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When the first scholars arrived from Oxford, Cambridge was already a thriving, longestablished administrative and trading centre. The new arrivals passed unnoticed, it seems, but as they formed themselves into a University – and acquired important friends in the wider world – tensions inevitably developed between town and gown, individually and institutionally. It is easy to trace the downside, from the town’s
point of view: the animosities that erupted on occasion into violence, the erosion of autonomy and the steady absorption of town-centre
property by the Colleges. But there may have been an upside as well. Tradesmen and suppliers of services to the scholars could profit even if the town authorities did not and the presence of the University may have helped the town to weather the 15th century recession.
Dr Rosemary Horrox is a medieval historian and Director of Studies. Her most recent book, co-edited with Professor Mark Ormrod, is A Social History of England, 1200 – 1500
When the first scholars arrived from Oxford, Cambridge was already a thriving, longestablished administrative and trading centre.
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