The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume VI. The Drama to 1642, Part Two.
§ 24. King Charles at Cambridge and Oxford
The academic stage was to number yet one more illustrious recruit in Cowley, whose Naufragium Joculare, based on classical sources, was acted at Trinity college, Cambridge, in 1638, and was followed in 1642 by his satirical comedy The Guardian, remodelled after the Restoration into Cutter of Coleman Street. But the royal visit to Oxford in 1636 marks the close of these elaborate university displays, which had begun with Elizabeth’s coming to Cambridge in 1564. Even in the traditionally loyal community on the banks of the Isis, there were ominous symptoms of the rapidly growing resentment against the autocratic rule of Charles and Laud. As the king and queen rode away from Christ Church, the streets, according to custom, were lined with “Scholers of all degrees,” but “neither they nor the citizens made any expression of joy, nor uttered, as the manner is, Vivat Rex.” When Oxford, some seven years later, again opened its gates to Charles, it was not to entertain him with “masques and triumphs,” but to afford him shelter in his stern conflict with his parliamentary foes.