Migration of Oxford Scholars to Cambridge

Timeline

1. 1209Oxford · OxfordA scholar in Oxford was accused of murdering a townsman's daughter; the municipal authorities seized two or three clerics and hanged them. Scholars and masters considered this a violation of clerical judicial privileges and immediately suspended lectures and left Oxford.
2. 1209Cambridge · CambridgeThe dispersed scholars went variously to Paris, Reading, and elsewhere; one group gathered in Cambridge, continuing to teach theology, arts, and law. Cambridge was already a market town with religious institutions, equipped to host a studium.
3. 1209–1231Cambridge · CambridgeThe gathering of 1209 is regarded by the University of Cambridge as the beginning of its foundation. Henry III granted privileges around 1231, and the papacy recognized its university status in the following years. Colleges such as Peterhouse only appeared at the end of the 13th century and are not part of this entry's core facts.