AboutLaura Trauth Expertise Late medieval and early modern history (AD 1250-1650), especially England
AND women`s history in the west from the medieval through the modern periods
(AD 1250-1850). I am also knowlegable about general medieval art history and
architecture, medieval English literature and the history of disease in human
communities. I have a BA in anthropology from the University of Notre Dame
(1987), a Master of Humanities degree in Medieval history and literature from
Wright State University (1996), and have completed my course work and
qualifying exams for the PHD program in history at the Catholic University of
America.
Experience I have been a presenter at the International Congress on Medieval Studies several times, as well as at the Novus et Antiquus conference at Ball State U. My greatest challenge is my teaching -- keeping the subject fresh and interesting to students and helping them learn valuable analytic skills as well.
Question Ms. Laura
Thank you so much with your help on my last question of the social hierarchy! The information was invaluable, and easy to master once thoroughly contemplated upon.
I do have another question, however. In the High Middle Ages, what would a grand dinner celebration have been like? What would they have eaten? What types of entertainment would they have had between courses? How many courses would there have been? Are there any specific dances that would have been performed? Could peasants and nobelry alike have been invited to the same function? Would the King make some sort of speech or whatever before it all began? Would a queen have been allowed to wear a racy dress? What would the decorations and what not have looked like?
Sorry for all the questions. I'm at the Great Dinner Scene of my novel, and I am revising it, and want to make sure my story is somewhat acurate.
I was reading one of Terry Goodkind's books, and he has a dinner scene in it, and I based mine off of his, but it would be wonderful to have a second opinion.
Thank you so much, and my appologies again for the large ammount of questions.
Best Wishes,
Angela
Answer Hi Angela,
Once again, my appologies for the delay. I'd promised to check my email from work, but we've been having car issues so I haven't made it in over this break like I thought I would.
One of the best things I can give you as a resource on feasts is this web site: http://www.godecookery.com/ These folks have been on some of Food Network's history of food shows and know their stuff. The Chaucerian feast would be a good one. It's late medieval, not high, but all the basics are there.
Medieval feasts were about how the food looked as much as how it tasted. Taste was important, but so was the way the food was displayed. So for a royal feast, you might have a live-bird pie (bake the pie empty and in 2 pieces, then put live doves or other birds in it so they fly out when the top crust is broken) for example.
Or you might have something like a modern "Turducken" where you put a chicken inside a duck, and that in a swan...
Also, rare spices and other things were used to show the guests how well off the hosts were. So a royal feast might have oranges and lemons from north africa, Pomegranates from the middle east, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, saffron, ginger and other spices in the food - even in savory foods! Salt too was expensive and social rank was shown by how close to the salt celler you got to sit at the table. You can see this really well in the Book of Hours of the Duke Du Berry. Here's a good link to several of the pictures from this prayer book. Click on January to see it larger. The Duke is the fellow in the blue robe and brown hat at the right, and the large boat-shaped gold thing on the table in front of him is the salt cellar!
Another thing to remember is what Medieval Europeans DIDN'T have. A lot of things we take for granted were new world crops/animals and weren't known yet: potatoes, tomatoes, maize, turkey, cranberries, tobacco....
Spoons have been around for a while for soups, but because soups were generally medicinal and for the old or very young, spoons were a bit "sissy" for much of the middle ages. Knives were the main utensile of course, and everyone had their own eating knife on their belt. Forks were an invention of the late middle ages/Renaissance, so you'll probably want to leave them out. Bread was used as the main utensil in addition to the knife - cut off some meat, scoop the meat juices up with the bread! Vegetables were eaten by the nobility as you'll see from Gode Cookery, but the weren't the star of the meal - meat was. Vegetables were ornaments and ways to show off other cooking skills, but they were also what the peasants ate, so no one wanted to give the impression that they HAD to eat them!
There are also a lot of good recipe books available on Amazon.com and other online bookstores if you find this is something you're really interested in. Just do a search on Amazon for Medieval Feasts and/or Celebrations and you'll find a bunch (then you can check prices against other dealers or look for them at a local library). But Gode Cookery probably has enough for this scene in your book - it's extensive!!
