St Scholastica Day Riot

The St Scholastica Day riot of February 10, 1355, is one of the most notorious events in the history of Oxford, England.

The seed of the riot was an altercation in the Swindlestock Tavern (now the site of the Santander Bank on Carfax, on the corner of St Aldate's and Queen Street) between two students of the University of Oxford, Walter Spryngeheuse and Roger de Chesterfield, and the taverner, John Croidon. They complained about the quality of drinks, which led to an exchange of rude words that ended with the students throwing their drinks at the taverner's face and beating him up. Retaliation for this incident led to armed clashes between locals and students. The mayor of Oxford, John de Bereford, asked the Chancellor of Oxford University, Humphrey de Cherlton, to arrest these two students, to no avail. Instead, two hundred students supported Spryngeheuse and Chesterfield, who allegedly assaulted the mayor and others. As the situation escalated, the locals from the surrounding countryside poured in, crying: "Havac! Havoc! Smyt fast, give gode knocks!" A riot broke out and lasted the following two days, which left 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead. The scholars were eventually routed.

The dispute was eventually settled in favour of the University, when a special charter was created. Annually thereafter, on February 10th, the town mayor and councillors had to march bareheaded through the streets and pay to the university a fine of one penny for every scholar killed, a total of 5 s. 3 d.. The penance ended 470 years later, in 1825 when the mayor of the time refused to take part.

It was not until six hundred years had passed that the hatchet was finally and formally buried when, on 10th February 1955, at a commemoration of the events of 1355, the Mayor was given an honorary degree and the Vice-Chancellor was made an Honorary Freeman.

The riot was a culmination of other riots in Oxford that results in over 90 deaths. In the 19th-century novel The Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green by Cuthbert Bede, students still saw St Scholastica’s Day as an opportunity for confrontation.