We still practise that kind of football once a year,in Florence.Most people(mums,mainly)find it too vicious and physical,but it's still on to commemorate an historical event from some centuries ago:apparently some big king was threatening to conquer Florece,which until the 15 Hundreds was a free republic;Florence people didn't know how to win over the siege(I doubth they had soldiers at all to fight back),so they made up this huge football match to boast that they worried so little about enemies and armies and sieges.It worked:the king ,extremely impressed and scared,withdrawed all his army.

Very,very interesting site,thanks very much.But the bit about the yearly bath made me almost faint.I was actually told that being too clean and washing too much,in medieval times,was a suspect habit and many women were labelled as witches for that.