^ Higden's Polychronicon, Rolls Series, 1883, vol. vi. p. 354. Appendix A, § iS.
48 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.
' He put together psalms and prayers into one little book, which he
carefully carried about with him, he attained but a very imperfect
knowledge of grammar, because then in the whole western kingdom
no teacher of grammar existed. For this reason by the counsel of
S. Neot the Abbot, whom he often visited, he first of all established
public schools of the various arts at Oxford which he caused to have
many privileges ; Wherefore also this king who was himself a giver of
Alms, a hearer of Mass, and an enquirer into hidden things, summoned
to him from a certain part of Gaul, the holy Grimbald, a monk skilled
in literature, and in song ; also John a monk of S. David's situated in
the farthest part of Wales, that he might gain a knowledge of literature
from them. He also so encouraged his nobles to take up literature
that they should have their sons taught, and if they had none, then
their servants ^.'
A page or so further on, where he is writing of Alfred dividing his
money, he says, ' of the second half, which was divided into four
portions, the first was for the poor, the second for founding monas-
teries, the third for scholars recently assembled at Oxford, the fourth
for restoring churches.
Thirdly, we have the Hyde Abbey Chronicle, from which the extract
has already been given as quoted by Camden.
There is, next, a passage quoted by Bryan Twyne^ and by Wood^^as
the writing of William of Malmesbury, whose histories were written about
1 120-25. But they contain nothing of the kind. The passage is stated
by the latter to occur in his treatise De Aftliquitaie Glastoniensis ecclesiae^.
Of this, though in its original shape it was written by William of Malmes-
bury, no early copy is known to exist, and the MSS. which do exist are
obviously filled with later interpolations. But further no MS. has been
observed to contain the passage earlier than that of John of Glastonbury,
who though he copies a great deal from William of Malmesbury, inter-
polates more, and brings his chronicle down to 1456. He may however
have copied a somewhat earlier MS. The passage runs as follows : —
' Hearing of the fame of Neot, King Alfred often visited the servant
of God, and was sometimes guided by his counsels. For by the coun-
sel of Neot he first appointed public schools of the various arts at
Oxford, and sent legates to Rome beseeching Martin the second that
he would grant to the English schools the same liberties as they have
at Rome, and what he asked of the most Holy Father without any delay
he obtained and procured for them, privileges in many matters.'
' Brompton, Chronicon Jornallense apnd Twisden Decern Scriptores. Londoi
1652, col. 815. Appendix A, § 19.
''â– Twyne, Apologia, p. 186. ^ Wood, Hist. ^ Ant. Oxon, p. 43.
* In Hearne's edition of William of Malmesbury, De Antiquitatibus Ecclesiae de
Glastoitia, there is no trace of the passage. It is included, however, in his edition
of John of Glastonbury, Oxon., 1726, p. in.
THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF OXFORD. 49
To these may be added an extract from the Historia Major, written by
Thomas Rudborn, at Winchester, about the year 1440. He must have
had knowledge of the Hyde annals, but does not seem to have followed
them. He writes : —
' This noble King divided the kingdoms, which formerly existed in
England into Counties ; and in order that the Christian faith should
always increase, blossoming in flowers of piety, he founded the Univer-
sity of Oxford '.'
A little before this passage he has : —
* Alfred had a son Ethelward, a very learned man, and a philosopher
at the University of Oxford. And he was buried in the new Minster
at Winchester which is now called Hyde.'
In another place he has written : —
* He (Alfred) discovering a certain herdsman {subulcum) by name
Denewlph, sent him to the schools; and he was afterwards made
Doctor of Theology at Oxford, and was appointed to be Bishop of
Winchester by King Alfred himself ^'
Taking, then, these earlier forms of the myth as it is first presented to
us, it would seem that the chief point in common is that Alfred founded
schools at Oxford. But this is a natural deduction which any historian
of the fourteenth century would make. He would have read in Florence
of W^orcester and others who had copied Asser, that Alfred encouraged
education, and founded a school or schools ; Oxford was the chief
school known to him, and as he had no record of its foundation, it
would be natural for him to put the two together. Each chronicler,
however, varies the story.
