[Sca-cooks] fork

[Suey]

As new members pointed out I too am getting a complex about being one of 
them. I ask a question which in the end rightfully is not published for 
in 2000 you raked the issue to death and Stefan, I later find, published 
it in his files and one of you wrote a very complete article which after 
reading them today,  I have few problems left. The first is a reference 
with a source I cannot locate is that in the 11th Century at least it 
was thought that the Bible prohibited the use of the fork.  I understand 
that at that time it was thought that only the devil used forks (a pitch 
fork for hay mind you) but I'd like to know what passage in the Bible 
made the Church think that metal could not be used to transmit organic 
food to the mouth while a fruit fork was ok because it does not come 
from an animal. Why can't eggplants be eaten with a fork as other 
vegetables in the Christian world? Also in my search I came across a 
statement that 'this prohibition lasted 70 years' so we are talking like 
1180? Do we have documentation to this effect? Further, the fruit fork 
was perfectly admissible as Villena says but after that in 1430 in Spain 
Suero Quinones offered them at a banquet at his tournament in Leon but 
that was a revolutionary item! Don't understand. Too if the transmission 
of food to the mouth with metal was a problem for the Church why was the 
knife used?  Why weren't wooden utensils used? When did the metal spoon 
come in? Why did it come in long before the fork as per my gut feeling?
    Finally my neighbor who moved into this 30 year apartment house 
three and a half years ago as I asks when will we become 'old' in this 
community? As a joke I ask the same of SCA??? Don't answer that - its 
great to feel young!
Suey