The speech based upon a memorandum given to the Orator by ' Antiquary,'
supposed to be Jphn Caius . . . . . . . . ■ -h
The passage refers to the story in the Cambridge Black Book of a certain
Cantaber coming over from Spain . . . . . . -25
The argument used by the Cambridge Orator . . . . . - 25
^he manner in which Thomas Caius the Oxonian meets the arguments of the
Cambridge Orator is first by attacking the story of ' Cantaber,' and
next by supporting the story. of the transference from Greeklade to
Oxford found in the Historiola. He supposes that the transference took
place under King Alfred . . . . . . . . .26
Incidental references to the antiquity of Oxford ; e. g. from Walter Burley's
treatise on Aristotle 27
The Cambridge champion, after giving the letter of ' Antiquary ' and the
Orator's speech above referred to, replies by supporting the Cambridge
story of Cantaber, which he shows has as much authority as the Oxford
story of Alfred 28
He next attacks the fiction about Greeklade given in the Oxford Historiola . 29
Then certain details as to Bellositum, Ridohen, &c 30
/
CONTENTS. XV
PAGB
Then the discrepancies as to when the Greeklade schools were transferred to
Oxford 31
He next attacks the authorities employed by the Oxford controversialists in
support of their theories, and even that of Alfred founding the Univer-
sity 32
I'or the sake of comparison an outline of the Cambridge fiction is given from
the Cambridge Historiola in the Black Book, supposed to be compiled
by Nicholas Cantelupe in the fifteenth century. The story of Cantaber
and King Gurguntius is to be compared with that of Mempric . . 34
The other Canrbridge myths in connection with King Sigbert and Bishop
Felix, which may be compared with the Oxford myth of King Alfred . 36
The Cambridge stories of Lucius, Constantine, and King Arthur in connection
with the University 37
The charters granted by King Arthur and others to Cambridge ... 38
A consideration of the controversy as a whole ...... 39
An edition of Asser issued by Archbishop Parker in 1574, showing that the
contemporary of King Alfred knew nothing of Oxford, much less of
Alfred founding it .......... 39
A rival edition issued in 1603 under Camden's auspices, with a passage
directly referring to Oxford and King Alfred's interest and influence
therein ............ 40
There is clear evidence that the only ancient copy of Asser, viz. that in the
Cottonian Library (but burnt in 1731), did not contain the passage . 40
The passage first appears in Camden's Britannia, printed in 1600, and trans-
ferred to his edition of Asser, although in the preface he professes to
have followed Archbishop Parker's edition . . . . . -41
.Some existing correspondence shows that Twyne and others had doubts about
the passage, though Twyne implies that Archbishop Parker deliberately
omitted it from his edition . . . . . . . . -42
Twyne's interview with Camden in 1622, in which Camden implies he had
followed a MS. temp. Richard II, with the passage in it . . . 43
The passage supposed to have been supplied to Camden by Sir Henry Savile 43
A summary of the evidence as to Camden's interpolation .... 45
The passage relating to King Alfred and the University of Oxford in the Hyde
Abbey Chronicle ........... 45
The passage in full respecting King Alfred and Oxford and Grimbald's
Crypt ; first appearing in this edition of Camden's Britajinia issued 1600,
and afterwards in his edition of Asser 1603 4^
Ralph Higden (who died 1363), in his Polyciu-onicon, refers to King Alfred
founding schools at Oxford . . . . . . . -47
The Chronicon Jornalletise (fourteenth century) similarly refers to King Alfred
founding his schools at Oxford ........ 47
The mistaken reference to William of Malmesbury— really to John of Glaston-
bury, who wrote his Chronicle after 1456 ...... 48
Kudborn, in his Historia Major, compiled circa 1440, refers to Alfred founding
Oxford, and sending his son Ethelward there 49
Rous treats the myth of Alfred as he treated that of Mempric, by expansion
and addition of other circumstances ....... 49
xvi CONTENTS.
