Editing University of Oxford (section)

=== Renaissance period ===
[[File:ChristChurchOxfordEngraving1742.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|An engraving of [[Christ Church, Oxford]], 1742]]
The new learning of the [[Renaissance]] greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were [[William Grocyn]], who contributed to the revival of [[Greek language]] studies,<ref>{{cite web |title=William Grocyn {{!}} English educator |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Grocyn |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=11 January 2023 |language=en |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111022954/https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Grocyn |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[John Colet]], the noted [[Biblical Theology|biblical scholar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=John Colet {{!}} English theologian and educator |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Colet |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |access-date=11 January 2023 |language=en |archive-date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111022954/https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Colet |url-status=live }}</ref>

With the [[English Reformation]] and the breaking of communion with the [[Roman Catholic Church]], [[recusant]] scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, settling especially at the [[University of Douai]].<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last1=Moody|editor-first1=Theodore William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c8M1p3ySwI4C&pg=PA618|title=Early Modern Ireland, 1534–1691|editor-last2=Martin|editor-first2=Francis Xavier|editor-last3=Byrne|editor-first3=Francis John|date=1991|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-19-820242-4|language=en |page=618}}</ref> The method of teaching at Oxford was transformed from the medieval [[Scholasticism|scholastic method]] to Renaissance education, although institutions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues. As a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxford's reputation declined in the [[Age of Enlightenment]]; enrolments fell and teaching was neglected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oxford University {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/education/colleges-international/oxford-university |access-date=7 August 2023 |website=www.encyclopedia.com |archive-date=7 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230807121833/https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/education/colleges-international/oxford-university |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1636, [[William Laud]], the chancellor and [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], codified the university's statutes.<ref>[https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/legislation/preface-constitution-and-statute-making-powers-of-the-university#collapse1380421/ Constitution and Statute-making Powers of the University]</ref> These, to a large extent, remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the [[Oxford University Press|University Press]], and he made notable contributions to the [[Bodleian Library]], the main library of the university. From the beginnings of the [[Church of England]] as the [[established church]] until 1866, membership of the church was a requirement to graduate as a Bachelor of Arts, and "[[dissenter]]s" were only permitted to be promoted to Master of Arts starting in 1871.<ref>{{cite web |title=Universities Tests Act 1871 |publisher=UK Parliament |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/34-35/26 |access-date=30 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101193831/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/34-35/26 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> The university was a centre of the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] party during the [[English Civil War]] (1642–1651), while the town favoured the opposing [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] cause.<ref>{{cite web|title=Civil War: Surrender of Oxford|url=http://oxonblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/civil_war.html|work=Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Scheme|publisher=Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board|year=2013|access-date=30 December 2015|archive-date=30 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200530010654/http://www.oxonblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/civil_war.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 
[[File:Templeofrosycross.png|alt=Emblem of the 17th-century English Invisible College|thumb|Emblem of the 17th-century English [[Invisible College]]]]
[[Wadham College]], founded in 1610, was the undergraduate college of Sir [[Christopher Wren]]. Wren was part of a group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the [[Oxford Philosophical Club]], which included [[Robert Boyle]] and [[Robert Hooke]]. This group, which has at times been linked with Boyle's "[[Invisible College]]", held regular meetings at Wadham under the guidance of the college's warden, [[John Wilkins]], and the group formed the nucleus that went on to found the [[Royal Society]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Invisible College (act. 1646–1647) |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-95474 |access-date=21 February 2023 |year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/95474}}</ref>