SC - Peasants, nobility, corpora and the Civil War

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/1/98 5:12:44 PM Eastern Standard Time,
WOLFMOMSCA at aol.com writes:

<<  I consider it just a touch rude to
 insist that our discussion be limited to noble feasts of our own time
period,>>

Looking back on the post you refer to, I don't find the words 'I insist'
anywhere.  So far as rudeness is concerned, there is not one person I can
think of who is not rude at some point or the other.  I did not consider my
post rude then and nor do I consider it rude on rereading.

<< in light of the fact that all historical cooks are welcome here.  
 
 Burning the soapbox for a cook fire,
 Wolfmother >>

I can't argue with you but I would gently point out the subject line of this
particular thread was 'Nobility and Feasts'.  If a person wishes to discuss
peasant cooking, that is fine but appears to me to not be covered under
'nobility and feasts'. 

The question that comes to mind is what exactly the basis for rendering such
peasant fare would be?  We have no written records that touch on this subject,
SFAIK.  And, anything that is discussed about it would, by default, be
conjecture.  You can correct me if I'm wrong but conjecture is not a good
basis for 'historical' reproduction except in the most extreme circumstances
and even then should be presented as a 'guess' at best.

I would also like to point out that the work in noble castles and manor houses
was oftentimes performed by the young nobles who were in training.  This
training was a prerequisite to attaining future status.  Knights were REQUIRED
to not only play an instrument, sing and other useful arts but also were
REQUIRED to learn the art of carving meats. 

There is also a tendency for a lot of folks to forget that nobility is
altogether different from royalty, Royal service was done by people of noble
birth.  Peasant service was to the Lord of the manor and consisted of a total
of about one and a half days per week service.  Alas, the ideas formulated by
our Victorian fathers all too often cloud our view of actual medieval society.

Regarding your point about historical cooks outside this list being welcome or
not, I don't recall that that was an issue.  The cooking discussions on this
list have never been confined to 'period' cooking.  However, I think that
'SCA-cooking' is the magic phrase.  I would not expect to subscribe to a
'Civil War-cooking' list and be able to produce e-mails dealing with food
during the 'War of 1812' without some negative feedback.  To avoid potential
feedback, I would, personally, at the very least, change to subject line to
reflect content a little closer.


I would also tend to think that within the SCA, custom and official
publications are at least of some importance.  The recent rewriting of Corpora
is not necessarily a good thing.  It was undertaken to eliminate certain
perceived problems which is a good thing but by not incorporating time honored
custom or particulars out of official publications, the rewriting accomplished
little in settling the ongoing dispute of what the SCA is all about.
Personally, if I am told that a certain policy is to be used in contact sheets
for new members, it pretty much tells me what 'official' policy' is. 

Ras (who is not a peasant but who is an opinionated Grumpy Old Fart)

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