TIL that from 1264 to 1827, anyone who received a Master of Arts degree from Oxford had to swear that they would never forgive Henry Symeonis. By 1608, no one knew who he was or what he had done
The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis
For those who didn't follow the link:
But what was the reason for Henry’s condemnation by the University to five and a half centuries of infamy? It was a murder. In 1242 he and a number of other men of the town of Oxford were found guilty of murdering a student of the University. Henry and his accomplices were fined £80 by King Henry III in May 1242 and were made to leave Oxford as a result, forced to stay away (and allowed no closer than Northampton) at least until the King returned from abroad.
Further research is needed to discover the exact details of what happened here but it seems that Henry Symeonis had bought the King’s pardon and his permission to return to Oxford. The King was willing to allow his return if the University agreed to it. But the University refused and chose to ignore the King’s order of 25 March 1264, resuming its hostility to Henry Symeonis. In fact, it felt so strongly about it, that it gave Henry Symeonis the unique honour of being named in its own statutes, making the University’s dislike of him official and perpetual.
So they did know who he was and what he did.
"By 1608, SOME people didn't know who he was. We mention them here for higher article clickability."
Yes but only because of a guy in 1910s who looked into it
The identity of Henry Symeonis was only (re-)discovered in 1912 by the then Keeper of the University Archives, Reginald Lane Poole. In an article for the English Historical Review, he looked at the curious statute and tried to get to the bottom of the Henry Symeonis mystery.
Fair on them really.
Man, boarding school kids always got the easy treatment.
Sounds like people do know who he was and what he had done. Clickbait headline.
Sometimes knowledge is lost and then later rediscovered.
National Archives gov uk says £80 in 1270 is approx £78k in 2025
Thank you
Fuck Henry Symeonis, all my homies hate Henry Symeonis.
I'm going to try and make "You look like you're friends with Henry Symeonis" a casual insult. Wish me luck.
Your mom is friends with Henry Symeonis.
your real dad is Henry Symeonis
thats so fetch.
Stop trying to make fetch happen
I know what you did in 1263
Was it in summer '63?
Forget, but don't forgive!
I don't know who you are or what you did, but fuck you!
💯
Spite is one of the greatest human emotions.
So much has been achieved because of it. Hell the moon landings were a massive fuck you.
Henry Symeonis was a wealthy English townsman from Oxford in the 13th century, best known for his role in a notorious and long-lasting tradition at the University of Oxford. In 1242, Symeonis, along with several other Oxford townspeople, was convicted of murdering a university student—a crime that exemplified the violent tensions between the academic community and the local population at the time[1][3][5][6][7][8][9].
In response to this murder, King Henry III fined Symeonis and his accomplices £80 (a significant sum then) and ordered them to leave Oxford, forbidding their return until the King himself came back from abroad. Records indicate that Symeonis returned to Oxford not long after, and by 1243 he was again involved in local property dealings[1][3][5][7][9].
A particularly unusual consequence followed: despite a royal pardon issued in 1264 allowing Symeonis to live peacefully in Oxford if he behaved, the University of Oxford refused to forgive or forget. In protest, the university created a symbolic ritual—every new graduate had to swear an oath never to be reconciled with Henry Symeonis. This ritual persisted for over 550 years, embedded in university regulations until 1827, despite the eventual loss of memory about the original cause[1][3][5][6][7][8][9][10].
The enduring “oath of hatred” illustrates the deep divide and continuing animosity between the university (“gown”) and the local population (“town”) in medieval Oxford, as well as the university’s assertion of institutional memory and identity over royal authority[6]. The full story behind the oath and the identity of Symeonis was forgotten for centuries and rediscovered only in 1912 by University archivist Reginald Lane Poole[1][3][5][9].
Sources [1] Henry Symeonis - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Symeonis [2] The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis https://www.reddit.com/r/BritishHistoryPod/comments/18m0ouk/the_persistence_of_tradition_the_curious_case_of/ [3] The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2023/12/13/the-persistence-of-tradition-the-curious-case-of-henry-symeonis/ [4] The curious case of Henry Symeonis (or Simeonis). https://roseandcrownoxford.com/latest-news/17267/ [5] Hating Henry Symeonis: An Oxford University Tradition https://www.amusingplanet.com/2025/03/hating-henry-symeonis-oxford-university.html [6] The oath of hatred against Henry Symeonis - how a murder case in the Middle Ages became a ritual of remembrance - Psychotherapie Berlin https://www.praxis-psychologie-berlin.de/en/wikiblog-english/articles/the-oath-of-hatred-against-henry-symeonis-how-a-murder-case-in-the-middle-ages-became-a-ritual-of-remembrance [7] For over 500 years, Oxford graduates pledged to hate Henry ... https://www.zmescience.com/feature-post/culture/bizarre-stories/for-over-500-years-oxford-graduates-pledged-to-hate-henry-symeonis-so-who-is-he/ [8] Henry Symeonis – Wikipedia https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Symeonis [9] December 2023 – Archives and Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library https://blogs.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/archivesandmanuscripts/2023/12/ [10] For 500 Years, Every Student Who Attained a BA from Oxford Had to ... https://www.openculture.com/2023/12/for-500-years-every-student-who-attained-a-ba-from-oxford-had-to-swear-enmity-towards-henry-symeonis.html
A grudge worse than the sin, apparently.
So over time, the number of people lying about that particular statement reduced, until it was eventually zero.
I wonder what would have happened if someone refused to swear. I'm the kind of stubborn bastard that would refuse to swear to something I didn't understand. I imagine the university probably just ignored it if someone refused to swear because it wasn't worth the headache to deal with someone refusing.
Colleges do some incredibly fucked up things to control what people think. I do not view them as sacred, infallible, or even run and attended by generally good people.
I'm starting to form some theories that it's why we herd so many of our children to it. If they ever go off and find knowledge on their own, then they can't be monitored as easily.