[Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices...

[Stefan li Rous]

Phlip posted a message from an author she is corresponding with:
 > In the future, I hope to continue "mythbusting," and the "covering up
 > the flavor of rotten meat with lots of spices" myth is one of the 
first
 > things I'll address, along with dental hygiene and the right of "first
 > night."

If the one I believe she is talking about by "right of first night" is, 
"droit de seigneur", I don't think she will be able to do this.

 From this file in the LIFE-STEPS section of the Florilegium:
p-customs-msg     (22K)  3/22/02    Unusual period customs.

> Mistress Dorothea apparently wrote, in an article that I never saw 
> here:
> >But "droit de seigneur" in the classic sense of "the lord has the 
> right
> >to go with the peasants' wives" ... never happened.  It's a 
> Renaissance
> >tall tale, ...
>
> This happens not to be the case.  In summary, _jus_primae_noctis_ is
> documented in customals in Normandy, Switzerland, Trentino, Catalonia,
> Burgundy, and Auvergne (most quoted below).  The custom was "sporatic",
> however, and its incidence is greatly exaggerated.  Also, it was not as
> severe as is commonly thought: "the serf has always, at least from 
> about
> 1170 onwards, the power of redemption".

And he goes on to quote extensively about this.

On medieval dental hygiene:
In the PERSONAL CARE section:
p-dental-care-art (32K)  9/ 5/03    Various period dental hygiene and 
mouthwash
                                        products by Jadwiga Zajaczkowa.
p-dental-care-msg (20K) 12/ 3/03    Period dental care. dentures. 
cavities.

 > Melissa Snell

Phlip, please feel free to forward this message to her, either 
individually or with a group of others.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****