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 Augustinians, Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street, Oxford, Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the rail ...

, in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, 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 (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 until his death in 1228. The dispute between list of English kings, King John of E ...

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

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

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 is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

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 its meeting, m ...

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, regions, and cities of which he is the patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Greece, Georgia, Port ...

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

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

the

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

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

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 (bishop), Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, ...

, 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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 18 – King Henry I of Cyprus ("the Fat") dies and is succeeded by his son Hugh II, who is only a few months ol ...

and

1275 Year 1275 (Roman numerals, MCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Battle of Neopatras: Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos assembles a Byzantine expeditionary force (so ...

. This increasing intolerance culminated in the expulsion of the Jews from England 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 a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, a colle ...

. 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 began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, 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 an Anglican bishop who served as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 2013 to 2025. After an 11-year career in the oil industry, Welby trained for ordination at St John ...

said on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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