Henry Symeonis
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{{Short description|Englishman; target of a University of Oxford grudge}} |
{{Short description|Englishman; target of a University of Oxford grudge}} |
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{{Use British English|date=January 2025}} |
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'''Henry Symeonis''' ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1225–1264) |
'''Henry Symeonis''' ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1225–1264) was a wealthy Englishman from [[Oxford]] who became the target of a {{circa}} 550-year-long grudge at the [[University of Oxford]]. Until 1827, Oxford graduates had to swear an oath never to be reconciled with Henry Symeonis despite Oxford apparently having forgotten by the 17th century who he was or what he did. His identity was only rediscovered in 1912. |
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== Biography == |
== Biography == |
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[[File:Henry Symeonis as a witness.jpg|thumb|Henry Symeonis appears as a witness of a boundary wall grant in 1243.]] |
[[File:Henry Symeonis as a witness.jpg|thumb|Henry Symeonis appears as a witness of a boundary wall grant in 1243.]] |
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Henry was the son of Henry, son of Symeon, from whom the [[patronymic]] surname is derived. Symeon was a witness to royal charters and possibly one of the [[Reeve (England)|reeves]] of Oxford during the reign of King [[John, King of England|John]]. Symeon's son, Henry, was one of the richest men in early 13th-century Oxford. Henry, son of Henry and grandson of Symeon, first appears in 1225. He, too, was rich and owned multiple properties in the city. |
Henry was the son of Henry, son of Symeon, from whom the [[patronymic]] surname is derived. Symeon was a witness to royal charters and possibly one of the [[Reeve (England)|reeves]] of Oxford during the reign of King [[John, King of England|John]].>{{cite journal | last=Poole | first=Reginald L.|author-link=Reginald Lane Poole | title=Henry Symeonis | journal=The English Historical Review | publisher=Oxford University Press | volume=27 | issue=107 | year=1912 | issn=0013-8266 | jstor=550611 | pages=516–517 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/550611 | access-date=13 January 2025}}> Symeon's son, Henry, was one of the richest men in early 13th-century Oxford.>{{cite web |first=Alice|last=Millea| title=The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis | website=Archives and Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library | date=13 December 2023 | url=https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2023/12/13/the-persistence-of-tradition-the-curious-case-of-henry-symeonis/ | ref={{sfnref|Archives and Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library|2023}} | access-date=13 January 2025}}> Henry, son of Henry and grandson of Symeon, first appears in 1225. He, too, was rich and owned multiple properties in the city. |
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Henry Symeonis was among the men who, on 22 May 1242, were fined £80 and ordered to leave Oxford by King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] for murdering an Oxford scholar. They were allowed to stay in [[Northampton]] or further north, but were not to approach Oxford until the King returned from [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]]. The King returned to England later that year and Henry Symeonis was apparently in Oxford in early 1243. He sold an island to the King, who in 1245 granted it to the [[Order of Friars Minor]]. |
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=== The 1242 murder and banishment === |
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On 22 May 1242, Henry Symeonis and Robert Oweyn, along with other Oxford townsmen, made fine with King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] for £80 in respite of the outlawry which should have been proclaimed against them ''pro morte scolarium Oxoni'' (for the death of an Oxford scholar). They were allowed to stay in [[Northampton]] or further north, but were not to approach Oxford until the King returned from [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]]. |
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In 1264, many Oxford scholars left Oxford, and King Henry also temporarily suspended the operation of the university on 12 March 1264. On 25 March 1264, King Henry issued [[letters patent]] declaring that Henry Symeonis had been forgiven and ordering the university to let him live in Oxford in peace so long as he should show good behaviour. Oxford archivists give differing interpretations of this episode. [[Reginald Lane Poole]] argued in the early 20th century that the exodus of the scholars from Oxford was in protest over Henry Symeonis's return. But archive and records manager Alice Millea noted in 2023 that Henry Symeonis had returned years earlier. According to Millea, King Henry suspended the university because Oxford had become the centre of military operations during the [[Second Barons' War]]. Millea concludes that Henry Symeonis bought the King's pardon, but later that year the King [[Battle of Lewes|was imprisoned]] as part of his ongoing conflict with the barons, and the Oxford scholars ignored his order to be reconciled. |
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=== The 1264 pardon and university conflict === |
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In 1264, amid the [[Second Barons' War]], King Henry III suspended the operation of the university on 12 March 1264, citing his inability to protect the masters and scholars in Oxford, which he was making the centre of his military operations. Many scholars left, with a large number migrating to Northampton, where a rival university had been established in 1261. |
