Daily Life During The Reformation (36 page)

The graduates paid for their degrees and the money, in some
places, was divided in half: one half was divided again and went to the rector,
the dean, the notary, examiners and the beadles; and the other half went to the
Public Treasury for repair of public buildings, alms to the poor, and other
matters.

German students spent the night drinking heavily and
visiting prostitutes, walking through the streets with naked swords, hitting
them against stones and making a lot of noise. Such disturbances were forbidden
in most German cities; but students paid little heed, and their exuberance was
generally tolerated.

Foreign Degrees

According to Fynes Moryson, Germans despised those who took
degrees in Italy where, ignorant of their subject, they simply paid for them.
The Italians had a saying:

‘Wee take mony, and send an asse
in a Doctors habitt into Germany.’

In Spain, students attending university lived more or less
isolated from the rest of society. Early in the sixteenth century the influence
of humanism began to make some headway, but those professors teaching these
precepts frequently found themselves before the Inquisition. Questioning the
Catholic religious orthodoxy was not tolerated. By the end of the century,
universities had become training grounds for careers in the government
bureaucracy or the Church.

At the oldest and most prestigious university, Salamanca,
lectures were delivered by a professor dressed in his doctoral robes from a
lofty pulpit that towered above the students. No one was permitted to speak in
the classroom, although questions might be asked outside after the lecture was
over.

Successful graduation was a splendid affair, and sometimes
the entire town took part in the costly celebrations paid for by the student
and his family. For those who failed, however, the medieval practice was
followed whereby the candidate had to leave by the back door of the cathedral
where he was being examined. There, he was met by an unsympathetic crowd and underwent
the humiliation of having rotten fruit and vegetables thrown at him, as well as
much ridicule. There is a story that in Salamanca, the back door led directly
to the river, and the failed student’s studies came to a watery, but not fatal,
end. Higher education for women was not available until the latter part of the
eighteenth century.

The Sorbonne University in Paris, founded in the thirteenth
century, ranked until the Reformation as the leading university of Europe,
especially in theological studies. Authority to judge doctrinal questions was
vested in the Sorbonne faculty who, in 1521, condemned Luther’s propositions.
The university collaborated with the parliament of Paris to ban certain books,
but the inefficient policing of trade routes and bookstores allowed numerous
traders in forbidden material to sell these items in France.

Martın de Cervera. A
university Theology lecture.

16 – FOOD

For
people of all classes, the most important time of each day was the hour when
the family came together for their main meal.

Meals, for most people, were eaten in the kitchen, the
warmest room in the house. Parents sat at the table or by the fire; their
children sat nearby on benches or stood at the table. Guests were received in
this room, and farmers and day laborers ate their small fare there at the end
of a day’s work. Sometimes chickens and ducks sheltered under the table, and
dogs sprawled in any warm spot they could find.

As new foods from the Americas began to be introduced, such
as potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes, and caught on in much of Europe, it
took almost another century for them to be adopted in England. At first they
were eaten either by animals or the very poor, but once it was realized that
potatoes were resistant to most disease and could grow in any soil, they became
very popular. Several other new vegetables included maize, spinach, chili
peppers, asparagus, artichokes, string beans, and kidney beans; the latter was
primarily eaten by the poor. Turkeys from Mexico and Central America were much
in demand, and after the middle of the century, were regularly to be found in
the markets of London.

Merchants traveled far and wide from France, Germany,
Netherlands, Spain, Greece, and Italy to attend the great fairs held in such
cities as Lyon and Beaucaire, where they purchased spices, saffron, cloves,
cinnamon, ginger, sugared almonds, sugar, sweet wine, rice, dried currants and
figs, as well as salted fish for Lent such as tuna, porpoise, cod, and
anchovies. Since the sea route to the East Indies had been discovered by the
Portuguese, the cost of spices had come down, putting them within the reach of
the middle class. In the eastern part of Europe, especially in Germany, there
was still a taste for strong seasoning, but once the price and prestige had
fallen, there was less demand.

FRANCE

Many of the French scorned vegetables unless well cooked
with the exception of truffles and artichokes, the latter thought to be an
aphrodisiac. Some, such as cabbage, were toted as a cure for conditions of
baldness, asthma, rabies, and paralysis. Fresh fruits, for example, peaches,
pears, and cherries were eaten with many varieties of cheese, Brie being the
favorite, that formed part of the diet. Fresh apples were also used to perfume
lingerie. It was considered bad form to eat apples on Christmas Day; however,
since it was a reminder of the sin committed by Adam and Eve.

