Dennis Sherman/Master Robyyan n'Tor d'Elandris
Many people in the SCA think of the table fork as either "out
of period" or "very late period." Often people insist that the
only period forks have two tines. Actually, table forks were
known and used before the year 1000 in the middle east [Boger,
Giblin]. Forks made before 1600 with as many as five tines still
exist today. What is the real history of the table fork? Let us
see.
The fork came to Europe through Italy's nobility in the
eleventh century. Throughout the next five hundred years, the
table fork spread throughout Europe, and into the lesser social
classes. By 1600, the fork was known in England, although rare
and viewed as an Italian affectation, while in Italy even the
merchant classes were using forks regularly.
We can deduce that forks were not common by looking at
various inventories and wills from the Middle Ages. The few
forks listed were made of precious materials, and presumably kept
primarily for dazzle and ostentation. They may also have been
used as investment pieces for the value of the materials used
[Bailey]. Some specific examples include:
- The Will of John Baret of Bury St. Edmunds, 1463: "Itm J.
yeve and beqwethe to Davn John Kertelynge my silvir forke
for grene gyngor"[Bailey]
- The Jewelhouse inventory of Henry VIII: "Item one spone
wt suckett fork at the end of silver and gilt"[Bailey]
- Inventory of property left by Henry VII: "Item, one Case
wherein are xxi knives and a fork, the hafts being
crystal and chalcedony, the ends garnished with gold"
[Hayward]
- "Item, one Case of knives furnished with divers knives
and one fork, whereof two be great hafts of silver
parcel-gilt, the case covered with crimson velvet"
[Hayward].
Forks also appear in an inventory of silverware in Florence,
taken in 1361 [Giblin], in inventories of Charles V and Charles
VI of France [Bailey], and in Italian cookbooks of the late
1400's [Giblin]. All these references do not mean that forks
were common - the fork was known only to the very uppermost
classes, and seldom used even among them.
A Byzantine princess introduced the table fork to Europe in
the eleventh century. The story varies slightly depending on the
source, but the essence is that a nobleman, probably Domenico
Selvo (or Silvio), heir to the Doge of Venice, married a princess
from Byzantium. This Byzantine princess brought a case of two-
tined table forks to Venice as part of her luggage. Forks seem
to have been novelties in Byzantium, but not unknown. Many
examples can be found in Byzantine art, according to Boger and
Henisch.
The princess outraged the populace and the clergy by refusing
to eat with her hands:
"Instead of eating with her fingers like other people,
the princess cuts up her food into small pieces and eats
them by means of little golden forks with two
prongs."[Giblin]
"God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks -
his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to
substitute artificial metallic forks for them when
eating."[Giblin]
The princess apparently died before very long, of some
wasting disease, prompting Peter Damian, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia
to write,
"Of the Venetian Doge's wife, whose body, after her
excessive delicacy, entirely rotted away"[Henisch]
Other evidence of the fork coming to Europe from the east is
given in a letter by a Franciscan monk to Louis IX of France. He
discusses the eating habits of the Tartars in the middle of the
thirteenth century:
"With the point of a knife or a fork especially made for
this purpose - like those with which we are accustomed to
eat pears or apples cooked in wine - they offer to each
of those standing around one or two mouthfuls."[Henisch]
This fragment of a letter and listings in inventories and
wills link the fork with fruits and sweetmeats. We also see the
fork was used to eat dishes that included a sticky sauce or that
might stain the fingers [Boger, Bailey]. At one time, this
practice was primarily that of courtesans, prompting the Church
to ban the fork as an immoral influence [Gruber].
The fork would be used to spear a piece of food, lift it from
the plate or serving bowl, and shake any excess sauce from it.
Then one would pluck the food from the fork using the tips of the
fingers and place the morsel in the mouth. The early forks were
small, with short straight tines, and therefore probably used
only for spearing and holding food, rather than scooping. The
curve with which we are familiar in the modern fork was
introduced in France in the seventeenth century [Boger.]
Forks were known and used in Spain, at least by the upper
classes, by the time of the Armada. A large assortment was
recovered from the wreck of La Girona, which sank off the coast
of Ireland in 1588. La Girona carried Don Alonso de Leiva and
his retinue, who apparently traveled well equipped. Don Alonso
is known to have entertained the Duke of Medina Sidonia before
the Armada sailed, "in grand style, with musical accompaniment,
at his table sumptuously set with silver plate and cutlery and
gold-plated candelabra [Flanagan]." This cutlery included a
large number of forks, with anywhere from two to five tines.
These tines are all straight, as opposed to curved, although the
five tined variety appears to be slightly splayed at the points.
The many pieces recovered are fragmentary - either tines or
handles, but few pieces still joined. The handles include a
simple baluster stem with a terminal in the form of a hoof, to
elegant handles with terminals in the form of serpents or of
human torsos, among others. One wonders what was the purpose of
so many different styles of fork.
