And thus shall you preserve and keep your husband from all discomforts and give him all the comforts whereof you can bethink you, and serve him and have him served in your house, and you shall look to him for outside things, for if he be good he will take even more pains and labour therein than you wish, and by doing what I have said, you will cause him ever to miss you and have his heart with you and your loving service and he will shun all other houses, all other women, all other services and households.
MENUS AND RECIPES
Dinner for a Meat Day Served in Thirty-one Dishes and Six Courses
First course. [Wine of] Grenache and roasts, veal pasties, pimpernel pasties, black-puddings and sausages.
Second course. Hares in civey and cutlets, pea soup lit., strained peas], salt meat and great joints (grosse char), a soringue of eels and other fish.
Third course. Roast: coneys, partridges, capons, etc., luce, bar, carp, and a quartered pottage.
Fourth course. River fish à la dodine, savoury rice, a bourrey with hot sauce and eels reversed.
Fifth course. Lark pasties, rissoles, larded milk, sugared flawns.
Sixth course. Pears and comfits, medlars and peeled nuts. Hippocras and wafers....
A Fish Dinner
First course. Pea soup, herring, salt eels, a black civey of oysters, an almond brewet, a tile, a broth of broach and eels, a cretonnée, a green brewet of eels, silver pasties.
Second course. Salt and freshwater fish, bream and salmon pasties, eels reversed, and a brown herbolace, tench with a larded broth, a blankmanger, crisps, lettuces, losenges, orillettes, and Norwegian pasties, stuffed luce and salmon.
Third course. Porpoise frumenty, glazed pommeaulx, Spanish puffs and chastelettes, roast fish, jelly, lampreys, congers and turbot with green sauce, breams with verjuice, leches fried, darioles and entremet. Then Dessert, Issue, and Sally-Forth....
Rosée of Young Rabbits, Larks and Small Birds or Chickens.
Let the rabbits be skinned, cut up, parboiled, done again in cold water and larded; let the chickens be scalded for plucking, then done again, cut up and larded, and let larks and little birds be plucked only for parboiling in sewe of meat; then have bacon lard cut up into little squares and put them into a frying pan and take away the lumps but leave the fat, and therein fry your meat, or set your meat to boil on the coal, often turning it, in a pot with fat. And while you do this, have peeled almonds and moisten them with beef broth and run it through the strainer, then have ginger, a head of clove, cedar otherwise hight alexander [red cedar], make some gravy and strain it and when the meat is cooked set it in a pot with the broth and plenty of sugar; then serve in bowls with glazed spices thereon.
Eel Reversed
Take a large eel and steam it, then slice it along the back the length of the bone on both sides, in such manner that you draw out the bone, tail and head all together, then wash and turn it inside out, to wit the flesh outwards, and let it be tied from place to place; and set it to boil in red wine. Then take it out and cut the thread with a knife or scissors, and set it to cool on a towel. Then take ginger, cinnamon, cloves, flour of cinnamon, grain [of Paradise], nutmegs, and bray them and set them aside. Then take bread toasted and well brayed, and let it not be strained, but moistened with wine wherein the eel hath been cooked and boil all together in an iron pan and put in verjuice, wine, and vinegar and cast them on the eel.
From The Goodman of Paris, trans. E. Power (London: Routledge, 1928).
Life in London
THE CASE OF THE MISSING HEAD, 1277
ON MONDAY the morrow of the Close of Easter, in the fifth year of King Edward, the said chamberlain and sheriffs were given to understand that one Symon de Winton, taverner, was lying dead, etc., in the parish of St. Martin, in Ismongerelane in the ward of Chepe, in a house belonging to Robert le Surigien, of Fryday-strete; in which house the said Symon kept a tavern. On hearing which, the said chamberlain and sheriffs went there, and calling together the good men of that ward and of Bassieshawe, and of the ward of Henry de Frowyk, diligent inquisition was made how this had happened.
