Terræ filius

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

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]

The bawdy poem The Oxford-Act (1693) contains a terræ filius speech, and is attributed to Alicia D'Anvers.^[4] Nicholas Amherst 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

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• 1592 John Hoskins, expelled^[6]
• 1651 William Levinz^[7]
• 1655 Robert Whitehall^[8]
• 1657 Lancelot Addison, forced to retract.^[9]
• 1661 (one of several) Arthur Brett^[10]
• 1673 John Shirley^[11]
• 1676 (one of two) Balthazar Vigures, expelled^[12]
• 1682 Jacob Allestry^[13]
• 1703 Robert Roberts;^[14] this year William Delaune was attacked^[15]
• 1713 Bernard Gardiner suppressed a Whig speech, as a threat to political stability.^[16]

Notes

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.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1891). "Hoskins, John (1566-1638)". Dictionary of National Biography 27. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
7.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1893). "Levinz, William". Dictionary of National Biography 33. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
8. Christopher Wordsworth, Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century (1874) p. 296; archive.org.
9.  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Addison, Lancelot". Dictionary of National Biography 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
10. 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.)
11.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Shirley, John (1648-1679)". Dictionary of National Biography 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
12. 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.
13.  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). "Allestry, Jacob". Dictionary of National Biography 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
14. Bodleian Library (1860). Catalogi codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae Bodleianae ... p. 35.
15.  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Delaune, William (1659-1728)". Dictionary of National Biography 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
16. 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.)