15th cen. Boar's Head, Medieval manuscripts digitalized and Medieval foodways virtual talks

The Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) digitalized all 160,000 pages from Medieval works held by member libraries. HERE
Below are a several Medieval and Renaissance virtual talks, many are taped.

But first, a fifteenth century Carol about the boar's head at a Christmas feast.


The following carol described the festive meal, beginning with the entrance of the Boar’s Head encircled with garlands for the “first mess.” The second course had many birds, venison, furmity, wines, ale and sweets.

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
The boar's head is armed gay.

The boar's head in hand I bring,
With garlands gay encircling,
I pray you all with me to sing,
With Hey!

Lords, knights, and squires,
Parsons, priests, and vicars,
The boar's head is the first mess,
With Hey!

The boar's head, as I now say,
Takes its leave and goes away,
Goeth after the Twelth day,
With Hey!

Then comes in the second course with great pride,
The cranes, the herons, the bitterns, by their side,
The partridges, the plovers, the woodcocks, and the snipe,
Larks in hot show, for the ladies to pick,
Good drink also, luscious and fine,
Blood of Allemaine, romnay, and wine,
With Hey!

Good brewed ale and wine, I dare well say,
The boar's head with mustard armed so gay,
Furmity for pottage, and venison fine,
And the humbles of the doe and all that ever comes in.
Capons well baked, with knuckles of the roe,
Raisins and currants, and other spices too,
With Hey!

"In spite of the invitations contained in these Carols to partake of the first mess," the Boar's Head, we anticipate, was little else but a show dish; for, in all of the allusions to it, mention is only made of one head being served at each feast, though, even were the number greater, it could hardly have been sufficient to have yielded a mouthful a-piece to the numerous guests who were generally present at these entertainments." [1851]

"The second course was the substantial one, and yet it lacked much of what is now looked upon as essential to the Christmas dinner. There were great Christmas pies served up, which, as a compound of all edible substances, deserve some notice. These pies contained turkeys and geese, various kinds of game with small birds, and a liberal admixture of pork and mutton. Such pies are still made in the north, and of a considerable size also, yet nothing in comparison with those of the olden times, some of which weighed above an hundred weight..." [1858]

Calendar of virtual food history talks HERE

Upcoming talks

Dec 2 Wed 12:30 Pig History and Big History. Jamie Kreiner author of Legions of Pigs in the Early Medieval West. Institute of Historical Research HERE TAPE HERE TAPE HERE

Dec 13 Sun 12:30-2 Medieval Christmas food, dining, music, various festivals throughout the year celebrated in Middle Ages, and associated plants. Michael Brown author of Death in the Garden: Poisonous Plants & Their Use Throughout History. Friends of St Peter's Church Marefair, Northampton UK HERE

Dec 14-16 Eat Medieval – A Taste of Christmas Past. 3 days online to create a Medieval Christmas feast. Blackfriars Restaurant and Durham University's Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies UK £65 HERE

Dec 14 Mon 3-4 A Slice of Daily Life in Medieval Florence. Food, dining, and art. Curious Appetite Travel. Italy $30 HERE

Dec 16 Wed 3 Renaissance Medicinal Recipes. Eye medicine from Ophthalmodouleia by Georg Bartisch in 1583. Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye CA HERE

Dec 17 Thur 1:30-3 Taste the Solway: Historical Recipes. Talk and demonstrate some Roman to Medieval dishes in UK. Caroline Nicolay from Pario Gallico. Solway Coast AONB HERE; TAPES HERE

Dec 17 Thur 2-3 Caterina de’ Medici, the royal foodie and her “food legacy.” Curious Appetite Travel. Italy $30 HERE

Jan 27 Wed 2-5 Bees and beeswax - the gold of the medieval world? Dr Alex Sapoznik to talk about the importance of bees, beekeeping and beeswax. Cambridgeshire Beekeepers Association UK HERE

Feb 10 Wed 12 Cooking in the Archives: Bringing Historical Recipes to Life. “recipes from manuscript recipe books produced between 1600 and 1800.” Marissa Nicosia. Penn State Graduate and Professional Studies HERE