At the end of the fifteenth century Rous treats this myth much as
he has treated the myths which relate to the primeval founding of
Oxford. He seems to have followed Asser in part, the Hyde Chron-
icle in part, and to have added something of his own. It will be well
to give his account, as it forms a hnk in the growth of the myth ; and
his transference of the record of the purchases of three halls by the
University in 1253, 1262, and 1270, to King Alfred's time, provided
the basis, no doubt, for Camden's statement in his Britannia of there
having been three Colleges founded by Alfred in Oxford.
^ Thomae Rtidborne Historia Major Wintoniensis, cap. vi. Printed in Wharton's
Anglia Sacra, London, 1691, p. 207. There are some difficulties about his date ;
as, according to Wharton, there were two Rudboms. This one seems to have
been Archdeacon and to have died in 1442. By more than one of the controver-
sialists the passage from the Hyde Abbey Chronicle is attributed to Rudborn, pro-
bably from it having been copied into some one of the many Winchester Chronicles.
' Ibid., p. 208. W. of Malmesbury tells the story, but without any reference to
Oxford. The three passages are given Appendix A, § 20.
50 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.
Rous treats the story thus : —
* This King [Alfred] delighted in the society of learned men, whom he
knew to lead virtuous lives, and so summoned Plegmund Abp. of Canter-
bury, Werferth of Worcester before he was made Bishop, and Athelstan
of Hereford, and Werulf of Leicester, all learned men from the king-
dom of the Mercians. Also he joined with them the holy Grymbald
of Flanders from the Monastery of S. Bertin, with his companions, John
and Asser and John the Welshman from the Monastery of S. David's.
And through their teaching he obtained knowledge of all books. At
that time there were no grammarfans throughout the kingdom of the
West Saxons. He amongst the praiseworthy acts of his munificence,
in the year 873 at the instigation of S, Neot established public schools
for the several arts in Oxford ; to which city on account of his special
love for the scholars he granted many privileges, not allowing any one
who was illiterate to be prom.oted to any dignity. The masters and
scholars, who had been converted to the faith taught in the Monas-
teries and in other places set apart according to the manner of the
ancient schools of Greklade, Lechlade, Stamford, Caerleon, Cambridge
and Bellisitum, and of such other schools {studio) of this kind as were
already in the island
'At the first foundation of this University this noble King Alfred
established at his own expense within the city of Oxford three Doctors,
namely in Grammar, in the Arts, and in Theology, in three different
places in the name of the Holy Trinity. In one of these which was
situated in High Street {in alto Fico) towards the East gate he
endowed the hall with all that was necessary for twenty-six gramma-
rians ; and because of its inferiority in knowledge, he ordered it to be
called " Pari^rt Aula Universitatis ;" and so it was called in my own
time. Towards the northern walls of the city in what is now called
Vicus Scholarum he founded another Hall with abundance of means
necessary for twenty six Logicians or Philosophers, and this he ordered
to be called " Aula Minor Universitatis." The third Hall which he
founded in High Street, near East gate and close to the first on the
west side he called [Aula Magnal and arranged for twenty-six Theo-
logians who should promote the study of Holy Scripture, and for this
he provided abundant means to meet their costs. ,
' Besides these there grew up in a short time many other Halls of the
different faculties, established by the burgesses of the city and of the
neighbourhood and then by those from a distance ; yet not at the
King's expense, but through the King's gracious example \'
He then quotes the passage about the king requiring his nobles to
have their sons educated, and adds that the king sent his own son
Athelward to study at Oxford : then referring to Radburn ^ he gives
1 Joannis Rossi Historia Regum Angliae, Hearne's ed., 1 745, p. 76. Appendix A,
§ 21.
"^ He thus spells Rudbom, but which of the Winchester Chronicles he used has
not been ascertained.
THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF OXFORD. 51
some particulars about Grymbald, and makes him the first Chancellor.
After some remarks on the connection between the Oxford and the
Paris University, he ends with saying that Grymbald in his old age
left the University and returned to Winchester, where, having erected
New Minster, he was the first Abbot of the place, and died on the 8th
ides of July, a.d. 903, in the eighty-seventh year of his age\
This last paragraph probably gave the hint to Savile, or whoever
was the author of the Camden passage, to insert the detail about
Grymbald having before he left Oxford built a church with a tomb in
it, namely, St. Peter's-in-the-East ; the existence of this early crypt,
which, before architecture was studied, and various styles observed and
ascribed to various dates, being thought to provide exactly the kind of
evidence which was required to prove the truth of the assertion.
