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5*4 MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
This suspendium dericorum had historic conseq uences, for some of
the masters, who with their scholars found accommodation in
other towns, moved to Cambridge and, deciding to stay there,
originated a second English university. Cambridge, a small
town of no great consequence at this period, might seem to
have little to offer a settlement of clerks. The Austin canons
there had left their house a century earlier and moved to a
larger
site at BarnwelL But the relatively large population of East
Anglia may sufficiently explain the choice oftowns like Canv
bridge, and, later, Stamford, by migrant masters.
Both universities experienced severe troubles, sometimes due
to bitter
disputes with townspeople over rents and the
price and
quality of victuals, sometimes to internal disorder caused by
student factions, and sometimes to strained relations with their
respective spiritual overlords, the bishops ofLincoln and Ely.
The problem of securing a modus vivendi as between town and
gown vexed successive generations of masters. The position in
both towns was exceptional. Nowhere else in England were
townsmen required to accommodate a large extraneous con-"
course ofclerks who had everything to buy and nothing to sell.
The temptation to exploit this advantage was great. Further^
more relations were constantly embarrassed by the follies and
factiousness of young students. It was fortunate for both unix
versities that they early received royal support. Henry III, for all
his faults, proved himselfa good friend to Oxford, not only by
his grants of privileges, but also by his plainly expressed interest
in the rise ofan important university in his kingdom. He sent
relatives of his own to study there, including the unpopular
Aymer de Valence (d. 1260), bishop of Winchester. When
in 1229 the masters and scholars ofthe university ofParis were
in trouble with the Parisians, he invited them to England: it
was a memorable gesture.
At Oxford the most serious clash between town and gown
occurred on St. Scholastica's day (10 February) 1355, as the
result ofa tavern brawL During the revolt of 1381, the towns'
men of Cambridge took their revenge upon the university in
their midst by indulging in a riot of destruction which has left