Note 345 — Chapter IV · COLLEGIATE AND SOCIAL LIFE AT THE UNIVERSITY

This right was given up in 1856. The legal powers and privileges of the university date from the xiii c. and the reign of Henry III.: Ita tamen quod ad suspensionem vel mutilationem clericorum non procedatis, sed eos alio modo per consilium universitatis Cantabr. castigetis is the clause inserted in 1261 in the matter of a quarrel between students from the north and south parts of the realm. The privileges granted to the university by Edward III. include the power of imprisoning offenders; and even the king’s writ could not be invoked to free them. In the 10th year of Edward’s reign the university chancellor maintained this right both over scholar and townsman. The oath taken by the mayor of Cambridge to maintain the “privileges liberties and customs of the university” dates from the same reign (when the mayor bailiffs and aldermen were obliged to swear to respect the chancellor’s rights). When the riots of 1381 led to a suspension of the town charter its privileges were transferred to the university, till the restoration of the charter in 1832.