Festive Food in Medieval Riga and Reval

Festive Food in Medieval Riga and Reval1
Anu Mänd (Tallinn)
Food and nutntton in the Middle Ages, a subject extensively
explored in western scholarship since the late nineteenth century, is still a
relatively new field of research in many eastern European countries. This
is also true for Estonia, where research on medieval food in fact began in
the 1 990s.2
This article will be devoted to one specific aspect of diet, narnely
food and drink consumed on festive occasions. It is a case study of Reval
(Tallinn)3 and Riga, the two largest and most important towns in
1 This article is an extended version of a paper presented at the International Medieval
Congress in Leeds, July 1998. I am gratend to Melitta Weiss Adamson for many
useful suggestions.
2 In particular the writings oflnna Pöltsam, based on the study ofwritten sources, have
created a good basis for further research: I. Pöltsam, „Essen und Trinken in den
livländischen Städten im Spätmittelalter,“ in Quotidianum Estonicum, ed. Jüri
Kivimäe and Juhan Kreem (= Medium Aevurn Quotidianum, S onderband, 5),
(Krems 1996), 1 1 8-27; idem, „Söömine ja joomine keskaegses Tallinnas“ (Eating
and drinking in medieval Tallinn), Vana Tallinn IX (XIII), (Tallinn: Estopol, 1999),
9-118. In recent years, the archaeological material has been increasingly studied
from archaeobotanical and -zoological point of view: Maria Ahakurnova and Ülle
Sillasoo, „Taimeleiud arheoloogilistes proovides“ (Plant remains in archaeological
samples), Botaanilised uurimused I Scripta Botanica, 6 (1991): 197-2 17; Ülle
Sillasoo, „Eesti keskaegsete linnade ja nende lähiümbruse arheobotaanilisest
uurimisest 1989-1996.a.“ (About the archaeobotanical investigation of Estonian
medieval towns and their surroundings in 1989-1996), in Arheo/oogilisi uurimusi I
Archaeological investigations l, ed. Heiki Valk, Tartu Ülikooli Arheoloogia
Kabineti toimetised 9 (Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 1997), 109-19; Liina Maldre,
„Koduloomad keskaegses Pämus“ (Domestic animals in medieval Pämu),
Pärnumaa ajalugu I (1997): 99-123; idem, „Tartu VII kvartali jäätmekastide
arheozooloogilisest materjalist“ (About the archaeozoological material from the
medieval cesspits from Tartu), inArheoloogilisi uurimusi I, 99-105.
3 Throughout the article, I use medieval (German) place names and give the present
names (Estonian or Latvian) in brackets when they first occur.
43
medieval Livonia (a region which covered approximately present day
Estonia and Latvia). The archives of only these two towns have survived,
and very few if any documents are extant from other urban centres.
Towns in Livonia were founded during the thirteenth century as a
consequence of the Livonian crusade and the German expansion
eastwards. The towns were granted German civic Iaws, and the urban
upper and middle classes consisted of German merchants and artisans.
The Germans brought with them their Iifestyle, including cookery
traditions. However, the natural environment on the one hand, and the
economic and cultural contacts on the other hand, were factors that
strongly influenced diet and shaped local characteristics in food
consumption.
Riga and Reval were important Hanseatic towns, where power was
in the hands of German merchants. The two merchant associations in
both towns were the Great Guild (Grosse Gilde) and the Brotherhood of
the Black Heads (Bruderschaft der Schwarzenhäupter). The Great Guild
consisted of great merchants, involved in wholesale trade. Town
councillors were elected from among the members of this association
alone. Some members of the Great Guild formed the Table Guild
(Tafelgilde), a charitable association, which distributed food to the poor
twice a week. The Brotherhood of the Black Heads united unmarried
merchants (often sons of members of the Great Guild) and also foreign
merchants staying in a town for a certain time. The Great Guild and the
Black Heads had close connections with each other, as is also shown by
the fact that they organised certain festivals in common.
The main sources for this article are the account books of these
merchants‘ associations. Hence the results presented here will reflect the
upper and upper-middle class’s notions of festive food. In Livonia, where
no medieval cookbooks or household books have survived, the municipal
and guild accounts undoubtedly offer one of the best possibilities for the
study of local dietary habits. The earliest accounts of the town councils
of Riga and Reval survive from the second half of the fourteenth century,
whereas continuous bookkeeping began in the fifteenth century.4 The
• The extant accounts for Riga are: Kämmerei-Register der Stadt Riga 1348-1361 und
1405-1474, ed. August von Bulmerincq, 2 vols. (Leipzig: Duncker & Hurnblot,
1909, 19 1 3); Zwei Kämmerei-Register der Stadt Riga (contain the accounts for
1514-16 and 1555-56), ed. A. von Bulmerincq (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot,
1902). These account books will be henceforth referred to as KB Riga 1348-61, KB
Riga 1405-74, KB Riga 1514-16, and KB Riga 1555-56. The extant accounts for
Reval are: Die ältesten Kämmereibücher der Stadt Reval 1363-1374, ed. Otto
Greiffenhagen (Publikationen aus dem Revaler Stadtarchiv 3) (Tallinn, 1927); Das
Revaler Kämmereibuch von 1376-1380, ed. Dieter Heckmann, Zeitschrift für
Ostforschung 41 (1992): 186-247; Kämmereibuch der Stadt Reval 1432-1463, ed.
44
first documents of guilds and confratemities in which infonnation on
food can be found, are extant from the last third of the fifteenth century
and grow considerably in nurober during the first half of the sixteenth
century.5
Each type of source has its limitations as do account books. They do
not Iist all the items used in a kitchen nor do they give infonnation on
ingredients needed for individual dishes.6 On the other band, the
advantages of the accounts are that they provide evidence on actually
purchased foodstuffs (sometbing that normally cannot be checked in the
case of nonnative sources) as weil as their amounts and prices. Secondly,
the systematic entries of the account books over a Ionger period of time
make them particularly suitable for quantitative as weil as qualitative
study and thus enable us to observe long-term preferences in
consumption of certain foodstuffs, as weil as to recognise changes over
time, which rnight have emerged due to shifts in trade, in taste, or in tbe
concept of what constituted a festive food.
