After the death of Harold, William the Conqueror was
bravely opposed by the citizens in his attempt to enter
Oxford, which effecting by force, he was so much exas-
perated at their attachment to Harold, that he bestowed the
government of the town on Robert de Oilgo, a Norman, with
permission to build a castle to keep his Oxford subjects in
awe. The disturbances during the reign of Stephen and his
successor were frequent, and in the reign of John, A. D.
1209, an unfortunate occurrence threatened the entire
destruction of Oxford as a seat of learning. A student,
engaged in thoughtless diversion, killed a woman, and fled
from justice. A band of citizens, with the mayor at their
head, surrounded the hall to which he belonged, and demanded
the offender; on being informed of his absence, the lawless
multitude seized three of the students, who were entirely
unconnected with the transaction, and ob-tained an order
from the weak king (whose dislike to the clergy is known),
to put the innocent persons to death--an order which was but
too promptly obeyed. The scholars, justly en-raged by this
treatment, quitted Oxford, some to Cambridge and Reading,
and others to Maidstone, in Kent.
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