Everything about Blackfriars Oxford totally explained
Blackfriars, Oxford. The name Blackfriars is commonly used to denote a house of the
Dominican Friars in
England. Blackfriars Oxford houses three distinct institutions: the
Priory of the Holy Spirit, the religious house of the friars;
Blackfriars Studium, the centre of studies of the English Province of the Dominican Friars (although it numbers members of other orders and lay people among its students and lecturers); and
Blackfriars Hall, one of the constituent educational institutions of the
University of Oxford. Blackfriars Hall isn't a college but a
Permanent Private Hall, meaning that it's owned and governed by an outside institution (in this case, the English Province of the
Order of Preachers) and not by its fellows as a college is. Located in
St Giles', Blackfriars Hall is a centre for the study of
Roman Catholic theology, and admits men and women of any faith.
History
Despite the fact that many of the dates and figures of
Oxford's medieval and early life are imprecise, Blackfriars' history is unusually well documented, largely as a result of the hall being part of an international fraternity of scholarship, which was able to monitor and document its fortunes, even during times of the hall's collapse.
The
Dominicans arrived in Oxford on
15 August 1221, at the instruction of
Saint Dominic himself, little more than a week after the friar's death. As such, the hall has some claim to be heir to the oldest tradition of teaching in Oxford, a tradition that precedes both the aularian houses that would characterise the next century and the collegiate houses that would characterise the rest of the University's history.
Like all the monastic houses in Oxford, Blackfriars came into rapid and repeated conflict with the University authorities, as the friars claimed all the rights and privileges of University membership but also claimed immunity from the University discipline or regulation. Relations with townspeople were also consistently difficult, but the reasons for this are difficult to assess dispassionately, as virtually all contemporary accounts are marked with deep bias on one side or the other.
With the
Reformation, all monastic houses, including Blackfriars, were
suppressed. The Dominicans didn't return to Oxford for some 400 years, until
1921 when Blackfriars was refounded as a religious house, within 600 metres of the original site.
The Dominican Studium at Blackfriars had a close relationship with the University, culminating in the establishment of Blackfriars as a permanent private hall in
1994.
Notable former students
Academics/teachers
Herbert McCabe
Fergus Kerr OP
Denis Minns OP
Timothy Radcliffe
John SawardFurther Information
Get more info on 'Blackfriars Oxford'.
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