Due to the specifics of the sources available, I will primarily focus
on the question of what was eaten at feasts, that is, what food was
considered to be festive in the view of merchants, and what were the
„obligatory“ components of their banquets. My impression based on the
sources, and what I hope to explain in the following, is that in generat we
can speak of three different categories of festive food. The first I would
propose to call ’standard‘ festive food or ‚ordinary‘ festive food. This
’standard‘ festive food can be found repeatedly in different feasts; it does
not depend on the type of feast nor on the time of year. Secondly, it is
possible to distinguish food connected to certain feasts or to a certain
season. The third tenn, ‚extraordinary‘ festive food, I would use in the
context, when merchants had an opportunity to consume food which was
more associated with a social status higher than their own. The first two
categories were connected to ‚ordinary‘ recurrent feasts, such as the main
Reinhard Vogelsang (Quellen und Darstellungen zur Hansischen Geschichte 2211-2)
(Cologne: Böhlau, 1976); Kämmereibuch der Stadt Reval 1463-1507, ed. R.
Vogelsang (Quellen und Darstellungen zur Hansischen Geschichte 27/1-2)
(Cologne: Böhlau, 1983); Tallinn City Archive (Tallinna Linnaarhiiv, abbr. TLA),
coll. 230, inv. I, no. A.d. 32: Städtische Kämmerei-Rechnungen 1507-1533. These
account books will be henceforth referred to as KB Reval 1363-74, KB Reval 1376-
80, KB Reva/ 1432-63, KB Reval 1463-1507, and KB Reva/ 1507-33.
‚ The accounts of the merchants‘ associations of Riga and Reval are unpublished and
scattered in different archives of Estonia, Latvia, and Germany.
6 See also Terence Scully, The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The
Boydeli Press, 1995), 16-17; Melitta Weiss Adamson, „Researching the Diet of
Medieval Germany: Possibilities and Limitations of Written Sources and Material
Evidence,“ Medium Aevum Quotidianum 38 (1998): 29.
45
annual festivals of the urban associations, whereas the last category was
connected to ‚extraordinary‘ feasts such as receptions in honour of high
ranking visitors.
Before turning directly to festive food itself, it would be useful to
review the major medieval festivals in Riga and Reval. The main
festivals in both towns were Christmas and Carnival, celebrated by the
guilds in a form of an approximately two-week drinking feast (winachten
drunke, vaste/auendes drunke). The third favoured feast time was around
Pentecost, when two festivals, the bird-shooting and the election of the
May Count (meygreve; Maigraj), took place.7
Whereas the Great Guild and the Black Heads basically had four
major annual festivals, the nurober of the feasts celebrated by the town
councillors was relatively higher. In Riga the town accounts contain
regular expenditures on the drunke at Christmas, Carnival, Pentecost, and
Martinmas. Occasionally there are provisions also for Michaelmas,
Easter, and the feast of St. John (June 24). In Reval, the major feasts
besides Christmas and Carnival were All Souls‘ Day and Martinmas.
Less frequently we find expenses (mainly for wine) for feasts celebrating
Michaelmas, Easter, Pentecost, and the Assumption of the Virgin
(Aug. 15).
The duty to purchase food for the town councillors‘ feasts was given
to two stewards (schaffer), who were appointed from among the
councillors themselves. Information on their feasts can be found in two
types of sources. The first are the official account books of the towns,
which were meant to keep record of all kinds of expenditures and
incomes.8 Entries on food in these books are far from detailed. Most often
only the total cost of a feast is indicated.9 One of the earliest more
detailed lists of foodstuffs is found in the town accounts of Reval for the
All Souls‘ Day (hinkepe) banquet in 1376. The Iist includes beer, wine,
chicken, goose, pork, honey, pepper, butter, onions, cheese, nuts, and
bread.10 Such a detailed enumeration remains exceptional, and mainly we
are confronted with laconic entries such as „wine, bread, and other
items.“ However, for fourteenth-century feasts, these town accounts are
the only source we possess.
7 On tbese two festivals, see Anu Mänd, „Shooting the Bird and the MaigrafFestival
in Medieval Livonian Towns,“ Medium Aevum Quotidianum 38 ( 1998): 46-65.
8 See note 4.
9 For example, KB Reval 1363-74, 27 ( 1371): lt. 7 mrc. que in convivio hinkepee
consumpte fuerunt (‚hinkepe‘, in Estonian hingedepäev = All Souls‘ Day); 31
(1372): lt. to Vastelavende vnde to winagten to der vorterinc des rades behoff 13.5
mrc.
10 KB Reva/ 13 76-80, 214.
46
The reason for the Iack of detailed lists in the account books, as can
be shown in the case of Reval, is that elaborate expense lists were in fact
compiled but were recorded on separate loose sheets by the Stewards
responsible for the provisioning. Only the total cost of a banquet was
copied into the main account books. The accounts of Reval occasionally
contain a clause that the expenditure for a feast was reimbursed on the
basis of a sheet (zceddel) or calculation (rekenschop) presented to the
treasurer. 1 1 This procedure usually took place several months after the
feast had actually taken place. 12 Luckily, some of such sheets with
detailed lists of provisions have also been preserved, the earliest ones
reaching back to the beginning of the fifteenth century (table 1 ).13
However, a closer comparison between these individual sheets and the
main account books reveals that even the first ones do not contain
everything acquired for the feasts and that records for some provisions,
for exarnple wine, were kept separately. Therefore, it is relevant to
examine both types of sources together as they complement each other.
The rare records on feasts in the fourteenth-century account books
provide interesting information on which foodstuffs and beverages were
considered worth listing individually, thus indicating their degrees of
importance. lt becomes clear that these are predominantly the imported,
expensive, and therefore prestigious items: wine, exotic fruits and spices,
sugar and confectionery.14 Of the local products it is mainly beer, mead,
and bread which turn up in these early records.
The high price of spices (in Latin species I in Middle Low German
krude) made them a sign of social distinction. Therefore, it is not at all
surprising that each purchase was written down with great care. The
fourteenth-century account books provide evidence for well-developed
trading contacts, for next to such widespread spices as pepper (piper I
11 KB Reval 1507-33, fol. 79v, 85v, 124r, 149r, 166r, 17lr, 19lv, 199r, 202r, 205v,
21 7r, and others.
12 Ibid., fol. 149r (31. May 1522): Botaleth her Hinrick Stummen vor de
Winachtendrunke na Iude syner rekenschop 97 mr. 1 1 s. Botaleth her Evert Rotert
vor de Vastellavendesdrunke na Iude syner rekenschop 114.5 mr. 13 s.; fol. 171r (1.
Oct. 1524): Botaleth her Joan Kock vor de Winachten- und Vastellavendesdruncke
na Iude syner zceddel 241.5 mr. 4 s. 2 d.; fol. 205v (10. Aug. 1527): Botaleth her
Joan Seihorste na syner zcedde/, wes de Vastellavendesdroncke gekostet hebben, is
83 mr. 1 s.
