5

TNONAS TIORE AT OXIORD

Our picture represènts a detail from

Edward aa\eden\ Oxlord nùr,l. which
decorates lhckwell s ianrous bookshop
(ùroadstreèt, OXI 3BQ). shere the lâlc
R.W. Gibson did inuch ol ih work on
tsâ@n, and then onMore. Ve iirsl lreard
oflhc npôn ils conplelion 119?3).
'nùrâ!
dùough H.lL Baker. the yoùngOxonia.
who has contibùt€d sever.l rorlirr lo

i'iil q.'6 m1 Moreard. H is filst fùlllength article sbouu

mtcn a.{den\ nrural lelicilously,
Brwden, boin 1903 in [$ox, was ihe
aaiiôn'r ofii.irl war artisl during World
War rwo. rle bas produccd watclcolours,
tàpcnries, tlEalre deco(, snipj interio^,
Thc O\lord ûùûl lealures Niclil, Cnau-
cer (and rhe \\ilc ol Battl ), 'Ihonas
Linade ilying a kile {nn the solds
''Collcgc olPhysicianl', John Colet, rvirh
!
a bell laslened onlo tsning rod (he
angles lor 153boys, you renenhèr, sne
nùnberâs in the iinculoùs haul ollishi.
rnd on and on to Lewis Caxoll and be
yond, 5? figules in all. not cou ing
Henry \4lh vives. who appear in tle
bactSrcud ol oùr scrlon.
In rhe lirst drafr, Itlorc.s kiie iles rnc6 bricrsolU I OPI A i tnc arlnt
lelicitoudy shified lron Ronan 1o UtoDian alpnlbet. and he hunanized ' lhe kitcs by
alteri.s rheir initi,lly lozense siùpc. Thèy sèen rcady !o lght on tnc noblc pate ol a
cerlùin Dr. Janes Griiiilhs, wlocvcr hè is. The lùloed liguies on rheû pedeslals ol
ilames are the so-@lled Oxford marty " ol 1555 : Clanncr, Lalincr and Ridley.
The photographs. with pèrnission 10 r€prodùæ then ud @nttxÎual in-
forturion, wcr€ sent us last ÀIay by Mrs. Susan Walls on hehall ofRichârd !lackwell:
10 bolh ofthen nrch thânks, ând so sy all ol ûs. '
G.TI.

:r'.rfil lfffnl-r
 THOMAS MORE AT OXFORDl

More's early biographers2 tell us little about his days as a

student at Oxford. They all agree thât Archbishop Morton, in
whose household he spent a period of his boyhood, was to some
degree responsible for his being placed at Oxford, and Stapleton
adds: ICrrdinaLMorron I senr him ro Oxford. continuing there to
support him r.The year l492seems rhe mosr probable date for his
'going up'4, counting from eârlier dâtes and from the knowledge
that i'a iore plague visited the University"s in 1493. During this
pestilence, 'lhose ofthe Colleges for the most part rerired to thcir
houses in the country"6 and More refers to this migration when
he says "... as an old wife of Culnam did once among the
scholars of Oxford that sojourned with her for death Ii.e. because
of the plaguel"T. His undergraduate days probably lasted less than

L My thanks are due lo Dr. M- Wi.lerbotton ôfwor@ster Colkg€. Oxfoid,

who @de sone ueful suggestions
For soDc suræs se , R;tl. Gibso^, A helituivtt Bibliogruphr, yale, 196l i F. àad
M.P. Stlltuan, Morearu lMatetul fot the s1û, of St Thorus Mote), Los Aneèlres,
196+68.
2. Cf. Rope\ Life of Mote. ed. E.v. Hitchcôck, Lordo! (DETS) 1935 : p.s j
Hùpsneld, Life ôtu| Death ôl Thowt Mote, ed. E,V. Hitch@ck (inlro, by R.W.
Chlnhùt, London (EETS) 1932, 'it p. 12 iSlaplelon, t/trd ràotue Moi (it Ttec thonoa
Douy, 1588:pp. 11-12 i Ro.B^','lhe Ltfe ol Sy thôNr Mole, ed. E,V. Hitch@ck
& lE. Hallôrt, London (EI-jTS) 1950, pÈ 21, 93 ; CreecrèMol,Sit Thotut Mùe lbt
r}'lr4l, (1630) s@iar Pres lâ6in, 19?1 : pp- 2tr21. &rlyspeuins has been modern.
3. "Cardi@lis Modonus .., eun .-, Oxonii âliquo tenp.re alun , SÎâpleron,
op. cû. pp. 13.14. Englisn rrans, by ?.E. Hallett {ed. E,t. Reynoldt Londor. 1966 :

