Intellectual Life and the Augustinian Priories
The centre of intellectual life at Oxford was the ancient monastery of S. Frideswide, which after many vicissitudes passed into the hands of the Austin canons and entered upon a n…
Burgher Life in Oxford
The burgher-life of Oxford had long gathered around the church of S. Martin, in whose churchyard the portmannimot or general assembly of the citizens was held.…
Oxford’s Royal Tradition and Political Revival
Shortly before Henry I’s death, signs emerged that Oxford would soon regain the political stature it had held under the old English and Danish kings.…
Medieval London: Walls and Fortifications
The great picture of medieval London belongs in full completeness to the closing years of the twelfth century, but its main features were already present under Henry I.…
The Tower and Western Castles
The eastern extremity of London was guarded by the Tower, a mighty fortress founded by William the Conqueror in the earliest days of his conquest to hold his new capital in check.…
S. Paul’s and London’s Municipal Life
Within the new cathedral enclosure, a church gorgeous with the latest Norman architectural skill was fast approaching completion. S.…
London’s Civic Charter and Liberties
William’s one surviving English writ to London merely confirmed the citizens in “all the law whereof they had been worthy in King Eadward’s day,” but by the end of Henry I’s reign…
London’s Quarters and Growing Population
The mass of London’s growing life lay chiefly north-east of S. Paul’s, where a crowd of lesser churches—conventual and parochial—rose from a network of close-packed streets and al…
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