13 TLA, coll. 230, inv. I , no. B.a. 6 /IV : Verschiedene städtsi che Ausgaben.
“ For example KB Riga 1348-61, 18 ( 1348): 1tem 25 or pro speciebus et pro dadelen
quibus honorabantur domini festo beati Martini; 67 (1359): 1tem pro diversis
speciebus consumptis per hyemem Martini et in nativitate Christi scilicet pro 1 0
punt ladenkrude et 6 punt dyeterici et 1 punt confecti et 1 punt albe zuccure e t 1
puntflorum muscatorum et 3 punt zinziberis et alisi speciebus 4 marcas 7 or. minus.
47
pepper), ginger (zinziber I engefer), nutmeg (muscata I musschaten),
mace (jlora muscatorum I musschalen blomen ), and cloves (gariofilum I
negelken)’5 saffron (/ safferan), cubeb (/ kobebe), and grains of paradise
(/ paradiskorn) are also mentioned.16 In the fifteenth century, the variety
of spices imported to Livonia increased. The „new“ sorts appearing in the
feast accounts are cinnamon (konel), cardamom (kardemom), anise
(annis).11 Many ofthe spices or their mixtures can no Ionger be identified
with certainty: for example dieterici, /adenkrude, backenkrude, and
others.18 The ingredients for spice-mixtures were also likely to vary. For
the Christmas and Carnival feasts in 1427-28, the following spices are
listed under the common name klen krude („small spices“): cloves,
cubeb, grains of paradise, and pa/sehen haueren.19 In 1 526, the term
backen krude („baking spices“) comprises ginger, grains of paradise,
mace, nutmeg, saffron, and cloves. 20
Sugar was regarded as a spiee in the Middle Ages and carried an
equally high prestige. It is frequently mentioned already in the early town
accounts of Riga and Reval,21 as are various forms of confectionery
(confect, drossie), that is, spices covered with sugar.22 Both spices and
•s lbid., 46 (pepper), 63 (ginger), 67 (ginger, mace), 69 (cloves), 70 (nutmeg). 16 KJ1 Reval 1363-74, 53, 79 (saffron); KJ1 Riga 1348-61, 68 ( 1 359/60): Item 6 or. pro
speciebus dictis paradyskorne; 69: ltem 6 or pro gariofi/is et kobebis. Such an early
reference to grains of paradise or melegueta pepper (Afi·amomum melegueta) is
particularly noteworthy: this spiee from coastal areas of western Africa is known to
have been traded to Europe since the middle of the fourteenth century; see Julian
Wiethold, „Plant remains from town-moats and cesspits of medieval and postmedieval
Kiel (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany),“ in Res archaeobotanicae:
Proceedings ofthe 9th Symposium Kie/ 1992, 379.
‚7 See table I .
11 KJ1 Riga 1348-61, 47, 58, 67; KJ1 Reva/ 1432-63, no. 397, 842. For these and some
other unidentifiable spiee mixtures (e.g. kruserkrum, morfus, muljick), see also Liv-,
Est- und Kurländisches Urkundenbuch, 2d series (henceforth LECUB li), ed. Leonid
Arbusow, vol. 1 (Riga, Moscow: Deubner, 1900), no. 3 1 , 34, 158. 19 TLA, no. B.a. 6, fol. 259r, 259v. See also table I . August Lübben identifies po/es
havere as Si/er montanum (brook willow), or semen seseleos (seeds of meadow
saxifrage), Mittelniederdeutsches Handwörterbuch (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft, 1989), 281. Since the item is listed among the spices, meadow
saxifrage seems to be a more plausible explanation.
20
TLA, no. B.a. 6, fol. 282r.
21 KJ1 Riga 1348-61, 63, 66, 67, 72. Table I .
12
lbid., 67, 70, 73. A. Lasch and C. Borchling, Mittelniederdeutsches
Handwörterbuch (Hamburg: Wachholtz, 1928ff.), Lfg. 4, 485: drossie – a candy
made out of spiee and covered with sugar; often consumed together with wine. In
the town accounts of Reval, ginger candies and anise candies are mentioned; TLA,
coll. 230, inv. I , no. B.a. 6, fol. 282r: to dem konfectte 2 /b. enge.ffers, fol. 285r: anis
kon./feckt.
48
candies were naturally obtained not only for the councillors‘ feasts, but
also sent as presents to distinguished guests and delegations.
Further luxury items, found on the tables of the councillors, were
imported fruits (above all dates and raisins, later on olives), nuts (walnuts
and almonds), and rice.
All the items discussed above were either used in desserts or as
condiments. The main staples of the feast meals naturally consisted of
meat, fish, and bread. What is striking about all these types of foodstuffs,
is their variety. Among the meats, the feast accounts of Reval Iist
primanly beef (cow or ox), which was served either as a roast prepared
from freshly hutehered animals or as salted meat. Pork appears only in
the fourteenth- and early fifteenth century accounts, either in the form of
pigs‘ feet (which could be purchased for making aspic) or as a roast
(swines brade, swines rugghen ). The disappearance of pork from the later
accounts is somewhat puzzling because pigs were widely bred in the
region and were also kept in urban communities.23 Massimo Montanari
has pointed out that in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the towndwellers
attempted to distance themselves from rural diet, of which the
pig was a symbol, and this was one of the reasons that led to the
increasing popularity of sheep in urban societies.24 Sheep and wether (a
castrated male sheep) are indeed frequently also to be found in the feast
accounts of Reval, and we may assume that in the course of time, pork
became rather associated with everyday diet and was no Ionger
considered ‚proper‘ to be consumed at the feasts ofthe urban elite.
Riga and Reval as harbour-towns never lacked provisions of fish.
Herring and stockfish formed an important part of the Hanseatic trade to
Livonia. A large variety of salt- and freshwater species can be found on
the feast tables of the town councillors. In addition to the two fish
already mentioned salmon (lass), cod (dorss), plaice (butten), Strömlingl5
(stromelink), pike (hekede), and several other species were also consumed
(table 1). Freshwater fish were not only caught in the lakes and
rivers of Livonia, but also bred in the moats belonging to the town
council. The councillors took care that their ponds were well-stocked: the
species mentioned the species mentioned in Reval are pike (hekede),
n For example, among the animal bones found in the cesspits of medieval Dorpat
(Tartu), pig bones comprise 78.4 %, cattle 12.9 % , and goat and sheep 8.8 %.
Maldre, „Tartu V11 kvartali,“ 99.
“ Massimo Montanari, The Cu/ture of Food, trans. Carl lpsen (Oxford: Blackwell,
1994; reprint 1996), 76-77.
