1640 Engraving of Osney Abbey ruins, site of the Synod The Synod of Oxford was held on 9 May 1222, at

Osney Abbey Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford sta ...

, in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England. It was a

council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...

of the (Catholic) church in England, convened by Archbishop

Stephen Langton Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury between 1207 and his death in 1228. The dispute between King John of England and Pope Innocent III over his ...

. It is notable for a number of the decisions taken and

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

s set. During the Synod, "harsh anti-Jewish laws" were enacted: "social relations between Jews and Christians were blocked; church tithes were levied against Jews, and English Jews were forced to wear an identifying badge. The construction of new synagogues was also prevented." For many centuries, it was thought that the decision that Saint George's Day should be celebrated as a holy day in England was made at this Synod. However, since the 1960s, this has been regarded by historians as an invention.

The Synod

Langton's ambition was to reform the English church, especially with regard to monastic law. The Synod also established celebration of the

Feast of the Circumcision of Christ The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days (according to the Semitic and southern European calculation of intervals of days) after his birth, the ...

on 1 January, building on long-established celebrations of the start of the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

year. The Synod also followed and implemented the anti-Jewish decrees laid out by the

Fourth Lateran Council The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bi ...

of 1215.

Saint George's Day

For many centuries, it was thought that the Synod set the celebration of 23 April as

Saint George's Day Saint George's Day is the feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Bulgaria, England, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Cáceres, Alcoy, Aragon and Catalonia. Sai ...

on a par with other Christian feast days, although it stopped short of declaring

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of England, which did not happen until 1347. However, in 1961, historian

C. R. Cheney Christopher Robert Cheney (20 December 1906 – 19 June 1987) was a medieval historian, noted for his work on the medieval English church and the relations of the papacy with England, particularly in the age of Pope Innocent III. Life Chene ...

published research in the '' Bulletin of Historical Research'', followed by further published research in 1964, that "conclusively refuted ...

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

misapprehension", based on showing that the earliest surviving manuscripts of the synod's declaration do not mention the feast of St. George. Nonetheless, modern sources sometimes still continue to assert the connection.

Legacy

According to the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains m ...

, these "prejudicial" laws passed at Oxford in 1222 were the precursor to further anti-Jewish statutes, in particular those passed in

1253 Year 1253 ( MCCLIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 18 – King Henry I (the Fat) dies and is succeeded by his son Hugh II, w ...

and 1275. This increasing intolerance culminated in the

expulsion of the Jews from England The Edict of Expulsion was a royal decree issued by King Edward I of England on 18 July 1290 expelling all Jews from the Kingdom of England. Edward advised the sheriffs of all counties he wanted all Jews expelled by no later than All Saints' D ...

in 1290.

2022 anniversary

In May 2022, to mark the 800th anniversary of the Synod, a service was held at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...

. There, representatives of Christians and Jews met. Although the Church of England as currently constituted dates to the 16th-century

English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

, it claims continuity with the pre-Reformation English church,"High Church", ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'', 2nd ed., vol. 6 (Detroit: Gale, 2003), pp. 823–824. and Anglican leaders have insisted on the importance of an apology. Archbishop

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for jus ...

said on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that "it was an opportunity to 'remember, repent and rebuild'."

References

{{Saint George Antisemitism in England Church councils Catholicism and Judaism 13th century in England Events in Oxford Saint George (martyr) Christian antisemitism in the Middle Ages