CHURCH HISTORY.
Edited by MANDELL CREIGHTON, D.D., LL.D., BISHOP OF LONDON.
Fcap. 8vo, price 2_s._ 6_d._ each.
THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN OTHER LANDS. By the Rev. H. W. TUCKER, M.A.
THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN ENGLAND. By the Rev. GEORGE G.
PERRY, M.A.
THE CHURCH OF THE EARLY FATHERS. By ALFRED PLUMMER, D.D.
THE EVANGELICAL REVIVAL IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. By the Rev. J. H.
OVERTON, D.D.
A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. By the Hon. G. C. BRODRICK,
D.C.L.
A HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. By J. BASS MULLINGER, M.A.
THE CHURCH AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE. By the Rev. A. CARR, M.A.
THE CHURCH AND THE PURITANS, 1570-1660. By HENRY OFFLEY WAKEMAN, M.A.
THE CHURCH AND THE EASTERN EMPIRE. By the Rev. H. F. TOZER, M.A.
HILDEBRAND AND HIS TIMES. By W. R. W. STEPHENS, B.D.
THE ENGLISH CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE AGES. By the Rev. W. HUNT, M.A.
THE POPES AND THE HOHENSTAUFEN. By UGO BALZANI.
THE COUNTER-REFORMATION. By A. W. WARD, Litt.D.
WYCLIFFE AND MOVEMENTS FOR REFORM. By R. L. POOLE, M.A., Ph.D.
THE ARIAN CONTROVERSY. By H. M. GWATKIN, M.A.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY
A HISTORY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
BY THE
HON. G. C. BRODRICK, D.C.L.
WARDEN OF MERTON COLLEGE
_FOURTH IMPRESSION_
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1900
_All rights reserved_
PREFACE.
The present volume is an attempt to present in a succinct form the
history of an University which, however uncertain its origin, is among
the oldest institutions in Europe. The result of such a task must
needs fall very far short of perfection, and it is probably a just
appreciation of its difficulties which has deterred abler historians
from undertaking it. The voluminous remains of Anthony Wood contain
a mine of precious records, but they are singularly ill-arranged,
and his narrative breaks off long before the end of the seventeenth
century. The great monograph of Father Denifle, now in course of
publication, on the early history of European Universities, promises to
be an exhaustive discussion of its subject; but its enormous bulk and
unwieldy construction will repel most English readers, while it deals
only with the rudimentary development of academical constitutions. The
well-known compilation of Huber shows considerable research and grasp
of the subject, but it follows no historical order, and is disfigured
by much irrelevance and prejudice. The publications of the Oxford
Historical Society have already placed documents hitherto scarcely
accessible within the reach of ordinary students, but it will be
long before the series can be completed. All these works, as well as
the valuable ‘Munimenta Academica’ of Mr. Anstey, Professor Burrows’
‘Visitors’ Register,’ and many other treatises of less note, have been
freely consulted by me. I have also made use of the Merton College
Register, which has been kept with few interruptions since the year
1482, and of other MSS. documents in the possession of my own College.
But I have not thought it well to encumber the pages of so compendious
a narrative with constant references to authorities. My principal aim
has been to exhibit the various features and incidents of University
history, age by age, in their due proportion; dwelling more upon broad
and undisputed facts than upon comparatively obscure points which are
the natural field of antiquarian speculation or criticism. Guided by a
similar principle, I have not treated all periods of University history
with equal detail. Thus, I have devoted a large share of space to the
period of the Civil Wars, during which the University played a great
part in the national drama; while I have passed lightly over the reign
of George III., when the University had not only lost all political
importance, but had forfeited its reputation as a place of the highest
education and learning. In the selection of topics from so vast a mass
of materials, I have sought to preserve the continuity of events, so
far as possible, rather than to produce a series of essays on special
aspects of University life. I have deviated, however, from this method
in one or two instances, such as the chapter on Oxford politics in the
eighteenth century, and that on the Neo-Catholic Revival. In several of
the earlier chapters, and in those on Oxford in the present century, I
have borrowed the substance of passages from my own volume, ‘Memorials
of Merton College,’ and from articles on recent University reforms
contributed by myself to various periodicals. If I have succeeded in
bringing within a single view the successive phases of development
through which the University has passed in the course of seven hundred
years, and in paving the way for a more comprehensive and detailed
history, the object of this little volume will have been attained.