25 Clupea harengus membras, a small species of herring in the Baltic Sea.
49
crucian carp (carussen)2\ vimba (wemegallen)21, bream (bresseme), and
perch (barsse).28
Both meat and fish dishes were flavoured with a nurober of
condiments. In addition to the imported spices discussed above, the feast
accounts Iist herbs and vegetables which were locally grown. These
included onion, mustard, horseradish, garlic, and parsley. The most
important condiment was without doubt salt, imported to Livonia from
Germany, France and Portugal.
The choice of bread and cakes at the councillors‘ feasts was
likewise fairly rich. The main type of bread was wegge, baked from fine
wheat flour. Other types, appearing less frequently, were zwieback
(tweback!-9), stakelwegge (a wheat bread with sharp edges, resembling
Timpenbrod), talior brot (table bread?), and scherf brot (a cheap bread
whose name derives from scher/, i.e. half a penny). Among the
ingredients added to bread, the town accounts Iist fine salt and carawayl0
(most likely resulting in a salty type of bread) and cinnamon31 (most
likely for sweet buns). Sweet pastry is usually simply called koken
(cakes). Baked goods with special names, such as peperkoken
(gingerbread), heidensehe koken32 („heathen cakes“), kringel or
ringelkoken (knot- or ring-shaped pastry), appear in the sixteenth-century
accounts.
Conceming the beverages consumed at the town councillors‘
banquets, the following remarks can be made. According to the
fourteenth-century accounts, beer was dominant, being purchased
26 Carassius carassius.
27 Vimba vimba. 21 Kß Reva/ 1432-63, no. 3 8 1 (30. May 1439): ltem vor hekede in den diik 6 f 3 s.
ltem vor 1 grot 100 bressme in den diik 4 mr. min 1 s. ltem vor 100 wemega/len in
den dyk 1 mr. min 2 s. ltem noch vor 50 carußen 10 s. ltem vor 50 unde 20 hekede 6
f unde 2 s., no. 385; Kß Reva/ 1463-1507, no. 1 3 16, 1676, 1864 (25. Oct. 1483):
ltem betalt vor bresseme, hekede unde barsse, in des stades diick gesettet, 4 mr. 12
s.
29 Kß Reval 1507-33, fol. 93v: Uthghegheven up Dagheden 1 last roggen, daraff
tweback ghebackenn.
30 lbid., fol. 46v: Betalt vor 5 /isp. 5 markp. gartkome to deme brode, dat deme rade
wert ummegesant, in a/1 6.5 mr.; 208v, 236v, 252r: Botalet vor des rades brode tho
backen, vor kiensoft unnd komel.
11
lbid., fol. 1 73r: Botaleth vor des rades broth to backen … Botaleth vor canel to
dissem brode gedan 3 mr. I 2 s.
12-fLA, no. B.a. 6, fol. 277r ( 1 5 1 1). Severa1 recipes for “heathen cakes“ are known
from medieva1 cookbooks. The one containing in the fourteenth-century Daz buoch
von guoter spise is not a sweet pastry but made from meat and bacon, see http:
//www.cs.bu.edu/students/gradslakatlas/Buch/recipes.htm1 (Alia Atlas, Das Buch
von guter spise, recipe no. 5*).
50
virtually for every feast, whereas wine occurs relatively rarely. Another
popular beverage was mead (mede), a fermented mixture of honey and
water. In some regions of medieval Europe, mead was particularly
consumed at Christmas.33 In Livonia, however, this does not seem to
have been the case: for instance in the accounts of Riga, mead appears in
connection with Carnival, Michaelmas, and Martinmas, but not with
Christmas.34 Mead from Riga seems to have enjoyed popularity outside
the region as weiL It was repeatedly purchased for the Grand Master of
the Teutonic Order in Marienburg, Prussia.35 In general the prestige of
mead declined in late medieval Europe. However, in Livonia it remained
one of the greatly appreciated beverages even in the sixteenth century,
though no Ionger at the councillors‘ feasts, but at those of the guilds and
confraternities.
On the basis of the town accounts, a shift of preference from beer
and mead to the more prestigious wine can be observed. Although beer
was still provided for the councillors‘ feasts, from the fifteenth century
wine was dominant. Such a development reflects both the increasing
economic opportunities as weil as the growing needs of representation of
the urban elite. The (social and econornic) value of wine was even more
emphasised by the fact that Livonia was not a wine-growing region, and
all wine had to be imported.
In addition to the general term win, the term Rinschen win occurs
most often in the town accounts, and as we shall see later, these two were
often used as synonyms in Livonia. True, the name ‚Rhenish‘ is likewise
a very general one, being used for a nurober of different wines from the
areas along the Rhine and Mosel as weil as from Alsace.36 ‚Rhenish
wine‘ was the most widespread of aH the wines traded in Livonia and
also one of the cheapest. The more expensive wines, such as malmsey
JJ Gerhard Jaritz, „Die Reiner Rechnungsbücher (1 399-1477) als Quelle zur
klösterlichen Sachkultur des Spätmittelalters,“ in Die Funktion der schriftlichen
Quelle in der Sachkulturforschung (= SB der Österreichischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse 304/4), (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1976), 208-209.
3′ KB Riga 1348-61, 19, 30, 32, 48.
3′ Das Marienburger Tresslerbuch der Jahre 1399-1409, ed. Erich Joachim
(Königsberg: Thomas & Oppermann, 1 896), I 02, 344, 393.
36 Tim Unwin, Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the
Wine Trade (London, New York: Routledge, 1991), 185. In the towns of southern
Germany, the wines of Alsace were distinguished from those of the ‚Rhenish‘;
however, in the Lower-Rhine, Netherlands, and the Baltic Sea region, such a
distinction was not made; see Klaus Militzer, „Handel und Vertrieb Rheinischer und
Elsässischer Weine über Köln im Spätmittelalter,“ in Weinbau, Weinhandel und
Weinkultur, ed. Alois Gierlieh (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, 1993), 174, 183.
