Foundation
The University of Oxford (Latin: Universitas Oxoniensis) has no known date of foundation. The earliest evidence of teaching at Oxford are letters from a schoolmaster who began teaching there around 1096. The university expanded around 1167, as King Henry II had forbidden Englishmen to attend the University of Paris. With the University of Paris and the University of Bologna, Oxford is one of the oldest European universities. The historian Giraldus Cambrensis lectured at the university as early as 1188 and the first foreign scholar, Emo of Wittewierum, arrived at Oxford in 1190. The head of the university has held the title of Chancellor since at least 1201. Oxford University received Royal Charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III.
One of the oldest documents about the university moderated its revival after a rift with the city and was written by a legate of the pope in 1214. The cause of this rift was an execution in 1208 or 1209, which led some scholars to flee to Cambridge and later found the University of Cambridge. Since the creation of the University of Cambridge, these two universities, collectively known as Oxbridge, have shaped the intellectual life of Britain.
Students formed two nations based on their geographical origins, representing the north (northerners or boreales, which included Englishmen north of the River Trent and Scots) and the south (southerners or australians, which included Englishmen south of the River Trent, Irish and Welsh). In later centuries, geographical origin continued to influence the affiliation of many students when membership of an Oxford College or Hall became common. In addition, members of many religious orders settled in Oxford in the mid-13th century, including Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians, and maintained lodgings or Halls for students. Around the same time, private benefactors established colleges as independent teaching institutions. Among the earliest such benefactors were William of Durham, who endowed University College in 1249, and John Balliol, father of the future Scottish king and namesake of Balliol College. Walter of Merton, later Bishop of Rochester, developed a set of regulations for life at Merton College. It thus became the model for such institutions at Oxford as well as at the University of Cambridge. Thereafter, more and more students lived in colleges rather than in Halls and religious houses. In 1355, the most devastating conflict to date occurred between students and townspeople.
In 1333/1334 an attempt by some disaffected scholars to found a new university in Lincolnshire Stamford was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Thereafter, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England until the 1820s. This left Oxford and Cambridge with a duopoly that was unusual for large Western European countries.
Renaissance
Renaissance values greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Scholars of this period included William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek linguistics, and John Colet, an influential biblical scholar.
In the course of the English Reformation and its break with the Roman Catholic Church, some Oxford scholars fled to continental Europe and settled there, primarily at the University of Douai. Teaching at Oxford was converted from the medieval scholastic method to the educational methods of the Renaissance, although the university suffered significant losses of land and income. As a center of learning, Oxford's reputation declined during the Age of Enlightenment. Enrollments declined and teaching was neglected. The University of Oxford, as well as the University of Cambridge, experienced extensive liberties and were elevated to corporations by Elizabeth I's Oxford and Cambridge Act in 1571.
In 1636 William Laud, Chancellor of the University and Archbishop of Canterbury, codified the statutes of the University. These were largely preserved until the mid-19th century. Laud was responsible for securing privileges for the University Press and made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library, the University's main library. From the founding of the Church of England until 1866, membership in the church was a requirement to receive an undergraduate degree from the university. Those of other faiths were not allowed to receive a Master of Arts until 1871.
The university was a centre for royalists during the English Civil War (1642-1649), while the town supported opposing parliamentarians. Charles I sought refuge at Christ Church and used the college as his residence during the Civil War. The loyalist rump parliament met in Christ Church's dining hall. From the mid-18th century, however, the university took little part in political conflict.
Founded in 1610, Wadham College was the college of Christopher Wren. Wren was part of a group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club, which also included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. This group held regular meetings at Wadham under the leadership of John Wilkins and formed the nucleus which later gave rise to the Royal Society.
Women and Oxford
Until 1878, women were forbidden to study at Oxford colleges. In 1878 Lady Margaret Hall and in 1879 Somerville College, the first all-women's colleges were founded, ten years after the first colleges for women were established at Cambridge. Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville first opened their doors in 1879 to their first 21 female students (12 from Somerville, 9 from Lady Margaret Hall), who had to attend lectures in rooms above an Oxford bakery. 25 more female students, who lived at home or with friends, formed the Society of Oxford Home-Students, which evolved into St Anne's College in 1952.
This was followed in the late 19th century by the founding of St Hugh's College and St Hilda's College. All of these colleges later became co-educational, starting with Lady Margaret Hall and St Anne's in 1979. The last all-female college was St Hilda's, which since 2008 now accepts male applicants. In the early 20th century, Oxford and Cambridge were largely seen as bastions of male privilege. The integration of women at Oxford was advanced during the First World War, and women were admitted as equal medical students in 1916. In 1917, the university assumed financial responsibility for examinations taken by women.
It was not until October 7, 1920 that women were also allowed to earn the same academic degrees as their male peers. In 1927, the university's dons created a quota that limited the number of female students to a quarter of the number of male students. This regulation was not lifted until 1957. At that time, since all Oxford colleges admitted students of only one sex, the number of female students was nevertheless limited by the admission capacity of the women's colleges. It was not until 1959 that women's colleges were granted status as full colleges of the university. Several colleges were founded or co-founded by women, such as BalliolCollege and Wadham College.
In 1974 Brasenose, Hertford, Jesus, St Catherine's and Wadham were the first men's colleges to admit women. The majority of men's colleges admitted their first female students in 1979. Christ Church followed in 1980 and Oriel was the last men's college to admit women in 1985. Most postgraduate colleges in Oxford were founded in the 20th century as co-educational institutions, with the exception of St Antony's which was founded as a men's college in 1950 and only began admitting women in 1962. The proportion of female students at Oxford in 2018 was 51.2%. Women made up 19% of professors in 2019.
Women were admitted to the Oxford Union in 1908. The first female president of the Oxford Union was Benazir Bhutto in 1977, who studied at Lady Margaret Hall. On 28 May 2015, Louise Richardson was nominated as the University's next Vice-Chancellor. Subject to Congregational approval, Richardson took up her post on 1 January 2016, succeeding Andrew Hamilton. This first nomination of a woman to the position is considered a milestone in the University's history.
