Century after century, the University of Oxford maintained an unusual tradition. New Masters of Arts had to swear an oath: never to reconcile with Henry Symeonis. The oath remained in the university’s statutes, without mentioning who Symeonis was or what he had done.
This lasted up until 1827, when the statute was already 500 years old and apparently, everyone forgot how this all started. So, what actually happened?
A Deadly Dispute
This all started in the 13th century. In 1242, violence erupted in Oxford. Henry Symeonis and other townspeople were involved and apparently, murdered a University student. King Henry III fined Symeonis and his accomplices but did not jail him. Instead, they were all ordered to leave Oxford and could not return until the king left the country.
Symeonis was a wealthy man. His father, also named Henry, was a wealthy Oxford resident. The family held considerable property in the area. He also supported the king financially, which is probably how he dodged prison in the first place.
We don’t know what they did but some years later, in 1264, they managed to change the king’s mind.
The king pardoned Henry Symeonis for the murder and ordered the University to allow him to return without repercussion. Symeonis was to live in Oxford peacefully, provided he behaved well. The king also demanded that the University not leave Oxford in protest.
“If it should appear . . . that the chancellor and university would be content that Henry son of Henry Simeonis . . . would return to Oxford and stay there, so that the university should not retire from the said town on account of his staying there, then they should permit him to return,” the letters patent stated.
Oxford University was pissed.
A grudge for the ages
Oxford University did not welcome this royal decree and maintained its hostility towards Symeonis. They couldn’t really do all that much, however. The king had spoken.
But they pledged to continue maintaining hostility towards Symeonis. No one in the university was to befriend Symeonis or engage with him. They had to vow to blacklist him.
The University enshrined its grudge in its statutes. For centuries, Oxford graduates swore never to reconcile with him. Literally. Graduate after graduate had to go through this oath. Oxford even apparently forgot who Simeonis was by the 17th century but the oath was still in place.
“Master, you shall swear that you will never consent to the reconciliation of Henry Simeon, nor will you assume again the status of Bachelor,” the oath went (in Latin).
Symeonis’ identity was rediscovered in 1912, after the oath was abolished in 1827. But the story is murky.
The archivist Brian Twyne wrote in his 1608 book Antiquitatis Academiae Oxon Apologia that Henry Symeonis was a Regent in Arts at Oxford. Twyne claimed Symeonis forged his qualifications to enroll in a foreign monastery, but he gives no source whatsoever for this. In the 17th century, antiquary Anthony Wood wrote that the removal of the oath was proposed and rejected.
They had probably already forgotten what the oath even meant. In fact, even now, Oxford librarians are arguing what the oath was about.
Our best guesses on Symeonis
Reginald Lane Poole, Keeper of the University Archives, is the one who identified Henry Symeonis as the son of a wealthy Oxford townsman. Poole notes that in 1264, many Oxford scholars left Oxford, and King Henry also temporarily suspended the operation of the university. He suggested the University’s departure from Oxford in 1264 was linked to the pardon and Symeonis’ return to Oxford. He thought it triggered town-gown violence.
However, the timeline doesn’t support this. The king pardoned Symeonis after the University was told to leave.
Alice Millea, an archivist and records manager, offers a different interpretation. In 2023, she suggested the University left Oxford because it was a center of military operations. This occurred during the Second Barons’ War. She believes Symeonis bought the king’s pardon. She adds that since the King was imprisoned later that year, the Oxford scholars probably took advantage of this and proclaimed their grudge against Symeonis.
This proclamation was more extreme than probably anyone would have guessed. It also had the unexpected side effect of preserving Symeonis’ name.
“The case of Henry Symeonis is a very strange example of the longevity of some University customs, long after they’ve lost relevance or meaning. The persistence of tradition in the University is famous, but this appears to have been an extreme example of using tradition to hold a very, very long grudge. By naming Henry Symeonis in its statutes as a figure of institutional hatred for centuries, it actually resulted in prolonging his celebrity, immortalising a man whom it had considered a villain.”
This story serves as a reminder. Some traditions can outlive their original purpose. They can persist, even when their meaning is lost.
Oh, and the other moral of the story is: don’t piss off Oxford University. They’re really good at holding grudges.
