History of Oxford

19th-century view of the High Street in Oxford.

The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell, the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period, and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford.^[1]

The University rose to dominate the town entirely, and by the middle of the 14th century the history of the town was effectively no more than a footnote to the history of the university. A heavily ecclesiastical town, Oxford was greatly affected by the changes of the English Reformation, emerging as the seat of a bishopric and a full-fledged city. During the English Civil War, Oxford housed the court of Charles I.

The city began to grow industrially during the 19th century, and had an industrial boom in the early 20th century, with major printing and car-manufacturing industries. These declined, along with other British heavy industry, in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving behind a city which had developed far beyond the university town of the past.^[2]

See also

• Oxford Parliament (1258)
• St Scholastica Day riot (1355)
• Oxford Martyrs (1555)
• Oxford Parliament (1644)
• Siege of Oxford (1644–6)
• Oxford Parliament (1681)
• Timeline of Oxford

References

Bibliography

Published in the 19th century

• George Alexander Cooke (1800), "Oxford", Topographical and statistical description of the county of Oxford, London: Printed for C. Cooke 
• J.N. Brewer (1813), "Oxford", Beauties of England and Wales, 12 (2), London: J. Harris 
• New Pocket Companion for Oxford, Oxford: Printed for J. Cooke, 1814, OCLC 43132323 
• "Oxford", Great Western Railway Guide, London: James Wyld, 1839, OCLC 12922212 
• Oxford University and city guide, on a new plan, Oxford: Henry Slatter, 1841 
• "Oxford", Black's Picturesque Tourist and Road-book of England and Wales (3rd ed.), Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1853 
• Theodore Alois Buckley (1862), "Oxford", Great Cities of the Middle Ages (2nd ed.), London: Routledge, Warne, & Routledge 
• James J. Moore (1878), Historical handbook and guide to Oxford (2nd ed.), Oxford: T. Shrimpton and Son 
• Edward C. Alden (1890), Alden's Oxford Guide (16th ed.), Oxford: Alden & Co., OCLC 10923077 
• "Oxford", Great Britain (4th ed.), Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1897, OCLC 6430424 
• Charles Gross (1897). "Oxford". Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co. 
• Visitor's guide to Oxford, Oxford: Parker & Co., 1897, OCLC 13779765 

Published in the 20th century

• Andrew Lang (1906), Oxford, Boston: Cornhill Publishing Co. 
• Cecil Headlam (1907), The story of Oxford, London: Dent & Co. 
• Rhoda Murray (1912), The making of Oxford, Oxford: B.H. Blackwell 
• Edward Godfrey Cox (1949). "Cambridge and Oxford". Reference Guide to the Literature of Travel. 3: Great Britain. Seattle: University of Washington – via Hathi Trust. 
• W. N. Hargreaves-Mawdsley (1973), Oxford in the Age of John Locke, Centers of Civilization Series, USA: University of Oklahoma Press, OL 5284855M 
• Hibbert, Christopher, ed. (1988). The Encyclopaedia of Oxford. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-39917-X. 

Published in the 21st century

• Daniel A. Bell; Avner de-Shalit (2011), "Oxford", Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691151441 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Oxford.

• A Brief History of Oxford
• The Oxford Guide: Category History