History of Oxford

The town also played an important role in the English Civil War, where it experienced another siege when it housed the court of Charles I.

Around 900, an important north-south route for cattle connecting the south of England to the Midlands needed to cross the River Thames.

[6] At Oxford, the Thames splits into many channels, offering a relatively shallow and hence crossable location for people, goods and animals.

Most archeological evidence generally points to the south-west of Oxford where there are low elevations and branching streams that offer shallow crossings.

The town was constructed on the northern bank of the river within Mercia, directly opposite the southern side within the territory of Wessex.

Following the conquest, the town was assigned to a governor, Robert D'Oyly, who ordered the construction of Oxford Castle to confirm Norman authority over the area.

Robert D'Oyly also ordered the construction of a stone causeway, known as Grandpont for traffic, including Oxen and the carts that they drew, to cross over the flood plains.

[20] In 1191, a city charter translated from Latin wrote:[21] "Be it known to all those present and future that we, the citizens of Oxford of the Commune of the City and of the Merchant Guild have given, and by this, our present charter, confirm the donation of the island of Midney with all those things pertaining to it, to the Church of St. Mary at Oseney and to the canons serving God in that place.

Since, every year, at Michaelmas the said canons render half a mark of silver for their tenure at the time when we have ordered it as witnesses the legal deed of our ancestors which they made concerning the gift of this same island; and besides, because we have undertaken on our own part and on behalf of our heirs to guarantee the aforesaid island to the same canons wheresoever and against all men; they themselves, by this guarantee, will pay to us and our heirs each year at Easter another half mark which we have demanded; and we and our heirs faithfully will guarantee the aforesaid tenement to them for the service of the aforesaid mark annually for all matters and all services.

The Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort; these documents are often regarded as England's first written constitution.

As a response to the killing of two students in 1209 by the local townspeople, a number of scholars left the town (some leaving to Cambridge to form a sister university).

To prevent further troubles, the Papal Legate drew up the Oxford Ordinance in 1214 to grant special rights to scholars which placed them in a privileged position beyond the legal reach of the townspeople.

[1] Attracted to the intellectual life of the University town, a group of friars (including Agnellus of Pisa) arrived in the early 13th century; the Greyfriars resided on the south part of the medieval town wall while the Blackfriars south of what is now Blue Boar Lane and then to a spot west of St Aldate's.

Originally St Frideswide's Priory, the building was extended and incorporated into the structure of the Cardinal's College shortly before its refounding as Christ Church in 1546, since when it has functioned as the cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford.

The sweating sickness epidemic in 1517 was particularly devastating to Oxford and Cambridge where it killed half of both cities' populations, including many students and dons.

[27] Oxford was not spared the turmoil of the Reformation, officials of the monarch threw out books relating to Roman Catholicism from Duke Humfrey's Library.

[3] In 1646, during the Siege of Oxford, the town eventually surrendered to Parliamentarian forces commanded by General Fairfax, and occupied by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby.

[31] The town underwent a radical makeover of its buildings during this period, with the most notable being Tom Tower in Christ Church, the Sheldonian Theatre and the Botanic Gardens.

In the 19th century, the controversy surrounding the Oxford Movement in the Church of England drew attention to the city as a focus of theological thought.

[35] Oxford Town Hall was built by Henry T. Hare; the foundation stone was laid on 6 July 1893 and opened by the future King Edward VII on 12 May 1897.

Another reminder of the ongoing war was found in the influx of wounded and disabled soldiers, who were treated in new hospitals housed in buildings such as the university's Examination School, the town hall and Somerville College.

[37][unreliable source] Also perhaps due to the lack of heavy industry such as steelworks or shipbuilding that would have made it a target, although it was still affected by the rationing and influx of refugees fleeing London and other cities.

On 6 May 1954, Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old medical student, ran the first authenticated sub-four-minute mile at the Iffley Road running track in Oxford.

Cowley suffered major job losses in the 1980s and 1990s during the decline of British Leyland, but is now producing the successful Mini for BMW on a smaller site.

[42] The influx of migrant labour to the car plants and hospitals, recent immigration from South Asia, and a large student population, have given Oxford a notably cosmopolitan character, especially in the Headington and Cowley Road areas with their many bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs, Asian shops and fast food outlets and the annual Cowley Road Carnival.

Throughout the middle ages there were occasional disputes regarding the location of the borough boundaries and also the extent to which the corporation's jurisdiction applied to the university.

[47] The Oxford constituency was enlarged in 1832 to take in an area south-east of the borough on the opposite side of the River Cherwell, including the growing suburbs around St Clement's Church.

The local government district initially matched the borough, but was enlarged in 1865 to take in parts of the neighbouring parishes of Cowley and North Hinksey to the south of the city.