OXFORD, COUNCILS OF 503 OXFORD, COUNCILS OF
successor (1649). Oxenstiern, averse to a foreigner as sovereign, remonstrated most strenuously against sucii a step as unworthy of her talents, and fraught with evils for the country. She for the time desisted, un- derwent in 1050 coronation, and for a while manifested more proper attention to governmental affairs, but soon relapsed into her former ways, and, impatient of the restraint imposed upon her as the head of a moral and sensitive nation, carried out her resolution, and in 1654, in a diet purposely convoked, laid down the ro3-al in- signia to confer them on her cousin, Charles Gustavus, prince palatine. Oxenstiern, under the pretext of sick- ness, kept away from the deliberations necessary for the execution of this measure. He died in the same year (Aug. 28, 1654). Christina, not altogether too well affected towards him, bears this testimonj' to his char- acter: "He had great capacity and knowledge of sec- ular affairs and interests ; he knew the strong and weak points of all the European states. He was possessed of consummate wisdom and prudence, had a vast ca- pacity and a great heart. State affairs were for him amusement. He was ambitious, but loj'al and incor- ruptible." He was certainly the greatest politician and statesman which Sweden has produced. An extraor- dinary sagacitj' and immovable calmness characterized all his decisions, and energy and perseverance their ex- ecution. Nothing was deferred to the following day, and still less forgotten, and his activity never tired. His faculties in this respect border on the marvellous. On all important affairs his activity, his will, his loy- altj' is impressed. There is not a single branch of the Swedish government which does not owe to him im- provements. His vast activitj^ v.'ould have been im- possible without strict gravity' and order, which he ex- acted of others as well as of himself. His good health and equanimity served to lighten the burden of work and care. He was unusually unselfish and disinterest- ed ; he never used his influence, extensive as it was, to amass property by perverse means ; on the contrary', he repeatedly advanced considerable sums for public pur- poses without interest. Frugal in his household, he was for display and luxury where he acted as repre- sentative of the state. As a negotiator he ranked with the highest diplomats of the period, even Richelieu not excepted. Cool, reserved, fully acquainted with hu- man character, penetrating to the smallest details of the situation, he conducted affairs with a sure glance ; only his haughtiness, which was sometimes excessive, damaged him now and then. His bearing was im- posing, though his stature was onlj' a little above mid- dle height. As a diversion and refreshment from his serious practical occupation, he read Greek and Latin classics, in which latter tongue he could fluentl}' con- verse ; and perused the Bible and the fathers of the Church. His letters to Grotius allow us to form an opinion of his vast erudition ; often in his despatches to the king he would attach long treatises on the sub- jects under consideration. There are, however, few of his writings published. He is known as the author of the second volume of Chemnitz's Hlstoria belli Sueco- Germanici ; and his correspondence with his son John (1042-1649) has been edited liy Gjorwell ; but there remain in the royal archives of Stockholm six vols. fol. of letters written by him from 1626 to 1032; and in Eidderstolpe and Falkenberg a still larger number of documents of his hand are preserved. See Geier, Svenska Folkefs Histona ; Schiller, Geschickte de.i dreissuijdhrigen Krieges ; Lundblad, Svensh Plutarch (Stockholm, 1824, 2 vols.); Coxe, Ilovite of Austria; Gardner, Thirty -years War (N. Y. 1874, 12mo), p. 145-148, 166, 172, 174, 192.
Oxford, Councils of (Concilia Oxoniensia), were frequently held in the Middle Ages. Of these the most important are :
(1) Convened in 1100, in which more than thirty Vaudois or Publicani, who had lately come over into England, headed by one Gerard, and who denied bap-
tism, the Eucharist, and marriage, and who set at naught the authority of the Church, were condemned, and given over to the secular arm ; upon which they were sentenced to be branded in the forehead, and pub- licly flogged out of the city, and were forbidden to re- main iu that neighborhood. They appear to have made but one convert, a woman, who soon returned into the Church, — Labbe, Cone, x, 1404. See Wilkins, Cone, i, 438.
(2) King John, on his return from abroad, assembled a large number of his clergy and barons, first at Lon- don, and subsequently at Oxford, demanding a certain portion of the ecclesiastical revenues, but this was unan- imously refused (Wilkins, Cone, i, 515).
(3) Was held at the monastery of Osney, near Oxford, on the 11th of June, by Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury and cardinal legate, who presided. This was a council of all England, and fifty canons were published in conformity with those of the Council of Lateran of 1215:
1. Excommunicates generally all who encroach upon the rights of the Chui-ch, dii-tiirb the public peace, etc.
2. Directs that bishops shall retain iibout them wise and charitable almoners, and attend to the petitions of the poor; that they shall also at times themselves hear and make confessions ; that they shall reside at their cathe- drals, etc.