THE
P RTAL
November 2012
Page 13
Oxford
by Harry Schnitker
For any member of the Ordinariate, Oxford
immediately conjures up the name of Blessed
John Henry Newman, the Oxford Movement and,
of course, the University. Yet all three are relative
newcomers to the city when it comes to the Faith.
Indeed, the roots of the Church are as deep as that
of Oxford itself, indeed, deeper.
911 AD
The burgh was founded just before 911 AD It
formed part of the wider movement
to create urban centres to shore-up
the gradual expansion of Wessex
rule over former Viking regions.
The
settlement
confirmed
Oxford’s importance. Sixty years
earlier, a wooden bridge had
been built across the river which
created a semi-urban environment.
However, it was a religious act
that created the first permanent
settlement in Oxford, and this
allows us to introduce our Anglo-
Saxon saint.
then sought to marry her, but failed
dismally, indeed, is killed in the
process. (In reality, the king was
assassinated by his own bodyguard,
miles from Oxford).
St Frideswide remained as abbess
until her death in 727, when her
shrine became a place of pilgrimage
for those seeking her intercession.
synonymous with
Oxford
I would not argue that there
was no saintly figure in Oxford in
this period, and there is no doubt
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
that the nunnery existed until its
Our story takes us back to the
destruction in 1009. We simply
seventh century, a period when the
do not know anything about her,
political constitution of Oxfordshire was complex. It though, except that those coming to pray at her shrine
recognised the rule of the king of Mercia, but formed received Divine gifts. That is enough, of course.
part of a shadowy local ‘kingdom’, probably little more
than an extended war band. This band is mentioned a
For centuries, St Frideswide became synonymous
few times in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, and its king with Oxford. A priory carrying her name existed
is named as Dida.
from 1122 until the suppression in the 1520s, when
it was transformed into Christ Church College. This
St Frideswide
is appropriate, as the Saint was declared patron of the
We are in rather legendary territory here, but can be University in 1440.
fairly certain that Dida existed and carried out constant
frontier battles with neighbouring Wessex. However, deliberately destroyed
he became most famous as the father of St Frideswide
Of course, the Reformation significantly interrupted
or Frituswith, and at this point myth and history the devotion to the saint, and her relics were
become inextricably intertwined. Our sources are late, deliberately destroyed. These days, her feast days are
with the eleventh-century William of Malmesbury the important once again, for Catholics and Anglicans
nearest in date.
alike. It is the frequent disruption of the cult, coupled
with its apparent endless ability to revive, that makes
place of pilgrimage
the devotion to St Frideswide particularly interesting.
When Dida’s wife died, St Frideswide persuaded her It provides evidence for the continuity amidst
father to found a monastery for her soul, of which she discontinuity of Faith, a paradox that also marks the
then became the abbess. King Athelbald of Mercia Ordinariate.