The charge of Oxford, and the district around, was committed to Robert D'Oyly, afore-mentioned, who built the lofty tower opposite the mound, deepened the ditches, enlarged the fortifications he found already there; and, about the date of our tale, founded the Church of St. George in the Castle. He had a ruinous city to preside over. Before the Conquest it contained about three thousand inhabitants; but the number was greatly diminished, for out of seven hundred and twenty-one houses formerly inhabited, four hundred and seventy-eight were now lying waste. The University was yet a thing of the future. Mr. James Parker (in his pamphlet, on the history of Oxford during the tenth and eleventh centuries, which he kindly presented to the writer.) has clearly shown that its supposed foundation by Alfred is a myth. The passage in Asser, commonly quoted in support of the statement, is an interpolation not older, perhaps, than the days of Edward III. During the twelfth century the town appears, from whatever causes, to have recovered from the effects of the Conquest, and from that period its growth was rapid, until circumstances brought about the growth of a University honoured throughout the civilised world. xxvi An undisciplined mob had preceded them and perished on the road. We have not space to write their history. xxvii The Varangians. Ordericus Vitalis, B. iv., says, "When the English had lost their freedom, they turned themselves eagerly to discover the means of regaining their liberty. Some fled to Sweyn, King of Denmark, to excite him to fight for the inheritance of his grandfather, Canute. Not a few fled into exile in other lands, either to escape the Norman rule, or in the hope of acquiring the means of renewing the struggle at home. Some of these, in early manhood, penetrated into a far distant land, and offered their services to the Emperor of Constantinople, against whom (the Norman) Robert Guiscard had arrayed all his forces. The English exiles were favourably received, and opposed in battle to the Normans, who were far too strong for the Greeks in personal combat. "The Emperor Alexius began to build a town for the English, a little above Constantinople; but the troubles from the Normans increasing, he soon recalled them to the capital, and intrusted the palace, with all its treasures, to their keeping. This was the way in which the English found their way to Ionia, where they still remain, honoured by the Emperor and his people." xxviii Particularly those portions found in the Gospels for the different Sundays in the Christian year, which even then (and long before) existed in nearly the same order as in our present Prayer-book, and were read in the vernacular each Sunday at Mass. xxix See First and Second Chronicles. xxx Anglo-Saxon and Norman Churches.