A little more history

One more story, which I think is interesting.

Oxford has always been a royalist town. In Henry VII's reign (he of the five wives), two catholic bishops and one archbishop were imprisoned in the Saxon tower, as they were not willing to recant their faith in the Catholic Church.

In order to make them convert, the staunch Oxford Royalists burnt the two bishops on the stake (just in front of St. Mary's Church) -- and made their archbishop watch them burn.

He, after that sight, was almost ready to recant. However, at the very end, he dillied and dallied too long for the Royalists' liking, and they burnt him at the stake too.

You can still see the spot where the stake was -- there is a cross in the road at the appropriate point.