Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) EditionReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) Edition
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.
The first college was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton, former
Chancellor to the King, at Oxford. A college had the living arrangements
of a Hall, with the addition of monastic-type rules. A warden and about
30 scholars lived and ate meals together in the college buildings.
Merton College's founding documents provided that:
[1] "The house shall be called the House of the Scholars of Merton, and
it shall be the residence of the Scholars forever.
[2] There shall be a constant succession of scholars devoted to the
study of letters, who shall be bound to employ themselves in the study
of Arts or Philosophy, the Canons or Theology. Let there also be one
member of the collegiate body, who shall be a grammarian, and must
entirely devote himself to the study of grammar; let him have the care
of the students in grammar, and to him also let the more advanced have
recourse without a blush, when doubts arise in their faculty.
[3] There is to be one person in every chamber, where Scholars are
resident, of more mature age than the others, who is to make his report
of their morals and advancement in learning to the Warden
[4] The Scholars who are appointed to the duty of studying in the House
are to have a common table, and a dress as nearly alike as possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account