Fascinating fact: The University of Oxford is older than the Aztec civilization
Did you know that the University of Oxford is more than 200 years older than the mysterious ancient Aztec civilization?
The University of Oxford was founded in 1096, while Tenochtitlán, the capital regarded as the starting point of the Aztec civilization, was founded in 1325.
The University of Oxford's website notes that there is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed there in some form by 1096 and grew rapidly after King Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris in 1167. More than a century and a half after its beginnings, between 1249 and 1264, Oxford's first three colleges were established: University, Balliol and Merton, turning it into a fully fledged university.
The Mexica left their homeland of Aztlan for Mexico. (Photo: Public Domain)
This is why a popular story holds that the University of Oxford is older than the Aztecs. As for their origins, the Aztecs, also known as the Mexica,, according to legend, were led by their patron god out of captivity in medieval times to the area around Lake Texcoco, in what is now central Mexico. The Mexica were the dominant Indigenous group, ruling the Aztec Empire from their capital city of Tenochtitlán in the Valley of Mexico.
Combining legend with the archaeological record and historical events suggests that they descended from nomadic hunter-gatherers known as the Chichimeca and moved to the Valley of Mexico from their homeland of Aztlan, which may have been located in northern Mexico or the southwestern United States. After roughly two centuries of migration, the Mexica are believed to have reached the Valley of Mexico around 1250.
The University of Oxford. (Photo: Internet)
The aim of this article is not to compare civilizations but to help us better understand the past. Picturing world history can become confusing when people consider what was happening at the same time in the Old World and the New World.
Finally, you may be surprised to learn that although Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, it is not the oldest university still in operation. That title belongs to the University of Al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, founded by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri in 859.
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