4, Cl F, SuuivÂn, Tr.t, LVII (1958). p. t51, 1he date rests or scholârly

conjec!ùre"i cL al5o Xt /e/d III (C.\x. 2) .d. R.S, Sylvesler, Yâie, 1963 : p. lsvi No
n lp is to be hâd from the Univ€rsity Regisier as rhe reGvant yeâ^ hâve b.en lost (Fe
Rqictq of the UntudtiIy ol Orfôtd, êd, C.W. loâse, Oxford, 1885 : VoL l, p.L)
5. A. wood, tarory ... of oxfod (ed. 1792) pp. 6sS51. cf. c.M. N@le,
bodowir€ from Wood, in a MS, iD ihe Bodtcian Library (MS. Top Oxon, c 251) 191? :
"F!on the legitning of Alnl lill June 24 Oxlord wâs visiled wnh'a sore plâgue',
Mary cletts and laics died, M.mbe( ol the @IôEes nostly retired to th€ir hoùses in
the country : for €xample Mâgdâten nen wcnt 1o Brâckley, Oriello SlBarlholonew's i
ùut Menon wenl to hùp instead of Cuxhan, tb€û uual phc€, ' He aho Éfe4 to More
beine in Oxlord cns 1492", rrrd
6, A, Wood, ioa cit
'1. The cohlulolion of 1'rnd4re r ,4rrM. (c.w. 8) ed. schtrstù, Manus, LE
erdi. SclFeck ; Yak, I9?3 | Book iv, p, 477. Fo. Culnam (Culhânl) ee nole in Yal€
ed., p. 1599. Mot is hee ùndoubl€dly refcrri.g to his own expericnce,
 HOWARD BAKER

two years8, and he was removed from the university by his father
who wished him to follow in his own footsteps and study law
rt New lnn. This. then. brirgs us ro 14q4. He was certainly nor
r student at Oxford when Erâsmus spenr a few weeks there in
r499e .

More would be about fourteen years old when Morron

"caused this youth to be sent to Oxford" ('Ro. Ba.') and, accord,
ing to Cresacre More, "placed him in C:nrerbury College, now
called Christ Church'r0.-ln 1652 rhere appeared â biogiaphyrr
by John Hoddesdon which repeats Cresacie More on Canterbury
College, being entirely drawn from C.resacre and from Stapleton,
The three great modern biographers, whilst acknowledging the
existence of other clâimânts, supporr rhe evidence of Cresacre
concerning the collegel2, After its foundation in 1363 and suL
sequent turmoil, Canterbury College settled down as a monastic
institute, dependent upon the Cathedrel Priory of Christ Church,
Canterbury. It comprised a Warden and Fellows, who were monks
of Ch st Church, five secular scholârs, known as .he ?ueri
collegii, a manciple and a cook, while a varying nûmber of
'sojoumers . borh religious and lay. Iodged in rhe college bur were
not members of rhe official foundationl3. Now the college has
disappeared, but its name is preserved in the Canterbury Quad of
Christ Church, which occupies irs sire.
Tradition regards this as More's college. And yet in certain
early University histories another eshblishment is frequently
mentioned in connecrion with More's Oxford days. The earliesr of
these is quite specific, ",., haec sunr preeclara Thomae Mori gestâ,
Oxoniensis quondam alumni .. in âula S. Mâriâe .- educâti"

8. Hârlstield, op ûr, p, 12 | .,. for the short lime of his abode (being ncr

9. For ihe mis@næption cl A . Cayley, Menôns oî Sit thotus Mop, LotÀo ,

1808 : tol, t, p, 16
(cites Jôrtin as hh rcuæ | {,
t. t ottl^, The Lik of hatnus. L@-
don,1758, p. t1). seealso nynote (24).
10, CÉscre More, op. .!r, !.20.
1 t, John goddesdon, fÀa ,totiE xita, London, \652 : p, 3.
Vitd .t
of Btesett thorut Mote, Londo\ ta9l
12, Ct.1.Ê,.Bndgeft, Life ond ,itirings
O 9 ; R.W. Châmt s, ftorus More, Londôa, 7935 : p. 65 ; D.E. Reynoldn flre Fùld
d ,/o", London, 1968 : pp 294,
13. WA. Pdtin. Caatetbut! College. Oxlotd, 1950 : VôL l. p.v, (prei) ;
r(. G.C. Brodrick. A Histùr o! the Unùc6it! o!Oxloù|, Lo^don,188è pp.7Gt,
JMoFI de(^e! rô b. renembeled as rhe jour€ srùdc or canr.lbuly colk8. .
 THOMAS MORE AT OXFORD

