{"id":32827,"date":"2023-09-02T16:25:40","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T23:25:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32827"},"modified":"2023-09-02T16:26:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T23:26:55","slug":"narnia-the-holy-club-and-tattoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/narnia-the-holy-club-and-tattoos\/","title":{"rendered":"Narnia, The Holy Club, and Tattoos"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is true that Americans do not know what old is. My teenage children often say that I am \u201cold\u201d after all. Ageism aside, being a sub-250 year old country, does not lend one to truly fathom the age and history of a 1,111 year old (or more) city like Oxford [1]. It can certainly be a dry task recounting the places and people with that much history, but that is not the case in Paul Sullivan\u2019s book, The Secret History of Oxford<\/i>. With wit and humor, Sullivan invites the reader on a journey of the twists, turns and hidden gems all around. The city is most famous for Oxford University, there are many more interesting places and people in this historic city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oxford is Narnia?<\/b><\/p>\n

Many influential people, from professors, politicians and religious leaders, have called Oxford home. Sullivan comically summarizes that, \u201cIn writing of a city that has shaken hands with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and most other members of Britain\u2019s Hall of Fame, it is hard to do justice to the tidal wave of celebrity that has crashed upon Oxford down the centuries\u201d[2]. One such celebrity is C.S. Lewis, who called Oxford home from 1925-1954 as a professor of Magdalen College [3]. Interestingly, it seems that Oxford may have been the inspiration for Narnia, itself, even down to the light post, lion and \u201cfawn creatures\u201d [4].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oxford Colleges\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

All of this inspiration is made possible by Oxford University. The University is actually made up of forty-four colleges that have their own unique history and notable figures [5]. Oxford did not always have the notable reputation that it currently enjoys. During the early nineteenth century, it was possible to gain a degree from Oxford with a mere interview for young men of means by answering a few questions correctly[6]. The University has since raised the academic rigor of the programs in the colleges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the more famous of the colleges is Christ Church. This college is particular interest to those who align with the Methodist tradition, as this is the college of John Wesley and many others who founded the Methodist religious movement. John and his brother, Charles, would meet in a small group with other students. Their society was called, \u201cThe Holy Club\u201d as they participated in religious acts such as daily prayer and visiting inmates in prison [7].\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No Historic Tattoo\u2019s in Oxford\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The city of Oxford has a rich history full of celebrities and academic accomplishments, as well as coining such phrases as \u201chocus hocus\u201d[8]. It is difficult to believe that a city that is over one thousand years old does not have an historic tattoo studio for those who want to memorialize their Oxford experience with ink. Sullivan did not mention any places to visit, so I turned to my favorite internet search engine only to discover that the oldest tattoo studio was founded in 1973 [9]. While this studio is ready to make an appointment, it is difficult to believe that tattoo\u2019s were not a greater part of Oxford\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/p>\n

Oxford is a city with a rich history within and beyond the university that makes the city famous. Many celebrities and oddities have called Oxford home and Paul Sullivan offers an engaging summary that brings the city to life. The Secret History of Oxford<\/i> is an engaging primer to deepen one\u2019s understanding and enjoyment of the city, unless one is interested in getting a tattoo to remember their adventure. Perhaps, Sullivan will consider a sequel to this book.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200c1. Paul Sullivan, The Secret History of Oxford<\/i> (Cheltenham, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2013) p.10-15.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Ibid., 103.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Ibid., 129.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Alice Loxton, \u201cThe Secrets of Oxford\u2019s Streets And What Lies Beneath the University.\u201d History Hit. Youtube Video, 9:06 https:\/\/www.youtube.come\/watch?v=Jck5VOnNL0s<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Sullivan, 40.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Ibid., 43.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Jim Godfrey, \u201cJohn Wesley\u201d posted on January 2, 2019. https:\/\/www.chch.ox.ac.uk\/blog\/john-wesley.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Sullivan, 234.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

9. https:\/\/www.tattoo.co.uk\/lionels-tattoo-studio#:~:text=Lionel’s tattoo studio, Oxford’s original,, above a ladies’ hairdresser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is true that Americans do not know what old is. My teenage children often say that I am \u201cold\u201d after all. Ageism aside, being a sub-250 year old country, does not lend one to truly fathom the age and history of a 1,111 year old (or more) city like Oxford [1]. It can certainly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2347,1590],"class_list":["post-32827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01","tag-sullivan","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32827"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32830,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32827\/revisions\/32830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}