5 1
and romney, were consumed less often and were mainly sent as presents
to particularly distinguished visitors.37
The person in charge of the wine cellars of the town council, was
the winman, the cellar-master. He was usually paid a !arge sum once or
twice a year, and since this sum covered the wine consumed (and used as
presents) by the councillors on several occasions, it is difficult to
estimate how much wine was intended for each individual feast.38
However, a few more precise records reveal that this amount could be
very different even for the feasts which took place in the same year, not
even speaking of longer periods of time.39
A spiced wine, claret, appearing in the accounts of Reval from
1434,40 was another much favoured drink of the town councillors, being
particularly frequently consumed at their Christmas drinking feast. In
some years it appears that claret was reserved for some special days
within this Ionger feast-cycle: it was drunk at New Year and on the day
of the Three Kings.41 Usually the apothecary was paid for the spices and
for mixing the claret, 42 but sometimes the councillors themselves tried
their hand at flavouring this drink. 43 In January 1 5 1 1 , a Iist of ingredients
for claret prepared for the just completed Christmas feast was recorded in
the town accounts, exceptionally including the precise amounts. The Iist
contains cinnamon, ginger, grains of paradise, galingale, sugar, saffron,
37 For example: KB Reval 1432-63, no. 302: ltem Corde vor I v/assche Romnie unde I
Malmsie unde I Ieu/met apple 5 f 3 s., de men deme bisscoppe sande; no. I 017: ltem
deme kumpthur van Sweden gesant I t. unde I vlassche Malmesie unde Romenie,
stunt to hope IOf 4 s.
38 Ibid., no. 627 (14. Aug. 1445): ltem Claus deme wimnanne vor 200 unde 90 stope
wins upp Winachten, upp Vastellavent unde Passe/zen, up deme huse gedrunken
unde vorsant, 56 mr. unde 14 s.
19 Ibid., no. 367 (7. March 1439): Item belalt lsenbrande deme winmanne vor 29
vlasschen wins, de in deme Winachten gedruncken worden. ltem vor 8 vlaschen, de
in deme Vastellavende worden gedruncken, to hope 12 mr. 12 s. See also TLA, no.
B.a. 6, subsection „Weinrechnungen des Rats.“
„‚ Ibid., no. I 03.
41 KB Reva/ 1432-63, no. 812, KB Reval 1463-1507, no. 1363, 1392, 1795, 2236,
2409, 2449, 2681, 2712. Sometimes it is even specified that claret was drunk on
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as weil as on the eve and the day ofthe Three
Kings: KB Reval 1507-33, fol. 64r ( 1 5 1 5), fol. 92v ( 1 5 1 7): Botaldt vor denn
klareth, de ghedrunckenn wort up dem rathuße to nygejars avent unnd nygejars
dage unnd to der Hilgenn drekoninghe avende und der daghe, ßunder den cane/, de
is to vornn gescreven, 20 mr.
‚2 For example: KB Reva1 1432-63, no. 243, 812, 1008; KB Reval 1463-1507, no.
1339, 1 763, 1 795, 1872, 2043, 2409.
“ KB Reval 1463-1507, no. 2236: ltem betalt her Gotzschalck Remmelinckraden vor
de clarete, de he deme rade van synem lryne, cucker unde crude gelecket hadde in
den druncken up Nigejar unde der Hilgen dre koninge dach, 20 mr. 2 s.
52
and Rhenish wine.44 Though predominantly connected with Christmas,
claret was occasionally provided for Carnival and All Souls‘ Day as
well.4s
Taking into account how common the entries for claret are in the
accounts of Reval from the second half of the fifteenth century, it is
somehow surprising that in the accounts of Riga from 1405-1474 this
drink does not occur at all. Still, by 1 5 15, claret also reached the
councillors‘ tables in Riga, being consumed at Camival.46
Items purchased for the town councillors‘ feasts reflect the notion
(and the economic resources of) festive food for the top of the merchants‘
class. In order to examine the preferences and opportunities open to an
„average“ merchant, it is most relevant to compare the accounts
discussed above with those of the gui1d festivals.
One of the most popular guild festivals in Livonian towns was
called the bird-shooting or popinjay-shooting. In Riga, it was arranged by
a special Shooting Company (schutten kumpanie), which united members
ofthe Great Guild, the Black Heads, and the town councillors, that is, the
three elite corporations.47 Some lists of provisions for this feast, likewise
recorded on separate loose sheets, survive from the period between 1466
and 1 543 (table 2).48 The earlier lists are not very detailed and record
merely the basic components of a banquet: beer, meat (beef, mutton,
ham, tongues, mettwurst), fish, bread, spices and other condiments
(ginger, satt, pepper, saffron, mustard). Along with the development of
account-keeping practices, more comprehensive lists began to be
completed. The accounts from around 1 540 enumerate severa1
ingredients which previous1y were perhaps not considered worth
recording, such as milk products and local herbs (parsley, sage,
horseradish). These accounts also document an economic development
(both in trade connections and in growing wealth of merchants), best
reflected in the appearance of wine and several „new“ items among the
.. KB Reval 1507-33, fol. 30v: Sonnavende vor der Hilligen Dreekonninge. ltem betalt
vor kroth, clarethe to leckende uppe Wynnachtendruncken, alße vor 1.5 punt canne/1
– 6 mr., 3/4 engever – 2 mr., 1.5 punt pardißkorn – 13 s., 3 Ioth ga/legan – 1 1 mr., 8
punt zuccer – 4 mr., 1.5 Ioth saffran – 0.5 mr. Noch vor 30 stoppe Rinsches wyn hirto
gekamen – 5 mr.
45 KB Reval 1432-63, no. 243; KB Reva1 1463-1507, no. 2009, 2020, 2279.
46 KB Riga 1514-16, 43 (records for the years 1 5 1 5 and 1 5 1 6).
47 Mänd, „Shooting the Bird,“ 50.
41 Latvian State Historical Archive (in Latvian Latvijas Valsts Vestures Arhivs, abbr.
LVVA), coll. 4922, inv. I , no. 124 Kämmerei-Rechnungen von 1466-1582 (This
„book“ consists of loose sheets with accounts for different feasts, mainly for the
bird-shooting and Camival. The sheets have been bound tagether in later centuries).
53
imported foodstuffs (e.g. olives, limes49, walnuts, and anise), as well as in
the increasing variety of local foodstuffs. The latter concerns above all
meat and fish (beef, wether, lamb, dried meat, chicken, crayfish, salmon,
and pike), but also condiments (onions and vinegar) and bread (wheat
bread, table bread, zwieback or biscuit).
Despite these changes over a period of time, it is possible to point
out articles which we could call the ’standard items‘ on the menu of the
bird-shooting festival. Among the beverages these include beer and wine,
among the foodstuffs first meat products such as beef and mutton, ham,
tongues, and mettwurst; second a number of spices and other condiments
to season the meat, such as ground ginger, pepper, salt, and mustard;
third bread; and finally apples, nuts, and ingredients for cakes (eggs,
flour, butter, etc.). The named items are worthwhile keeping in mind
because they occur again in the accounts for other feasts which will be
discussed below.
