SC - Uncooked Chicken

[Kathleen M Hogan]

On Fri, 9 Oct 1998 17:02:55 EDT Seton1355 at aol.com writes:
>What a cool idea!!  It certainly would break things up and give people 
>a chance to move around, digest their food, chat to friends across the 
>room, etc.  Does anyone know if ladies would stitch or do some sort of
>small  hand project during a feast?  (if it lasted all day?)

I imagine so.  The feast I read about (no I can't tell you the source, It
was a book about Stephen of Blois that I read in High School almost 20
years ago) was a detailed description of a wedding that Stephen attended.
 It described the courses as starting with the heavier foods like roasted
beef and boar followed by active dances like gavottes and bransles,
getting lighter and less active as the day went on (and people got full
and drunk) concluding with dishes like jellied birds eggs, peacock
tongues, etc with jongleurs and acrobats as entertainment. 

 A large subtlety was presented after each course...all on the theme of
the wedding, family, and home.  They were all set on a table until after
the final course, when they were broken up by the high table and eaten. 
The subtleties were concoctions of bread and pastry, decorated with
candied herbs and fruits and flowers.  One detail I remember was that one
of them had a figure of the bride with candied flower petals making up
her blond hair and purple dress.

The tourney was held the following day, with more entertainment between
sections of the tourney.  Apparently, the wedding celebration lasted for
3-4 days, as they also mentioned a day of hunting and another of
celebrating before everyone started to go home.

There was also mention of how the residents of the manor were ousted from
their rooms to make way for the king, the bishop, and a few upper nobles;
and how most of the lower nobles, knights, and men at arms ousted the
peasants so that they could sleep inside.  

I can see how a man would dread having many daughters to have to marry
off, as a wedding to a high ranking noble could easily bankrupt him.

Caitlin NicFhionghuin
House Oak & Thistle
Shire of Bordervale Keep, Atlantia
Augusta, GA

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