SC - cheap cheese?

[Huette von Ahrens]

Thorvald here:

Speaking of myths that may need repeated debunking, a month ago 
there were some posts to this list suggesting that Taillevent was 
knighted.  I did not see any debunking post to follow.

So I guess I should post one.

I also address some other apparent myths concerning Taillevent.

I would be delighted if it were otherwise, but I do not believe 
that Taillevent was knighted.

I invite correction.

1)  He almost certainly began life as a commoner.  Entering a
    kitchen as a kitchen boy at perhaps age 12 would have been
    almost unthinkable for someone of gentle or noble birth.
    Pichon and Vicaire give no information about his parentage.

2)  Pichon and Vicaire (1892 but still cited by Scully and Luce  
    who would presumably know better than I if there were more
    recent information of significance) do not refer to a knighting, 
    nor do they anywhere give him the title of knight.  In signing 
    documents Taillevent did not give himself any gentle or knightly 
    or noble title.

3)  He was appointed "Sergeant at Arms" to the king for some short
    number of years in his middle life.  It was a post with either
    actual duties, or perhaps by that era with purely nominal 
    duties (he was, after all, in his mid fifties).  In either 
    case it was clearly a reward for long and faithful service.

4)  It is clear that for the last two decades of his life he was 
    no longer a sergeant at arms, though he was appointed to various
    high offices related to the king's kitchen.  Another person 
    is referred to in a quote in Pichon and Vicaire as 'formerly 
    sergeant at arms' which clearly indicates that it was an 
    honourable office but not a permanent degree.

5)  While he was a sergeant at arms he was entitled to wear armour
    and carry weapons.  He had his tomb facade carved at that time
    depicting himself in armour flanked by his first and second
    wives.  I _speculate_ that he chose to have his tomb facade
    done at this time, decades before his death, because he knew
    that he would not again have the right to be so depicted.

6)  He is shown in armour, with a dagger and a sword and a mace 
    (symbol of the office of sergeant at arms) at his belt, and 
    with rowel spurs on his heels.  There is no chain of fealty 
    depicted, though the absence does not prove that he wasn't a 
    knight.

7)  The shield he carries displays a device.  I assume that this 
    indicates that he was entitled to bear heraldic arms at this 
    date, or earlier, though there is no direct evidence that he 
    was granted this right.  If so, this would could imply that he 
    had probably been elevated to the gentry.

8)  On the tomb facade his first wife (but not his second) is 
    referred to as 'demoiselle', which suggests that she might 
    herself have been of the gentry.  She also appears to be
    better dressed and coiffed than his second wife, which may 
    or may not signify a social difference.

9)  I _speculate_ that Taillevent was raised to the gentry when
    he was appointed sergeant at arms to the king.  My reasoning 
    is that the king would have wished that all of his sergeants 
    at arms be of at least gentle rank, especially if they had 
    the duty of close attendance on the king, or had any powers 
    of arrest.

10) The OED, in talking of the sergeants at arms to the English
    king, says that at one stage they had to be of knightly rank
    (they were at that stage combined bodyguard to the king and 
    royal police officers).  Perhaps someone has interpreted this 
    to signify that all sergeants at arms of any country and any 
    date must have been knights, which clearly is not the case.

11) The older (1938) Larousse Gastronomique in English translation 
    does not, contrary to some comments, refer to Taillevent as 
    having been knighted and/or ennobled.  Perhaps the recent
    edition, which I do not have, does.  Can anyone quote from 
    the recent edition?

12) There has been mention that Siméon Luce refers to Taillevent 
    being knighted or ennobled, but I can find no indication that 
    he does.

13) There has been mention that Taillevent was given a property 
    (by implication by the king, by implication yielding revenue,
    and by implication to accompany an elevation in rank), but I 
    can find no indication in Pichon and Vicaire that he was given 
    any such a property.

14) There has been mention of Taillevent being a 'squire', with 
    the implication that this was either related to the military 
    squire, or was the equivalent of 'Esquire' signifying gentle 
    rank.

    Pichon and Vicaire make it clear that 'squire of the kitchen' 
    (Taillevent was in his mid sixties when he is first mentioned
    as having this title) was a title for a cupbearer (presumably 
    with other duties), apparently outranking the cooks, certainly 
    an honour but unrelated to matters military and no indication
    of gentle rank.  Taillevent was earlier 'squire of the mansion' 
    and later cook to the Dauphin when he was about 40.

    It is nothing more than a fancy title for a senior servant.  
    Another example of title inflation.

Again, I invite correction.


- -- 
All my best,
Thorvald Grimsson / James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net> (PGP user)