The jurors say, that on the Eve of St. Nicholas [6 December] in the same year, a dispute arose between the said Symon and a certain man who said that he was called “Roger de Westminster,” and who was his servant. And on the morrow also, they were seen by the neighbours in the same house and tavern, abusing each other and quarrelling, by reason of the same dispute; and on the same night they slept there, in the same room together. But as soon as this Roger saw that the said Symon was sound asleep, he seized a knife, and with it cut the throat of Symon quite through, so that the head was entirely severed from the body. After which, he dragged the body out, and put it in a certain secret spot, a dark and narrow place, situate between two walls in the same house, where coals were usually kept; such place being somewhat long, and not quite two feet wide. And on the following day, the same Roger, as was his custom, set out the bench of the tavern, and sold wine there. And as the said Symon had not been seen by the neighbours all that day, they asked Roger what had become of his master; whereupon he made answer that he had gone to Westminster, to recover some debts that were owing to him there; and on the second day and third he gave the same answer. At twilight however on the third day, he departed by the outer door, locking it with the key, and carrying off with him a silver cup, a robe, and some bedclothes, which had belonged to the same Symon. Afterwards he returned, and threw the key into the house of one Hamon Cook, a near neighbour, telling him that he was going to seek the said Symon, his master, and asking him to give him the key, in case he should come back. And from that day the house remained closed and empty until the Eve of our Lord’s Circumcision [1 January] following; upon which day John Doget, a taverner, taking with him Gilbert de Colecestre, went to the house aforesaid to recover a debt which the said Symon owed to him for wines. But when he found the door closed and locked, he enquired after the key, of the neighbours who were standing about: upon hearing of which, the said Hamon gave him up the key forthwith. Upon entering the tavern with Gilbert aforesaid, he found there one tun full of wine, and another half full, which he himself had sold to Symon for 50 shillings; and this he at once ordered to be taken out by porters ... and taken to his own house, for the debt so due to him; together with some small tables, canvas cloths, gallons, and wooden potels, two shillings in value. This being done, the said John Doget shut the door of the house, carrying away with him the key thereof; from which time the house was empty, no one having entered it until the Tuesday before Palm Sunday. Upon which day, Master Robert aforesaid, to whom the house belonged, came and broke open the door for want of a key, and so entering it, immediately enfeoffed Michael le Oynter thereof; which Michael, on the Saturday in Easter week, went there alone, to examine all the offices belonging thereto, and see which of them required to be cleansed of filth and dust. But when he came to the narrow and dark place aforesaid, he there found the headless body; upon seeing which, he sent word to the said chamberlain and sheriffs.
Being asked if anyone else dwelt in the house, save and except those two persons, or if anyone else had been seen or heard in that house with them on the night the felony was committed, or if any other person had had frequent or especial access to the house by day or night, from which mischief might have arisen, they say, not beyond the usual resort that all persons have to a tavern. Being asked if the said Roger had any well-known or especial [friend] in the City, or without, to whose house he was wont to resort, they say they understand that he had not, seeing that he was a stranger, and had been in the service of this Symon hardly a fortnight. Being asked therefore whither he had taken the goods he had carried off, they say that, seeing that the house was near to the Jewry, they believe that he took them to the Jewry; but to whose house they know not. Being asked what became of the head so cut off, they say they know not, nor can they ascertain anything as to the same. They say also that the said Roger escaped by stealth, and has not since been seen. Chattel
s he had none.
