OLD OXFORD.--A.D. 1200 TO 1300. Description of Oxford in the thirteenth century. Its customs. St. Edmund of Canterbury. Robert Grosteste. The arrival of the Friars. Distinguished Dominican and Franciscan scholars. Roger Bacon. Nicholas de Lyra. St. Richard of Chichester, Chancellor of Oxford. Opposition of the secular clergy to the mendicants. Decay of pure Latinity. Kilwarby, and John of Peckham. St. Thomas of Hereford, Chancellor of Oxford. Rise of Oxford Colleges, Baliol and Merton Colleges. The monastic colleges of Gloucester and Durham. Exeter College. 476 CHAPTER XVII. DANTE AND PETRARCH.--A.D. 1300 TO 1400. Dante regarded as the representative university student of the thirteenth century. Character of his learning as shown by a critical examination of his poem. His theology, scholastic learning, acquaintance with learned languages and love of science, especially of music and astronomy. His political views. The anti-papal tendencies of the universities. Petrarch and his revival of classical tastes. Share taken in the revival by Italian monks. Ambrose Traversari. State of letters in France under Charles V. Effect of the Gallican and anti-papal doctrines introduced by Philip le Bel hostile to letters. 508 CHAPTER XVIII. ENGLISH EDUCATION IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.-- A.D. 1300 TO 1400. Effect of French wars not favourable to learning. Richard of Bury and his libraries. State of the universities. They were not then, as now, places of education for the lay higher classes. System of education fostered by chivalry explained. Its advantages. The baronial households schools for noble youths. Christian principles fostered by this system. Elzear of Sabran. Education of women at the same period. The domestic virtues cultivated. Illustrations from old romances. Cultivation of the English language. Poor-schools. School books of the fourteenth century. Primers. Versified instructions. Chaucer as the representative of an educated Englishman of the fourteenth century. Character of his learning examined. Classics imperfectly known. Wickliffe and the Lollards. Their influence on learning. Early English Catholic versions of the Scriptures existed before the time of Wickliffe. Proofs and illustrations. 529 CHAPTER XIX. THE RED AND WHITE ROSES.--A.D. 1386 TO 1494.