A Battle over Bad Beer — The St. Scholastica Day Riot,On St. Scholastica’s Day, the 10t
A Battle over Bad Beer — The St. Scholastica Day Riot,On St. Scholastica’s Day, the 10th of February, 1355, a number of Oxford University students went to the local Swyndelstock Tavern to drink some beer and celebrate the holiday (some sources say beer, others wine). Two students, named Walter Spryngeheuse and Roger de Chesterfield were disgusted with the cheap swill they were served, and immediately confronted the tavern owner, John Croiden (or John of Barford). Croiden responded to the students complaints with, “stubborn and saucie language”, prompting the students to throw their beers into the face of Croiden. Immediately a bar fight broke out among the students and the regular tavern patrons. Soon, the fight spread into the streets. John Croiden gathered the townspeople to his side, ringing the town church bell and shouting, “Havoc! Havoc! Smyt fast, give gode knocks!" Likewise, the students rang the Oxford University bell, rallying the campus population to do battle with the townspeople.For two days, the two armies clashed in the streets of Oxford with fists, knives, swords, axes, bows, and clubs. In the end, bolstered by 2,000 reinforcements from the surrounding countryside, the townspeople were able to defeat the students and storm Oxford University. The battle resulted in the deaths of 63 students and 30 townspeople. -- source link
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