Note 7 — Chapter IX

The University of Cambridge is believed to have been founded in consequence of a migration from Oxford in 1209. The relative space assigned to Oxford, as the typical English University of the Middle Ages, in the present work, may be justified by some words of Mr. Blakiston: "The University of Cambridge, occupying a less central and more unhealthy situation, and having less powerful protectors, did not compete in popularity and privileges with the older society before the sixteenth century. It was not even formally recognized till it received the licence of Pope John XXII. in 1318.... Oxford schools were renowned as a 'staple product' at a time when Cambridge was famous only for eels."