GEORGE C. BRODRICK.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE v
CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF THE UNIVERSITY.
Mythical origin of the University—Early Schools of
Oxford—Intellectual revival of the twelfth century—Lectures of
Vacarius, and first germs of the University—Connection of
Oxford with the University of Paris—Recognition of the
scholars by the Papal Legate after the riot of 1209—Office
of Chancellor—University chests, and sources of revenue in
the thirteenth century—Rise of Halls—Early University
charters 1
CHAPTER II.
THE EARLY COLLEGES.
Rise of Colleges—Foundation of University and Balliol—Foundation
of Merton College—Merton College, Statutes of, 1274—Social
position, manners, and academical life of early
students—‘Chamber-dekyns’—Street brawls and disorders—Superiority
of colleges in discipline and tuition 15
CHAPTER III.
PROGRESS OF THE UNIVERSITY IN THE
FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
Europe in the fourteenth century—Social condition of the
University—Intellectual vigour of the University—Foundation
of Exeter, Oriel, Queen’s, and Canterbury Colleges—Foundation
of New College—European influence of Oxford in the
fourteenth century—Rise of Wyclif—Career of Wyclif—Feud
between Northern and Southern ‘nations’—Early
secessions to Cambridge and Northampton—Secession to
Stamford in 1333—Growth of the proctorial authority—Concession
by the Pope of freedom in the election of the
Chancellor 27
CHAPTER IV.
CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY AND THE CITY.
Royal award of 1290—Riot of 1297 and agreement of 1298—Great
riot of 1354—Interdict and penance—New charter
granted by the King 43
CHAPTER V.
THE MONKS AND FRIARS AT OXFORD.
Benedictines and Augustinians—Rise of Mendicant Orders—Claustral
schools—Migration from Paris and influence of
Robert Grostete—Position of the friars at Oxford, and University
statutes against them—Intervention of the Pope and
the King 48
CHAPTER VI.
THE UNIVERSITY IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
Decline in numbers and studies—University delegates at the
Councils of Constance and Basle—Foundation of Lincoln
and All Souls’ Colleges—Extension of University buildings;
the Divinity School and the Bodleian Library—Final
organisation of mediæval lectures and examinations—University
curriculum—Statute of 1431, regulating ‘inception’—Duties
of regent masters—Residence for degrees in the
higher faculties 55
CHAPTER VII.
THE RENAISSANCE, THE REFORMATION, AND
THE TUDOR PERIOD.
Revival of academical life at the end of the fifteenth century—Checked
by the Reformation—Pioneers of the new learning
at Oxford—Erasmus, More, Colet, Grocyn, and Linacre—Foundation
of Corpus Christi College by Bishop Fox—Greeks
and Trojans—Cardinal Wolsey and the foundation
of Christ Church—Action of the University on the questions
of the Divorce and the Royal Supremacy—Compliance of
the University rewarded by royal favour—The first effects
of the Reformation injurious to the University—Iconoclastic
Visitation under Edward VI.—Leniency towards colleges—Reaction
under Mary. Martyrdom of Ridley, Latimer, and
Cranmer—Visitation and reforms of Cardinal Pole—Foundation
of Trinity and St. John’s Colleges 68
CHAPTER VIII.
REIGN OF ELIZABETH AND CHANCELLORSHIP
OF LEICESTER.
Visitation under Elizabeth and policy of Archbishop
Parker—Chancellorship of Leicester—Changes in the government of
the University—Leicester’s administration of the
University—Depression of intellectual life in the
University—Encouragement of study by Elizabeth, and foundation of
the Bodleian Library—Increasing refinement of academical life—Queen
Elizabeth’s two visits to Oxford—Pestilences and
disturbances in the sixteenth century 87
CHAPTER IX.
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER JAMES I.
The University patronised by James I.—James I.’s attitude
towards the University and the Church—Rise and influence
of Laud—Completion of the ‘Schools,’ and foundation of
Wadham and Pembroke Colleges 100
CHAPTER X.