{These are rhe f.mous deeds of Thomas More. once a student of

ô*fo.d, .du.rL"d rt St M.r) s Ha l;ra. sr. Mar y s Flall had grown
up on rhe corner lormed by the High Srreet and Shidyerd
Srreerr5. in rhe old Recrory of Sr. \.4a'y Church rwhich is
'
opposite;. when r!e scholan of orlel for,nd qurrren e'.e*here
rhan in rheir o*n colleger6. A larer Oxlord historical srud_y
menrjons Thomâs More as one of Sr. M,ry s Hall's Viri Ckrit'
The famous Oxford antiquarian Anthony à Wood quotes a certain
Miles windsor as sâying "More had his chamber and studied in the
the Hâll of St. Mery the Virgin and constant tradition doth say the
like and twas never reported to the contrary before these two
authors here cited (Tho More [i.e. actually his brother Cresacre]
and J.H. ti.e. John Hoddesdonl) published their respective
books"l8. lt is difficult ro evaluate the testimony of rhis Miles
Windsor. Twyne sryles him "... Anriqure Historiâe ar(ife\ Pe-
rirus ra. bur Wood .ays tOne volume came inro my handsl
wher€in I find many vain and credulous mafters (not all to be
telied upon) .o--itt"d to writing"2o. Cresacre More had the
advantage of being at the centre of the circle of his great-grand-
father's descendants ; Miles Windsor's advantage was direct ex-
perience of the earlier trâdition about St. Mary's Hâli21 The
reasons for Windsot's annoyance are understendable : he presumed
thât if his tradition was sound, then the Canterbury College
rradirion was spurlous. However. rhe aLrernatives, às I hoPe wc
shall see, are not mutuaLly excJusive2l,

14. B.'lsye. Antiqunaù A@d- Oxon, Apolagia, Oxford. 1608 | pp.

15, Cf. C,E. Matl€tt, 14 1ti$o./ of the Univdsilt ol Oxfotd, N ew York, 1923 :
vol l,torrir,, a Dap of academicâl oxford c. 1440. shidyerd Strôel becâne51. Mary
tane,wbich in lurn b€am€ Oriel !âne (cf. M.Iett, p, 261) ; he âdds (p- 425), tith
rcfeienæ to More's bejng âl C.nterbury College. in the reco;ds ôl Cânlerbùry College
in the Châptei Library âl canterbùry I have found no prool .
16. The Hall alwrys nld cloe ties elth Oriel, indeed it laid renl loOrielfor
nost of itr buildings. cf. Mâ[ei, op. .i1. , pp.263.266.
l7 .N , F.d,tun, Aedeniae otu rÈr&-r 1r'oriltd, o xfôrd, 15 65 : p. 5 1-
\8, A, Wood, Ath.Me Oxontenser, London, 1691 : VoL l, p. 31. WÔod
cbiûs his eùrce s Coll€crrleis quibus.ldn ad rcn Hislûi.. & Afth. Perti|enl , aMS.
wnich he desclib.s as penesn€'(i, tpossion')
19, B, Tùyne, op' .t,, !k,2, sect, 6?.
20. A, wood, oF cit, p. 416.
21. when Wood (trr4) tfeÈ to "rme lale âtthos'he mùns wrnels such

2L cl. t. Fost t. Ahltuni oturie sa 15001 4, oxford, l89l_2, III:p

1021, Fosl€r sys Cântelbuy Couege or St, Mary\ glll
 HOWARD BAKER

In his introduction ro Roper's l,i/e Thomas H€erne quores

Wood (v, supra), and adds the following footnote r "l do nor
doubt but Mr. lcresâcre] Iviore had very good Ar.rthority for what
he ailedged. It is probable he had seen some Papers of his creat
Grand-Father to attest the same, Or ifnot so, I suppose he had
his Father's Word for it. lt does noc follow that he [Thomas] wes a
Member of St. Mary Hall because he had a Chamber ând srudied
there, eny more than that several of Christ-Church as well as
Oriel College of the late Years were Members of the same Hall
because thev had chambers and followed thcir studiês there -
T,H. 'rr. lt seems (het l.lorc may hrue had a room rnd srudied at
St. Mary's tlall, but perhaps 'belonged' in some sense to Canterbury
College2a,
What then could More's ielationship be towards chese
two establishmcnts? The'College'and the Ftall differed radically
trom each other. the aula was an academic hall managed by a
Principâl in a hbed house, end epproved by the University from
year to year. 'lhe collegium, on rhe other hand, had a permanent
corporate existence, with a common seal, endowmenrs, a Warden,
and Fellows. Our information abor.rt how the halls of rhe time
operated is scanty2s, yer I think it is possible to suggest, as
Hearne seems partly ro hâve implied, that More officially be-
Ionged to Canterbury, because of his ties wirh Morton, rhe Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, but lived and studied in St, Mary's Hall, It
is worth noring that these rwo sepe-rare insrirurions were only a
stones (hrow ai"y f.o*.r.h o,he', on the same srreer26, Thâ'r a
student could have some kind of connection with both estaL
lishments is exemplilied by the Cardinal Morron Schôlar of 1508,
who was paid a scholarship of twenty shillings, probably by the