He makes three different Colleges to have been founded by Alfred . . 50
The difference between the two myths ; one that Alfred founded Oxford, the
other that Alfred restored a previous foundation . . . . .51
Chronological and other objections to the story that Alfred founded Oxford . 51
University College the result of the incorporation of certain masters enjoying
the bequest of William of Durham in 1249 of 310 marks • • • 52
The account of that foundation, in which there is no mention of Alfred's name
directly or indirectly .......... 53
But in 1363 University College acquires property which led to certain law-
suits 54
In 1379, in order to obtain a verdict from the Court of Appeal in their favour,
they invented the plea that their College was founded by King Alfred . 54
The French petition and its results 54
Further pleadings ........... 56
The Alfred story introduced again in 1427 in the suit with the Abbot of
Oseney ............ 57
Bryan Twyne's Apologia, 1608 ......... 58
He takes up the Elizabethan controversy and goes over all the points raised
by John Caius, and adduces other arguments in favour of the antiquity
of Oxford 59
His reference to the German astronomers of 1552 and 1574, viz. Peter
Appianus and Cyprian Leowitz, quoted by Ingram as if they were
Appian and S. Cyprian . ........ 59
Further arguments adduced by TvvjTie ....... 60
Hearne follows on in the same strain . . . . . . . .61
Followed by Ingram and numerous later writers 61
The myths more or less apparent in all books relating to the history of
Oxford 61
The thousandth anniversary of the foundation by King Alfred celebrated at
University College in 1872 62
CHAPTER III. The Site of Oxford during the British and
Roman Settlement.
The site of Oxford wanting in the requirements of a British settlement . . 63
Scant remains of British times found in Oxford ...... 64
Nearest points of British remains ........ 64
The Roman roads in the neighbourhood, viz. on the south, the great road
from London to Bath via Pontes and Spinae, and on the north, the
Akeman Street 65
The cross road southward from Alchester to Dorchester .... 66
The traces of the ancient roads in the immediate vicinity of Oxford . . 67
The British trackways .......... 70
The early years of the Roman occupation of this district as gleaned from the
Classical historians .......... 70
CONTENTS.
The absence of historical data during the remainder of their occupation 74
The Roman villas and numerous traces of Roman occupation in the neigh-
bourhood of Oxford, but not in Oxford itself 74
CHAPTER IV. The Site of Oxford during the Saxon Settle-
ment TO THE close OF THE SEVENTH CeNTURY.
The gradual occupation of the Oxford district by the Saxons during the sixth
century 80
Especial mention of Ensham and Benson, A. D. 571 81
The site of Oxford at the close of the sixth century in the midst of one great
\\'est Saxon kingdom which stretched from the sea on the south to
Northumbria on the north . . . . . . . . .82
The rise of the Mercian kingdom in the first quarter of the seventh century,
and Wessex contracted to the district south of the Thames ... 83
The site of Oxford therefore on the southern border of Mercia, A. D. 628 . 83
The encroachment of Mercia upon the kingdom of Wessex as far as.(Escesdun,
A.D. 661 84
The site of Oxford well within the Mercian dominions .... 84
At the close of the century the site, though still in Mercia, probably again on
the southern border . . . , . . . . -85
CHAPTER V. The Foundation of S. Frideswide's Nunnery,
A.D. 727.
The probabilities of the truth of the tradition considered by a survey of
surrounding circumstances 86
The Mercian king a Christian ......... 87
Nunneries had begun to be founded before the close of the seventh century,
and examples of the same 87
The circumstances of the foundation of a neighbouring Nunnery at Abingdon
circa A. D. 675 .89
The removal of the Nuns to Wytham, close to Oxford ..... 90
The material existing for the story of the foundation of S. Frideswide's ,
Nunnery 91 v
The recital of the story of the foundation prefixed to the charter of refound-
ation of the monastery A. D. 1004 92
Independent testimony to the existence of this charter e. 1125 by William of
Malmesbury, and his version of the story of the foundation ... 93
The story of the foundation as told in two different ' Lives of the Virgin ' . 95
A comparison of the details of the two stories with each other, and with the
prefatory story to the Charter, and with the story as handed down by
William of Malmesbury 95
S. Frideswide's parents and her early instruction ; her desire for a nun's life . 96
She founds a Nunnery at Oxford ; her temptations 97
Algar, king of Leicester, pursues her ........ 98
In one story his servants are struck blind, in another the king himself . . 98
b
xviii CONTENTS.
S. Frideswide escapes to Binsey (or Benson)
She takes refuge in a hut ..........
Her miracles; the cure of the blind girl; of the woodman's paralysed hand,
of the epileptic fisherman, and of the leper ......
Builds an oratory at Binsey, near Seacourt
Her death and burial ...........
Notes upon the name of S. Frideswide .......
The introduction of the name Algar ........
The difficulties as to the name Bentonia, whether Bampton or Benson .
The probabilities are perhaps in favour of Binsey being meant
A general view of the whole, however, points to the establishment of a
religious commimity in and also near O.xford early in the eighth century
CHAPTER VI. Oxford a Border-town during the Eighth and
Ninth Centuries.
Oxford may now be spoken of by name .......
Situated on the Thames, it is a border-town between the two kingdoms of
Mercia and Wessex ..........
The capture of Sonierton, A.D. 733, by the Mercian King Ethelbald, probably
has no reference to this district .......
The battle of Burford, A. D. 752, implies that the West Saxons under King
Cuthred conquered the southern part of Mercia, and Oxford was again
within the West Saxon kingdom
The Battle of Benson, a. d. 777, implies that the Mercian King Offa won
back to Mercia all that his predecessor had lost .....
The Mercian conquest stretched southward to the long range of the Berk-
shire hills between Wallingford and Ashbury, so that Oxford was again
well within the Mercian territory ........
Ashbury seems to mark the county boundary between Berkshire and Wilt-
shire .............
Under Egbert, who succeeded a. d. Soo, the West Saxon power progressed,
and that of Mercia declined, and the foundation of the one kingdom
being laid, Oxford ceased to be a border town .....
CHAPTER VII. The Danish Incursions in the Ninth and
Tenth Centuries.
The Danes began their ravages in Wessex a. d. S32. In 851 they ventured
as far up the Thames as London, reaching Reading in 871 . . • U3
Their further progress checked by the battle of .i^scesdun, a. d. 871 . .114
The details of the battle of /Escesdun . . . . . . . -115
King /Elfred is not recorded to have visited Oxford at all . . . .116
King Eadward takes possession of Oxford A.D. 912 ..... 116
It is presumed that at this time Oxford was fortified . . . . ■ n?
The Castle mound the chief fortification 117
The natural advantages of Oxford as regards fortification . . . .118
The general aspect of the town of Oxford at this date 119
CONTENTS. xix
The road from the north into Oxford and that fioin the south over ' the ford'
meet in the centre of Oxford . . . . . . . . . 1 20
The growth of Oxford round that centre whence roads went east and west . 121
S. Martin's at Carfax the first church built in the centre . . . .121
The other parishes congregated round it 122
On the authority of the earliest record of Oxford,, i. e. under A. D. 91 3, in the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . . ■.'■•.. . . . . .122
The various editions of the Chronicle . . ■ .• 123
A. The Winchester Chronicle in C. C. C. Gambiidge. No. CLXXIII.
Earlier portion of the Ninth century.-
B. The Canterbury Chronicle in the Cottonian Library. Tiber. A. VI.
Earlier portion of the Tenth century.
C. The Abingdon Chronicle in the Cottonian Library. Tiber. B. L
Eleventh century.
D. The Worcester Chronicle in the Cottonian Library. Tiber. B. IV.
Eleventh century.
E. The Peterborough Chronicle in the Bodleian Library. Laud. 636.
Twelfth century.
