against the two prnepositi aforesaid, that the brothers wlio had been

slain were illegally buried amongst Christian folk. But being unwilling

tiiat Athelwig should be vexed, since he was dear and precious to me,

I permitted both that those buried should rest where they were among

Christian folk, and I granted the aforesaid land (of Eardulfeslea) to him

in perpetual inheritance \'

The last clause was necessary because it is presumed Athelwig's lands

were at the mercy of the king. Unfortunately, we have not the rest of

the story, and we are not told how Winsige, the Oxford praepositus, was

punished for his part in the illegal action. That the Reeve of Buckingham

and Oxford were concerned implies that the affray took place on the

northern side of the Thames, and that when two of the party were killed

the remaining two crossed the river and took refuge in S. Helen's, at

Abingdon.

The other story we obtain from a life of S. ^thelwold, Bishop of Win-
chester, who died a. d. 984 : the biographer's name was jElfric. This
iElfric was possibly the same who became Archbishop of Canterbury; but if
so, he must have written the biography immediately after his friend, jEthel-
wold's death, and before his promotion, as there is nothing in the biography
to imply that the author was an archbishop^. We may therefore fix the
time of jEfelm's visit to Winchester very soon after 984, The story is
given as follows : —

' There was a certain civis Oxnofornensis by name Aelfelm, who had
for many years been deprived of sight ; he was admonished in a dream
to go to the burial-place of S. Athelwold, and there was told to him
the name of a monk of Winchester, whom as yet he had never heard
of, who would lead him to the tomb of the holy Bishop. — What need
of many words ? He went to Winchester, and having called for the
monk by name, as he had learnt it in his dream (that is to say a
chanter of the name of Wulfstan) he asked him to become his con-
ductor to the tomb of the saint, and he told him the circumstances of
his vision. The monk then led him to the tomb of the saint blind, but
without any help of his conductor he returned able to see ^.'

This may be looked upon in the light of a companion story to that
of the Monks of Evesham (see ante p. 218), as an example of the piety of
the people of Oxford.

P. 153. 1015. ' Swegen obliged the men of Oxford to obey his laws.' —
In connection with the promulgation of the laws of ^thelred's reign

* Chron. A/oti. Ab. Rolls Series, vol. i. p. 394.

^ yElfric was consecrated Bishop of Ramsbury in 990, and was translated to
Canterbury in 995. He died 1006.

' Vita S. Aithclwoldi, printed at the end of Chroii. A/on. Ab., Rolls Series,
vol. ii. p. 266.



394 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.

[978-1016], it might perhaps have been mentioned that two or three series
are supposed to have been promulgated during that reign in the neighbour-
hood of Oxford, though not in Oxford itself. The title to the first runs : —
' This is the ordinance which King Ethelred and his witan ordained
as frith bot for the whole nation at Woodstock {aet Wudestoce), in
the land of the Mercians according to the law of the English \'

This series refers back to those which were made at a gemot at
' Bromdun,' the place of which has not been identified. (Qy. Brondene,
Hants, of Domesday, fol. 496, and so written in charters, or Brumdun in
Dorsetshire, K. C. D. 1322.) Another series mentions only 'the agree-
ment made by Ethelred and his witan with the army that Anlaf and others
were with,' and which may perhaps be dated 993 ^. A third series has the
following title : —

' These are the laws which King Ethelred and his witan have decreed
at Wantage {aet Wanetinge) as frith-bot *.'