23. Gutielni Ropeti vita D. Thotue lloti, cd. tho. H.ahe, t7l6 : p. xrix.
24. Cf. A. C^yby, Ioc a.,' thep is a æitu*d refer.r@ lo More s beiru âl
Si. Mary\ Ha[ h â Lrr€! olWillian Kiry to Swift, Thir is of liltL evid.næ. bur it does
shoe the inJlw!æ of the St. Martt H^ll n dni,oa. lcôretponden.e of Jotuthz|
Swi/r, ed F. Elrnlgron Bell, Lordo!. t9l4).Bur tht also imludes Erasnùs, *ho sas
in f.ct aso.iâr€d wilb St, M.ryl Collcge Gic), a differ.nr estsblùnDetrr, Bû1 sce A.
\N@d, His,ot, and Aatiquities oI the Co|eses dd lhlL elc, Oxford, 1786 : pp. 67G
't5.
25. For r brief oltline. ct A.Noôd,Suner ol theAathuitiesofthe Aù ol
Otlùd etc., Oxfotd, t!a9, Vot | : p. 662-
?6, Cf. ny not. (15), li cffcct, rh.y *gc as clo* as arc now rhc b.ct of
Chrisr Cnùrch (Cznr.rbùy Quad) .nd thai parl of Oricl on lhe HEh Slrcet iwhich
1O THOMAS MORE AT OXFORD

Warden of Canterbury College, rhough he lodged elsewhere in a

most interesting p1ace. The entry for this payment reads thus:
"Soluciones scholasticorum domini cardinalis .., anno regis Henrici
seprimi vicesimo tercio.'ln primis solutum... (ltem) domino
Glower in aula sancte Marie moranti - XX s." (Payments to the
Lord Cardinal's scholars, twenty-thitd year of Henry VII's reign
Payed to ... Master Glower, lodging in Sr. Mâry's Hâll 20
shillings)27. Tlis scholarship was nor founded until afrer Morton's
deâth (in 1500), but it does show the sort of dual rclationship
thar was possible, and thus gives us an example perhaps not
unlike Morc's own câse.
This is not the place to discuss the details of More's
Oxford28, but it is intcresting to see how Oxford life affected him.
Mosr rnsrrurrire in rhir rcq:rd is his lerre- of l5l8 ro Oxford
Un,vcrsiry2'. He says rhcre rn"r Lc is lola fr:e-d ofrhe Univeniry
and would not wish to be regarded as ungrateful ; thar the chief
reâson men go up to Oxford is for a humanistic educarion ; rhâr
Oxford has always outshone Cambridge and rhat rhe college
endowments are unrivalled by any other universiry ourside the
kingdom. In his 1515 letter to Matrin Dorpæ, he hâd said rhâr he
sâw no reason why he should notsend his own children to Oxford
and Cambridge.
More felt the pinch ofpoverty at Oxford3r, and lacer he was
ro say that il hl f"mily's income would nor srrerrh ro \ew lnn
fa'e. rhen we wi l the ncxr year after fall ro Orford farc, where
many gave and ancient fathers be continually conversanc ; which
if our power stretch not to mainrain, then may we, like poor
scholars of Oxford, go a-begging with our bags and wallets;and
:ing Salue Regina at rich men s doon. where for pity some good
folks wirl give us t\eb mercifLrl .harity rnd s" kiep comiany
"titi
be meiry rogerher... lr. The.e i, perh"p,,t.o,,.'rnini.."n.!
"nd
27. W. A. ?anlin, op .it, y.t
3, p. 243 (MS. rel: C!rt, Ant. O.ll8_b,)
28. Il is dorc briely and brilliândy by R.w, Chlnb€B, op. cn-, pp.3A6-a1.
For m interesiing, if fâncifùI, ac@um, sæ l'. Seebohn, fl,e Otlotd R.Iomts, LoÈ

