Talk:University of Paris strike of 1229

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[edit] "Students being students.."

eh.. the comment is in remarks to Medieval Univeristies, the context of the article. History articles on Wikipedia are written in the past tense, to avoid literal confusion with present concerns. The reputation of Medieval students is well documented (think: "Medieval drinking bouts"), it was a statement without going off on a tangent about medieval student life, although a bit arcane, is pretty well known. The new edit works, but is less meaningful. Stbalbach 04:18, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

If that's the case, then providing some context is in order. But somehow I doubt that even then, as now, the stereotype of students as rowdy binge drinkers is appropriate. I suspect it may have been only a particularly brash and vocal minority which got noticed. Psychonaut 04:32, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Context: Students, and student life, was very different from today. Beer and wine was a matter of course, everyone drank. For another, students organized into gangs along ethnic lines for safety from each other, and from the townspeople. Although rape, bulgary, muggings and even murders were not practiced by all students, it was not uncommon; students entered university life at ages around 14, often coming from tough poor backgrounds, and were protected by the church in their actions; there was rivalry between the Church (school) and secular factions (as this article is about). Under these conditions, yeah, some students may not have ever drank to excess and become roudey, but the idea that this was a moral virtual or somehow "offensive" is anarchonistic, indeed I think students would take great pride in their tough reputation, it is well established, and pales to anything we might know today ala "Animal House". Stbalbach 14:49, 18 May 2005 (UTC)