These again refer back to the gemot at Bromdun, but so far as has been
observed there is nothing in their provisions which enables us to assign to
them a date. Another series is entitled, ' Institutes of London,' and we
only have a Latin version of them. Another series has no place mentioned.
A sixth series, however, which appears to be very important, was promul-
gated at the ' Council oiEnham *.' They begin: — ' These are the ordinances
which the councillorsof the English selected anddecreed,andstrictlyenjoined
that they should be observed.' The name of the place, from the similarity
of the sound, is supposed to be meant for Ensham. As is the case with the
others there is nothing in the laws themselves which confirms this interpre-
tation nor yet provides a date. It is unfortunate, since the series of laws
promulgated at Woodstock, Wantage, and possibly at Ensham, if we could
have ascertained their dates and circumstances, would throw further light
perhaps, not only upon the events which took place at Oxford in 1002,
1006, 1009, 1013., and 1015, which have all been recorded in the previous
pages, but also upon the question of the obedience to Sweyn's law. In
those of Ensham we seem to obtain no insight at all into the gradual sub-
jugation of the English people to the foreign invaders, which was going
on. Law No. 33, for instance, runs : — 'And it will be prudent that every
year, immediately after Easter, ships of war be made ready.' The Danes
are not referred to except in one case, and that is (No. 37) in plotting
against the king's life, the man is liable in his own life ; 'and if he desire to
clear himself he may do so with the most solemn oath or with threefold
ordeal, by the law of the English ; and by the law of the Danes, according as
their law may be ^.' It is difficult to conceive these laws being promulgated
so close to Oxford in the early part of the eleventh century, when we read
of the disasters which were befalling the Oxford district.

P. 159, line II. — 'Rumour asperses Edric' William of INIalmesbury
himself has more than once referred to the infamous character of Edric.
He thus writes : —

* Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 1S40, vol. i. p. 2S0.
^ Ibid. p. 2S5. ^ Ibid. p. 293. ' Ibid. p. 315. = Ibid. p. 325.



APPENDIX E. 395

' Nam praeter Elfricum, Elferii, qui superiorem regem occiderat,
successorem, erat in talibus improbe idoneus Edricus, quern rex comi-
tatui INlcrciorum pracfecerat ; facx hominum et dedecus Anglorum,
fiagitiosus helluo, versutus nebulo, cui nobilitas opes pcpererat, lingua
et audacia comparaverat '.'
As it is hard to convey the force of the writer in an English version it is
given only in the original.

P. 172, line 2.— It should be noticed that, amongst the signatures
(p. 144) to the charter of foundation of S. Frideswide, the name of Bishop
jElfhelm of Dorchester is absent. This is very singular, since Oxford
was in his diocese. There is a brief account preserved of the second
Eadnoth, Bishop of Dorchester, namely, the one who, like his predecessor
iEscwig, was a warrior. In the Liber Eliensis, Thomas of Ely, writing about
1 1 50, and copying and extending what a certain Richard of Ely, a monk in
the same monastery, had collected some few years before him, devotes a
short chapter to Bishop Eadnoth. It seems that the bishop had been once a
monk belonging to Worcester, and had been made Abbot of Ramsey. While
here, a certain workman had a vision which he relates to the abbot, and the
result was, they discovered the body of St. Yvo and conveyed it to Ramsey.
Then he says that, the bishopric of Lincoln being vacant (the same error
which Florence of Worcester makes), Eadnoth was promoted to the see.
This must have been in 1008. On his promotion he is said to have built
and restored churches, amongst which that of Chateriz (i. e. in Cambridge-
shire) is mentioned. The Chronicler then describes his receiving the body
of S. ^Ifege at Greenwich. And then, in describing his death, he writes: —

' At length, however, when about to be honoured with a martyr's

glory, while he was saying mass, he was killed, in the battle which was

waged between King Edmund and Cnut at Assandun, as also was

Abbot Wlsi, by the Danes who accompanied Cnut ; and they first of

all cut off his right hand, on account of the [episcopal] ring, and then

mutilated his whole body. According to the Chronicle, they had

come hither to worship God rather than as soldiers to fight a battle ^.'

P. 172, line II. — Of Bishop ^thelric it should have been said that he was

a benefactor to Ramsey Abbey, and it is supposed he had been originally

a monk there *, and if so, he would perhaps have been under Eadnoth, his

predecessor in the bishopric of Dorchester. From the Liber de Benefactorihus

S. Albani also we obtain the following:' — ' Ethelredus episcopus Dork-

ceastre dedit Deo et Sancto Albano villam quae dicitur Cirstiwa, Cyncumba

Tiwa *.'

P. 173, line 9. — It was to Bishop Wulfwi that the bull issued by Pope

' William of Malmesbury, Gesta Rcgum, Eng. Hist. Soc, ed. London, 1840,
lib. ii § 165, p. 266.

^ Liber Eliensis. Soc. Anglia Christiana, London, 1848, lib. ii. cap. Ixxi. p. 188.

^ See Dugdale, vol. ii. p 547.

♦ Printed from C. C. C. MS. VIL at end of Trokelowe's Chronicle in Chronica
MoH. S. Albani, Rolls Series, 1 866, p. 441 . The name is probably meant for Church
Tew — now Great Tew in Oxfordshire. See ante, p. 1 79, note 2, and p. 355, note 3.



396 THE' EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.

Nicolas II., dated from the Lateran, May 3, 106 r, was addressed concern-
ing the privileges of the see of Dorchester. The chief point at issue on
which an appeal seems to have been sent to Rome was the claim of the
Archbishop of York to the churches of Lincoln, Stowe, Newark, &c.^

P. 175, last line,/or the two monks read the monk. And note 4: for
Appendix A, § 86, read § 68.

P. 189, line 10, to p. 190, line 6. — There should have been included
in the summary of the various accounts of William's march, that of the
local Chronicle of Oseney known as Wyke's Chronicle {Annales Monastic'i,
vol. iv. p. 7), which makes William go first to Winchester on his way to
London (see note 2, p. 188). The record or tradition of this would
explain perhaps why Florence of Worcester (see p. 187) has included
Southamptonshire amongst the counties ravaged by William during his
march (p. 197, note i).

Although the evidence given makes it quite clear that there was no
authority for the reading of Oxonia in William of Malmesbury's History,
another argument might have been noted, namely, that in all cases when he
refers to Oxford, he uses the word Oxenefordum and Oxonenefordensis, never
Oxonia. Indeed it is doubtful if any writer so early as the twelfth century
ever uses Oxonia. This stamps both the passage of Asser (p. 46, and
p. 313) as a forgery, as well as that of Ingulph (p. 43, note 2, and p. 387).
See also Appendix B, p. 349.

P. 217, line 21. — Something more perhaps should have been added re-
specting Bishop Remigius, as his death took place before the close of the
century. The little, however, that is recorded of him does not directly
concern Oxford, since the see had been 'removed to Lincoln, and there is
no direct evidence of his even having visited Oxford. Henry of Huntingdon,
in speaking of the removal from Dorchester, writes thus in his Historia
Anglorum :—

' But since this bishoprick was larger than all others in England, and
extended from the Thames to the Humber, it seemed inconvenient to
the bishop that his episcopal seat should be situated at the extremity
of his diocese. It displeased him also that the town [of Dorchester]
was of small size, while in the same diocese the most noble city of
Lincoln appeared more worthy of the episcopal seat. Having there-
fore purchased some ground at the very summit of the city, next to
the Castle, which, with its exceedingly strong towers, commanded the
town, he built a church to the Virgin of virgins, strong, in a strong
position, fair, in a fair spot, and which was agreeable to those who
serve God, and also, as was needful at the time, impregnable to an

enemy Remigius indeed was small in stature, but great in heart;

dark as to complexion, but bright in deeds 2.'
Again, when writing in 11 35 to his old friend Walter, he says: 'But I
speak only of what I have heard and seen ; I never saw him (i.e. Remigius),
but I have seen all the venerable clergy whom he first placed in his

^ The document is printed (apparently from a Lambeth MS.) in Wilkins's Concilia,
London, 1737, vol. i. p. 315. In Mansi, vol. xix. p. 875.

^ Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, Rolls Series, b. vi. § 41, p. 212.



APPENDIX E. 397

church '.' Henry of Huntingdon then enumerates them, and amongst
them he names the seven archdeacons whom Remigius appointed over the
seven counties. He mentions that over Oxford Alfred was appointed, and
to him there succeeded Walter, a splendid Rhetorician. Over Buckingham
he put ' Alfred the Little,' to whom succeeded Gilbert.

P. 241. — It might be useful to give the names of the several bishops who
held houses in Oxford in right of their see. Besides Remigius, Bishop of
Lincoln, there were Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances ; Robert de Losinga,
Bishop of Hereford ; Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury ; Osbern, Bishop of
Exeter ; and Gilbert, Bishop of Lisieux.

