Adam of Oxford was a master before he entered the Order[1223]. The account of his conversion given by Eccleston[1224] is as follows:
Master Adam of Oxford, of worldwide fame[1225], had made a vow that he would do anything he was asked to do ‘for the love of the blessed Mary;’ and he told this to a certain recluse, who was a friend of his. She revealed his secret to her friends, that is, to a monk of Reading, another of the Cistercian Order, and a Friar Preacher; telling them that they could gain such a man in such a way; not wishing that Adam should become a Friar Minor. But the Blessed Virgin did not permit anyone in his presence to make the needful request; but deferred it to another time. One night he dreamed that he had to cross a bridge, where some men were throwing their nets into the stream, endeavouring to catch him: but he escaped this with great difficulty and reached a very peaceful spot. Now when by the divine will he had escaped all others, he went casually to see the Friars Minors, and during the conversation Friar William de Colvile, the elder, a man of great sanctity, said to him: ‘Dear master, enter our Order for the love of the Mother of God and help our simplicity.’ And Adam immediately consented to do so, as if he had heard the words from the lips of the Mother of God.
He assumed the habit on January 25[1226], probably A. D. 1227. He was at this time assistant, or secretary[1227], to the great Adam Marsh, whom he soon afterwards induced to join the Franciscans. Shortly after this, Adam of Oxford went to Gregory IX, and was at his own desire sent to preach to the Saracens[1228]. From a letter of Grostete’s, addressed to Agnellus and the Convent of Friars Minors at Oxford, relating to this subject, and written in or before 1231[1229], we learn that Adam had formed the resolution of going to preach to the infidels before he entered the Order, and that he was induced to take this latter step partly because it was likely to add to his influence as a missionary. Grostete urges the Friars not to grieve for his loss:
‘for the light of his knowledge is so bright that it ought to be concentrated most there where it may dissipate the thickest darkness of infidelity.’ ‘Have no fear,’ the writer continues, ‘that he will be cut off from the “Sacred Page;” he has humility, and no “haeretica pravitas” will slip in.’
He died at Barlete, and miracles are said to have been wrought by his relics or his memory[1230].
William of York, ‘a solemn bachelor,’ was probably an Oxford man, as he entered the Order on the same day as Adam of Oxford[1231].
Adam Rufus[1232] studied under Grostete in the early part of the thirteenth century, presumably at Oxford. A letter from ‘Robert Grostete called Master,’ written perhaps before he held any preferments, i.e. before 1210, addressed to ‘Master Adam Rufus,’ is extant; it is a treatise on the nature of angels, and Grostete asks Adam to inquire diligently the opinions of the wise men, with whom he converses, on the subject. In another letter written about 1237, Grostete mentions having heard of Friar Ernulphus, papal penitentiary, from ‘Friar Adam Rufus of good memory,’ formerly his beloved pupil and friend. It may be inferred from his connexion with Grostete and Ernulphus or Arnulfus, Vicar of the Order of Minorites[1233], that the Order which he entered was that of the Franciscans.
Henry de Reresby, who entered the Order abroad, was vicar of the custodian of Oxford about 1235 or before. He was made first provincial of Scotland by Elias, but died before he could enter on his duties[1234]. According to Leland’s notes from Eccleston he died at Leicester; according to another account, at Acre in Norfolk[1235]. After his death he appeared to the custodian of Oxford, and said that,
‘if the friars were not damned for excess in buildings, they would at any rate be severely punished,’ and added, ‘if the friars said the divine service well, they would be the sheep of the Apostles[1236].’
Walter, a canon of Dunstable, and John, a novice of the same priory, escaped from their house through a broken window and joined the Franciscans at Oxford in 1233. Walter afterwards returned with three Minorites to the Chapter of Dunstable, seeking absolution. After submitting to corporal punishment, he was absolved; he was further ordered to restore the books and clothes (quaternos et pannos) which he had taken with him, and to deliberate for a year—i.e. during his noviciate—whether the discipline of the Order which he had entered was more severe than that of the Order he had left; if it were so, he was to remain a Minorite; if not, he was to return to Dunstable. John was found by the Prior of Dunstable at London and similarly absolved: he afterwards went to Rome[1237].