The Oxford Massacre

One site of the St. Brice's Day Massacre in 1002 seems to have been Oxford. Æthelred called it in a 1004 charter "a most just extermination" of Danes, because of the rumor that they intended to kill him and all his council and take over the entire island, not just the part known as the Danelaw.The problem in Oxford was that the Danes there saw it coming and decided to take advantage of sanctuary. Sanctuary allowed anyone to take refuge in a church. Sanctuary had a time limit of 40 days, but in that time the refugee could get aid from outside to create a defense on their behalf against the persecutors.The Danes in Oxford went to St Frideswide's Church (now Christ Church Cathedral), which Æthelred's charter tells:For it is fully agreed that to all dwelling in this country it will be well known that, since a decree was sent out by me with the counsel of my leading men and magnates, to the effect that all the Danes who had sprung up in this island, sprouting like cockle amongst the wheat,…