OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD BY THE HON. G. C. BRODRICK, D.C.L. WARDEN OF MERTON COLLEGE LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1886 All rights reserved PREFACE. THE present volume is an attempt to present in a succinct form the history of an University which, however uncertain its origin, is among the oldest institutions in Europe. The result of such a task must needs fall very far short of perfection, and it is probably a just appreciation of its difficulties which has deterred abler historians from undertaking it. The voluminous remains of Anthony Wood contain a mine of precious records, but they are singularly ill-arranged, and his narrative breaks off long before the end of the seventeenth century. The great monograph of Father Denifle, now in course of publication, on the early history of European Universities, promises to be an exhaustive discussion of its subject; but its enormous bulk and unwieldy construction will repel most English readers, while it deals only with the rudimentary development of academical 301650 |