Dining with our medieval ancestors - 3/4

It’s time for your taste buds!

Discover what our medieval ancestors ate, drank… and how they laid their table. What an art!
In the 12th and 13th centuries, people ate according to their quality: “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are”… So, just like clothing, the medieval meal was also a social marker.

For the working man, it’s mainly vegetarian, but the vegetables aren’t really those of today, and on his humble table, the king of foods is bread.

Aristocratic food, on the other hand, was rich in taste and color, higher in protein and spicier, and the conviviality of the meal was often characterized by a highly codified ritual: expressions still used today such as “Dresser la table”, “Mettre le couvert” and “Faire bonne chère” bear witness to this.

In the cathedral, the images of aristocratic meals engraved in glass and stone are not only “Windows to the Middle Ages”, they also often have a religious connotation… Among them, that of the Eucharistic meal, with bread and wine omnipresent.

Furniture and utensils…

Let’s eat! Signs of the Zodiac stained glass window © NDC – fonds Gaud

Royal portal capitals *(12th century)*: The Last Supper *(top left)*; The Emmaus Meal *(bottom left)*; Month of January *(top right)* © NDC

Cups, hanaps *(hanap = large drinking cup, usually made of metal and fitted with a lid, in use especially in the Middle Ages)* © NDC – fonds Gaud

The pitchers – the ewers *(ewer = an ovoid-footed vessel with a handle and spout, used to hold and serve water)* © NDC – fonds Gaud

Cutlery – On the right, doorframe of the royal portal *(12th century)* © NDC – fonds Gaud

Silver tableware, late 14th century – Maison-Dieu *(Coëffort church)*, Le Mans

Ceramic pots, jugs and knives *(12th / 15th)*, Le Mans

Article taken from the lecture “Dining with our medieval ancestors” by Véronique des Boscs,
from the Cathedral’s Visitor Service,
as part of the 2023 Autumn Cycle