THE UNIVERSITY UNDER CHARLES I. AND LAUD.
Parliament at Oxford—Chancellorship of Laud—Compilation of
Laudian statutes—Main provisions of the Laudian statutes—Studies
and examinations under the Laudian statutes—Services
of Laud to the University—Last five years of
Laud’s chancellorship—Eminent members of the University
in the generation preceding the Civil Wars—University life
in the generation preceding the Civil Wars 107
CHAPTER XI.
THE UNIVERSITY DURING THE CIVIL WARS AND THE
SIEGE OF OXFORD.
The University sides with the King and the Church—The Commons
issue an order for the University—Contributions for
the King’s service, and first occupation of Oxford by Parliamentary
troops—Oxford becomes the royal head-quarters—Aspect
of the University during the Queen’s residence—The
last two years of the civil war—Siege of Oxford, and proposals
of Fairfax guaranteeing University privileges—Surrender
of Oxford, and subsequent condition of the University 122
CHAPTER XII.
THE PARLIAMENTARY VISITATION AND THE
COMMONWEALTH.
Measures preparatory to the Visitation—Appointment of the
Visitors and the Standing Committee of Parliament—Early
proceedings of the Visitors, and suppression of resistance
from the University—Visitation of colleges. Submissions
and expulsions—Reception of Fairfax and Cromwell—Second
Board of Visitors—Third Board of Visitors, and conclusion
of the Visitation—State of the University on the
recovery of its independence 138
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE RESTORATION AND
THE REVOLUTION.
The Restoration and new Visitation of the University—Extension
of University buildings. Sheldonian Theatre—Growth
of æsthetic tastes and social refinement—First visit of
Charles II.—Second visit of Charles II. Parliament assembled
and dissolved at Oxford—Doctrine of passive resistance
adopted by the University. Expulsion of Locke—Conduct
of the University on the outbreak of Monmouth’s
rebellion. James II.’s treatment of Magdalen College 151
CHAPTER XIV.
UNIVERSITY POLITICS BETWEEN THE REVOLUTION
AND THE ACCESSION OF GEORGE III.
Attitude of the University towards the Revolution. Visit of
William III.—Origin of Oxford Jacobitism. Visit of Queen
Anne—Popularity of Sacheverell. Position of the Whig
minority—Jacobite demonstrations. A troop of horse sent
to Oxford—The Constitution Club. Government scheme for
reforming the University—Gradual decline of Jacobitism
in Oxford during the reign of George II.—Revival of loyalty
after the accession of George III.—His visits to Oxford 162
CHAPTER XV.
UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Decay of University education in the eighteenth century—Contemporary
evidence—Decline in numbers and dearth of
eminence in science and literature—Counter-evidence showing
that education and learning were not wholly neglected 174
CHAPTER XVI.
THE UNIVERSITY DURING THE REIGNS OF GEORGE III.
AND GEORGE IV.
Stagnation of University legislation in the eighteenth
century—Statutes affecting the University—Political sympathies of
the University after the outbreak of the French Revolution—Accessions
to professoriate in the eighteenth century—Architectural
improvements—Effects of the French war upon the University.—Opposition
to reforms—Reception of the Allied Sovereigns.—Abolition of the
Mayor’s Oath 183
CHAPTER XVII.
OXFORD STUDIES AND EXAMINATIONS IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Examination statute of 1800, and later amendments—Examination
statute of 1850, and later amendments—University
Commission of 1850—Act of 1854 and new College Ordinances—Effect
of these reforms—Abolition of University
tests—Local examinations, and board for examination of
public schools—Commission of inquiry (1872) and Act of
1876—Commission of 1877—Character of last reforms 191
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE NEO-CATHOLIC REVIVAL, KNOWN AS THE ‘OXFORD
MOVEMENT.’
Character of the ‘Oxford Movement’—A reaction against the
rising tide of Liberalism—Oriel the centre of the Movement—John
Henry Newman—Origin of ‘Tracts for the Times’—Association
formed—Newman assumes the lead—Spread
and objects of the movement.—Publication of Tract XC.—Collapse
of Tractarianism, and secession of Newman—The
‘Hampden Controversy’—Proceedings against Pusey and
Ward—Effect of the ‘Oxford Movement’—Controversy on
the endowment of the Greek Professorship.—Defeat of Mr.
