During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, kings and princes showed off their power during sumptuous banquets and ceremonies that were governed by strict protocol. The feast would be held in the grandest room in the residence. The walls would be hung with great tapestries to warm the place up. The floors would be strewn with straw or covered with woven rush mats. The tables would comprise plain boards laid on trestles for the occasion. These would be entirely covered in white linen tablecloths.
The guests, who would be seated on one side of the table only, were asked to bring their own knives. These were personal items and their carved ivory handles reflected the wealth of their owners. Everyone would have a rectangular or circular trencher in precious metal, but you would be expected to share the silver spoons and porringers with your neighbour! As for forks - they appeared at the table very late. Diversity was to be found only in the shapes of drinking vessels and what they were made from: gold, silver or gilt goblets, hanaps with lids (to protect the liquid from poisoning), cups made of precious metal and enamelled glasses from the Orient or Venice, etc.
The most powerful person would have the best seat (with their back to the fire in winter) to preside over proceedings. In the Middle Ages, this was known as the haut bout (high end) of the table and was symbolically marked by being on a platform and/or a canopy being suspended over it. Other markers of feudal power were: the dresser(s) placed facing the sovereign, opposite the haut bout, and the table nef placed in front of the sovereign. This contained the king’s tableware (but also his salt cellar and his spices, etc.) and kept such precious items safe from attempts at poisoning which was the main fear of elites in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Many methods, each more disturbing than the last, were devised to spot poison and protect against it. They included unicorn horns, snake tongues, bezoars and other oddities. Like all the great people of her time, the Queen of France, Marie of Anjou, feared poisoning. Her favoured protection was a toadstone embedded in a gold ring which was supposed to change colour in the presence of poison. In the Middle Ages, it was thought that this magical object came from the head of a toad, when in reality it was the petrified tooth of a seal.
Illustration
The Speculum Humanae Salvationis or Mirror of Human Salvation
Circa 1500,
Chantilly, Musée Condé,
Ms 139, f°44