Information about food for the bird-shooting festival can also be
found in normative sources. The ordinances of the Black Heads in Reval
from the year 1 522 prescribe the items which the two popinjay-stewards,
that is persans responsible for organizing the feast, bad to purchase,
namely araund 18 tuns of good beer ( depending on the current size of the
confraternity, either slightly more or less), 7 good sheep or wethers, 3
good hams, 6 mettwursts and 6 tongues; then spices like saffron, pepper,
cumin50 and ground ginger; then almonds and raisins, parsley roots, fine
and coarse satt, rye flour, 150 eggs, vinegar, honey, onions, crayfish,
wheat bread, simnel cakes (buns), alms bread, and finally sheep entrails
for making sausages.51 If we compare the foodstuffs listed in these two
•• The term in Middle Low German is Iimone, which means lime and not lemon,
Lasch, Mittelniederdeutsches Handwörterbuch, Lfg. 21, 824.
50 Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is called peperkome in Livonian sources (in modern
German Kreuzkümmel, Pfefef rkümme/, römischer Kümmel), and it is not to be
confused with gartkome (or komel), which is the name for caraway (Carum carvi).
Kar! Schiller and August Lübben, Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch (Bremen,
1 875-80), vol. 2, 15; vol. 3, 3 1 9.
“ Staatsarchiv der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg, coll. 614-1141 Bruderschaft der
Schwarzenhäupter aus Reval, no. F 3: Schafferschragen und Gesetzbuch 1514-1535,
pag. 35-36: ltem dey gekorenn werden to papegoyenn Schaffers . . . Inth erste sollen
se sick saten to gudem bere a/sz se sick vormoden de se/schop groet lo fyne lo 18 1.
bers myn o.ffte mer, dar to sollen se kopen 7 gude schape o.fft e bote/ynge, 3 gude
schenken, 6 metworste, 6 gude tungen, 12 loet safferan, 1 punth pepper, 1 punl
pepperkomen, 0.5 punt (engefer) puders, 3 punt mandelenn, 1 /isp. rosynen, 1 kulmet
pettercylien wortelen, I kulmet kleyn sott, 1 kulmelh groff soll, 0.5 ku/mel roggen
mel, 300 becker, 150 eyer, 3 stop guden ettick, 6 punl honiges, … , (vor) 4 sch.
sipollen, vor 0.5 marck kreuete, vor 7 j wegge, vor 12 sch. semelen, vor 12 (sch.)
almissen broeth, noch sollen se kopen bruchen vnd hertslach van schapen lo den
54
types of sources, the accounts from Riga and the ordinances from Reval,
it becomes apparent that they practically coincide. This observation
allows us to assume that the ’standard‘ components of a feast meal (for
the social group under discussion) not only remained to a )arge extent
unchanged over time, but were also the same in different Livonian towns.
More evidence for such a constancy is provided by the accounts for
the annual feast of the Table Guild in Reval, usually held on the second
Sunday after Easter (table 3).52 Items occupying the top of the Iist, and
consequently the most irnportant ones, are again meat products: beef,
mutton, ham, tongues, and mettwurst. Among the spices and other
condiments salt, pepper, ginger, saffron, vinegar and onions are found
regularly, whereas some others, such as cumin, cloves and cinnamon,
came into use around the mid-sixteenth century. Two types of bread
occur in these accounts: wheat bread for the guild members and alms
bread (sometimes called coarse bread) for distributing to the poor. Other
constant items on the list are almonds, raisins, cheese and butter. The
main beverages were different sorts of beer and to a lesser extent mead
and cider (appeldranck). lmported wines were absent on those feasts. As
already indicated, the content of these accounts became more varied in
the 1 540s and 1 550s: in addition to a growing number of spices we can
find imported fruits (olives, Iimes, damsons53), and most notable is the
occurrence of wild game and fowl (hare, crane, swan, and capercaillie).
Thus, the items listed in these accounts clearly mirror the status of
merchants as the urban upper class.
Nevertheless, one can see that the ’standard‘ foodstuffs at the annual
feast of the Table Guild in Reval were practically the same as at the
shooting festival. The same items are also to be found on the expense Iist
of the Table Guild in Riga, although there the feast was held in another
season, in October.54
Perhaps the best example ofthe strength oftraditions is the accounts
for the May Count festival in Reval from the years 1 526-1 543, the
content of which remained practically unchanged throughout this
eighteen year period (table 4).55 Again we find beef, ham, tongue, and
worsten to maken. An incomplete version of this Iist, translated into modern
German, is to be found in Friedrich Amelung and Georges Wrangell, Geschichte der
Revaler Schwarzenhäupter (Reval: Wassermann, 1 930), 78.
11 TLA, coll. 1 9 1 , inv. I, no. 193: Rechnungen der Tafelgilde 1482-1554; inv. 2, no. 3:
Zuhauer-Rechnungsbuch der Tafelgilde (Foliant K) 1514-1563.
1′ Damsons are called ‚plums from Damascus‘ (plumen van damassche).
�< LECUB II, vol. 2, no. 679. See also Pöltsam, „Essen und Trinken,“ 126-27.
ss
TLA, coll. 1 9 1 , inv. I , no. 179: Gilderech11ungen 1520-1588 (incl. Maigrafenrechnungen
1526. 1529, 1532); coll. 1 9 1 , inv. 2, no. 19: Maigrafenbuch 1527-1543.
55
mettwurst as meat products; salt and ginger to season the meat; wheat
bread and alms bread; cakes with pepper, saffron, and butter; and finally
apples and nuts. The drinks include beer (a local one and occasionally
Harnburg beer), Rhenish wine, and berckhoren, probably a locally
produced beverage.56 These accounts also allow us to observe how the
general terms wine, bread, and nuts were meant to refer to Rhenish wine,
wheat bread (wegge), and walnuts and hazelnuts.
In the next example, the lists of provisions of the Great Guild of
Reval for its feasts at Christmas and Carnival in the years 1 509- 1 552
(table 5),S7 we immediately notice the similarity of their contents. Both
feasts Iasted for approximately two weeks which necessitated !arge
provisions of beer. For each feast, the guild bought approximately 4-5
lasts of malt and 1 .5-2 schippunt of hops for brewing.58 Beer was to be
available every day; a multi-course festive meal, however, was served
only on some special days during these Ionger periods of feasting. The
accounts for both Christmas and Carnival distinguish between food
served on two separate occasions. For the main banquet of the guild
members, referred to in the sources as the beer-tasting day (alse de
brodere dat ber smeckeden ), the following foodstuffs were provided:
beef for a pot roast (smorbrad); herring and rotscher; ham, tongues and
mettwurst; wheat bread and alms bread; various spices and condiments.
