SC - Re: Lurkers

[LrdRas@aol.com]

<< ... any of you spanish junkies out there have any suggestions for
beverages contemporary with the Libre de Sent sovi? ... >>

In the meantime, while the spanish junkies out there look for their
xeroxes etc., please allow for some preliminary notes and remarks on
possible sources ...

1 -- First, IIRC, the Libre de Sent Sovi is extant in 15th century
manuscripts, whereas the text is said to be written in the 14th century.
Thus, I assume, we are looking for 14th/15th century sources. 

2 -- Maria de los Angeles Perez Samper, in the introduction to her
edition of Domingo Hernandez de Maceras 'Libro del arte de cozina', says
that red wine was very common in modern (16th c. onwards) Spain and that
spiced wines were traditionally used since the mdidle ages: "El vino era
en la Espana moderna la bebida ordinaria. Todos bebian vino ...
Generalmente se bebian vinos jovenes, de poca calidad ... Desde la edad
media eran muy tradicionales los vinos especiados y aromatizados, como
el hipocras" (p. 82; all accents left out for the sake of transmission).
Alas, there are no footnotes with the details. According to this, it
seems, that a young, red wine of poor quality could serve your purposes
... ;-)

3 -- A good source for spiced wines (even a source of Catalan origin!)
is Arnald of Villanova's 'Liber de vinis'. However it is uncertain,
whether or not these wines were used for non-medical purposes, too. In
any case, there is an English translation of this text based on the
first printed edition 1478 in Henry Sigerist's facsimile, published in
1943.

4 -- Another Catalan source is Francesc Eiximenis 14th century 'Terc del
Crestia' [The third book about the Christian], a moral treatise
containing, among other things, rules for the use of food and beverages.
These chapters were edited in a small booklet (Barcelona 1983) by Jorge
J.E. Gracia: "Com usar be de beure e menjar. Normes morals contingudes
en el "Terc del Crestia" ...". A source with some information on what to
drink, how to drink, and how much to drink.

5 -- Then, the dietetic texts with their rules for the use of beverages
come to mind. I have no Spanish/catalan source at hand for the moment,
but have just finished proofreading two chapters from Aldobrandino of
Siena's 'Regime du corps' (French, 13th century with a manuscript
tradition from the 13th, 14th and 15th century; there are Italian
translations, too). Chapter III/2 is about beverages. He mentions:
water, wine, beer ("de ciervoise"), apple wine, verjus, vin aigre,
moures (blackberry juice or wine?). Aldobrandino's chapter is based on
the writings of Isaac, so I am not sure if his chapter reflects 13th
century practice or not. Anyway: if you want to, you can look at the
original text in French at (III/1 is about cereals and bread; III/2
about beverages):
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/aldosien.htm

An interesting question! I am looking forward to the contributions of
the spanish junkies out there.

Th.