Oxford Predates Aztec Empire

It can be difficult to align historical timelines from different parts of the globe, often leading to surprising revelations about what was happening simultaneously in disconnected worlds. While formal teaching at Oxford was recorded as early as 1096, the institution truly began to flourish after 1167. In that year, King Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, forcing scholars and masters to return home and settle in Oxford, rapidly expanding its academic community. For the next few centuries, it grew into a premier center for theology, law, and philosophy in Europe.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Mexica people were undertaking a long migration before settling in the Valley of Mexico and founding their capital city, Tenochtitlán, around 1325. The political entity we know as the Aztec Empire was established over a century later in 1428, through the formation of the Triple Alliance between Tenochtitlán and the nearby city-states of Texcoco and Tlacopan. This means that by the time this powerful Mesoamerican empire began its century of dominance, the halls of Oxford had already been echoing with academic debate for over 300 years, highlighting the incredible parallel developments of human civilization.