Gladstone in 1865 204
CHAPTER XIX.
THE UNIVERSITY IN 1886.
Reign of Queen Victoria—State of the University on the
Queen’s accession—Influence of recent changes—Present
character of the University 217
INDEX 223
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.
CHAPTER I.
THE RISE OF THE UNIVERSITY.
[Sidenote: Mythical origin of the University]
The University of Oxford has long ceased to claim the fabulous
antiquity for which its mediæval champions had contended, as for an
article of faith, and which found credit with so conscientious an
historian as Anthony Wood. It is now admitted that nothing is certainly
known of its origin, and that its alleged foundation by Alfred the
Great rests upon a tradition which cannot be traced back to a period
beyond the fourteenth century. There is no evidence whatever to show
that any germ of a University, much less that any college, existed at
Oxford in the reign of Alfred, who was born in the neighbouring town
of Wantage. The very contrary may reasonably be inferred from the
negative fact that Asser, in his contemporary biography of Alfred,
makes no allusion to his supposed institution of ‘schools’ at Oxford,
though he amply attests his paternal zeal for English education.
The early chroniclers are, without exception, equally silent on the
subject, which is noticed by no extant writer before the age of Edward
III. In the next reign, the primary myth—for so we must regard it—was
developed into a secondary myth, attributing to Alfred the foundation
of University College, and this imaginary pretension was actually
advanced by that college in the course of a lawsuit. Meanwhile, the
simpler tradition of Alfred’s connection with the University Schools
was repeated by author after author in days when the very nature of
historical proof was unknown, and was reinforced in the sixteenth
century by the insertion of a spurious passage into the work of Asser.
It has been reserved for the present century to recognise the plain
truth that we are entirely ignorant of the first stage in the growth of
the University, and that its name is never mentioned in history before
the Norman Conquest.
[Sidenote: Early schools of Oxford]
The silence of Domesday Book respecting the University of Oxford must
be taken as presumptive, though by no means conclusive, proof that it
had no corporate existence at that date. Much learning has been spent
in speculations on its origin and primitive constitution, but these
speculations have little support in any facts historically known to us
before the Norman Conquest. It is more than probable, however, that
Oxford was already a resort of students and a place of education.
Having been a residence of Edmund Ironside, Canute, and Harold I., as
well as the seat of several National Councils, it was now recognised as
a provincial capital by the erection of its castle, embracing within it
the Collegiate Church of St. George; while the number of its monastic
establishments would naturally attract poor scholars from all parts
of England. The earliest schools, not in England only but throughout
Europe, were attached to monasteries or cathedrals; and, in the absence
of any contrary evidence, analogy almost compels us to regard the
Church as the foster-mother of the University. In the ‘claustral’
schools of St. Frideswide, and the houses in Oxford belonging to
abbeys, such as those of Abingdon and Eynsham, we may discern the
original seminaries of academical teaching—the first rudiments of
the _Studium Generale_, afterwards developed into the _Universitas
Literaria_. On the other hand, it is certain that, side by side
with these claustral schools, secular or lay schools were gradually
opened—some boarding-schools, mainly designed for the reception of boys
from the country, others mere classrooms frequented by the students who
lodged either in private dwellings or in public hostels. It appears
that before long the secular outnumbered the claustral schools,
and became centred in a particular quarter of the city, stretching
northward from the west end of St. Mary’s Church, afterwards known
as School Street, and said to have existed in the year 1109. We may
surmise with some confidence that in the infancy of the University its
lecturers were almost exclusively clerks, but too often scholastic
adventurers of mean attainments, whose lessons rose little above the
barest elements of knowledge. But all theories of its rudimentary
organisation are purely conjectural. ‘The Schools of Oxford’ first
emerge into history in the next century, when they really attained a
national celebrity, soon eclipsing those of Canterbury, Winchester,
Peterborough, and others, which may have rivalled them in earlier times.