On the day when the town councillors, women and maidens were invited
to the guild hall (alse wy den raet, vrowen und junckvrowen hadden),
cakes, apples, and nuts were served. In some years the elders of the guild
had their separate beer-tasting „up in the chamber“59 (do de oldesten
smeckeden vp der kamer), and for this event they were served herring,
56 Reference books give two explanations for berkoren: 1. grapes, and 2. grains for
brewing. Lasch, Mittelniederdeutsches Handwörterbuch, Lfg. 2, 222; Eero Alanne,
Die deutsche Weinbauterminologie in althochdeutscher und mittelhochdeutscher
Zeit (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1950), 1 16. However, neither of these
meanings is satisfying in Livonian context. In the accounts under discussion,
berckhoren is always listed among the beverages and its measure is stop, a measure
for liquids; for example Maigrafenbuch, fol. 70: lt. vor 12 stop wyns is 2 mr. 16 s. /t.
vor 2 7 stop berckhoren is !.5 mr. It. vor 29 stop hamborger ber vor den stop 8 d. is
2 mr. 5 s. 1 d. Besides these accounts, berckhoren also appears in some other
sources: KB Riga 1405-74, 273: 46 mark geuen Johan Vaken vor den Berckhorne
unde andere wyn den de rad gerdunken hefft to bytiden. 8 mark vor beer den
Berckhorne to vorful/ende. See also table 6 (I 536).
17 TLA, coll. 1 9 1 , inv. 2, no. 1 5 : Rechnungen und Bruderverzeichnisse der Grossen
Gilde zu Reva/ 1509-1603. (Ending the sample years with 1552 is my subjective
choice.)
58 In Reval: 1 Schifffp Und = 1 62.9 kg, I Last = 12 Schiffpfund = 2316 kg.
59 This chamber was the so-called Bride chamber (brutkammer); see fol. 1 20r. It got its
name from the wedding feasts which took place in the guild house.
56
fresh fish (pike, bream) and dried fish (stockfish, rotschet<>) bread,
butter, cheese, sturgeon’s roe, and so forth – in other words everything
salty to provoke thirst.
The food of the main banquet was also a concem in the normative
sources. In 1555, the aldennan and the elders of the guild decided that
the following three dishes must be served: stockfish, pickled herring, and
roasted or salted meat. 61
Accounts for the Carnival feast of the Great Guild in Riga have not
been preserved from a time earlier than 1548.62 In this year, the food was
purchased for two days, and the Iist contained: !arge quantities of meat (2
oxen, I calf, 7 wethers, 7 sheep, 7 bares, 2 capercaillie), herring, ‚fresh
fish‘, sugar, honey, lard, butter, bread, a nurober of spices (ginger,
pepper, saffron, cloves, cinnamon, and anise), almonds, nuts, apples,
cakes, and some other items.63
In general, the food provided for the drinking feasts at Christmas
and Camival did not significantly differ from that of the previously
discussed festivals. However, as the specifics of these feasts deserve
special attention, we shall retum to them later.
As could be seen on the basis of the accounts examined, there were
a nurober of ’standard‘ foodstuffs and beverages provided for the
merchants‘ banquets: beer and wine, beef and mutton, bread and alms
bread, spices and condiments (satt, ginger, pepper, etc.), butter and
cheese, cakes, apples and nuts. Such items, occurring from year to year
and from feast to feast, indicate the durability and strength of traditions
on the one hand, and on the other hand, they point to a standard general
notion of festive food. These were the items of which merchants knew
that they had appeared on feast tables of the previous generations, and
these were the items which they expected to be found there in coming
years – they were the components which made a feast a ‚proper‘ one.
Many of these foodstuffs and their quality can be considered clear status
60 Rotscher is in fact one type of stockfish and both tenns are frequently used in
Livonian sources as synonyrns. Both stockfish and rotscher refer to cod (Gadus
morhua morhua), cut in half, gutted, and then dried. Volker Herm, „Der hansische
Handel mit Nahrungsmittel,“ in Nahrung und Tischkultur im Hanseraum, ed. Günter
Wiegelmann and Ruth-E. Mohrmann, Beiträge zur Volkskultur in Nordwestdeutschland
91), (Münster, New York: Waxmann, 1996), 30.
61
Die alten Schragen der Grossen Gilde zu Reval, ed. Eugen von Nottbeck (Reval:
Kluge and Ströhm, 1885), 63, 95 § 105: … wenner men smecket, so sollen de
gardelude 3 gerichte geuenn, a/se stockuisch, seetherinck, braden edder soltflesch . . .
62 Robert Jaksch, „Von den Fastelabend Drunken auf der Grossen Gildstube im 16.
und 17. Jahrhundert,“ Rigasche Stadtblätter 85, no. 2 1 -22 ( 1894): 163-68, 1 7 1 -76.
63 lbid., 166-68.
57
symbols, for instance fresh meat, refined white bread, and a variety of
imported spices.
An additional, but no Iess an important, explanation for the
repetitive menus is a practical one: it was much easier for the stewards to
make calculations and to purchase food for around one hundred guild
members, 64 if the types of foodstuffs and their amounts were known in
advance.
Though, in general, the foodstuffs provided for different feasts
remairred the same, some important variations can also be traced. This
observation Ieads us to the second category of festive food, which might
be called feast-dependent or time-dependent. Religious prescriptions and
the availability of certain foodstuffs at certain times of the year explain
why we find some items at given feasts and not at others. For instance, if
to search for differences between the accounts for Christmas and
Carnival (table 5) and for those of the other feasts discussed here, then
our attention is immediately drawn to fish, above all to herring and
stockfish. Christmas and Carnival were related to the two major fasts of
the year, Advent and Lent, which had significant impact also on the feast
menus. Although herring, and other fish were predominantly the food for
the fast days,65 they occupied an important place at the feast tables as
well, as the documents discussed above from the Great Guild clearly
demonstrate.