But the chief point in which the Camden passage differs from all
others is that it has for its object to prove that Alfred did not found the
University, which nearly all the stories connecting Alfred with Oxford
had implied, but that he restored a previous foimdation. It was ne-
cessary, therefore, to use Grymbald for the purpose of creating a schism,
by introducing new rules and regulations, and thus prove the existence
of former rules and so a former University ; and it was supposed to fit
in well with this to suggest that he deserted Oxford and went to Win-
chester, in consequence of his new rules not being received.
It would occupy too much space to introduce the various chronicles
and chroniclers who, down to the year 1603, follow more or less the
myth of Alfred founding the University, but it may be said they show
that the writers were unacquainted with the essential feature of the
Camden passage, which claims to be a part of the original chronicle of
all. It is also unnecessary to point out several chronological difficulties
which occur in the different versions, both as regards the date assigned
for the foundation and Alfred's movements, and also the known dates
of the professors whom he is supposed to have summoned. There is
also the difficulty of Oxford being out of his kingdom, so far that he
does not appear (and his will exists) to have owned any property on
the north of the Thames, while from one end of Wessex to the other
his manors and vills are very numerous; nor was it till some years
after his death, i.e. in 912, that Edward the Elder obtained possession
of Oxford, which could not well have been the case if it had been his
' This Rous would find in the Hyde Abbey Chronicle. See Ed. Rolls Series, p. 83.
The chronology of the Camden interpolation, it should be noted, will not agree
with the Hyde Chronicle, inasmuch as it was not till the last year of his reign (i.e.
900) that Alfred proposed to Grymbald to found the New Minster at Winchester.
See Ibid. p. 51.
E 2
52 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.
father's. All such are of little moment beside the one great fact,
namely that Asser, who was Alfred's contemporary, and has written
a very full biography of him, knew nothing of the foundation, nor did
any of the many writers who followed Asser\ until Edward Ill's
time : the myth then suddenly springs into existence and grows ; and
then in Elizabeth's reign, when the negative evidence of Asser's
biography was found too strong for the myth, those who were
interested in its vitality interpolated the passage in that biography,
which, in consequence, instead of threatening the life of the myth,
would add fresh vigour to it.
The Camden passage is not the only imposture connected with the
Alfred myth. The association of this king with University College,
and the practical use made of such association in a law-suit, is quite as
remarkable, and though the foundation of the College and the suit in
question belong respectively to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
a brief outline of the events of the foundation are rendered necessary,
in order to show the baseless character of the plea ; and a summary
of the case must be added in order to give an idea of the credulity of
those concerned.
University College justly claims to represent the earliest foundation
provided for scholastic purposes in Oxford. Before the year 1250
there were students and schools here, but the scholars were almost
entirely supported by monasteries, or, perhaps, in some few instances,
by private persons. In 1249 William, Archdeacon of Durham, died,
and left 310 marks in trust to the University to purchase houses, the
rental of which should go to support a certain number of masters.
This is the first endowment of the kind of which we have any record.
The University only partially fulfilled its trust (as we learn by an
inquisition taken in 1271), by buying some three or four houses, but
eventually the masters admitted to the benefits of the foundation were
incorporated, according to the plan which was laid down by Walter de
Merton about 1274, and so the foundation became a college, though
the original tide, ' The Hall of the University,' was retained for long after.
Under the bequest the University had first bought, c. 1253, a house
in School Street, the site now absorbed in Brasenose College. The
next a house, the site of which is in High Street, but on the north side
and opposite the College. The third purchase in 1262 was a house
in School Street adjoining the first purchase, and the site also absorbed
• Florence of Worcester, writing before 11 20, copies nearly the whole of Asser in i
substance. The passage succeeding the interpolation runs on immediately after
that preceding it, and as Florence copies nearly verbatim, it is impossible the
passage could have been in the MSS. known in his day.
THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF OXFORD. ^^
by Brasenose College. The fourth was in 1270, for two houses on the
south side of High Street to the east of the present college. These
together produced only 18 marks per annum, as we find bythe inquisition
attached to the statutes granted to the masters in 1 280, from which year
we may perhaps date their incorporation. In 1292, when they have
a second body of statutes more complete than the first, and proper
provision made for their Bursar, though they do not appear yet to have
bought further property, it looks as if the University had been able to
pay over the money, which, instead of having invested in houses, they
would seem, contrary to the spirit of their trust, to have lent. It was
not till Edward II. 's reign that the masters seem to have purchased
more houses and had others given to them, and some of these formed
together what afterwards became their College in High Street. But
what is to be noted is that throughout all these documents, and indeed
throughout all those which exist up to Richard II. 's reign, Alfred's
name is never mentioned, nor a single word which can be in any way
made to imply that there was an older foundation than that of William
of Durham.
It is not necessary to discuss which of these houses formed their
first abode, or whether they let the houses and lived in lodgings till
they moved into High Street, but it should be noted that in the course of
their deeds we find the ' Parva Aula Utiiversitatis' mentioned in 1379,
and afterwards the ' Magna Aula Universilatis ' in 1381. As will have
been observed \ Rous goes into details, ingeniously fitting the three
faculties to the three halls, which he makes by transferring William of
Durham's foundations to Alfred, but being puzzled for a name for the
third hall, invents the name of 'â– Aula Minor'. All this manufacture is
very poor work, but by this importation of extraneous matter by succes-
sive writers it is that a myth obtains a substance, and so gains a cre-
dence, which, if left in its original shape, would not be accorded to it.
The story of Alfred's foundation of University College had probably
obtained a footing towards the close of Edward's reign, as it was
turned to good purposes in the next. The circumstances were briefly
these: In 1307 (ist of Edward II.) John Goldsmith bequeathed to
Philip Gonwardby, and Joan, his wife, a small tenement with
messuages adjoining in All Saints parish. In 1363 (37th of
Edward III.) the College obtained this, as appears by the ' Final
Concord,' on payment of £40. But, not content with this, later on in
the same year (according to another ' Final Concord '), by the pay-
ment of 100 silver marks, they obtained all the estate of the said
' See ante, p. 50.
54 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.
Philip and Joan, consisting of six messuages, nine shops, fourteen
acres of land, and fifteen acres of meadow, besides certain rents, and
some land on the Berkshire side of the river. It appears to have been
what would be called a good stroke of business on the part of the two
masters who represented the college, and probably, therefore, done
rather hurriedly, and without sufficient examination of the tide. After
they had been fourteen years, however, in possession (i.e. Ap. 12, 1377),
a certain Edmund Francis and Idonea, his wife, challenged the right
of the college to the estate, for it seems that John Goldsmith had, by
a later document, made a like settlement upon them. The case
appears a complicated one, and it would be rash to attempt to decide
upon the rights of it. It was tried at Westminster in 1378. Then,
under a special provision insisted on by the college, it was transferred
to Oxford, where, it seems, they obtained a verdict in their favour, but
by an informality as to the admission of one of the attorneys, an
appeal was entered, and the case went back to Westminster, the writ
of error being dated July 12, 1378. The suit was dragging on, as such ,
suits did, when we find that the college, being, as it were, ttt extremis,
decided upon putting in as a plea the myth about Alfred, and declaring
the college to be a royal foundation, though not a single scrap of evi^
dence to this effect existed in their archives, and though every piece (
evidence which did exist pointed to William of Durham as their founder.
The document in which this was done is known as the French
Petition. It is not dated, but it is filed amongst the papers which
belonged to the Parliament, which began April 25, 1379. The
following is an extract from the Petition in English, the original
being in the court French of that day^ : —
' To their most Excellent and most dread and most Sovereign Lord
the King, and to his most Sage Council, Shew his poor orators, the
JMaster and Scholars of his College, called Mickle University Hall in
Oxenford, which College was first founded by your noble Progenitor,
King Alfred (whom God assoil) for the maintenance of twenty-six
Divines for ever.
