Which medieval university was founded in Oxford around 1096?

The University of Oxford was founded around 1096, making it the medieval university associated with this date.

Oxford grew from teaching that began among scholars in the town, rather than from a single royal founding ceremony. Its development accelerated after 1167, when Henry II restricted English students from attending the University of Paris. By the early thirteenth century, Oxford had become a firmly established center of European learning.

The date is approximate because medieval universities evolved gradually. Oxford is therefore not quite like a modern institution created on one identifiable opening day. It also predates the University of Cambridge, which was founded by scholars who migrated from Oxford around 1209. Salamanca and Paris were also major medieval universities, but neither is the canonical answer to a question linking Oxford with teaching around 1096.

Oxford’s early curriculum centered on subjects such as theology, law, medicine, grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy. Its colleges developed later, beginning with University College, traditionally dated to 1249.