Medieval Middle Class Feasting
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Historical rabbit holes, for those who are inclined.
These slender booklets from Historical Management Associates are the work of an organization dedicated to historical re-enactment in the UK. They are written with a stickler’s attention to historical precision and a conviction that nothing is too arcane to investigate. Some of the books are simple transcriptions of period manuscripts; others represent significant original research, as in Cattle Farming and Grazing Management, which is 52 pages long but cites 36 sources, many of them published in the 17th century.
From introduction:
“Most medieval literature relates to the doings of the high and mighty and this is certainly true of cookery. A number of menus survive for events such as the Coronation of Henry VI at Westminster in 1399, the Second Wedding of Henry IV at Winchester 7th February 1404 of the Funeral of Nicholas Bubwirth Bishop of Bath and Wells 4th December 1424. The question is how relevant these are to the feasts of the normal people of England held on specific occasions during every year.
“Light is shed on this by appendix VI of the ‘Records of the Guild of the Holy Trinity, St Mary, St John the Baptist and St. Katherine, of Coventry’ published by the Dugdale Society in 1944…”
Staplebound pamphlet. 32 pages.