Thomas Coryat of Odcombe, near Yeovil, in a book titled
"Coryat's Curdities Hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in
France, Savoy, Italy, &c.," published in London, 1611, claims to
be one of the first Englishmen to use a fork. We see from his
writing that while forks were almost unknown in England, they
were common in Italy and not unusual in other parts of Europe.
I observed a custome in all those Italian Cities and
Townes through which I passed, that is not used in any
other country that I saw in my travels, neither do I
thinke that any other nation of Christendome doth use it,
but only Italy. The Italian, and also most strangers
that are commorant in Italy, doe alwaies, at their meales
use a little forke when they cut the meate; for while
with their knife, which they hold in one hand, they cut
the meate out of the dish, they fasten their forke which
they hold in their other hande, upon the same dish, so
that whatsoever he be that sitteth in the company of any
others at meate, should unadvisedly touch the dish of
meate with his fingers, from which all at the table doe
cut he will give occasion of offence unto the company as
having transgressed the lawes of good manners, insomuch
for his error he shall be at least browbeaten, if not
reprehended in words. This forme of feeding I understand
is generally used in all places of Italy, their forks
being for the most part made of yron or steele, and some
of silver, but those are used only by gentlemen. The
reason of this their curiosity, is because the Italian
cannot by any means endure to have his dish touched with
fingers, seeing all men's fingers are not alike cleane.
Hereupon I myselfe thought good to imitate the Italian
fashion by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I
was in Italy, but also in Germany, and oftentimes in
England, since I came home, being once quipped for that
frequent using of my forke by a certain learned gentleman
a familiar friend of mine, one Mr. Lawrence Whittaker,
who in his merry humour, doubted not to call me at table
Furcifer, only for using a forke at feeding but for no
other cause.
The humor is, according to Bailey, in the use of "Furcifer"
as a pun, meaning fork-bearer, and also gallows-bird.
Ben Jonson also used forks as the basis of humor in two of
his plays. In "Volpone" (1606), Sir Politick Would-be instructs
Peregrine most humorously on correct behavior while in Italy,
including "Then must you learn the use and handling of your
silver fork at meals." [Act IV Scene I]. And in "The Devil is an
Ass" (1616):
MEERCROFT, the projector. Upon my project of the
forks . . .
SLEDGE. Forks! What be they?
MEERCROFT. The laudable use of forks, brought into
custom here as they are in Italy to the sparing of
napkins . . .
In a slightly more serious vein, Henisch quotes a letter by
one Montaigne, of the late sixteenth century, as follows:
I could dine without a tablecloth, but to dine in the
German fashion, without a clean napkin, I should find
very uncomfortable. I soil them more than the Germans or
Italians, as I make very little use of either spoon or
fork.
The earliest fork known to have been made in England is now
in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It bears the crests of John
Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland and his wife Frances, daughter of
Edward Lord Montagu of Boughton [Bailey]. It is two-tined and
squarish, made of silver, and bears the London hallmark for 1632-3 [Hayward].
In other parts of Europe, it became customary to make knives
and forks in sets. Better quality knives of the sixteenth
century came in sets of a dozen or more contained in a leather
case, and included a fork to be used for serving [Hayward]. This
case or "stocke" is what the inventories of Henry VIII refer to.
Only very wealthy households would provide knives for guests. It
was much more common for people to carry their own cutlery with
them [Hayward, Bailey]. Even the inns were not equipped with
tableware, expecting the traveller to provide their own [Bailey].
As forks became more common, sets of knife and fork, often with a
sheath or case for the pair, came into use. Some travelers had a
collapsible or folding set of knife, fork, and spoon [Giblin],
much like today's camping tableware.
So, there are a variety of table forks available for use in
the period of the SCA. The persona most likely to use a fork
would be a rich, late period Italian, while the least likely
would be an early period Englishman (or Saxon, or Briton). A
poor persona would be very unlikely to use a fork at any time in
the SCA period. The richer, later period, and closer to Italy a
western European is, the more likely they are to use a fork at
table.
Sources
Bailey, C.T.P. Knives and Forks. London: The Medici Society,
1927.
Boger, Ann. Consuming Passions: The Art of Food and Drink.
Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1983.
Flanagan, Laurence. Ireland's Armada Legacy. Dublin: Gill and
Macmillan, 1988.
Giblin, James Cross. From Hand to Mouth. New York: Thomas Y.
Crowell, 1987.
Gruber, Alain. Silverware. New York: Rizzoli International
Publications, Inc., 1982.
Harrison, Molly. The Kitchen in History. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1972.
Hayward, J.F. English Cutlery, sixteenth to eighteenth century.
London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1956.
Henisch, Bridget Ann. Fast and Feast, Food in Medieval Society.
University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University
Press, 1976.
Millikin, William M. "Early Christian Fork and Spoon", The Bulletin of
the Cleveland Museum of Art, 44(Oct. 1957), 185+.
Webbed by Wolfgang Rotkopf
<rodmur@ecst.csuchico.edu>
