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* I thank Professor Clive Emsley and Dr Donna Loftus of the Open University for their help and encouragement when I was writing my Ph.D. thesis, Dr Loftus and my husband Philip Oswald for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this article and my son Christopher Oswald for creating the map.
Introduction
'Oxford is a University in a town; but Cambridge a town in a University. Very little business of any kind is carried on in Cambridge, but what is immediately or remotely connected with the University.'1 Cambridge was a flourishing county and market town for 500 years before it became famous as a seat of learning. The first students arrived in 1209 and almost from the beginning there was friction between them and the townspeople. Mayors and chancellors were soon competing for power in the town's administration. Both the town's close association with the crown and its physical geography influenced the way in which it was governed.
In 1068, on William the Conqueror's instructions, a castle was built on the hill across the river and from then onwards royalty was closely involved with the town. Cambridge flourished for both kings and merchants in one of the most densely populated and economically prosperous parts of the country and in 1207, King John granted the town a royal charter and the right to elect a mayor. A century later, Edward II invested power in Cambridge academics in royal charters that gave them legal authority over their town neighbours. The mayor and bailiffs were obliged to take an oath agreeing to observe the liberties and customs of the university.2 Soon after 1440, Henry VI closed roads with access to the river and removed townspeople's homes and shops for the building of his college, King's College.3 In 1561, Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter which augmented the university's powers and confirmed its authority to arrest and punish women of the town who were 'suspected of evil'.4 In 1603, James I granted the university the right to have its own prison by letters patent.
The physical constraints of Cambridge, built on a vital river crossing, meant that for many centuries its townspeople and students were confined to a...