ABSTRACT
Between 1487 and 1565, there were at least 23 ocial Compagnie della Calza [Companies of the Hose], so-called for the distinctive tight-tting hose worn by their young members.1 Another source puts the gure higher, claiming that from the beginning of the rst half of the fteenth century there were as many as 43 patrician youth clubs.2 Typically, their individual lifespan was short – less than a few years – but their impact on the growth of secular theatre is indisputable.