And the four nearest neighbours were attached, by sureties, and all the persons whose names are above-mentioned.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR BUILDING A HOUSE, 1308
Simon de Canterbury, carpenter, came before the mayor and aldermen on the Saturday next after the feast of St. Martin the Bishop [11 November], in the second year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Edward, and acknowledged that he would make at his own proper charges, down to the locks, for William de Hanigtone, pelterer, before the Feast of Easter then next ensuing, a hall and a room with a chimney, and one larder between the said hall and room; and one sollar over the room and larder; also, one oriole at the end of the hall, beyond the high bench, and one step with an oriole, from the ground to the door of the hall aforesaid, outside of that hall; and two enclosures as cellars, opposite to each other, beneath the hall; and one enclosure for a sewer, with two pipes leading to the said sewer; and one stable ... in length, between the said hall and the old kitchen, and twelve feet in width, with a sollar above such stable, and a garret above the sollar aforesaid; and at one end of such sollar, there is to be a kitchen with a chimney; and there is to be an oriole between the said hall and the old chamber, eight feet in width. And if he shall not do so, then he admits, etc...
And the said William de Hanigtone acknowledged that he was bound to pay to Simon before-mentioned, for the work aforesaid, the sum of 9£.5s.4d. sterling, half a hundred of Eastern martenskins, fur for a woman’s hood, value five shillings, and fur for a robe of him, the said Simon....
BAKERS’ TRICKS, 1327
A congregation of ... aldermen, and Roger Chauntecler, one of the sheriffs of London, holden at the Guild-hall, on Thursday in the week of Pentecost, that is, on the 4th day of June A.D. 1327....
John Brid, baker, was attached to make answer as to certain falsehood, malice, and deceit, by him committed, to the nuisance of the common people; as to which, the mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs of the City were given to understand that the same John, for falsely and maliciously obtaining his own private advantage, did skilfully and artfully cause a certain hole to be made upon a table of his, called a “moldingborde,”pertaining to his bakehouse, after the manner of a mouse-trap, in which mice are caught; there being a certain wicket warily provided for closing and opening such hole.
And when his neighbours and others, who were wont to bake their bread at his oven, came with their dough or material for making bread, the said John used to put such dough or other material upon the said table, called a “moldingborde,” as aforesaid, and over the hole before-mentioned, for the purpose of making loaves therefrom, for baking; and such dough or material being so placed upon the table aforesaid, the same John had one of his household, ready provided for the same, sitting in secret beneath such table; which servant of his, so seated beneath the hole, and carefully opening it, piecemeal and bit by bit craftily withdrew some of the dough aforesaid, frequently collecting great quantities from such dough, falsely, wickedly, and maliciously; to the great loss of all his neighbours and persons living near, and of others, who had come to him with such dough to bake, and to the scandal and disgrace of the whole City, and, in especial, of the mayor and bailiffs for the safe-keeping of the assizes of the City assigned. Which hole, so found in his table aforesaid, was made of aforethought; and in like manner, a great quantity of such dough that had been drawn through the said hole, was found beneath the hole, and was ... brought here into Court.
And the same John, here present in court, being asked how he will acquit himself of the fraud, malice, and deceit aforesaid, personally in court says that of such fraud, malice, and deceit, he is in no way guilty; and puts himself upon the country thereon, etc. Therefore, let inquisition as to the truth of the matter be made by the country, etc....
And after counsel and treaty had been held among the mayor and aldermen, as to passing judgment upon the falsehood, malice, and deceit aforesaid; seeing that, although there is no one who prosecutes them, or any one of them, the said deed is, as it were, a certain species of theft, and that it is neither consonant with right nor pleasing to God that such falsehood, deceit, and malice shall go unpunished; the more especially as all those who have come to the said bakers, to bake their bread, have been falsely, wickedly, and maliciously deceived, they themselves being wholly ignorant thereof, and have suffered no little loss thereby; it was agreed and ordained, that all those of the bakers aforesaid, beneath whose tables with holes dough had been found, should be put upon the pillory, with a certain quantity of such dough hung from their necks; and that those bakers in whose houses dough was not found beneath the tables aforesaid, should be put upon the pillory, but without dough hung from their necks; and that they should so remain upon the pillory until vespers at St. Paul’s in London should be ended.
From Memorials of London, H. T. Riley, ed. (London: Longmans Green, 1868).
