Goliardia Explained

Goliardia is a type of Italian university student association, similar to the fraternities and sororities of the United States and Canada or to the Studentenverbindung in Germany. Their mythology is built around a supposed link to a group of mostly young and disaffected clergy from the 12th to 13th century. Even if their membership has never reached a large audience, the numbers have been decreasing since the postwar initiatives of keeping these clubs alive, especially considering the acts of vandalism perpetrated by its members in major Italian cities like Padua,^[1] Parma,^[2] Trieste,^{[3] [4]} and Genoa.

Etymology

The word "goliard" or, better, "goliarda", is often considered the contraction of "Goliath Abelard". However, the word has an uncertain^[5] and debated etymology.^[6]

See also

• Fraternities and sororities
• Studentenverbindung

Notes and References

1. Web site: I goliardi: «Non siamo vandali, da noi gioia e cultura». 15 December 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210301142432/https://mattinopadova.gelocal.it/padova/cronaca/2011/12/15/news/i-goliardi-non-siamo-vandali-da-noi-gioia-e-cultura-1.2856959. 1 March 2021.
2. Web site: Goliardia o vandalismo?. https://web.archive.org/web/20210301142643/https://www.gazzettadiparma.it/archivio-bozze/2015/04/12/news/goliardia_o_vandalismo_-356651/. 1 March 2021.
3. Web site: Fantocci appesi alle statue di piazza. 20 March 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191208215755/https://ilpiccolo.gelocal.it/trieste/cronaca/2015/03/20/news/fantocci-appesi-alle-statue-di-piazza-unita-1.11082130. 8 December 2019.
4. Web site: Manichini impiccati in piazza Unità: "faida" tra gruppi goliardici. https://web.archive.org/web/20210301142836/https://www.triesteprima.it/cronaca/manichini-impiccati-piazza-unita-fontana-quattro-continenti-gruppi-goliardici.html. 1 March 2021.
5. [Salvatore Battaglia]
6. [Jacques Le Goff]