I have a player playing a newly-gauntleted Jerbiton magus at Literatus covenant in Bologna. He's a non-combatant healer, who studied at the school of medicine.
What would his social status be? Are all University students "cleric/clerks?" If so, would he be governed by civil or canon law? Furthermore, what did clerics generally wear? Were they visually recognized as members of the church and/or students? (I would presume they would not be tonsured).
The character has NOT taken holy orders of any sort.
I've been digging through the Rome tribunal book as well as Ordo Nobilis, and can't find any reference, other than the "Clerk" virtue.
Magi is the game status, but magi disguising themselves as something else to society can pretend, and are treated as the status that they pretend to be.
All universities are meant to be run by the churches, all students become subject to canon law, all teachers are considered magisters as per the rulebook.
I assume they would dress in scholars robes, very similar to churchmens robes.
In particular, it's worth noting that students in medieval universities had all the legal protections of the clergy, making them effectively exempt from secular law. The result of giving a large group of men in their late teens legal immunity and inadequate adult supervision is... Well, contemporary accounts were often somewhat lurid. fordham.edu/halsall/source/vitry1.html
(Come to think of it, that sounds kind of like where I went to school.)
Don't forget, no women students. A bunch of young men being trained by the same organization that got into such trouble with choirboys. Couple that with access to forbidden texts hidden away in some of the biggest libraries, and human nature being what it is, universities are natural zones of infernal influence.
"Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers. The first type was in Bologna, where students hired and paid for the teachers. The second type was in Paris, where teachers were paid by the church. Oxford and Cambridge were predominantly supported by the crown and the state, a fact which helped them survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 and the subsequent removal of all the principal Catholic institutions in England. These structural differences created other characteristics. At the Bologna university the students ran everything -- a fact that often put teachers under great pressure and disadvantage. In Paris, teachers ran the school; thus Paris became the premiere spot for teachers from all over Europe. In Paris the main subject matter was theology. In Bologna, where students chose more secular studies, the main subject was law."
Interesting about the student-run University at Bologna. This lends even more credence to the infernal corruption within. Lovely....
The character is also "well travelled," and wishes to continue to travel. What I'd like to know is how he will be treated by mundanes when he travels. He's got the Gentle Gift, so that's not an issue. As a healer/scholar, will he gain more respect when he stops at an inn? Will he be recognized as such because of some sort of clerical garb? Does your typical chivalric noble treat a learned man with respect? or disdain?
Don't forget, Mythic Europe, not Historical, which is up to the individual Troupe to define.
But it would be at least predominately male, regardless, and the rest is an important point.
Students in medieval times were viewed differently by different classes, and in different cities, depending on the reputation of that univerity. While respected for their education, they were condemned, scorned and even feared for their lawlessness and prodigal behaviour by "godfearing" citizens.
They would not be the same as a "clerk", regardless.
If he was actually a Magister, that could carry great weight. But "students" were a dime a dozen at times, and of varying calibers, and the status had no bearing on in-class status or success of studies, so while they might greatly impress yokels, a more urbane and experienced city-dweller, or priest or lord, might well be a bit more cynical/skeptical as to the significance of that claim.
Sort of like, if today, a young person said- "Yeah, I was going to Oxford, but I've taken the last two years off to travel..." Could be good, could be bad.
My point was that, while a clerk is generally and consistantly accepted as an "archetype", a student's role in society was far less predictable (or far more mercurial) (small "m"). Perhaps it depends more on the "type" of student they are- studious and respectful ("clerk"), vs prodigal and profligate ("known criminal"). And, even then, who's to know the diff on first sight?
Most any chosen category could find some in society who respect them more or less, but "students", among all, are extremely subjective in that interpretation, both re the character itself, and the subsequent expectations projected upon them.
