Early Records Of University College Oxford

University College claims to be the oldest College in Oxford, tracing its origins to an endowment of 1249. This book brings together the great majority of pre-1550 documents, other than its account rolls, from the College's archives, providing a sourcebook for its early history. The first part contains editions of texts with facing translations into English, including the College's medieval statutes, and documents about its early buildings; the second deals with medieval deeds relating to the College's properties in Oxfordshire, provided as calendars, since they are considerably more formulaic. The volume also includes full notes and an introduction. Robin Darwall-Smith is Archivist of Magdalen College; he has made extensive contributions to the history of both University College and Magdalen College.

This is the first history in over a century of what is arguably Oxford's oldest College. As one of the few organizations in the UK whose history goes back so far, this is an account of the College from its origins over seven and a half centuries ago to the present day.

This issue of History of Universities, Volume XXXII / 1-2, contains the customary mix of learned articles and book reviews which makes this publication such an indispensable tool for the historian of higher education. Guest edited by Professor John Watts, this volume focuses on the history of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Corpus Christi College, Oxford was founded in 1517 to advance humanistic learning in the service of God. This collection of essays by some of the leading historians of late medieval and early modern England takes the early history of the College as a starting point to explore the intellectual, social, religious, political, and cultural trends of the era of Renaissance and Reformation. Ranging from the fifteenth century to the seventeenth, and taking in the study of Greek and Hebrew; the practices of antiquarianism, charity, and divine worship; the experience of music, punishment, and the built environment; the networks that connected the college to London and the government; and the interactions of scholars with royal policy on religion, these fifteen essays and three commentaries aim to expose the multiple perspectives from which an early modern college can be viewed and understood. The relationship between 'Renaissance' and 'Reformation', and the social and cultural realities that accompanied these familiar concepts, form one central theme in the papers; the relationship between religious or educational institutions and the state form another. Corpus Christi itself emerges as less innovative than its historic reputation as the first collegium trilingue might suggest, but it becomes the gateway to a richer appreciation of the overlapping worlds of learning, religion and public life in a time of rapid change.

Volume VII of The History of the University of Oxford completes the survey of nineteenth-century Oxford begun in Volume VI. After 1871 both teachers and students at Oxford were freed from tests of religious belief. The volume describes the changed mental climate in which some dons sought a new basis for morality, while many undergraduates found a compelling ideal in the ethic of public service both at home and in the empire. As the existing colleges were revitalized, and new ones founded, the academic profession in Oxford developed a peculiarly local form, centred upon college tutors who stood in somewhat uneasy relation with the University's professors. The various disciplines which came to form the undergraduate curriculum in both the arts and sciences are subject to major reappraisal; and Oxford's 'hidden curriculum' is explored through accounts of student life and institutions, including organized sport and the Oxford Union. New light is shed on the social origins and previous schooling of undergraduates. A fresh assessment is made of the movement to establish women's higher education in Oxford, and the strategies adopted by its promoters to implant communities for women within the masculine culture of an ancient university. Other widened horizons are traced in accounts of the University's engagement with imperial expansion, social reform, and the educational aspirations of the labour movement, as well as the transformation of its press into a major international publisher. The architectural developments–considerable in quantity and highly varied in quality–receive critical appraisal in a comprehensive survey of the whole period covered by Volumes VI and VII (1800-1914). By the early twentieth century the challenges of socialism and democracy, together with the demand for national efficiency, gave rise to a renewed campaign to address issues such as promoting research, abolishing compulsory Greek, and, more generally, broadening access to the University. Under the terrible test of the First World War, still more deep-seated concerns were raised about the sider effects of Oxford's educational practices; and the volume concludes with some reflections on the directions which the University had taken over the previous fifty years. series blurb No private institutions have exerted so profound an influence on national life over the centuries as the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Few universities in the world have matched their intellectual distinction, and none has evolved and maintained over so long a period a strictly comparable collegiate structure. Now a completely new and full-scale History of the University of Oxford, from its obscure origins in the twelfth century until the late twentieth century, has been produced by the university with the active support of its constituent colleges. Drawing on extensive original research as well as on the centuries-old tradition of the study of the rich source material, the History is altogether comprehensive, appearing in eight chronologically arranged volumes. Together the volumes constitute a coherent overall study; yet each has a unity of its own, under individual editorship, and brings together the work of leading scholars in the history of every university discipline, and of its social, institutional, economic, and political development as well as its impact on national and international life. The result is a history not only more authoritative than any previously produced for Oxford, but more ambitious than any undertaken for any other European university, and certain to endure for many generations to come.

Excerpt from A History of the University of Oxford: From the Earliest Times to the Year 1530 The favourable reception which was given to my "History of Eton College" some years ago has encouraged me to attempt a "History of the University of Oxford." There is a certain affinity between the two subjects, but the second is by far the more important and the more complex. Few institutions in Europe can boast a higher antiquity than the University of Oxford; few have a wider reputation. Amid the political, religious, and social changes of mediaeval and modern times, it has enjoyed a continuous existence of more than six centuries, retaining a great part of its original organisation, and many of its ancient characteristics. It has given to the country a long series of eminent statesmen, churchmen, and scholars; and it has received from successive kings charters investing it with peculiar and important privileges. Various movements affecting the nation at large have had their origin at Oxford, and the affairs of the University have at almost every stage been closely connected with those of the State. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

The University of Oxford is the third oldest university in Europe and remains one of the greatest universities in the world. How did such an ancient institution flourish through the ages?This book offers a succinct illustrated account of its colourful and controversial 800-year history, from medieval times through the Reformation and on to the nineteenth century, in which the foundations of the modern tutorial system were laid. It describes the extraordinary and influential people who shaped the development of the institution and helped to create today's world-class research university.Institutions have waxed and waned over the centuries but Oxford has always succeeded in reinventing itself to meet the demands of a new age. Richly illustrated with archival material, prints and portraits, this book explores how a university in a small provincial town rose to become one of the top universities in the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

This fresh and readable account gives a complete history of the University of Oxford, from its beginnings in the 11th century to the present day - charting Oxford's improbable rise from provincial backwater to modern meritocratic and secular university with an ever-growing commitment to new research.