Oxford in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.
A study of Oxford reveals that in 1086 it was one of the largest
towns in England with a thousand houses been recorded; however for reasons
unclear the town was in a precarious position with 57% of its houses in decay. As
well as bottom up growth through trade and population increase being the chief
reasons for the growth of many towns in medieval England, top down influences,
from the actions of Lords and Noblemen also resulted in the growth of towns.
However, a turnaround in Oxford’s fortunes and an increase in growth were not
as a result of top down influences. Although, the French nobleman, and Conqueror’s
castellan, Robert d’Oilly over saw the building of the mote and bailey castle, bridge
at Grandpont (meaning “Great Bridge “and now Folly Bridge and the area off
Abingdon Road to the south of the city), and St George in the Castle church in
the 1070s, the increase of the town’s fee farm to £30 a year and the
activities of the royal officers may have contributed to the town’s
impoverishment.[1]
It was perhaps the increase in trade and the establishment
of markets that resulted in Oxford’s prosperity and growth in the twelfth
century rather than that of the action of French noblemen and Kings. In fact
the town was rarely visited by French Kings and no councils were held there
after 1066. In 1155 the King, Henry II granted the burgesses a charter giving
them the right to trade anywhere in England and Normandy free of all tolls and
the citizens were able to enjoy the same customs and privileges as London. The
prosperity and growth of the town advanced in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries through the increased trade in cloth and wool. This trade is
reflected in Oxford’s tallage contributions, which were 100 marks in 1167,
rising to 300 marks in 1227, the same amount as York, and more than any other
town except London.[2]
This increase in the output of wool also led to towns like Oxford exporting
their surplus products into Europe, and this rise in demand for English wool
was also witnessed due to the rising population on the continent. In the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries the wool was destined largely for the industrial
cities of Flanders and of northern Italy, where its quality made it very highly
valued.[3]
The crown had a policy of concentrating mercantile trade in London, and the increasingly
monopolised wool and cloth trade by Staplers and Merchant Adventurers of London
certainly would have developed links between Oxford and the capital resulting
in further economic growth for the town.
By 1155 the Gild Merchant was beginning to emerge as the
chief governing body in town[4]and
the oldest of all the trade gilds was the weavers, formed before 1130. The
gilds introduced regulations to protect their own interests and possibly causing
inflation, for example no one was permitted to weave within five leagues of
Oxford. However, everyone was allowed to sell at the weekly market and sellers
of straw, wood, furs, coal, rushes, brooms, breads, poultry, dairy goods, and
pigs all had their allotted places in the middle of the four main streets, in
the area today known as Carfax. An examination of medieval Oxford cannot be
without mentioning the town’s university. The first scholars arrived towards
the end of the twelfth century and the town welcomed the influx of students and
by the early part pf the 13th century there was about 1,500, this obviously
would have led to the growth of the town through an increase in economic
activity, albeit to the benefit of the unscrupulous landlords, an occurrence
that is certain to be taking place in Oxford today. Special commercial courses
were being held in Oxford by the 13th century, perhaps helping to grow an ever
expanding mercantile class and thus also helping to grow the town itself.
The Gild of Merchants and the burgesses took control of the destiny of the town, when
in 1199 King John allowed the citizens to hold Oxford as tenant in chief in
return of a payment of the annual fee-farm rent of £63 0s, 5d. It is important
to note that the growth of towns in England in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries was promoted by social and economic conditions that existed within
the feudal system. Essentially, towns were seen as opportunities for Lords to
exploit and generate revenues in order to pay for their lavish lifestyles. For the lord of the manor, (or in some cases
manors) the town provided profits from trade and rent, but also provided a
place where goods could be bought and sold for cash, with which the peasants
could then spend on taxes and fines to the lord. Oxford was no exception and
King John must have seen and exploited an opportunity to generate revenue in
the form of a fee-farm in 1199, which importantly was not paid via the sheriff
of the town but directly to him.
[1] Medieval
Oxford', A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 4: The City of Oxford
(1979), pp. 3-73. URL:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22803 Date accessed: 04
January 2014.
[2] Pipe
R. 1177 (P.R.S. xxvi), 8, 16, 46, 78, 96, 119, 134-5, 163, 176, 201, 207.
[3] Heather
Swanson, Medieval British Towns
(Anthony Rowe Ltd. Chippenham) 1999 pp. 39
[4]
Mary Jessup, A History of Oxfordshire
(Phillimore & Co, Chichester) 1975 pp. 40
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