[Sca-cooks] Beef help needed ASAP

[Terry Decker]

The text is Einhard's "The Life of Charlemagne."  Einhard was a cleric,
clerk, and finally trusted sdvisor at Charlemagne's court for about 30
years, so the work is contemporary with the subject and authored by one who
knew the subject well.  There are several translations online.

I didn't find the particular quote I was looking for which may be a
scholar's inference based on Einhard and others, but I did find the
following quote about Charles and his fondness for roast meat:

"Charles was temperate in eating, and particularly so in drinking, for he
abominated drunkenness in anybody, much more in himself and those of his
household; but he could not easily abstain from food, and often complained
that fasts injured his health. He very rarely gave entertainments, only on
great feast-days, and then to large numbers of people. His meals ordinarily
consisted of four courses, not counting the roast, which his huntsmen used
to bring in on the spit; he was more fond of this than of any other dish.
While at table, he listened to reading or music. The subjects of the
readings were the stories and deeds of olden time: he was fond, too, of St.
Augustine's books, and especially of the one entitled "The City of God." "


The full text can be found at:
http://charlemagne.celtic-twilight.com/einhard/index.htm

This is the Epps translation from about 1880.  There are some better
translations, but I enjoy this one.

Bear


>Bear wrote:
>
>> I believe it was Einhard who wrote about Charlemagne preferring roast
meat
>> while his doctors wanted him to eat boiled beef as being better for his
>> health.
>
>I would very much like this particular quotation and/or the book it's in,
>in order to justify servingroasted meats at SCA events to the folks who
>are getting a bit shirty that all our meats are not boiled.
>
>Shut them up with documentation and make the blackguards LEARN something!
>Arrr!  <GGG>
>
>Selene Colfox