The interior presents many interesting portions of singular beauty and
design; the arches of the nave, which have been partly demolished, are
in a double series, the tower springing from corbels on the piers. The
remains of the nave, transepts and choir arches date from the twelfth
century; and the Church of St. Frideswide, or, as it is now known,
Christ Church. The beautifully groined roof of the choir is decorated
with pendants, presenting a rich appearance.
The Latin Chapel has several windows in the Decorated style, whilst the
Dean's Chapel possesses a monument in the same style, with beautiful
canopied niches, and the shrine of St. Frideswide, most elaborately
designed in the Late style of English architecture. During the
Parliamentary war many windows were destroyed.
It is interesting to note the various vicissitudes of the city in
history. It suffered terrible visitations from the Danes, who burnt it
on three separate occasions. For refusing to submit to the Conqueror,
in 1067, Oxford was taken by storm and given to Robert D'Oily. William
Rufus held a council in the town under Lanfranc, Archbishop of
Canterbury, with other bishops assisting, to defeat a conspiracy formed
against him by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, in favour of Robert, Duke of
Normandy.
Stephen assembled a council of the nobility here, to whom he promised to
abolish the tax called "Dane Gelt," and to restore the laws of Edward
the Confessor. By way of digression it is interesting to note that the
Flemings still use the word "geld" (money), which is a corruption of
"gelt."
When Henry II. and Thomas a Becket fell out the monarch held a
parliament at Oxford to undermine the Pope's authority, who had laid an
interdict on the kingdom.
In 1167 he again summoned here another parliament, to partition Ireland
among faithful subjects who had achieved the conquest of it. The
citizens of Oxford contributed handsomely to the ransom of Richard I.
when detained prisoner in Austria. King John managed here in 1204,
through the aid of a parliament, to raise liberal supplies. Stephen
Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, held here a synod for reforming
ecclesiastical abuses. Parliament was again assembled in this ancient
city by Henry III., in which he assumed the government, and revoked the
grant of Magna Charta and the Charter of Forests, on the plea that he
signed them when a minor. In 1319 Pondras, son of a tanner at Exeter,
caused some commotion at Oxford, declaring that he was the rightful heir
of Edward I., and had been stolen and exchanged for the reigning prince,
Edward II. For the imposture he was executed at Northampton.
Later on a conspiracy was formed to assassinate Henry IV., at a
tournament to be held here, and to restore the deposed monarch, Richard
II., to the throne. It signally failed, and the Earls of Kent and
Salisbury, Sir Thomas Blount, and others were executed near Oxford.
The next event of importance was the influence of Henry VIII., who
raised Oxford to the dignity of a see, separating it from the Diocese of
Lincoln. Wolsey also left his mark, as he invariably did wherever he
went. During Henry VIII.'s reign Erasmus, a native of Holland, came to
Oxford to aid the progress of learning.
He taught Greek, but the violence of the popish party drove him from
thence, as the study of the ancient language was deemed a dangerous
innovation. In 1555 Oxford witnessed the terrible death of Latimer and
Ridley, condemned to be burned at the stake. Their Protestant tendencies
had incurred Queen Mary's resentment, and a brass cross let into the
centre of the road, near Balliol College, marks the site, and is a
pathetic reminder of their martyrdom. Soon after Cranmer followed,
recanting all belief in the Pope's supremacy, and in transubstantiation.
In the time of Henry VIII. Cranmer was instrumental in getting the
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Commandments, and the Litany translated
into English, for hitherto it had been customary to conduct the Church
services in Latin.
In 1625 and 1665 king and Parliament hurriedly retreated from the plague
in London to adjourn to Oxford. In the Parliamentary war Oxford played a
prominent part, and in 1681 Charles II. dissolved Parliament at
Westminster, only to assemble a new one in the university city.
[Illustration: OXFORD