P. 242. — In addition to the charter of Bishop Remigius might have been
given the charter of William Rufus respecting the gift of S. Ebbe's Church,
and the two mills to Ensham. It is given as an inspeximus on more than
one Patent roll, and the portion relating to Oxford runs as follows : —

' Insuper concedo, sicut pater meus concessit, Egnesham, cum
appendiciis suis, viz. Miltuna, Rollendriz, Erdentuna, Syfort, et
ecclesia sanctae iEbbae, cum adjacente ei terrula, et duobus molen-
dinis in Oxinefort, cum omnibus, consuetudinibus. Hiis aliisque
elemosinis abbatia in episcopali manerio constructa in dominio epi-
scoporum perhenniter maneat : has autem elemosinas omnes concedo
regali dono, tarn ecclesiarum, quam terrarum, sub ordinatione et dis-
positione Remigii episcopi, cujus interventu praedicta mater ecclesia
coepit fundari, ut ipse disponat et dividat, sicut sibi visum fuerit, inter
matrem ecclesiam suamque abbatiam ; in qua, viz. matre ecclesia,
canonici Deo servientes juste et catholice vivant, nuUaque inter eos
praebenda ematur vel vendatur depulsa omni haeresi simoniaca ^.'
The charter, it may be added, is dated 1090, that is, one year before the
confirmation charter of Remigius already given,

P. 247, line 9, — It maybe noted that Berenger of Todeni, of whom little
is known, was a benefactor to S. Alban's Abbey. In the Liber de Benefac-
toribus occurs the following : —

'Beryngerius de Toteneya et Albreda uxor ejus dederunt huic
ecclesiae Thorp et decimas de Siderynktone '.'
P. 257, note 2. — As an example of the name Manasses borne by a
Christian, might have been adduced that of Manasses de Arsi, a landowner
in Oxfordshire and a benefactor to S. Alban's*.

P. 258, line 2i,for no reason to suppose, read no direct evidence,
P. 266, note 3, /or Poeni, read Toeni.

P. 269, line 49, — Swetman the moneyer. It might perhaps have been
noticed in illustration of this name being found on coins, that there is an
' Efistola Dc Contemptu Mundi, ibid. p. 302. Remigius, who had been conse-
crated to the see of Dorchester in 1067, died at Lincoln, May 7, 1092, the day
before his new cathedral was to be consecrated.

^ Printed in Dugdale, ed. 1846, vol. viii, p. 1270, from Patent Rolls, 8th Henry
VI, part 3, memb. 10.
^ Printed in Rolls Series at end of Trokelowe, Annalcs S. Alhani, p. 445.
* Ibid, p. 447.



398 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.

interesting paper by the late Edward Hawkins, F.R.S., etc., in vol. xxvi. of
the Arcbaeologia (p, i) and reprinted in Ruding^ It gives an account of
a hoard of coins found at Beaworth in Hampshire, all of which were to be
attributed to William I or William H. There appears to have been amongst
them 197 which were struck at Oxford, that is, having on the reverse the
letters oxi, oxne, etc. Of these, 1 19 had the name of the Domesday moneyer
on the reverse, spelt correctly on most, i. e. spetman, but on five spelt
siPETMAN ; and viith the name of the place expressed oxi, oxn, and oxne.
There were also 64 which had on the reverse the name of brihtred or
BRIHTRIED (as many spelt in one way almost as in the other), together with
the place, expressed thus — OXE, oxn, oxne, and oxsi. It will have been
perhaps observed that the name Brictred occurs in the Oxford Domesday
{ante, p. 225) ; while in the grant of houses given to Oseney at the foundation
in 1129 (p. 274) occurs the name of Brihtrec the moneyer as the tenant of
one of the houses so given. If Brihtred and Brihtrec are the same, the
coins may be those of the Domesday, and of the Oseney record, as the man
may well have hved into Henry I's reign.

In the same collection, also, there were 14 with the name of Wulwi as
the moneyer, thus, pvlfpi-oxnef. It is singular that we find Wulwi named
in the Domesday Survey as the fisherman at Oxford (ante, p. 224), and
again so described amongst the tenants of the houses purchased by Abingdon
{ante, p. 264), and nowhere as a moneyer. On one coin, seemingly struck at
Oxford, the name of hargod occurs. On the other hand, in the same list we
find the name of Eadwin the moneyer, and in the Oseney list {ante, p. 274)
Godwine the moneyer, but, so far as has been observed, no coins have been
found with their name on the reverse, struck at Oxford. Examples are known
with the name of Eadwin, but they are struck either at Chichester or London.
Also of Godwine, but they are struck at Winchester and London.

