Adamson - Food in Medieval Times

FOOD IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
base all over his clothes.34 Such medieval party games were not dis-
similar in spirit to the whoopee cushions of today.
When it comes to sotelties, the trend in the later Middle Ages, as was
shown in Chapter 2, was from an edible dish to a table ornament that
over time became more decorative and less nourishing. When these
surprises at a banquet moved from the table to the hall floor, and in-
volved inedible props and people dressed up in costumes performing
historical or mythical scenes, this was called a “pageant” in English. In
French the word entremets was used for both types of dinner enter-
tainment. One famous pageant, of which a beautiful illustration has
survived, was performed on 6 January 1378 at a banquet hosted by
Charles V of France in honor of his distinguished guests, Emperor
Charles IV of Bohemia and his son, Wenceslas of Luxembourg. The
pageant was nothing less than the recreation of the crusaders’ con-
quest of Jerusalem, complete with a ship and European knights scal-
ing the walls of the Holy City.35
Another memorable feast was that hosted by Philippe le Bon on 17
February 1454. Its theme was the loss of Constantinople, the capital
of Christian Byzantium, to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The descrip-
tion of the event is a vivid illustration of the way food, politics, and re-
ligion at times intermingled in the big spectacle of a medieval
banquet:
The feast was a lavish affair: guests entering the hall had to pass a chained lion
before taking their seats at tables decorated with automata, described as en-
tremets, including fountains, moving tableaux, and a pie crust containing
twenty-eight musicians. During and after their meal, guests were entertained
with similarly exotic scenes (also called entremets); a fire-breathing dragon flew
over their heads, and a small boy mounted on a deer moved amongst them,
singing a duet in which the deer took the melody line. Finally, the allegorical
figure of Sainte Eglise [Holy Church] entered, mounted on the back of an ele-
phant. She read a moving poem about her plight in the East following the
Turkish capture of Constantinople during the previous year. Inspired by this
spectacle, Philippe le Bon and his guests made vows to the Virgin and to a live
pheasant, presented for this purpose, oaths intended to recapture Constantino-
ple for the Christian faith.36
The quantities of food supposedly consumed at this feast were stag-
gering, and included 9,000 loaves of white bread, 4,800 gourmet
breads, 24 barrels of Beaune wine, 6 barrels of Germolian wine, 2 bar-
rels of hippocras (spiced wine), 800 chicken pies, 1,600 roast pigs,
1,600 pieces of roast veal, 1,600 legs of mutton, 400 pieces of wild-
fowl, 600 partridges, 1,400 rabbits, 400 herons, 36 peacocks, and 6
horses carrying confectionaries.37
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