Fashions in Italy
SACCHETTI
Fourteenth century
But was not this fashion of wearing gorgets the most extraordinary of all the fashions in the world? Of all that were ever seen in the world, this was the strangest and the most tiresome. And I, the writer, remember hearing Salvestro Brunelleschi relate that, after having dwelt a long time in Friuli, he returned to Florence just when his kindred were engaged in a very great quarrel with a neighbouring family called Agli. It so happened that one of these Agli, named Guernizo, returned home from Germany at this time; and either on account of the name, or because he was reputed a very fierce man, all the Brunelleschi armed themselves in such a manner that Salvestro was made to wear a gorget. And that morning at dinner a dish of beans was placed before him, and taking a spoonful to put them into his mouth, he dropped them down inside his gorget. The beans were very hot, and scalded his neck and throat so badly that he cried, “I put on the gorget for fear of Guernizo, and it hath caused me to burn my whole throat!” and rising up from table he took off the gorget and cast it on the floor, saying, “I would rather be put to death by mine enemies than kill myself.”
How many fashions have been altered in my time by the changeableness of those persons now living, and especially in mine own city! Formerly the women wore their bodices cut so open that they were uncovered to beneath their armpits! Then with one jump, they wore their collars right up to their ears. And these are all outrageous fashions. I, the writer, could recite as many more of the customs and fashions which have been changed in my days as would fill a book as large as this whole volume. But although they were constantly changing in this city of ours, they were not invariable either in most of the other great cities of the world. And although formerly the Genoese never altered the fashion of their dress, and neither the Venetians nor the Catalans altered theirs, nor did their women either, nowadays it seemeth to me that the whole world is united in having but little firmness of mind; for the men and women of Florence, Genoa, Venice, Catalonia, indeed of all the Christian world, go dressed in the same manner, not being able to distinguish one from another. And would to Heaven they all remained fixed upon the same manner, but quite the contrary! For if one jay do but appear with a new fashion, all the world doth copy it. So that the whole world, but most especially Italy, is variable and hastens to adopt the new fashions. The young maidens, who used to dress with so much modesty, have now raised the hanging ends of their hoods and have twisted them into caps, and they go attired like common women, wearing caps, and collars and strings round their necks, with divers kinds of beasts hung upon their breasts. And what more wretched, dangerous, and useless fashion ever existed than that of wearing such sleeves as they do, or great sacks, as they might rather be called? They cannot raise a glass or take a mouthful without soiling both their sleeves and the tablecloth by upsetting the glasses on the table. Likewise do youths wear these immense sleeves, but still worse is it when even sucklings are dressed in them. The women wear hoods and cloaks. The young men for the most part go without cloaks and wear their hair long; they need but divest themselv
es of their breeches and they will then have left off everything they can, and truly these are so small that they could easily do without them. They put their legs into tight socks and upon their wrists they hang a yard of cloth; they put more cloth into the making of a glove than into a hood. Perchance they will thereby all do penance for their many vanities. For whoever liveth but one day in this world changeth his fashions a thousand times; each one seeketh liberty and yet depriveth himself of it. The Lord created our feet free, yet many persons are unable to walk on account of the long points of their shoes. He created legs with joints, but many have so stiffened them with strings and laces that they can scarcely sit down; their bodies are drawn in tightly, their arms are burdened with a train of cloth, their necks are squeezed into their hoods and their heads into a sort of nightcap, whereby all day they feel as though their heads were being sawn off. Truly there would be no end to describing the women’s attire, considering the extravagance of their dress from their feet up to their heads, and how every day they are up on the roofs, some curling their hair, some smoothing it, and some bleaching it, so that often they die of the colds they catchl
Oh, the vanity of human power! Through thee true glory is lost! But I will speak no more of these things, for I should so engross myself in their misdeeds that I should be able to discourse of nothing else.
From Tales from Sacchetti, trans. M. G. Steegmann (London: Dent, 1908).
THE JEWS
Papal Protection of theJews
The Portable Medieval Reader Page 15