F. Another Chronicle in the Cottonian Library. Domit. A. VIII.
Twelfth century.
Some account of the chroniclers who chiefly copy the above, viz. Florence of
Worcester, writing before 11 18; Simeon of Durham, before 11 20;
Henry of Huntingdon, in 1135 ; Geoffrey of Gaimar, c. 1150 . . 125
On the meaning to be attached to the expression 'took possession of Oxford,'
in the Chronicle A. D. 912 . . . . . . . . .127
The probable origin of the county of Oxford 129
The existence of the various Wessex shires, and their nomenclature . .129
The demarcation of the Mercian shires, and their nomenclature after the
central towns . . . . . . . . . . .131
The year 912 sees Oxford both a fortified town and the centre of a shire . 134
.^Ifward, King Eadward's son, dies at Oxford A. D. 924 .... 135
Supposed to have been a studious man . . . . . . .136
The policy of Eadward as regards Mercia carried on by his three sons, 925-
955 136
On the death of Eadred, A. D. 975, dissensions begin, and the Danes, taking
advantage of the same, again ravage the kingdom .... 137
The ecclesiastical history of the district during the tenth century . . .138
The diocese of Dorchester and the Bishops of the same . . , .138
S. Frideswide's monastery and the supposed expulsion of the monks and intro-
duction of secular canons . . . . . . . . .139
The sj'nod near Oxford at Kyrtlington, and death of the Bishop of Crediton
there 140
CHAPTER VIII. O.xFORD during the Danish Invasion in the
EARLY part OF THE ELEVENTH CeNTURY.
The disastrous reign of iEthelred the Unready 141
The massacre of S. Brice, and how it affected Oxford, a. d. 1002 . . .141
b2
XX CONTENTS.
The story told in the Cartulary of S. Frideswide, and the restoration of
S. Frideswide's monastery in 1004 142
The lands there given or confirmed to S. Frideswide's 143
The signatures to ^^thelred's charter agree with the date 1004 . . -144
The story as told by William of Malmesbury 144
The error of William of Malmesbury in confusing the massacre of the Danes
in 1002 with the assassination of Sigeferth and Morkere in 1015 . . 146
V The story of the massacre as told by Henry of Huntingdon . . . .147
General state of the kingdom at this time 148
The Danish invasion continued ; the Danes gain possession of the Berkshire
hills by marching to Cwichelmshloewe 149
yEthelred's miserable policy continued ....... 149
^,The Danes, having marched out through Chiltem, bum Oxford, a. d. 1009 . 151
,. They again visit Oxfordshire, A. D. loio 151
Oxford submits to the Danish King SwejTi, a. d. 1013 152
The Gemot at Oxford, and Sigeferth and Morkere, the chief Thanes of the
Seven Burghs, treacherously slain there, a. d. 1015 . . . -153
The assassination attributed to Eadric 154
Eadric's treachery shown throughout, and its consequences .... 155
King Ethelred dies, a. D. 1016 157
Eadmund Ironside succeeds, and attempts to drive out the Danes . . . 157
The treaty at Olney, near Gloucester, in November 1 01 6 . . . .158
Eadmund assassinated, probably at Oxford, on his way back to London,
November 30, 1016 158
The story as told by the chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon, William of
Malmesbury, &c. . . . . . . . . . . -158
Consideration of the surrounding circumstances . . . . . -159
Reasons for supposing Henry of Huntingdon had good authority for his
statement 160
Gemot at Oxford under King Cnut, A. D. 1018, where Danes and Angles were
unanimous for Eadgar's law . . . . . . . . .161
The Witan probably met in the Castle precincts 162
The historical associations of the Castle at this time 162
CHAPTER IX. Oxford during the Forty Years before the
Norman Conquest.