[Sidenote: Intellectual revival of the twelfth century]
The twelfth century, the golden age of feudalism and the Crusades,
was also marked by a notable movement of thought and revival of
speculative activity. The culture and science which had long found a
home at Cordova now began to diffuse themselves over Western Europe,
and the works of Avicenna introduced a curious relish for Aristotle’s
‘Natural Philosophy,’ which veiled itself in mysticism to escape
ecclesiastical censure. The old scholastic _Trivium_ of grammar,
logic, and rhetoric, with the mathematical _Quadrivium_, comprising
arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, still constituted the magic
circle of ‘Arts’ in the mediæval sense. But the ‘sciences,’ as they
were then called, of physics, Roman law, and systematic theology, if
not medicine, were now claiming a place in the curriculum of education;
and valuable histories, in the form of chronicles, were compiled in
several English monasteries. That age cannot be called intellectually
barren which produced Lanfranc, Anselm, Abelard, Bernard, Peter
the Lombard, Averroes, Gratian, and Maimonides. The University of
Bologna, with its School of Law, opened by Irnerius under imperial
patronage, was among the first fruits of this mediæval renaissance.
The cultivation of Roman jurisprudence is usually dated from the
discovery of a copy of the Pandects at the capture of Amalfi in 1135,
but it cannot have been wholly unknown at an earlier period, since the
religious orders had been forbidden by a Papal mandate to study it.
The lectures of Irnerius, however, apparently preceding the capture
of Amalfi, methodised and popularised the new learning, which spread
rapidly through Western Europe.
[Sidenote: Lectures of Vacarius, and first germs of the University]
There is historical evidence of Vacarius, a professor from Bologna,
having commenced lectures in civil law at Oxford, under the patronage
of Archbishop Theobald, about 1149, in the reign of Stephen, by whom
they were prohibited for a while at the instance of teachers interested
in philosophy and theology. This is the earliest well-ascertained event
in the academical life of Oxford, but it may safely be inferred that
if Vacarius came from Italy to lecture in the schools of Oxford, those
schools had already attained something like a European reputation,
and were fitted to become the germ of an University.[1] We have the
positive testimony of John of Salisbury, who had studied at Paris,
that Oxford, just before the accession of Henry II., was engrossed
by logical controversies about the nature of Universals. Yet this
concourse of eager students apparently possessed no chartered rights.
There is no sufficient ground for the assertion that Henry I. was
educated at Oxford, and granted some important privileges to the
so-called ‘University;’ but we know that he lived much both at Oxford
and at Woodstock, that he built the palace of Beaumont on the north
of the city, and that he demised to its corporation the fee farm of
the city for the annual rent of sixty-three pounds. Nor can it be
proved, as it has been alleged, that, having sunk again to a low ebb
under Stephen and Henry II., it was revived by the judicious patronage
of Richard I., himself born at Beaumont. On the other hand, starting
from the fact that the Oxford schools attracted a professor from
Italy in the reign of Stephen, we are justified in believing that
they could scarcely have escaped the notice of Henry I., who earned
a name for scholarship in that unlettered era, and is said to have
‘pleased himself much with the conversation of clerks;’ or of Stephen,
who twice held Councils at Oxford; or of Henry II., who, like his
grandfather, constantly resided in the immediate neighbourhood. Without
the encouragement of the Crown as well as of the Church, they could not
have attained the position which they clearly occupied before the end
of the twelfth century. By this time Oseney Abbey had been founded, and
had annexed the church of St. George within the Castle. Both of these
religious houses served as lodgings for young scholars, who contributed
to swell the number of Oxford students. It is true that we have no
trace of academical endowments, or of royal charters recognising the
Oxford schools, in the twelfth century. But we are informed on good
authority that Robert Pullen (or Pulleyne), author of the _Sententiarum
Libri Octo_, and for some years a student at Paris, delivered regular
courses of lectures on the Scriptures at Oxford some years before the
visit of Vacarius. More than a generation later, in the year 1186 or
1187, Giraldus Cambrensis, having been despatched to Ireland by Henry
II. as companion of Prince John, publicly read at Oxford his work on
the Topography of Ireland. According to his own account, ‘not willing
to hide his candle under a bushel, but to place it on a candlestick,
that it might give light to all, he resolved to read it publicly at
Oxford, where the most learned and famous of the English clergy were
at that time to be found.’ These recitations lasted three successive
days, and the lecturer has left it on record that he feasted not only
‘all the doctors of the different faculties and such of their pupils
as were of fame and note,’ but ‘the rest of the scholars,’ with many
burgesses and even the poor of the city. Whether or not the schools
thus frequented at Oxford were mainly founded by the Benedictines, as
has been maintained, and whether or not they were mainly conducted
by teachers from Paris, they assuredly existed, and constituted an
University in all but the name.
