I recently read A Trail of Ink by Mel Starr and was intrigued by the setting. I did a little research and found it would make the perfect history post!

It wasn't until the 11th or 12th century that Oxford Castle became a training center. Later in the 13th century it was finally known as an academic centre, and had students coming from all over Europe. It was slowly becoming one of the world's largest schools. But not all was smooth sailing and in 1138 a fire destroyed the entire town. Naturally, the castle sustained through the fire in town, but the flames did a lasting damage on the people of Oxford.


But still, Oxford continued becoming increasingly large as scholars moved to the small town to study at the college. It was 200 more years before serious damage hit Oxford - The Black Plague, which lasted for two years. While the college did supply country houses for the scholars to reside in during the epidemics, many were unable to escape the deadly sickness. The city's population dropped dramatically.