Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
There were about 1,500 students in Oxford. They drank, played
dice, quarreled a lot and begged at street corners. There were mob
fights between students from the north and students from the south and
between students and townsmen. But when the mayor of Oxford hanged two
students accused of being involved in the killing of a townswoman, many
masters and students left for Cambridge. In 1214, a charter created the
office of Chancellor of the university at Oxford. He was responsible
for law and order and, through his court, could fine, imprison, and
excommunicate offenders and expel undesirables such as prostitutes from
the town. He had authority over all crimes involving scholars, except
murder and mayhem. The Chancellor summoned and presided over meetings
of the masters and came to be elected by indirect vote by the masters
who had schools, usually no more than a room or hall with a central
hearth which was hired for lectures. Students paid for meals there.
Corners of the room were often partitioned off for private study. At
night, some students slept on the straw on the floor. Six hours of
sleep were considered sufficient. In 1231, the king ordered that every
student must have his name on the roll of a master and the masters had
to keep a list of those attending his lectures.
In 1221 the friars established their chief school at Oxford.
They were bound by oaths of poverty, obedience, and chastity, but were
not confined within the walls of a monastery. They walked barefoot from
place to lace preaching. They begged for their food and lodgings. They
replaced monks, who had become self-indulgent, as the most vital
spiritual force among the people.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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