[Sidenote: Connection of Oxford with the University of Paris]
It is no longer doubtful that, in their earliest stage, the schools of
Oxford owed much to those of Paris, then in a far more advanced state
of development, though not formally incorporated into an ‘University’
until early in the thirteenth century. William of Champeaux had opened
a school of logic at Paris so far back as 1109. His pupil, Abelard,
followed him; and the fame of Abelard himself was far surpassed by
that of Peter Lombard, whose text-book of ‘Sentences’ became the
philosophical Bible of the Middle Ages. Students flocked in from all
parts of Europe; lectures multiplied, not only in one faculty, as at
Bologna or Salerno, but in every branch of mediæval study, especially
in those comprised under ‘Arts;’ a system of exercises, degrees,
academical discipline, and even college life, was gradually matured;
and when Philip Augustus gave the new academical guild his royal
approval, it was already in a condition of vigorous activity. In this
sense, the growth of the University of Paris was spontaneous. Like that
of Oxford, it was originally nothing but an association of teachers
united by mutual interest; but, like all mediæval institutions, it
grew up under Church authority. It had originally sprung from the
cathedral school of Notre-Dame; the ecclesiastical chancellor of
Paris claimed a paramount jurisdiction over it, which, however, was
constantly resisted by the University, not without support from the
Court of Rome; and the validity of its highest degrees was derived from
the sanction of the Pope himself. Considering the links which bound
England to France, through Normandy and her other French provinces, as
well as the intellectual ascendency of Paris over Western Europe, it is
natural that Oxford should have borrowed many features of her internal
regulations from this source, though it cannot be affirmed with
certainty that she did so. The presumption is strongly confirmed by the
undoubted fact that the ‘English nation’ was one of the four ‘nations’
into which the students of Paris were divided, the Normans forming
another distinct nation by themselves. Leland tells us that young
Englishmen who then aspired to a high education got their schooling,
as we should call it, at Oxford, but their college training at Paris,
and Anthony Wood gives a list of eminent Oxonians who had studied at
Paris, including the names of Giraldus Cambrensis, Robert Pulleyne,
Robert Grosteste, Roger Bacon, and Stephen Langton. If this be so, it
was inevitable that, on their return, they should bring home with them
ideas based on their experience of Paris, which might thus gradually
become a model of academical organisation for Oxford. In the year 1229,
a fresh link of connection with the great French University was created
by a large immigration of Parisian students. The immediate cause of
this immigration was an outbreak of hostility between the scholars
and citizens of Paris, like those which so constantly recurred between
the same parties at Oxford. Henry III. had the foresight to seize this
opportunity of reinforcing his own University, and among the many
students who came from Paris to Oxford on his invitation were several
of his own subjects who had gone abroad for their education.
[Sidenote: Recognition of the scholars by the Papal Legate after the
riot of 1209]
At all events, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, we find at
Oxford an academical body singularly like that long established at
Paris, and exhibiting almost equal vitality. In one respect, indeed,
its position was still more independent; for, whereas at Paris the
University was overshadowed by a Royal Court with all the great
dignitaries of the French Church and State, at Oxford the University
authorities had no competitors but the corporation of the city.
