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Oxford
University Archives
Holdings
Earliest
document in the Archives
The earliest document in the University Archives is the award, dated
1214, of the Papal Legate which settled a dispute between the University
and the town.
This dispute had begun in 1209 with the hanging of two clerks for the
alleged murder of a woman and had been followed by the migration of most of
the scholars. The award, the first of many such adjudications which almost
invariably settled local differences in the University's favour, commanded
the town to feast a hundred poor scholars annually and provided for the
appointment of a Chancellor, the first reference to such an officer.
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