1261 Town-gown riots

A brawl broke out between a northern and a southern student. This escalated to a general disturbance with townspeople joining in. As a result University property and records were damaged and scholars injured.

Rashdall notes that scholars at Oxford up to 1274 were divided into "nations", North and South, and that faction fights were not uncommon. A similar division is likely to have been in effect in Cambridge.

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