Moreover, while at Paris there was a resident chancellor of Notre-Dame,
ever ready to assert his authority, there was no episcopal see of
Oxford; the diocesan lived at a safe distance, and the archdeacon was
the highest resident functionary of the Church. About the beginning
of the thirteenth century, Edmund Rich, afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury, and Robert Grosteste, afterwards bishop of Lincoln,
became pioneers of Aristotelian study in Oxford, and were among the
earliest graduates in divinity, a faculty then in its infancy. In
the year 1214 we come upon more solid ground in a documentary record
preserved in the archives of the University. This record, in the shape
of a letter from the Papal Legate, refers to an important incident
which had occurred five years before, in 1209, when three students
had been seized and hanged by a mob of townspeople, with the mayor
and burgesses at their head, in revenge for the death of a woman
accidentally killed by another student. In consequence of this outrage,
said to have been countenanced by King John, the city was laid under
an interdict by the Pope, who issued a prohibition against lecturing
in Oxford, and the great body of students migrated to Cambridge,
Reading, or elsewhere. The letter of the Papal Legate, reciting the
submission of the burgesses to his authority, and his disposition
to deal mercifully with them, proceeds to impose upon them certain
penalties. One of these is the remission of half the fixed rent payable
for halls tenanted by scholars, for a period of ten years. Another
is the payment of fifty-two shillings yearly for the support of poor
scholars, and the obligation to feast one hundred poor scholars every
year on St. Nicholas’s Day. They are also to swear that, in future,
they will furnish the scholars with provisions at a just and reasonable
price; and that if they shall arrest a clerk they shall deliver him up,
upon due requisition from the bishop of Lincoln or the archdeacon of
Oxford, or his official, or the chancellor, or ‘him whom the bishop of
Lincoln shall have deputed to this office.’ This oath is to be repeated
yearly. All masters who continued to lecture after the retirement of
scholars under Papal mandate are to be suspended from lecturing for
three years. All townsmen convicted of participation in the original
crime are to come, without shoes, hats, or cloaks, to the graves of
the murdered ‘clerks,’ and are to give their bodies proper burial in
a place to be solemnly chosen. Upon any default in the fulfilment of
these conditions, the former sentence of excommunication is again to
be enforced by the bishop of Lincoln.
[Sidenote: Office of chancellor]
It is to be observed that in this memorable document there is no
mention of an ‘University.’ The members of the academical fraternity
are called simply ‘clerks’ or ‘scholars studying at Oxford.’ It may
further be inferred from the expressions respecting the chancellor,
that no chancellor of the University existed distinct from the
chancellor of the diocese, or, at least, that, if he existed, he was
a nominee of the bishop of Lincoln. On the other hand, the scholars
are recognised throughout as under the special protection of the Papal
See, as well as under special jurisdiction of the bishop of Lincoln,
afterwards to become _ex officio_ Visitor of the University. It seems
to follow that, while the University, as a corporation, was not yet
fully constituted, such a corporation already existed in an inchoate
state, and the schools of Oxford enjoyed a privileged status at the
supreme court of Western Christendom. When they first became, in the
legal sense, an ‘University’ under a chancellor of their own, is still
a disputed question, though a seal has been engraved, supposed to
be of about the year 1200, which bears the inscription, ‘_Sigillum
Cancellarii et Universitatis Oxoniensis_.’ Much learning has been
expended on the origin of the chancellorship, and it will probably
never be determined with certainty whether the earliest chancellors
derived their authority exclusively from the bishop of Lincoln as
diocesan, or were in the nature of elective rectors of the schools
(_Rectores Scholarum_), whose election was confirmed by the bishop of
Lincoln. What is certain is that the acting head of the University was
always entitled _Cancellarius_ rather than _Rector Scholarum_, that
from the beginning of Henry III.’s reign he is frequently mentioned
under this official title, especially in the important charters of
1244 and 1255, and that by the middle of the thirteenth century he was
treated as an independent representative of the University, while the
official deputy of the bishop at the University was not the chancellor
but the archdeacon of Oxford. At this period, then, we may regard the
University as fully constituted, and the official list of chancellors
begins in the year 1220, when three persons are mentioned as having
filled the office, the last of whom is Robert Grosteste, afterwards
the celebrated reforming bishop of Lincoln. From this epoch we may
safely date the election of the chancellor by Convocation, though it
long continued to be subject to confirmation by the diocesan. A century
later (1322) the election was made biennial.
[Sidenote: University chests, and sources of revenue in the thirteenth
century. Rise of Halls]
In the year 1219 the abbot and Convent of Eynsham took upon themselves
the obligations laid upon the burgesses in 1214, so far as regarded the
double provision for poor scholars. This agreement was carried out,
yet the burgesses are still treated as liable in an ordinance issued,
in 1240, by Robert Grosteste, then bishop of Lincoln, which provides
for the regular application of the fund to its original purpose. This
ordinance marks an important epoch in the growth of the University.
