The Fellow
Commoners paid high fees, had large rooms, sometimes had a
personal tutor or servant, and had the right to eat with the
Fellows at High Table. Here, gentlemen made friends with their
social equals from all over the country. Students wore new-
fashioned gowns of any colors and colored stockings. They put on
stage plays in Latin and English. The students played at running,
jumping, and pitching the bar, and at the forbidden swimming and
football. They were not to have irreligious books or dogs. Cards
and dice could be played only at Christmas time. Students still
drank, swore, and rioted, but they were disallowed from going into
town without special permission. Those below a B.A. had to be
accompanied by a tutor or an M.A. They were forbidden from
taverns, boxing matches, dances, cock fights, and loitering in the
street or market. Sometimes a disputation between two colleges
turned into a street brawl. Punishment was by flogging. Each
university had a chancellor, usually a great nobleman or
statesman, who represented the university in dealings with the
government and initiated policies. The vice-chancellor was
appointed for a year from the group of heads of college. He looked
out for the government of halls, enforced the rules of the
university, kept its courts, licensed wineshops, and shared
control of the town with the mayor.
Tutors were common. They resided at the boy's house or took boys
to board with them at their houses in England or on the continent.
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