She inspired historians starting to chart life in Oxford (4)
I believe the answer is:
clio
'she inspired historians' is the definition.
(Clio was the Greek muse of history)
'starting to chart life in oxford' is the wordplay.
'starting to' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'chart life in oxford' is 'CLIO'.
(Other definitions for clio that I've seen before include "inspiration for historians" , "one of nine sisters" , "Muse of history (from Renault?)" , "one historically inspiring" , "1 across's Muse - from Renault?" .)