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Lady Oxford and her feminist past
I've been meaning for ages to pen a bit about Oxford and her gorgeous history, ever since I started playing tourist in my new home town last summer. Two short stories about Oxford women will have to suffice. This is Oxford cathedral - the smallest cathedral in Britain. The patron saint of Oxford is St Frideswide, an 8th century princess who, according to legend, secured a grant of land from her father so that she could found a priory here.
A neighbouring lord, hearing of her beauty and caring not at all for her piety, decided after her father's death that he would make her his wife. According to legend, as his soldiers approached the fortified trading town of Oxenforde, they were all struck blind, as Frideswide prayed for deliverance. Historians differ on the legend from that point. One version says as each man, including the lord, gave up the chase, their sight was miraculously restored. In other versions, all the soldiers recovered their sight, but the unrepentent lord died lonely and sightless. This is her tomb. The stained glass window behind it tells her story. There's a legend that says any king of England who sets foot in Oxford will suffer a tragic fate - certainly things didn't bode well for Charles I, who was based here during the 17th century civil war (he was later beheaded for his trouble).
England's other civil war, in the 12th century, also has roots here. Mathilda, daughter of Henry I and grandaughter of William the Conqueror took refuge in Oxford castle at the end of her 10 year struggle against her cousin, Stephen of Blois. He surrounded the town in December - but the canny Mathilda and her escorts, cloaked in white, slipped across the frozen Thames like ghosts and escaped to her waiting kin. She later hammered out a deal that gave the crown to Stephen, but ensured her son, Henry, would take the throne on his death. If you tour Oxford castle (pix above and below) you can stand in the very room that was her base, in this square tower....
A neighbouring lord, hearing of her beauty and caring not at all for her piety, decided after her father's death that he would make her his wife. According to legend, as his soldiers approached the fortified trading town of Oxenforde, they were all struck blind, as Frideswide prayed for deliverance. Historians differ on the legend from that point. One version says as each man, including the lord, gave up the chase, their sight was miraculously restored. In other versions, all the soldiers recovered their sight, but the unrepentent lord died lonely and sightless. This is her tomb. The stained glass window behind it tells her story. There's a legend that says any king of England who sets foot in Oxford will suffer a tragic fate - certainly things didn't bode well for Charles I, who was based here during the 17th century civil war (he was later beheaded for his trouble).
England's other civil war, in the 12th century, also has roots here. Mathilda, daughter of Henry I and grandaughter of William the Conqueror took refuge in Oxford castle at the end of her 10 year struggle against her cousin, Stephen of Blois. He surrounded the town in December - but the canny Mathilda and her escorts, cloaked in white, slipped across the frozen Thames like ghosts and escaped to her waiting kin. She later hammered out a deal that gave the crown to Stephen, but ensured her son, Henry, would take the throne on his death. If you tour Oxford castle (pix above and below) you can stand in the very room that was her base, in this square tower....
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