P. 286, line 2.— For St. Aldae read St. Aldate.

P, 293, line 27. — The name Aldate. The only example of anything like
the name is found on the reverse of certain Sticas struck by the Northum-
brian king Eanred, c. 808. The letters which form the supposed name of
the moneyer read aldates (or atesald). The hoard in which they
occur was discovered in the. churchyard at Hexham in October 1832, the
total being estimated to have consisted of eight thousand specimens ; it
contained the coins of several kings of Northumbria and one or two Arch-
bishops of York, beginning with Eanred, who began to reign 808, to Arch-
bishop Vigmuna, who died in 854. It is thought the date of concealment
was 867. The name of Aldates occurs only amongst the moneyers of
Eanred, while the moneyers of that one king found in the collection
amount to some five and twenty names, with over sixty readings of those
names in all. The name Aldates not occurring elsewhere, no light can be
thrown upon it, and it has no various readings ^.

P. 296, note 5 (last but one on page). — For St, Budoc read St. Judoc.

' Ruding's Amtals of the Coinage of Great Britain, third ed. 1840, vol. i. p. 151.
^ For a full account of the find, see Arckaeologia, vol. xxv. 1834, p. 279. The
paper is contributed by John Adamson, Esq.



INDEX.

Chiefly of Persons and Places.



ABiNGnON, coins dug up at, 60 ; Bridge
at, 218 ; district of, 85, 109, 115 ; on
map, 386.

— Abbey of, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
compiled at, 1 24 ; S. Frideswide's
said to have been given to, 166-8 ;
extent of property round Oxford
early in the eleventh century, 168 ;
Bishop Sideman buried in (977),
140; site of the great church, ibid. ;
Robert D'Oilgi buried in (1090),
215 ; suits by, respecting tolls for
boats (c. 1060 and mi), 214, 267 ;
William the Conqueror and William
Rufus at, 303; Abbots of: see
^.thelhelm, ^thelwin, yEthehvold,
Ealdred, Faritius, Rainald, &c.

Abrincis, Hugh de. Earl of Chester
(Domesday), 224, 244-5.

.(^gelmar, Bishop of Elmham, charter
^c. 1050), 197.

^gelnoth (^ Abbot of Glastonbury) taken
by William to Normandy, 187.

.(Egelwin, Bishop of Durham, prisoner
at Abingdon (c 1070), 204.

.(Elfeah ( Alphege),Bishop of Winchester,
signs charter (1004), 144-5 ; after-
wards Archbishop of Canterbury,
martyred (1012), 152.

.^Ifgar, the Earl, succeeds Earl Leofric
in Northumbria (1057), 17S ; his
influence over the northern half of
the kingdom, 1 79 ; Oxford in his
earldom, 179 ; holds the land on the
north bank of Thames, 213 ; (Domes-
day bis^, 223, 238 ; held Oxford,
226; the mill held by, 227; held
Odo's manors freely, 241. See also
Algar.

■ — the monk, sent from Canterbury,
attends on Harold (c.1039), 175.

.lElfgifu, Emma, gives birth to Eadward
the Confessor at Islip, 177 ; sent to
Winchester (1036), 1 74 ; signs ^thel-
red's charter (1004), 144-5 'â– > signs
Cnut's charter (1034), 165.
.i^ilfhelm, Bishop of Dorchester (c. 1002),

172 ; absence of signature, 395.
.(Elfhere, ealdorman, expels the monks

(975), 139-
y^lfhun, Bishop of London, secures the



body of Archbishop Alphege, 152 ;
signs a charter (1004), 144-5.

Alfred, King, stated to be founder of
the University of Oxford, i, 3, 13. 15,
16, 27, 39, 49 ; evidence from Ralph
Higden, Sir John Mandeville, and
the Scala Chronica, 30, 31 ; omis-
sion of fact in Asser's Biography, 39,
52 ; according to Camden does not
found, but restores the University, 51 ;
theory opposed by John Caius, 32 ;
said to be founder of the Great Hall
of the University, 26 ; letter to Bishop
of Worcester on grammar schools,
31 ; said to appoint three doctors to
three halls, 50 ; possessed no per-
sonal property north of the Thames,
51 ; bom at Wantage, 130; at the
battle of ^scesdun, 114; passage in
Asser relating to his sovereignty over
the West of England, 391 ; coins
struck at Oxford supposed to prove
his sovereignty, 366 ; varieties of
coins with his name, 368-73 ; his
title ' Rex Doro ' on his coins, 372-4.

iElfred of Northumbria, coins attributed
to, 367.

