Remembering the St Brice's Day Massacre

In 2008, the significance of the St Brice's Day Massacre was brought home to St John's when the remains of at least thirty-five young men brutally murdered during the Massacre were discovered beneath the site of Kendrew Quadrangle. Since then, the College has marked St Brice's Day with various public-facing talks and events that reflected on the history of the College and its connection with eleventh-century Oxford.

One of the St Brice's Day skeletons was examined by the College President, Professor Lady Sue Black, in the first of her 2022 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. In this BBC lecture, the President used specialist forensic techniques to reveal details about the skeleton's life, transforming what was once a collection of bones into the portrait of a real person. Her investigations into the trauma marks visible in the 1000-year-old bones also revealed how the young man died.

The President's 2022 lecture included a 3D facial reconstruction of the skull of this skeleton, nicknamed 'Johannes' by the College. The reconstruction was created by Professor Caroline Wilkinson, Director of the Forensic Research Institute and of FaceLab, Liverpool John Moores University. Professor Wilkinson kindly spoke about the process of reconstructing Johannes's skull during the College's 2023 St Brice's Day commemorations. The programme of events also included talks by Tutorial Fellows Professor Hannah Skoda and Professor Carolyne Larrington, as well as author Dr Amy Jeffs and Professor of Archaeology, David Griffiths.

Johannes's skull has since been donated to the College's art collection, and an animation of his face is available as a YouTube Short.

A remarkable discovery was made following the College's 2023 St Brice's Day commemorations. Tom Shaw, then a finalist in Ancient and Modern History, discovered through a DNA test that he had a very strong match to several of the skeletons. The Oxford Mail reported on this curious coincidence.

The College continues to remember the victims of this Massacre and to reflect on the themes of community, conflict and otherness raised by the violent events of St Brice's Day over a thousand years ago.

To find out more about the St Brice's Day Massacre and the College's ties to that bloody event, watch the President's 2024 Lecture on 'The Mystery Beneath the Quad':