[The sport] calcio was reserved for rich aristocrats who played every night between Epiphany and Lent. Even popes, such as Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII, played the sport in Vatican City. The games could get violent as teams vied to score goals.

  • @misericordiae
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    32 months ago

    I found full matches on youtube! I was expecting like an hour-long, large-scale hockey brawl, but most of what I watched was players standing around, squaring up, or on the ground in wrestling holds, punctuated by brief moments of the ball-holder actually trying to score. It sounds like the current rules (rightly) forbid a lot of the stuff that would get people too badly hurt. The ref and pre-game procession wear period clothing, though, which is cool.