— Archdeacon of Oxford, 396.
^Ifric, Archbishop of Canterbury, signs

a charter (1034), 165 ; his will, 355 ;
previously Abbot of S. Alban's, ibid.

— the Ealdorman, feigns illness, 148 ;
slain at Assandun, 157.

^Ifstan (Alstan), Bishop of Wells,
signs a charter (1004), i44"5-

.iElfthryth, Eadward's stepmother, 137;
benefactress to Abingdon Abbey, ibid.

iElfweard (Ethelward), Eadward's son,
dies at Oxford, 1 35 ; said to be versed
in literature, 136; and to have been
educated at Oxford, 49.

.lEscesdun, country laid waste as far as
(661), 84; Offa extends Mercia as
far as (777), no; the Danes attempt
to reach, 114; battle of (871), ibid. ;
Danes succeed in reaching (1006),
148 ; shown on the map, 3S6.

.iEscvvin, Bishop of Dorchester (c. 993),
1 38, 392.

iEthelbald's rule in Mercia (716), loi,
107, 127.



400



^thelburga, Abbess of Liming (633),

88.
yEthelelm, Abbot of Abingdon (1071),

204, 212.
^thelflsed, lady of the Mercians, fortifies

Mercia, 116; death of (918), 125, 127,

132.
.^thelmar, an ealdorman of Devonshire,

founds Ensham Abbey (1013), 170.
.iEthelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury,

signs a charter (1034), ^^5-
j^thelred, King, tlie Unready, orders the

Danes to be killed throughout the

kingdom (1C02), 92, 94, loi, 141 ;

gives a charter to, and restores S.

Fiideswide's, 91-3, 142-5, 166 ; gives

a cliarter to Ensham (T005), 170.

— king of Wessex, at the battle of
^scesdun(87i), 114.

.^thelric. Bishop of Sherborne, signs a
charier (1004, 144-5.

— Bishop of Dorchester (1016), 172 ;
benefactor to Romney and to S. Al-
bans, 395.

.^thelstan, eldest son of Eadward, his
policy in Mercia (925-940), 137; said
to have had two mints at Oxford,
366.

— eldest son of .^thelred, signs a
charter (1004), 144-5.

^thelweard aids in the foundation of
Ensham, 170

jEthelwin, Abbot of Abingdon (1034),
165.

^thelwold. Abbot of Abingdon, after-
wards Bishop of Winchester, favours
the monks, 1 39 ; begs of King Eadgar
the monasteries, ibid. ; may have
turned out the secular canons Irom
S. Frideswide, 167 ; a pilgrimage to
his tomb from Oxford, 393.

.(Ethelwulf, the Berkshire Ealdorman,
114,115.

.^thered, lord and under-king of the
Mercians, dies (912), 125.

iEtla, appointed to see of Dorchester
(6S0), 87.

Agelwin, Abbot of Ensham, 218.

Ailnoth's land at Oxford, 2 74.

Ailric (Domesday), 224, 267.

Akeman Street, 65, 68, 77, 383-4.

Akerman, Mr., excavations by, 78.

Albanactus made to fit Albania, 8.

Alberic, Earl (Domesday), 223, 239.

Albreda, wife of Berenger of Todeni,

397-
Albury, ' quae est in Oxenford, 228.
Alchester, Roman camp at, 66 ; MS.

account of, 77; Akeman Street at,

385-
Alcuin, said to have been at Cambridge,

14, 26 ; at Oxford, 60.



Aldgate suggested for Aldate, 294.
Aldith, wife of Robert D'Oiigi, 207.
Aldworth, Mr., Roman villa excavated

by, 78.
Alfwold, Bishop of Crediton, signs a

charter (1004;, 144-5.
Algar, ' Rex Leicestrensium,' and S.