The perks of a Medieval theology student

I was hanging out at a local university yesterday afternoon and couldn't help but contrast my surroundings with what I had been just reading about John Calvin's college days. The following is an excerpt from his biography by T.H.L. Parker. Colleges in Medieval times were very different than they are today to say the least. They were male-only institutions. The entrance age was much younger; Calvin was 11 or 12 years old when he began his studies. The living conditions were a tad rougher too. Here's a taste of what the meal plan was like at the Montaigu College, University of Paris:

A perpetual fast was kept. In the sense that food was scanty and coarse. For the main meal, the boys were given as much bread as they wanted with one-thirtieth of a pound of butter or some bottled fruit. The meat course seems always to have consisted of part of a herring or an egg and some vegetables. Theology students were in the enviable position of getting a whole herring or two eggs as well as cheese or fruit. They were also, unlike the others, allowed some wine, a third of a pint of the cheapest, topped up with water.

It seems like being a theology student had its perks. A whole herring, an extra egg, and a little wine sound luxurious compared to what the others were rationed. Did they need the extra nutrition because they worked harder? Or has there always been a timeless understanding that theologians like to eat?

John Calvin: A Biography, T.H.L. Parker, Westminster John Knox Press, 2006, pp.23-24.
Photo credit: Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons