Terræ filius

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The terræ filius (son of the soil) was a satirical orator who spoke at public ceremonies of the University of Oxford, for over a century. There was official sanction for personal attacks, but some of the speakers overstepped the line and fell into serious trouble. The custom was terminated during the 18th century.[1][2] The comparable speaker at the University of Cambridge was called "prevaricator".[3]

Frontispiece to Terrae-filius, Or, The Secret History of the University of Oxford (1726), by William Hogarth

The bawdy poem The Oxford-Act (1693) contains a terræ filius speech, and is attributed to Alicia D'Anvers.[4] Nicholas Amhurst took Terrae-filius, Or, The Secret History of the University of Oxford for the title of a series of periodical essays appearing from 1721, making up a 1726 book.[5]

List of terræ filii

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Notes

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  1. ^ John Dougill (19 October 2010). Oxford in English Literature: The Making, and Undoing, Of the English Athens. AuthorHouse. p. 306. ISBN 978-1-4670-0467-1.
  2. ^ Cuthbert Bede (1865). The Rook's Garden: Essays and Sketches. Sampson Low, Son, and Marston. p. 196.
  3. ^ Dale B. J. Randall; Jackson C. Boswell (29 January 2009). Cervantes in Seventeenth-Century England: The Tapestry Turned: The Tapestry Turned. OUP Oxford. p. 321 note 10. ISBN 978-0-19-156158-0.
  4. ^ Nelson, Holly Faith. "D'Anvers, Alicia". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/74080. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. ^ Nicholas Amhurst (2004). Terrae-filius, Or, The Secret History of the University of Oxford, 1721-1726. University of Delaware Press. pp. 13–5. ISBN 978-0-87413-801-6.
  6. ^ Imagined Universities: Public Insult and the Terrae Filius in Early Modern Oxford
  7. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hoskins, John (1566-1638)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Smith, Bromley; Ehninger, Douglas (October 1950). "The Terrafilial disputations at oxford". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 36 (3): 333–339. doi:10.1080/00335635009381578.
  9. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1893). "Levinz, William" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Wood, Anthony; Clark, Andrew (1891). The life and times of Anthony Wood, antiquary of Oxford, 1632-1695. Oxford : Printed for the Oxford Historical Society at the Clarendon Press.
  11. ^ Christopher Wordsworth, Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century (1874) p. 296; archive.org.
  12. ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Addison, Lancelot" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  13. ^ Pritchard, Jonathan. "Brett, Arthur". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3342. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  14. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Shirley, John (1648-1679)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  15. ^ Annals of the universe: containing an account of the most memorable actions, affairs, and occurrences which have happen'd in the world: but especially in Europe. From the year 1660. where Mr. Whitlock leaves off, to the year 1680. In two decades: with an index to the whole. Being a continuation of the said Mr. Whitlock's Memorials. London: printed for William Carter, and to be sold by John Morphew. 1709. p. 347. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  16. ^ a b c d Wood, Anthony (1894). The Life and Times of Anthony Wood, Antiquary, of Oxford, 1632-1695: 1682-1695. Oxford Historical Society, at the Clarendon Press.
  17. ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Allestry, Jacob" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  18. ^ Bodleian Library (1860). Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Bodleianae ... p. 35.
  19. ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Delaune, William (1659-1728)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  20. ^ Gibson, William. "Gardiner, Bernard". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10355. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)