Laudator Temporis Acti

Paul F. Grendler, The Universities of the Italian Renaissance (2002; rpt. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), p. xv:

At Padua in the first week of June 1996, I sat in an upper-story room of the sixteenth-century Palazzo del Bo reading documents from the Archivio Antico dell'Università di Padova. The window overlooked the small square in front of the Palazzo. Early June is the time for the laureate (doctoral) examinations in Italy, some in progress in rooms below. As a successful candidate emerged, friends hailed the new doctor with a scatological serenade in dialect: "Dotore, Dotore, Dotore, pal buso del cul. Vaffan cul, vaffan cul." While the chant seems crude and insulting in English translation, the words floated on joy and laughter. Sometimes friends draped a large wreath around the neck of the new doctor.

As the examinations continued in the ensuing days, large handwritten and illustrated posters appeared on the front wall of the Palazzo del Bo to celebrate in verse and picture the accomplishments of new doctors. Signed by many friends, they were both elaborate and funny. The climax came with a placard chronicling the life of a certain "Dottoressa Barbara Pasqueta." The placard was a university version of the pasquinades (pasquinata = Pasqueta) attached to the famous statue in Rome. According to the placard, Dottoressa Pasqueta had enjoyed a life full of extraordinary academic and sexual exploits, all detailed in satirical verses and graphic illustrations. She obtained her degree with a minimum score of thirty-seven out of sixty points.

Sometimes the celebrations honoring the new doctor continued into the evening. One night I watched the festivities for a new laureate in front of the Palazzo. The graduate wore a swimsuit, apron, brown paint on her face, and flowers in her hair, making her into a wood nymph. She first delivered a short peroration on a platform. Friends abruptly ended her speech by putting tape over her mouth and tying her to a post. Upon release she went about the piazza selling vegetables from a basket, as comrades took pictures. Before long the group moved on, possibly to further celebration in home or tavern. Gaudeamus igitur.