The Church of S. Martin erected, the land being granted by King Cnut to
Abingdon Abbey, 1039 • • • .164
The nature of that grant . . . . . . . . . .165
The poor condition of S. Frideswide's . . . . . . . .165
A passage relating to S. Frideswide's being granted to an Abbot of Abingdon,
and the secular canons expelled, and for a time monks instituted . .166
A passage given in Leland's Collectanea from a Rochester Chronicle
relating to the Canons of S. Frideswide's
I
CONTENTS.
The importance of Abingdon Abbey as contrasted with that of S. Frideswidc,
and its acquisition of property on the Berkshire side of the river . .168
The rise of the monastery of Ensham on the west of Oxford, originally an
adjunct to S. Mary at Stowe, Lincolnshire 170
St. Ebbe's Church at Oxford belonged to the same 170
The diocese of Dorchester and its Bishops up to the Norman Conquest . 171
Bishop Eadnoth, Bishop Ulf, and Bishop Wlfvvi 172
On the death of Cnut a Gemot of the Witan at Oxford in 1036, and the claim
of Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut 173
Harold Harefoot dies at Oxford, 1039 175
Note of an incident while Harold was lying ill at Oxford . . . -175
Accession of Eadward the Confessor in 1042 176
Note respecting his birth at Islip, near Oxford 176
Division of the kingdom into Earldoms, and the question whether Oxford
was in Earl Alfgar's dominion . . . • . . . .178
The Portreeve of Oxford and the Sheriff of Oxfordshire, c. 105 1 . . -179
Harold, in the expedition against Gruffydd of Wales in 1063, passes through
Oxford on the way 180
The great Gemot at Oxford, Oct. 28, 1065, when Tostig, Harold's brother,
was outlawed, and Morkere made Earl of Northumberland . . . 181 v
The Gemot first held at Northampton, and immediately afterwards at Oxford 182
The explanation of the change of place of meeting . . . . .182
The rebel mob accompany Morkere ........ 183
The deplorable results of the decisions of the Gemot 183
The Danish code of laws renewed at Oxford ...... 183
Eadward the Confessor's death, Jan. 5, 1066 184
King Harold goes to help Eadwine and Morkere against Tostig and Harold
Hardrada, while William, Duke of Normandy, lands in Sussex, Oct. 14,
1066 185
CHAPTER X. Oxford during the Twenty Years after the
Norman Conquest.
King William's march after the Battle near Hastings . . . . .186
The story as told in two of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, in Florence of
Worcester, in Simeon of Durham, and in William of Poitiers . .186
One Anglo-Saxon Chronicle takes William direct from Sussex to Beorham-
stede, where the Archbishop of York, Eadgar, and Earls Eadwine and
Morkere, meet him, and then to Westminster . . . . .187
Florence of Worcester names the counties which he ravaged on his way,
makes him go to Beorcham, where the above meet him in addition to
the Bishops of Worcester and Hereford, and then to Westminster . 187
William of Malmesbury makes him go direct to London in a royal progress,
and both the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and Eadwine and
Morkere, come to meet him 187
Henry of Huntingdon simply makes the people of London receive him
peaceably 187
xxii CONTENTS.
William of Poitiers makes him go to London, where he is met by a hostile
force ; then to ravage Southwark, and afterwards to cross by a ford and
bridge to Guarengeford, where Stigand meets him ; afterwards the
people of London meet him, and then he goes to Barking . . 187
Discrepancies in the stories told by different chroniclers, and doubts as to
whether William marched near to Oxford 191
The theory based upon piecing together the several accounts and omitting
discrepancies 193
On the supposed siege of Oxford after William's coronation . . . 193
The doubts suggested from historical considerations concerning the political
status of Mercia ........... 194
The evidence derived from the MSS., showing that the misreading of Oxonia
for Exonia has been the cause of the error of the statements of the
historians 195
A summary of the historians as to William's march to Exeter . . .196
The error begun in the transcript of Roger of Wendover which was made for
Matthew of Westminster, the original being preserved in C. C. C.
