The reality of the evils against which this statute was aimed is attested by the frequent recurrence of other statutes against crimes of violence committed by scholars, as well as by college rules against frequenting the streets except under proper control. We may take as an example an University statute passed in 1432 against ‘the unbridled prevalence of execrable disturbances’ in Oxford, which specifically imposes fines, on a graduated scale, for threats of personal violence, carrying weapons, pushing with the shoulder or striking with the fist, striking with a stone or club, striking with a knife, dagger, sword, axe, or other warlike weapon, carrying bows and arrows, gathering armed men, and resisting the execution of justice, especially by night. The main cause of these brawls is clearly indicated by the further injunction that no scholar or Master shall take part with another because he is of the same country, or against him because he is of a different country. The statutable fines range from one shilling to no less than forty—a highly deterrent penalty in the reign of Henry VI. It is to be observed that while the parade of arms within the chancellor’s jurisdiction is prohibited, the possession of them is rather taken for granted, since they were usually carried for purposes of defence on long journeys. Bows and arrows, as essentially offensive weapons, are naturally placed under a stricter ban, and the heaviest punishment is properly reserved for riotous assemblages, which had so often led to bloodshed in the streets of mediæval Oxford. [Sidenote: Superiority of colleges in discipline and tuition]