' That whereas one Edmond Francis, Citizen of London, hath
in regard of his great Power, commenced a Suit in the King's Bench
against some of the Tenants of the said Master and Scholars, for
certain Lands and tenements with which the college was endowed, and
from time to time endeavour to destroy and utterly disinherit youi
said College, of the rest of its Endowment, ....
^ According to Antony a Wood, a copy of this on parchment was existing in th(
College Treasury, which he saw {Cdlkgcs and Halls, ed. Gutch, Oxford, 1786
p- 87). The original is filed amongst the Petitions 2 Ric. II, in the Public Recon
Ofi&ce.
THE MYTHICAL ORIGIN OF OXFORD. 55
' That it may please your most Sovereign and gracious Lord and King,
since you are our true Founder and Advocate, to make the aforesaid
parties appear before your their most Sage Council, to show in evidences
upon the rights of the aforesaid matter, so that on account of the
poverty of your said orators your said College be not disinherited,
having regard, most gracious Lord, that the noble Saints, John of
Beverley, Bede, and Richard Armacan, and many other famous Doctors
and Clerks were formerly Scholars in your said College, and commenced
Divines therein. And this for God's sake, and as a deed of Charity ^'
It seems that the plea commended itself to the council, who, on the
part of the king, virtually accepted the office of patron, and, moreover,
of founder, and all that was involved in his being accounted such ;
and further, that in consequence the proceedings of the courts were
stayed; for amongst the documents a writ is found in 1381, directed
to the Sheriff, INIayor, Bailiffs, &c., of Oxford, setting forth : —
' That the King was moved at the desire of the Masters and Scholars
of the College, commonly called Mickel University Hall, ivhich is of
the foundation of our Progenitors sometimes Kings of England, and of
our patronage. Now we being willing to assist the said Masters and
Scholars as far as by law we can, we desire and command you, &c.^ '
This meant, of course, throwing the matter into the King's hands
and removing the whole case to the decision of the Privy Council. It
certainly looks as if the College had a bad case, and were aware of it,
or they would not have resorted to so dangerous a course, as risking
their liberties for a mere pecuniary advantage.
Still later on, for some reason not clear, another petition was ad-
dressed to Parliament, and this like the last is preserved amongst the
Parliamentary documents in the Record Office, but under those of the
Parliament which began April 29, 1384. It is again in the name of
the * King's poor orators, the master and scholars of University Hall,
which is of the patronage of their dread lord and founded by his noble
progenitors ''.'
Although it is not, as a rule, thought necessary to stop to point out
the absurdities in the attempts to sustain the myths, in this case it is
curious to note to what a low ebb the historical knowledge of the
Fellow'S had fallen when they propound that in their College, which
1 Record Office Parliamentary Petition, No. 6329. Note also Rotnli Parliamen-
tomm, vol. iii. 69 a.
* Given in Smith's Annals of University College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1728, p. no.
From the same work the above summary of facts, so far as they depend on docu-
ments preserved amongst the College Archives, are derived, since Smith had access
to them, and seems to have made good use of them. Antony a Wood also refers
to several of the same documents.
^ Parliamentary Petition, No. 6330,
56 THE EARLY HISTORY OF OXFORD.
was founded by King Alfred, who came to the throne in 872, amongst
the scholars were to be reckoned John of Beverly, whom they ought to
have known was Archbishop of York in a.d. 705^, and Beda, who died
A.D. 735. Their poverty of invention, too, is shown by their finding
no other name to couple with the above than Richard of Armagh^.
The device was successful for a time. Writs of supersedeas were
issued, the previous decisions were reversed, and all arrears were
ordered to be paid to the College from the time of passing what was
termed ' an erroneous judgment.' There are several writs and docu-
ments to this effect. One dated July 12th, another July 30th, and a
third August 2nd, all in the same year, i.e. 1388 (12 Ric. IL), an
extract from the last of which will show the results of the action of the
College : —
' And now we understand that the said Edmund and Idonia ....
intend to implead, weary, and disquiet, as they openly threaten, the
said Master and Scholars, by writs of fresh force, and other pleas and
processes, as well in their own Names, as in the names of other their
complices and encouragers; which if it should be done, it would in the
event tend as well to the disinheriting of us ; especially since that Col-
lege is of the foundation of our progenitors, and of our patronage ; as