is to make his report of their morals and
advancement in learning to the Warden. . . The Scholars who are
appointed to the duty of studying in the House are to have a
common table, and a dress as nearly alike as possible. . . The
members of the College must all be present together, as far as
their leisure serves, at the canonical hours and celebration of
masses on holy and other days. . . The Scholars are to have a
reader at meals, and in eating together they are to observe
silence, and to listen to what is read. In their chambers, they
must abstain from noise and interruption of their fellows; and
when they speak they must use the Latin language. . . A Scrutiny
shall be held in the House by the Warden and the Seniors, and all
the Scholars there present, three times a year; a diligent inquiry
is to be instituted into the life, conduct, morals, and progress
in learning, of each and all; and what requires correction then is
to be corrected, and excesses are to be visited with condign
punishment. . ."

Educated men (and those of the 1200s through the 1500s), believed
that the earth was the center of the universe and that it was
surrounded by a giant spherical dome on which the stars were
placed. The sun and moon and planets were each on a sphere around
the earth that was responsible for their movements. The origin of
the word "planet" meant "wanderer" because the motion of the
planets changed in direction and speed. Astrology explained how
the position of the stars and planets influenced man and other
earthly things. For instance, the position of the stars at a
person's birth determined his character. The angle and therefore
potency of the sun's rays influenced climate, temperament, and
changes of mortal life such as disease and revolutions. Unusual
events such as the proximity of two planets, a comet, an eclipse,
a meteor, or a nova were of great significance. A star often was
thought to presage the birth of a great man or a hero. There was a
propitious time to have a marriage, go on a journey, make war, and
take herbal medicine or be bled by leeches, the latter of which
was accompanied by religious ceremony. Cure was by God, with
medical practitioners only relieving suffering. But there were
medical interventions such as pressure and binding were applied to
bleeding. Arrow and sword wounds to the skin or to any protruding
intestine were washed with warm water and sewn up with needle and
silk thread. Ribs were spread