Medieval banquet which was fit for a king.
Serving Medieval Banquets
The different provisions necessary for food
were usually entrusted to the squires of
the kitchen, and were chosen, purchased,
and paid for by one or more of these
officials, assisted by the cooks. The dishes
prepared by the cooks were placed, by
the help of the esquires, on dressers in the
kitchen until the moment of serving and
carried to the tables in the Great Hall of the
castle.
The Great Table was set on a dais which
was strictly reserved for the persons of
distinction, often covered with a table cloth
and guests were shown to their seats after
washing their hands at the entrance of the
Great Hall
Fabulous food arrangements with exotic colours and
flavourings - especially when preparing a Medieval
banquet which was fit for a king.
century – sought to ensure the victory of
Christendom in the Mediterranean world.
The First Crusade (1096–99) aimed to
capture Jerusalem – and finally did so
in 1099. Yet the city was soon lost, and
further crusades had to be launched in a
bid to regain it.
Jews and Muslims also suffered
persecution, expulsion and death in
Christian Europe. In England, antiSemitism resulted in massacres of Jews
in York and London in the late 12th
century, and Edward I banished all Jews
from England in 1290 – they were only
permitted to return in the mid-1600s.
Life Expectancy
Sudden or premature death was
common in the Medieval period. Most
people died young, but death rates
could vary based on factors like status,
wealth, location (higher death rates
are seen in urban settlements), and
possibly gender. Adults died from various
causes, including plague, tuberculosis,
malnutrition, famine, warfare, sweating
sickness and infections.
Wealth did not guarantee a long life.
Surprisingly, the average life expectancy
for ducal families in England between
1330 and 1479 was only 24 years for
men and 33 for women.
Dying a ‘good’ death was very important
to Medieval people, and was the subject of
many books. People often worried about
‘sudden death’ and what would happen
to those who died without time to prepare
and receive the last rites. Written charms
were thought to provide protection against
sudden death – whether against death in
battle, poison, lightning, fire, water, fever or
other dangers.
Medieval Banquets
We have all probably seen movies set
in the Medieval times and seen scenes
of the extravagant feasts and banquets
hosted in great halls. For these banquets
for the wealthy menus were extensive,
but only small portions were taken. Social
etiquette dictated that an extensive choice
of foods should be made available. A
change in society had emerged during
the era of the Middles Ages when travel,
prompted by the Crusades, led to a new
and unprecedented interest in beautiful
objects and elegant manners. This
change extended to food preparation and
presentation resulting in fabulous food
arrangements with exotic colours and
flavourings - especially when preparing a
Buffets - these were a series of wooden
planks with a number of stepped shelves.
The number of shelves indicated rank.
The more shelves the higher the rank. The
‘Stepped Buffets’ were covered with rich
drapes and assembled for use at banquets
and feasts.
The Noble’s finest plates of gold or silver
were displayed on the ‘Buffet’ and servants
served from them. The banquet often
consisted of three or four courses but
sometimes as many as six were served.
The main courses were sometimes made
to imitate a sort of theatrical representation
and sometimes coloured jellies of swans or
peacocks adorned with their feathers were
served as a speciality and placed on the
middle of the table on a pedestal.
Our version of these elaborate feasts will
see the chefs at The Grand in Brighton give
a nod to the past with modern, delicious
interpretations for our Medieval Banquet
on 25th March 2017. We are hoping that
people will get into the spirit of the event
and will dress in period costume and join us
at what is going to be a truly unique event.
This fundraiser for our charity partner,
Rockinghorse, is only possible because
of the generosity of our sponsors, Extech
IT, Pilbeam Construction, Sussex Print
Management and Oliver & Graimes.
If you would like to get involved then
feel free to contact me or if you would
like to book a place or table then visit
brightonmedievalbanquet2017.eventbrite.
co.uk but hurry as at the time of writing we
have already sold 25% of the tickets and
we still have four months to go!
By Jason Edge
(Sources: historyextra.com/feature/
medieval/10-dangers-medieval-period and
medieval-life-and-times.info/medievalfood/medieval-banquets.htm)
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