Historians find out who made Oxford the most dangerous city in medieval England 10:27

Oxford was determined to be the most dangerous city in 14th century England, with the highest murder rate due to Oxford University students. This conclusion was reached by experts from the University of Cambridge (CU). reported at a British university.

British scientists have involved Oxford in the Medieval Murder Maps project, a digital resource for crime scene mapping based on research dating back 700 years. They found that the educational center of medieval England was 4-5 times higher than London at the same time in the number of murders per capita and 50 times higher than modern English cities for the same indicator. Moreover, in the vast majority of cases, students were both guilty (75%) and victims (72%).

According to Professor Manuel Eisner, director of the Cambridge Institute of Criminology, the riots on the streets of medieval Oxford were due to the prevailing situation at the time.

“The Oxford students were all male and aged between 14 and 21. “These were young people who were freed from the strict control of the family, community or guild and thrown into an environment full of weapons and wide access to alcohol and sex services,” the scientist said.

In addition, many students were members of regional fraternities, which became an additional source of conflict within the student community.

Researchers stated that most of the murders occurred due to family disputes and fights in the streets and taverns. The reason for this may be an argument with a woman, a violation of honor, or even urination in a public place.

In some cases, the victims were bystanders who decided to intervene in the conflict. However, students attacked not only each other but also state officials.
So on the night of 1324, a gang of young scholars broke into the house of Richard Overhe, the guardian of the “royal peace” (that is, the one responsible for maintaining law and order) and took the life of the owner with swords and other weapons.

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