To serve a meal, French wealthy people used plates of gold
and silver, often with a small notch in them for salt, and dishes of
earthenware and glass. Cups made of earthenware (known as Cistercian Ware) were
used for beverages, and the best wine and beer glasses came from Venice.
Presentation was important, for instance, flowers were used as garnish for
salads.

France had its pottage, eaten by all classes. For the
well-off, it accompanied or contained meat and was sometimes very rich with
different vegetables and bread (to thicken), herbs, and various cereals,
including rice. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, pottage was known
as soupe in France—referring to the “sop” of bread that was put on the bottom
of the bowl before the liquid was added. Pottage was a whole meal for the poor
and usually consisted of cereals such as barley, wheat, rye, or oatmeal, along
with vegetables and sometimes a small piece of boiled meat.

Serviettes were used by the upper classes and were placed
on the table folded in the shape of fruit, animals, or birds. They were
attached like a bib and since most food was eaten with fingers, were changed with
each course. Even the tablecloth was changed before dessert was served.

Each place at the table was given a soup spoon, and a few
knives were shared by all. The host would say a prayer from the head of the
table, whereupon bread was served, accompanied by a bread knife. A prayer of
thanks would be said afterwards.

If spoons were used, they were made of silver or pewter for
the rich and of wood for the poor. When the fork was introduced in the
sixteenth century, it was condemned by a German preacher who called it a
“diabolical luxury” since “if God had wanted people to use such an instrument,
He would not have given them fingers!” Plates and dishes of gold and silver
that had been in the family for generations were generally kept in safe places
to be produced at important banquets. There was always the fear that the
owner’s position or financial situation might decline or that a king in need
would requisition them.

Glass drinking vessels in France were put on a buffet; and
if required by a diner, a servant would fill it. The same glass was always used
by the same person for all drinks. There was often much toasting. It was
unforgivable not to raise one’s glass in response.

Wealthy families in France usually followed an order of
serving that consisted of a first course of stew, minced meats, or salad. On
special occasions a large bird, such as a swan or a peacock, might be presented
along with all its feathers, its feet and beak gilded.

Fish and seafood included salmon, shrimp, and oysters. More
exotic dishes served were of frogs, snails, grass snakes, hedgehogs, and
turtles.

David Teniers. Peasant Festival.
The illustration shows peasants dancing in front of a barn (and a wall).

ENGLAND

The upper classes ate copious amounts of flesh (such as
venison, beef, pork and lamb) but not much in the way of vegetables, as most
considered that food from the earth was not as healthy as meat and fish. Most
English people looked at raw fruits and vegetables with great suspicion,
although dried fruit such as raisins, currants, prunes, figs, dates, almonds,
and walnuts, were imported in large quantities.

In England, Fresh fruit was considered edible only if
cooked, put into pies or tarts, or if preserved or candied. Sugar was extremely
expensive in most countries, so one had to have money to buy crystallized
fruits, syrups, or sweetmeats of any kind. In England it was also used in
seasoning meat, fish, and vegetable dishes.

Rose water often appears in English recipes, while the
petals and sometimes the buds were put together with sugar to make candy. Along
with butter, eggs and flour, rose water was also used in pies and to flavor
cakes to which could be added anise, coriander, and similar flavorings. In
upper class households, butter and sugar were often carved into exotic shapes.

Upper
Classes and Nobility

Wealthy houses would have had several entire buildings
devoted to storage of food, wine, and beer as well as some where baking,
roasting, and boiling took place in kitchens with large fireplaces. These
buildings accommodated not only the daily requirements of the residents but
also could deal with the massive amount of food needed if the court decided to
visit. In this event, a clerk of the kitchen, who answered to the Lord
Chamberlain, had control over a staff of some 1,600 people, each of whom in
turn had their own specialties. For example, the person in charge of bread had
someone to maintain supplies of corn and flour, others to transport these
supplies, and still others to bake it. The dairy was the domain of women; the
kitchen was the domain of men.

Equipment for the kitchens included knives, whisks (made of
blanched twigs), bowls, and colanders. Heated by charcoal, the temperature of
the stove could be controlled to a fine degree.

In 1557, Queen Elizabeth and her entourage spent three days
visiting Lord North. It is said that for this short period of time 140 bushels
of wheat, 67 sheep, 34 pigs, 4 stags, 16 bucks, 1,200 chickens, 363 capons, 33
geese, 6 turkeys, 237 dozen pigeons, fish and wild fowl of all varieties and
horse loads of oysters were consumed. About 2,500 eggs and 430 pounds of butter
were required by the cooks.

Tarts and pies were popular and often presented in animal
shapes or with coats of arms or other designs on the top crusts. Several varieties
might appear at a single meal, all of which would have been large, containing
great quantities of ingredients including meat, whole chickens, various
vegetables, and fruits.