7/29/2019 origins of oxford.doc

1/1

The Origins of Oxford

Exactly how and when Oxford came into being is uncertain, although the later history of the city hastempted some to become, perhaps, a little over-enthusiastic in their estimates. John Rous, in his

Historium Regum Angliae of 1490 says:

About the time Samuel the servant of God was Judge in Judea; King Magdan had two sons, byname Mempricius and Malun. The younger of the two having slain by the treachery of the elder,

the killer of his brother inherited the kingdom [the rights of a first-born son did not take precedenceover those of any other heirs until the Middle Ages]. In the twentieth year of his reign, he became

surrounded by a terrible pack of most savage wolves, and, having been rent and devoured by

them, ended his life in a horrible fashion. Nothing good is said of King Mempricius except that he

begat a virtuous son and heir, named Ebrancus, and built a noble city which he named, after

himself, Caer-Memre, but which, in later times was known as Bellesitum[Latin for Nice Place],

then Carbossa, at length Ridohen, and, finally, Oxonia, or, by the Saxons, Oxenfordia, from a

particular exit from a nearby ford, which name it bears to the present day.

This would place the citys foundation at between 1500-1400 BC, for which we have no archaeological

evidence. There are, however, conflicting views on the subject, as other mediaeval historians have

stated that Oxford was founded by the Trojans, who found it suitable for use by their philosopherswhen they landed, supposedly under Brutus in 1100BC, whilst John Ayliffe, in 1714, says that the citywas founded in 70 AD by a British king called Arviragus.

The more recent sources have tended to portray Oxford as the brain-child of King Alfred (William

Camden places the date at 886), and the University as the reason for its foundation. Alfred was, indeed,of the early British kings, one who seems to have excelled in promoting literature, technology and

learning within the bounds of his kingdom, and there is certain coin evidence that suggests that thistheory may have a basis in fact.

Whenever Oxford did come into being (and we shall look at the archaeological evidence with more

concentration in the sections Prehistoric Oxford, Roman Oxford and Saxon Oxford), it seems clear thatits early chroniclers were so aware of its importance to them that they wished to imbue it with a glorius

history. In these statements of the tremendous age of Oxford as a city (even implying that it was foundsuitable for philosophers in the classical age) there is the implication that it was inevitable, Gods willthat a great University be in this city, and this reinforces how important Oxford, and the Universoty

were as concepts. We search for a history that can do some sort of justice to the city we see before us

each day, and it seems as if, however much history we have, it is never enough.