The ‘Frideswyde Chest,’ and other chests formed on a like principle
by successive benefactions for the relief of poor scholars, appear
to have been the earliest form of corporate property held by the
University. They continued to multiply up to the end of the fifteenth
century, when they had reached the number of twenty-four at least,
and are computed to have contained an aggregate sum of 2,000 marks,
all of which might be in circulation on loan at the same time.[2]
It is very difficult to ascertain what other sources of revenue the
University may have possessed in the first stage of its existence. In
the next stage, its income seems to have been largely derived from
academical fines and fees on graces, as well as from duties paid by
masters keeping grammar-schools and principals of halls, into which
the primitive boarding-schools were first transforming themselves. It
is clear that, at this period, the great mass of students, not being
inmates of religious houses, were lodged and boarded in these unendowed
halls, mostly hired from the citizens by clerks, who in some cases
were not even graduates, but were regularly licensed by the chancellor
or his commissary on September 9, and were subject to fixed rules
of discipline laid down from time to time by the governing body of
the University. How many of them may have been open in the middle of
the thirteenth century is a question which cannot be answered. About
seventy are specified by name in a list compiled nearly two centuries
later, but we have no means of knowing how many ancient halls may have
then become extinct, or how many new halls may have been founded. The
evidence now in our possession does not enable us to identify more than
about eighty as having ever existed, and it is certain that all these
did not exist at any one time. Even if we suppose that several hundred
students were housed in monastic buildings during the age preceding the
foundation of colleges, and make a large allowance for those in private
lodging-houses, we cannot estimate the whole number of University
scholars at more than 2,000, or at the most 3,000. The loose statement
of Richard of Armagh, so lightly repeated by Anthony Wood and others,
that some 30,000 scholars were collected at Oxford in this age, not
only rests upon no sure historical ground, but is utterly inconsistent
with all that we know of the area covered by the city, and of the
position occupied by the academical population.
[Sidenote: Early University charters]
It is well known that Henry III. frequently visited Oxford for the
purpose of holding councils or otherwise, and his relations with the
University were constant. Amongst the letters and charters issued by
him in regard to University affairs three are specially notable. One
of these letters, dated 1238, was addressed to the mayor and burghers,
directing them to inquire into the circumstances of a riot at Oseney
Abbey between the servants of Otho, the Papal Legate, and a body of
disorderly students. This riot led to a struggle, lasting a whole
year, between the Legate and the University, supported by the English
bishops, and especially by Robert Grosteste. The Legate was ultimately
appeased by the public submission of the University representatives
in London to his authority, whereupon he withdrew the interdict
which he had laid upon the Oxford clerks, some of whom had retired
to Northampton, and others, it is said, to Salisbury. Meanwhile the
conflicts between the students and townspeople were incessant. In
1244, after a violent attack of gownsmen on the Jewry, the chancellor
of the University was given by a royal writ exclusive cognisance of
all pleas arising out of contracts relating to personalty, and in 1248
the ‘mayor’s oath’ of fidelity to the privileges of the University was
imposed by letters patent. By a similar charter, granted in 1255 to the
city of Oxford, these privileges are incidentally confirmed, for it is
there provided that if a ‘clerk’ shall injure a townsman he shall be
imprisoned until the chancellor shall claim him, while, if a townsman
shall injure a clerk, he shall be imprisoned until he make satisfaction
according to the judgment of the chancellor. Two years later (in 1257)
the liberties of the University were defended against the bishop of
Lincoln himself before the king at St. Albans, on the ground that
Oxford was, after Paris, ‘_schola secunda ecclesiæ_.’
FOOTNOTES:
[1] It is perhaps needless to observe that ‘universitas’ signifies
a ‘corporation’ or guild, and implies no universality in the range
of subjects taught, or _Universitas Facultatum_. ‘Studium Generale’
probably signifies a place of education open to all comers.
[2] See the Introduction to Anstey’s _Munimenta Academica_, pp. xxxv.
et sqq.