29- Abingdon, 29tn March. Cl. Sekcte.l Leûùs (rans,) ed. D.F. Rogers, Yale,
1961, p, 94ll
30. Bruges, 2l st o ciober.1rd,, p. 6ll
31. The examplcs re
frâny and famous r particùlarly sftiking is Sl.pleton,
op .it, p. 12 "... r't nec d r€fici€ndos attiios @læos , nni a patlc pcteret, pecùriam
haberef (.,, he had no noneyeven roger hit boois mcndcd unles he asked his lather for
it, - t6ns. tttlett. p, 3),
32.'Ro. B^.,op. cit., p, l4.lwyne,op.û, p.331;sysrlBt in latcr tif€ More
hand€d over all gifîs
tude to him rô rhc poo! schol.rs ofoxford ("Fecunias... qusilje
siadnelNiscilibus,ad l€vandan schobriun inopi!4 Oxoni!n transnitiendls cûravif').
 HOWARD BAKER 1l

of the ascetic days at Oxford in the Utopia, "For it is their

cûstom thât pubiic lectures are daily delivered in the hours
before daybreak. Attendance is compulsory only for those who
have been specially chosen to devote themselves to learning"33,
for in winter ât oxford lectures began at about six in the morn'
ing34. The severity of More's father35, the austerities of oxford,
and More's industrious application left their mark. Stapleton
quotes Horace, "Quo semel enim est imbuta recens senabit
odorem / testâ diu" (For a vase which is once impregnated with
perfume when it is new, will rerain the scent long.)36

Il orce t er
s Co llege, o xford. Howard BAKER.

33. "Solenne est enjm publi@s cotjdie lecliones hlberi. anteludris horis,
quibus ùt int€rsirt, ù dùmlaÆt adÉuntur. qui ad ùteras nonimtim seledi sùni'
Lrroptd (C.W 4) ed. D, Sudz&J,H. Hexter, YâIe,1965 : p. 12&9.
34. Cf. H, Rashdal,lre Urireditie, of Eurcpe in the Middle Ases, Oxfôd,
1916, Vol. 3 : p. 401. For studies ând sludent lfe generally, ct Rashdall, pr$iu
35- Stâpleioq ,ra .tr "Sic enin [i.e. becaùe of his fath€r], inqun. facrur
esl vt nuli ne v'tio .ut voluptâti dâre, vl hôras mels nôxiis &vanis lusibusnoninpeF
deren. vt quod e$et luxus ret iuxuria nesciren, vt pe.ùnia nal€ yri non addisei€n.
deniqùe vt dl nisi slu.lir nea amarem & 6gitâren' (Thus it one 1o pa$ , 1r would
sy - th.l I indulged in no !iæ or vain pl€asurc, that I did not spend ûy line i!
dangerous or jdte pasiimes. tlot I did no1 aôn know lhe neaning of extravagatræ and
iùury. that I did not lear! 10 put noney to evil ùss, thât, in fine , thal I had ro love or
eren thought, ol anything beyônd ny srudies - trans, Hallett, p,3).
36. Stapletôn, op. cit, p,13. quotin8 Hohce,€p& lI,69.?0 (Fns. Hâllett, p. 3).

aÔaaaoaoaoaoæaoaoaoaoaoaf aoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoraoaoatraôlnrcaoaoa

Ne nedia quiden prsiB remnet vacù (qundo cbllta tan tugni vendiu),
habes hic, optime lector, aùqu verba ex ùtern desumpra quibus Oxoniensis Aedenia
Crarias egit Thom Moro in patronùn (ltigh Steward) ascito :

QUIS ENIM NON SUMME TTTARETUR TALEM SE HABERE TATRONUM. QUI

EAM HABET IN ABSOLUtrNDIS CONFICIENDISQUF, CAUSIS, TT]M PUBLICIS,
TUM PRIUATIS. DDXTERITATEM QUAM NEMINEM TOT SECULIS ANTEA
ASSECUTUM ESSE NON DUBITAMUS? TANTA EST TUA SINGULARIS !RU-
DDNTIA, SOLERTIA \ÀIICA, FERTILISSIMA SIMULET !'BERRIMA SAGACITAS,
TAM TORRENS F,T EXUBERANS FACTNDIA, QUIEUS QUI trST PREDITUS
QUID NON POTEST ILLUSTRARE, QUID NON ILLUSTRIBUS HISCE (yT
CAETI]RAS SILEAMUS] VIRTUTBUS DECORART], QUTD TAND'M NON
ASSEQUI, QUOD HOMINI FAS SIT OPTARE?
(Roqes, p.308119-24)_