Oxford University Is Older Than the Aztec Empire

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The Aztec Empire is routinely grouped in the popular imagination with ancient civilizations, alongside Egypt and Rome. But its origin is surprisingly recent by historical standards. The Aztecs founded their capital, Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco in 1325 AD, and the empire itself reached its peak power in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Oxford University, by contrast, has records of teaching dating back to at least 1096 AD, with the three oldest colleges — University, Balliol, and Merton — all established between 1249 and 1264. By the time the Aztecs were laying the foundations of Tenochtitlan, Oxford had already been educating students for more than two centuries. The same era that saw Aztec priests performing rituals at the Templo Mayor also saw Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The temporal compression is equally striking going the other way: the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu was completed around 1450, contemporaneous with the Italian Renaissance.