There were more books in Oxford, more people his own age, less dying

All students over sixteen were required to take an oath acknowledging royal supremacy over all questions of religion: but it was thought that a child under sixteen couldn’t be expected to understand the nature of the oath, and therefore the young brothers could live under the radar in Hart Hall, a place with a reputation for nurturing and protecting Catholics. There was less burning in the streets of Oxford than in London (at least since Archbishop Cranmer, condemned by Mary for refusing toe acknowledge papal supremacy, had med a fiery death in 1556). There were more books in Oxford, more people his own age, less dying.


K. Rundell, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (2022), 32-33