Feb 14 Sun 5 Love, Lust, and Libido: Aphrodisiacs in Medieval Europe. “period cookbooks, artworks, and courtly feasting cultures of northern Europe to discover ingredients, recipes, and customs.” Ken Albala; Larisa Grollemond, manuscript curator. The J. Paul Getty Museum HERE

Feb 20 Sat 5:20-9:30AM Medieval Crafts and Guilds. 4 hours of talks. [Lovely picture of a river mill]. London Medieval SocietyHERE

May 8 Sat 12-1:30 Medieval Catalan live cooking class. Hannah of Devour Tours in Barcelona Spain. Meadows Museum $10-25 HERE

Past talks with tapes

Dec 8 Medieval Life Spotlight: Cooking. Clove cookies Dr. Marissa Nicosia, Recipe HERE ; trade in spices from Malacca, Malaysia to China & Middle Age Europe, Ange Branca; Medieval manuscripts, bread, Dot Porter. Medieval Life Exhibit: HERE. Free Library of Phila. Info (part of series) HERE; TAPE may be HERE

Dec 3 ‘The harte and stomack…of England’: Falstaff’s Ambiguous Stomach. Chloe Fairbanks. Food History Seminar - Institute of Historical Research. UK HERE; TAPES may be HERE

Forbidden Knowledge: Medicine, Science, and Censorship in Early Modern Italy. By author Hannah Marcus. 16th -17th cen. The Grolier Club Dec 3 Past TAPES HERE 1 1/2 hr

Forbidden Knowledge: Medicine, Science, and Censorship in Early Modern Italy. Author Hannah Marcus. Rare Book School. Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. NV 18 HERE TAPE HERE

Nov 24 Heroes, Hunters, and Hunchbacks: Tableware and Its Meaning in Medieval Byzantium. Lara Frentrop. Institute of Historical Research. U London UK HERE TAPE may be HERE

Oct 1 Bread and gender in early medieval England: "Did ladies originally make their own bread?" // "Women, Bread, and the Supernatural." Food History Seminar. Institute of Historical Research. Info HERE TAPE HERE

Oct 10 The King’s Chocolate Kitchen at Hampton Court. Marc Meltonville of Hampton Court Palace in UK. Culinary Historians of Southern California. TAPE HERE

Oct 6 Culinary Tales for Your Ails. Chrissie Perella. Historical Medical Library’s collection of recipe books. The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia HERE / TAPE HERE

Oct 4 Sun 5pm Nourishing Genius: Food and Wine in the Time of Michelangelo. Fred Plotkin, Julian Brooks. Includes a list of wine and food. Getty Museum YouTube channel TAPE HERE

May 19 Food by Chris Woolgar. Medieval Life and Death History Festival BBC 5 topics tapes HERE

Let's Cook History: The Medieval Feast (Medieval Documentary) TAPE HERE

Let's Cook History: The Renaissance Meal (Food History Documentary) TAPE HERE

Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. 12 talks HERE

Oct 2 Cookbooks and Recipe Books Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. TAPE HERE

Oct 3 Documenting Food History in Archival Sources Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. TAPE HERE

Oct 5 European Views on Indigenous American Foods Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries TAPE HERE

Oct 5 Race and Food in the Early Modern Book Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. TAPE HERE

Oct 9 Spiritual Eating: Food in Early Modern Conversion Narratives Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. TAPE HERE

Oct 10 Literary Ecologies: Textual and Poetic Representations of Food Systems Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries TAPE HERE

Oct 10 Digitizing Food in the Book Food and the Book: 1300-1800. Folger and Newberry libraries. TAPE HERE


SOURCES
Christmas with the Poets: a collection of songs, carols, and descriptive verses relating to the festival of Christmas, from the Anglo-Norman period to the present time. London: 1851. the carol and 2 images

The Christmas Book: Christmas in the Olden Time. London: 1858

The Porkington Manuscript, #10, f 202 r; (now Brogyntyn MS ii.1) The National Library of Wales. source of carol

©2020 Patricia Bixler Reber
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