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On 25 March 1264, the King issued [[letters patent]] pardoning Henry Symeonis for the murder that had taken place 22 years earlier, at the instance of Nicholas de Yatingden. The pardon explicitly ordered the university to allow Symeonis to return to Oxford to live in peace, provided he was of good behaviour, and demanded that the university not leave Oxford in protest. However, the university refused to comply with the King's order and chose to ignore the pardon, resuming its hostility towards Symeonis. |
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The interpretation of these events has been debated. In 1912, Reginald Lane Poole argued that the exodus of scholars from Oxford was a protest over Symeonis's impending return. However, Alice Millea noted in 2023 that Symeonis had returned to Oxford years earlier, and that the King's suspension of the university was due to military operations during the Second Barons' War. She concludes that Symeonis likely bought the King's pardon, which the university simply ignored after the King's later imprisonment at the [[Battle of Lewes]]. |
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== Oath == |
== Oath == |
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The hostility towards Henry Symeonis entered the statutes of the University of Oxford. Until 1827, all [[Bachelors of Arts]] (BAs) who sought to become [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|Masters of Arts]] had to swear an oath never to be reconciled with Henry Symeonis. The statutes did not explain who Henry Symeonis was or what he had done. The archivist [[Brian Twyne]] wrote in his 1608 book ''Antiquitatis Academiae Oxon Apologia'' that Henry Symeonis was a Regent in Arts who [[academic dishonesty|falsely claimed]] to be a BA in order to enroll in a foreign monastery, but Twyne did not cite any sources. |
The hostility towards Henry Symeonis entered the statutes of the University of Oxford. Until 1827, all [[Bachelors of Arts]] (BAs) who sought to become [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|Masters of Arts]] had to swear an oath never to be reconciled with Henry Symeonis. The statutes did not explain who Henry Symeonis was or what he had done. The archivist [[Brian Twyne]] wrote in his 1608 book ''Antiquitatis Academiae Oxon Apologia'' that Henry Symeonis was a Regent in Arts who [[academic dishonesty|falsely claimed]] to be a BA in order to enroll in a foreign monastery, but Twyne did not cite any sources. |
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In the 17th century, antiquary [[Anthony Wood (antiquary)|Anthony Wood]] reported that the removal of the oath referring to Henry Symeonis was proposed and rejected, for reasons he does not mention, during the University of Oxford's review of the statutes in 1651–52. Alice Millea of Oxford's [[Bodleian Library]] wrote in 2023 that she presumes that by that time the oath's origin and meaning had already been forgotten, replaced by legends and myths. |
In the 17th century, antiquary [[Anthony Wood (antiquary)|Anthony Wood]] reported that the removal of the oath referring to Henry Symeonis was proposed and rejected, for reasons he does not mention, during the University of Oxford's review of the statutes in 1651–52. Alice Millea of Oxford's [[Bodleian Library]] wrote in 2023 that she presumes that by that time the oath's origin and meaning had already been forgotten, replaced by legends and myths. The oath was finally abolished in February 1827, possibly "because nobody knew exactly what they were abolishing".> The English bishop [[Christopher Wordsworth]], who called the oath "quaintly personal", wrote in 1874: "It is thought that the culprit had, to gain some end, dissembled his degree in king [[John of England|John]]'s reign."{{cite book | last=Wordsworth | first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Wordsworth | title=Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century | publisher=Cambridge, Deighton, Bell, and Co.|location=Cambridge | year=1874 | isbn=978-1-108-00052-9 | doi=10.1017/cbo9780511692840 | doi-access=free | url=https://archive.org/details/sociallifeatengl00wordrich/page/244/mode/2up?q=quaintly| access-date=14 January 2025 | page=245}}> |
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The oath was finally abolished in February 1827, during a major review of the university's statutes. The records of the decision are frustratingly brief and unenlightening. Millea suggests that it is possible "nobody knew exactly what they were abolishing." The English bishop [[Christopher Wordsworth]], who called the oath "quaintly personal", wrote in 1874: "It is thought that the culprit had, to gain some end, dissembled his degree in king [[John of England|John]]'s reign." |
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Millea calls the university's {{c.|550}}-year-long grudge against Henry Symeonis "a very strange example of the longevity of some University customs, long after they've lost relevance or meaning". It has also been cited as an example of why ancient rules should be critically reviewed, and not simply continued because they exist.Underhill, Kevin, "[https://www.loweringthebar.net/2024/01/i-hereby-swear-to-hate-henry-symeonis.html 'I Hereby Swear to Hate Henry Symeonis, Whoever That Is.']" ''Lowering the Bar'', January 5, 2024; accessed 2025.02.16. Details about the identity of Henry Symeonis were not rediscovered until 1912 by Oxford's [[keeper of the archives]], [[Reginald Lane Poole]] |
Millea calls the university's {{c.|550}}-year-long grudge against Henry Symeonis "a very strange example of the longevity of some University customs, long after they've lost relevance or meaning". It has also been cited as an example of why ancient rules should be critically reviewed, and not simply continued because they exist.Underhill, Kevin, "[https://www.loweringthebar.net/2024/01/i-hereby-swear-to-hate-henry-symeonis.html 'I Hereby Swear to Hate Henry Symeonis, Whoever That Is.']" ''Lowering the Bar'', January 5, 2024; accessed 2025.02.16. Details about the identity of Henry Symeonis were not rediscovered until 1912 by Oxford's [[keeper of the archives]], [[Reginald Lane Poole]]. |
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== References == |
== References == |
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