ABSTRACT
University towns have for centuries been regarded as loci of violence, protest, and revolt. The stereotype of raucous, aggressive students engaged in 'town and gown' conflict, or in scuffles with professors, administrators, and fellow students, has long been a staple of university historiography. Among the myriad anecdotes that one could cite from Italian history, this chapter provides half a dozen representative examples, and examines a detailed case study – Spanish College versus Montalto College – of one specific incident. Tommaso Contarini's pointed criticism of Paduan students in the early seventeenth century raises the issue of motives behind violence at university. Some of the reasons for student violence exist across chronological and geographical boundaries: students almost always have plenty of unstructured time, students are often experimenting with new ideas and new identities, and so on. Until the nineteenth century, the single-sex environment of universities was one reason for violence, as testosterone-laden males vied with each other in verbal and physical duels.
