Compliance with the rules of behavior at the table has always been considered a sign of good taste.
Some of today’s rules of etiquette have their roots in the ancient Ages. How people behaved at the table a few centuries ago – in the following review.
The collapse of the Western Roman Empire marked the end of ancient times. There Was The Middle Ages. Europe suffered from feudal strife. Daily menu masters is not too different from the peasants. Mostly ate cereals, beans, vegetables and lots of bread. The lack of nutrient food to compensate for the amount of food eaten. At that time it was customary to eat to satiety. Looking at medieval paintings, it seems that many men then were overweight. You may think that swollen belly is a sign of prosperity, but, actually, it is a sign of indigestion.
The meat on the tables of the peasants appeared only on holidays, and the feudal – always on the feasts. Aristocrats were eating pork, hare, fish, geese. The tables were arranged like the letter “T” or “P”. Guests were seated according to status. The higher the position, the invited, the closer it sits to the host.
In the early middle Ages the concept tablecloths were absent, it was laid much later. On oak surfaces of the tables were the grooves where food was displayed. Sitting at a table of only men, the women ate separately in another room.
With the development of the cult of the Beautiful ladies (XI century), the men began to eat together with women. The first “beginnings” of table etiquette. Was required to wash their hands before eating and after the meal.
Liquid food was poured into bowls (one serving meant for two) and meat each folded himself into a loaf of bread. The remains of the bread was then thrown to the dogs or gave to the poor. In the middle Ages usually ate in the morning and evening. An ancient proverb reads: “the Angels need food once a day, people twice, the animals – three”.
If the time was not festive, the menu of a commoner from the aristocrat differed only in the amount eaten. So, from historical Chronicles it is known that the dinner of the Royal couple in England the thirteenth century consisted of a couple of pounds of smoked bacon and two liters of beer.
In the XII century on the tables began to lay the cloth. The sides actively wiping hands and mouths of the hosts and guests. Among the Cutlery in the middle Ages used knives, more like hatchets and spoons from precious metals, adorned with precious stones. Soups eaten, and drank. Spoons took the candy and other sweets.
The fork began to be used in the XV century, and even then, only to the Italians. That’s where the beginning of the Renaissance that succeeded the Middle ages. As for the other European powers, with a fork in no hurry to use even monarchs. It is known that Queen Anne of Austria was eating beef stew with your hands, and her son Louis XIV, and even forbade the use of the fork at court, since he ate cooked food with your hands.
In the era of the sun King the observance of etiquette, including table, became the basis of court life. Rules of conduct have become so complex that produced numerous manuals on the etiquette. When the yard appeared as the master of ceremonies. He had to follow all the requirements.
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