Cambridge ............ 198
On the question of an unrecorded siege ....... 199
The destruction of the large number of houses in Oxford to be accounted for
by the advent of the rebel mob on Oct. 28, 1065, rather than by an
imaginary siege by Duke William ....... 200
Robert D'Oilgi builds, or rather strengthens, the Castle at Oxford, A. D. 1071 202
The probable character of his work . . . ; 203
The policy of William in erecting castles 204
Robert D'Oilgi with Roger of Ivry found the Church of S. George in the
Castle ............ 206
The entries in the Oseney Annals ........ 206
The English version of the Charters in the Oseney Cartulary . . . 207
The grants of land in Walton Manor . 208
The Church of S. Mary Magdalene built outside the North gate and given to
St. George's ........... 209
Description of S. George's Church in the Castle — the Tower and the Crypt . 210
The character of Robert D'Oilgi drawn by the Abingdon chronicler . .210
He takes away from the Abbey King's Mead, which lay outside the town
near the Castle 210
But eventually restores it 214
Incidental note of his being rowed to Abingdon from Oxford . . . 214
He is recorded to have repaired the Parish Churches in Oxford . . -215
The Parish Churches then in existence . . . . . . .216
The removal of the Bishopric from Dorchester to Lincoln by Remigius . 216
The exhibition of the relics of S. Egwin at Oxford by the Monks of Evesham 218
Robert D'Oilgi builds Hythe Bridge 218
The entrance to Oxford from the West 219
The Castle bridges 220
i
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI. The Description of Oxford in 1086 as given
IN THE Domesday Survey.
The nature of the Domesday Survey and its origin 221
The probable date of its completion 222
The portion of the Survey relating to Oxford in a tabulated form . . .223
That relating to the possessions of Robert D'Oilgi in Oxford . . .225
On the reference to the ' Time of King Eadward ' . . . . .226
The payments to the King and Earl .-Elfgar, T. K. E. . . . .226
Summary of the numbers of the houses held by tenants whose names are given 227
The probable population, based upon the number of houses . . .228
The increase of the population in Oxford every ten years during the present
century, and the relative increase of houses 229
A table showing houses and population within and without the city wall in
iSoi and 1S81 respectively 230
The increase of Oxford entirely external to the old line of City wall . . 231
Probable character of the houses in Oxford in the eleventh century . .232
Illustrations of the term Vastae from similar entries in Domesday concerning
other to\vns 233
The distinction of the fl'owzw and viansio 235
The viitral mansions, and the evidence that Oxford was surrounded by a
fortification of some kind ......... 236
The probable line of the City fortifications 237
The King's twenty mansions 238
The King's five mansions belonging to manors ...... 239
The twelve mansions of Earl Alberic and W 239
The sixty mansions belonging to the Bishops 240
The twenty-eight mansions belonging to the three Abbeys of St. Edmund (?),
Abingdon, and Ensham 241
Notes on the foundation of Ensham Abbey from the Registers . . . 242
St. Ebbe's Church in connection with Ensham ...... 243
The mansions belonging to the Earl of Mortain, Earl Hugh, Earl of Evreux,
and Henry of Ferrieres 244
The mansions belonging to William Peverel, Edward the Sheriff, and
Ernulph of Hesding 246
The mansions belonging to Berenger of Todeni, Mile Crispin, and Richard
ofCurci 247
The mansions belonging to Robert D'Oilgi in Oxford as well as in Holywell 248
The Church of S. Peter's in the East 250
The plan of the Cr}pt compared with that of ancient crypts elsewhere . 252
The architectural details of the Crypt 253
The difficulties of reconciling the architectural features with the history . 254
The mansions belonging to Roger of Ivry, Rannulph Flammard, Wido of
Reinbodcurth, and Walter Gifard 255
The mansions belonging to Jermio and to the son of Manasses . . . 257
xxiv CONTENTS.
The mansions belonging to the Priests of S. Michael's .... 258
The Church and Tower of S. Michael at Northgate 258