<P> Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme . For example, a course might be on a book by Aristotle, or a book from the Bible . Courses were not elective: the course offerings were set, and everyone had to take the same courses . There were, however, occasional choices as to which teacher to use . </P> <P> Students often entered the University at fourteen to fifteen years of age, though many were older . Classes usually started at 5: 00 or 6: 00 AM . </P> <P> Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy . In this way no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in an ecclesiastical court, and were thus immune from any corporal punishment . This gave students free rein in urban environments to break secular laws with impunity, which led to many abuses: theft, rape and murder were not uncommon among students, who did not face serious consequences and students were known to engage in drunkenness . </P> <P> This led to uneasy tensions with secular authorities--the demarcation between town and gown . Masters and students would sometimes "strike" by leaving a city and not returning for years . This happened at the University of Paris strike of 1229 after a riot left a number of students dead . The University went on strike and they did not return for two years . As students had the legal status of clerics, which Canon Law prohibited for women, women were not admitted into universities . </P>

Teachers at a medieval university by reading from a basic text