SC - Holidays, Lurking, Gifts, Etc.

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Gwendolen Lambert wrote:
> 
> A question for the group:  While in Europe, in discussing medieval history
> with a very well educated historian, he questioned me as to what utensils I
> eat with during feast.  I explained them; a two prong fork, a spoon and
> knife.  He was quick to chastise me in saying that forks were not used in
> the middle ages; but rather only a knife and a spoon.  One side of the
> knife was used to scrape the food from the plate onto a spoon, or it was
> eaten directly off the knife.  I was under the impression that a two prong
> fork was introduced in early middle ages.  Can anyone verify this
> information with sources?

Fork use seems to vary depending on when and where in medieval Europe
you are. There's a record, somewhere, of a Byzantine princess, I
believe, marrying into the family of a Frankish or Holy Roman Emperor,
and contemporary comments have been recorded of her peculiar eating
habits, including using a golden fork to lift food to her mouth. I could
look for details, but don't have them immediately handy, and I suspect
that if your historian friend is well-versed in this topic, he has
probably seen this already. I mention this not to say he is wrong, but
to indicate that saying "They never ate with forks" is as incomplete and
inaccurate as saying "They ate with forks all the time".

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com