Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/150

OXFORD. 138 OXFORD. day Book, Oxenefscyre, while Oxeneford constantly occurs in leases and legal instruments 200 years later. The earliest history of the city of Oxford is involved in much obscurity, and has given rise to a great deal of learned conjecture. It has been asserted that it was originally built by Memphries, King of the Britons, B.C. 1009, and that from him it was for some time called Caer-Mempltries ; that afterwards the name of lisllositum was given to it by the Romans on account of the beauty of its situation, and that it was for the same reason known in later times as the British Caer-pen-halgoed, which signifies a city placed on an eminence between two rivers, and sur- rounded with woods and groves. However this may be, Oxford is certainly noticed by Apion, who flourished A.D. 125, as one of the most eminent cities of Britain ; and Cyprian, who was martyred A.D. 258, also mentions it in his index to the British cities. After this 'very little is heard of it till the time of Vortigern, A.II. 474. This prince is said to have made it a royal residence under the name of Caer- Vortigern, which title, however, it lost soon after, when it became subject to the power of the Saxons. After the death of Cadwallader, the last king of the Britons, in A.D. 689, and the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity, Oxford, by the end of the 7th century, appears to have been fixed upon as a place to be in some sort devoted to the cultivation of learning, and in 730 St. Frideswide's nunnery was founded by Didan, the Saxon, notably for the purpose of religious instruction. It is to this institution that the origin of the university may be traced, and the particulars con- nected with it will be treated of more fully hereafter. From the death of St. Frideswide, in 740, no circum- stance worthy of note appears to have taken place in regard to the history of the city for about a century. The unsettled state of the kingdom, owing to the con- tests between the various monarchs of the Heptarchy and the incursions of the Danes rendered the materials for the history of this period very meagre and uncertain, and it is not till the reign of Alfred (849 901) that we obtain any authentic records of the city. It is stated that this king himself, with his three sons, resided in Oxford and founded the University ; and there is no doubt that a mint existed there in his time. In 976 the city was burnt by the Danes, who were massacred there in 1002, but again set fire to it in 1009 and de- stroyed a great portion of it. It was, however, soon rebuilt, and in 1013 and 1015 the Saxons made it the place of assemblage for their national councils or par- liaments. In 1016 F-dmund Ironsides was murdered there ; and in 1018 Canute held a council for the purpose of confirming the laws as promulgated by King Edward the Elder in 915. In 1022 and 1026 he held a fresh council, at which he enjoined the observance of the laws of King Edgar as set forth circa 965 ; and in 1036 another council was held here to settle the succession to the throne. The choice fell upon Harold Harefoot in opposition to Hardicamite, whose cause was espoused by Earl Godwin and the princes of "West Saxony. Harold was accordingly crowned at Oxford, where he died in 1040, but was buried at Westminster. In 1069, Oxford having refused submission to "William the Conqueror, was stormed by him and easily reduced to obedience. The king gave the greatest part of the city, which then contained 721 houses, to his favourite, Robert D'Oyley, and fearing lest the inhabitants should revolt, ordered him to build a castle on the V. side of the walls, and on the site of an old Saxon fortification. D'Oyley immediately complied with the commands of his royal master, and by 1071 the castle was completed. It occupied the site on which the county gaol and house of correction now stand. At the completion of the Domes- day Survey in 1086 there were 775 houses in the city and 20 mural mansions, which were so called because their inhabitants were placed in them rent free by the king on the express condition of their keeping the walls in repair. The city was rated at 60. The burgesses had a common pasture ground outside the walls, lying to the N.W. of the city, and now known by the name of " Port Meadow," and 20 of them were to accompany the king whenever he went to war under a penalty of 20. In 1088 William Rufus held a council in Oxford, and the next king, Henry I., was, as Wood the his- torian asserts, educated there. Whether this is really the case or not, certain it is that this sovereign showed considerable favour to the city, and greatly improved and embellished it. He granted a charter to it, by which he placed the citizens upon the same footing with those of London in respect of all customs, laws, privi- leges, and liberties to be enjoyed by them ; and in 1129 he built himself a palace called Beaumont Palace, which stood on a spot of ground now forming the junction of Beaumont and St. John streets, and was used as a royal residence as late as the reign of Edward II. This monarch, however, surrendered it to a body of Carmelite friars for a monastery, and the last fragment of it was removed in 1830, to make a passage for the W. side of St. John-street. In 1136 Stephen kept court in Oxford. He held a council for the purpose of restoring the laws of Edward the Confessor and remitting the Danegelt, which had hitherto been levied on the city. In 1142 he besieged the Empress Matilda, or Maud, in the castle so closely that she only escaped falling into his hands by crossing the Isis, which was frozen over, and going on foot through the snow to Abingdon, which is 6 miles off. There she procured a horse and arrived safely at Wallingford Castle, from whence she ultimately went to Normandy. In this reign the arrest of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury; Nigel, Bishop of Ely; and Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, took place at Oxford. The first- named prelate was especially powerful, and his wealth and abilities, which had rendered him obnoxious to Stephen, led to those quarrels in which Oxford, which espoused the cause of the empress-queen, became involved. Henry II. (1154 1189) showed great favour to the city. He confirmed the charter granted to it by Henry I., and gave the mayor the privilege of attending upon the sove- reign upon all festive occasions. Hence, up to the present day, themayor of Oxford has the right of acting as under- butler at the coronation of any of the English monarchs. In this reign the University became known as a distinct feature of Oxford, and lectures upon Roman law and other subjects were given by teachers who established themselves there for the express purpose of receiving pupils. In this reign a guildhalla, or public hall, was built for the meetings of the burgesses, near the spot where Carfax church now stands. In 1157 Richard I. was born at Oxford. In 1 160 Henry received the Welsh chiefs there, after having reduced their countiy to sub- mission. In 1162 he issued from thence his decree against the " Publicans,' ' who were a sect of the A r ;il- denses ; and in 1172 held a parliament for the purpose of settling what was to be done with Ireland, of which he afterwards made his youngest son, John, viceroy, under the title of " Lord of Ireland," with the design of ultimately making him king. In 1185 another parlia- ment or council was held here; and in 1189, Richard, upon his accession to the throne, not only confirmed to the city all its ancient rights and privileges, but granted it several new ones, in gratitude for which the citizens contributed largely to hia ransom when he was taken prisoner in Austria, on his return from the Holy Land in 1192. King John, who was also born at Oxford in 1166, held parliaments there in 1203 and 1207. In 1209 there are said to have been as many as 3,000 students there, but owing to a dispute with the townspeople they left and went to Cambridge and elsewhere. Henry III. (12161272) kept Christmas at Osney Abbey; and in 1222 Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, summoned a synod here for reforming the clergy ; and in 1225 two men were crucified, each for asserting that he was Jesus Christ ; and two women were starved to death for pretending that they were respectively the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. In 1240 another serious collision took place between the students and the townspeople, and many of the former again migrated to Cambridge. From this time to 1257 several councils were held, and in 1258 the Statutes of Oxford wero passed by what is known as tho " mad parliament." By