Oxford and Oxford University 543As a famous and important historian, he wrote his
The Two Citiesbetween 1143 and 1145; it ended with
the near contemporary and controversial INVESTITURE
CONTROVERSY. Starting from the ideas about history pro-
vided by AUGUSTINEand OROSIUS, he interpreted secular
history as a conflict between this world and the next,
the kingdom of GOD. Both were to be united through
the church. He then wrote a history of the activities
of Frederick I Barbarossa near the end of his own
life. There was a strong theme of peace in his work on
Frederick, much of the conflict between church and
state seemed to be in the past. His pupil Rahewin (d.
1165) wrote the second half of this work, advancing it
to the time of some of Frederick’s failures and disasters
in Italy. Otto died in 1158.
Further reading: Otto I, Bishop of Freising, The
Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa,trans. Charles Christopher
Mierow and Richard Emery (1953; reprint, Toronto: Uni-
versity of Toronto Press, 1994); Otto I, Bishop of Freis-
ing, The Two Cities: A Chronicle of Universal History to the
Year 1146 A.D., trans. and ed. Charles Christopher
Mierow, Austin P. Evans, and Charles Knapp (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1928).
outlawry This was a legal status primarily in EN-
GLANDbut also, in a slightly different form, on the Con-
tinent. It was applied to those cited but not cooperating
in a legal process. Outlawry involved those captured or
cited for crimes of all sorts. It was both a coercive mea-
sure and a punishment. If an accused failed to appear in
a court to answer charges brought against him or her, a
sentence could not be pronounced in absentia. So
instead, the process of outlawry was invoked. A writ
ordering the sheriff or another official to confirm that
the prospective outlaw had been advised of his or her
citation was issued. If on the third summons he or she
still could not be found, then a formal demand com-
pelled the subject to attend a trial or hearing. At the first
stage, he or she forfeited goods and chattels to the king.
After the last stage, the person was outlawed and placed
outside the protection of the law.
These rulings applied in only one jurisdiction or
county in England. One could flee to another county to
escape. Early in the Middle Ages, outlaws for serious
crimes could be killed with impunity. In practice
this severity was mitigated. Outlaws were numerous,
for example, in medieval England. For every person
actually convicted by the courts, another 10 were out-
lawed. Some outlaws, such as the legendary ROBIN
HOODor real people such as William WALLACE, took on
the status of popular heroes because of the perceived
unfairness and corruption of the government and the
legal system.
See also CRIME, PUNISHMENT, AND THE COURTS;
IMPEACHMENT AND ATTAINDER; JURY TRIAL.
Further reading:Henry de Bracton, On the Laws and
Customs of England,trans. Samuel E. Thorne (Cambridge:
Selden Society, 1968); R. F. Hunnisett, The Medieval Coro-
ner (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961);
Maurice Keen, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend(1961;
reprint, London: Routledge, 2000); Ralph Bernard Pugh,
Imprisonment in Medieval England (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1968); Ralph Bernard Pugh,
Some Reflections of a Medieval Criminologist (London:
Oxford University Press, 1973).Owain Gwynedd SeeGLYNDWR,OWIAN.Owen Glendower SeeGLYNDWR,OWIAN.Oxford and Oxford University Medieval Oxford
was a town in the upper Thames River basin in ENG-
LAND, which was the site of one of the great European
universities. The town first appeared in the seventh cen-
tury as a cattle market. In the eighth century it became a
PILGRIMAGEsite and location of a FAIR. Although Oxford
itself was a secondary town, its schools in the 12th cen-
tury grew out of monastic and collegiate churches, espe-
cially those for the SEVEN LIBERAL ARTSand THEOLOGY.
King HENRYII aided English education in 1167 by pro-
hibiting English students to study in PARIS. The Oxford
schools were transformed into a university around 1200.
In 1209 occurred the first of many bloody brawls
between scholars and townspeople, which led to the
departure of many scholars and students to CAMBRIDGE,
where they created a second university. Most of them
returned in 1214.
Between 1214 and 1233, papal and royal privileges
further organized the university, basing its institutions
and teaching system on the model of Paris. In contrast to
that of Paris, however, the head of the university was a
chancellor elected from among the doctors of THEOLOGY
or canon LAWand confirmed by the bishop of Lincoln.
The Parisian head was a rector chosen from among the
faculty of arts. The chancellor of Oxford shared power
with an assembly of masters, especially those from the
arts. The course of study favored the quadrivium.The
university’s reputation was based on theology, PHILOSO-
PHY, LOGIC, mathematics, and SCIENCE. The faculties of
arts and theology seem to have been much more impor-
tant than those of law or MEDICINE.
In the 13th century the first colleges of the university,
Balliol and Merton, were founded, and the new MENDI-
CANT ORDERSarrived to study and set up schools. The uni-
versity became a hotbed of heterodox ideas, such as those
of John WYCLIFFE, in the late 14th and early 15th cen-
turies. Most students were from England. They generally
lived in boarding houses or in the convents of the
friars, not in the colleges, which had few facilities as yet.