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.

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

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.

Spite is one of the greatest human emotions.

I know what you did in 1263

Forget, but don't forgive!

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.

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.