Interesting information about the impact of the fast on food served
at Christmas and Camival is found in the normative sources of the
Brotherhood of the Black Heads. According to the ordinances of 1 5 14,
the Black Heads in Reval began their drinking feast at Christmas with a
beer tasting on Friday before St. Lucia’s day ( 1 3. Dec.).66 Why they
chose what appears to be at first sight the most unsuitable time (it was
still Advent, and moreover, Friday was the main fasting day of a week),
at this point remains unclarified. However, the ordinances reveal that
only proper fast dishes were served at this occasion: first pickled herring
(spyck herinck), after a time sturgeon’s roe (stor roghen), then dried
salmon (droge lass) followed by roasted (baked) apples (braden appele),
64 For example, the average nurober of participants at the Christmas and Carnival
feasts ofthe Black Heads in Reval was 80-120 (1450-1550), and for the Great Guild
100-120 ( 1 5 1 0-50). TLA, coll. 87, inv. 1, no. 20 Bruderbuch der Bruderschaft der
Schwarzenhäupter zu Reval 1446-1499; no. 2 l a Bruderbuch der Bruderschaft der
Schwarzenhäupter zu Reval 1500-1581; coll. 1 9 1 , inv. 2, no. 1 5 Rechnungen und
Bruderverzeichnisse der Grossen Gilde zu Reva/ 1509-1603.
6s
On the influence of the fast on the consurnption of herring and stockfish, see, e. g.,
for example Ulf Dirlmeier and Fritz Schmidt, „Die Hanse und die Nahrung im
südlichen Mitteleuropa,“ in Nahrung und Tischkultur im Hanseraum, 267-302.
66 Staatsarchiv Hamburg, no. F 3: Schafferschragen und Gesetzbuch 1514-35, pag. 2.
58
and at eleven o’clock at night roasted herring heads (bradene heringes
houede).67 The menu of the day, when women and maidens were invited
to dance in the confratemity (it was on Dec. 28), was quite similar to that
found in the accounts of the Great Guild: cakes, nuts, and apples.
However, the choice of beverages at the house of the Black Heads was
richer: Rhenish wine, Harnburg beer, and berckhorne.68
While the Christmas feast began within the period of fasting,
Camival ended in it. The Black Heads of Reval finished their drinking
feast at Camival on the first Sunday in Lent69 (Jnvocavit), the Black
Heads in Riga continued for two more days. 70 What deserves special
attention is that on the evening of Shrove Tuesday, after a rieb and filling
banquet,71 herring was carried around, and this event marked a tumingpoint
to the fast.72 Although the drinking feast itself continued for almost
one more week, meat dishes were no Ionger served. Another
characteristic sign of the fast was the serving of expensive spices –
ginger, nutmeg, grains of paradise, and dragee, a spiced candy – on Ash
Wednesday, and on the following Friday, when town councillors, the
bailiff, and the elders ofthe Great Guild paid a visit to the Black Heads.73
The amounts of the spices to be provided for these occasions was
likewise prescribed in the regulation.74 Merchants were a social class who
obviously could afford such a luxury and for whom Lent did not mean
67 lbid., pag. S-6.
63 lbid., pag. 9-10.
69 1bid., pag. 22.
70 Schragen der Gilden und Aemter Riga bis 1621, ed. W. Stieda and C. Mettig (Riga:
Häcker, 1 896), Carnival regulation ofthe Black Heads from the year 1 5 1 0: 584 § 24,
623 § 214-15.
“ lbid., Camival regulation ofthe Black Heads from ca. 1500: 573 § 108. The food for
the general banquet is not specified, but the alderman and his assessors were served
three dishes consisting of capons, eggs, and cheese.
72 lbid., Camival regulation from ca. 1500: 574 § I 09: ltem up den sulven avent horet
den vastelavendt schafferen tho hebben twe watt heringes uth der pekell unndt so
vele brodes, alss men dar tho behoffhejft; dar gahn se mede in defastenn. See also
§ 1 1 1 and 1 14. lbid., Camival regulation from 1 510: 6 1 1 § I SO, 153; 6 1 2 § 1 54: …
so so/en de scha.fef r herink na ummedregen, dar se mede in vasten gan aver dat
gantse hus.
73 1bid., 575 § 1 1 8, 122; 614 § 165-66, 168; 620 § 198-200, 202; 621 § 204, 206.
“ lbid., 623 § 216: Des krudes, dat men beho.ffhejft up asschedach, unde wen men den
radt to gaste hejft, is sal to hope 2 markpunt engever, 2 markpunt muschaten, 4
markpunt pardyskom, 9 punt drossye ajfte 0.5 lispunt. (1 Markpfund = 32 Lot = ca.
4 1 6 g).
59
any serious self-restrictions – the consumption of expensive and
luxurious food transformed fast into feast.75
Herring in connection with Christmas and Camival has also been
recorded in the town accounts of Reval. The councillors were yearly
provided with one tun of herring for Advent.76 The records with
individually listed items for the feasts are, as already mentioned, quite
rare, but among those existing for Christmas77 and Camival’8 herring was
one ofthe items important enough to be written down.
The town accounts of Reval reveal another seasonally dependent
foodstuff, namely geese. Geese were slaughtered in the fall, and therefore
it is not at all surprising that we find them as a traditional food at feasts
in late autumn. These feasts were actually two in number: All Souls‘ Day
on Nov. 2, and St. Martin’s Day on Nov. 1 1 . In the years 1463-1533, the
town council annually paid for approximately 30-40 geese for All Souls‘
Day, and 1 2-30 geese for Martinmas.79 The eating of geese at Martinmas
was practiced in medieval Scandinavia80 as weil as in German lands,81 but
I am not aware of a connection between geese and All Souls‘ Day
elsewhere.
Another food associated with All Souls‘ Day was fish (and we may
only guess whether the symbolic connection between souls and fish
played any role here). As becomes apparent from the regular payments to
a fisherman, the fish provided was to be fresh fish, and not salted or
dried.82 Occasionally we learn that the fish purchased was pike or crucian
carp, and that they were caught in the ponds of Reval.83 These ponds
“ On this topic, see Gerhard Jaritz, „Fasten als Fest? Überlegungen zu Speisebeschränkungen
im späten Mittelalter,“ in Geschichte und ihre Quellen: Festschriftfür
Friedrich Hausmann zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Reinhard Härte! (Graz: Akademische
Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, 1987), 1 57-68.
76 KB Reva/ 1463-1507 and KB Reva/ 1507-33, passim.
77 KB Reval 1507-33, fol. 1 3 1 v, 143v, 1 76r: Bota1et Clawes Duker vor eth jenige, wes
he yn den Winachtendnmcken vor herinck, tweback unnd andere persele utgegeven
heft, 7.5 mr.
n lbid., fol. 66v, 79v: Bota1edt C1awes Duker na syner czede/e vor zolt, broth, etich,
sto1roghen unde herinck in den Vastelavendesdruncken vorteret, 3 mr. I f; 133r,
166v, 1 80r, 202r, 2 1 4r, 235v.
19 KB Reva/ 1463-1507 and KB Reva/ 1507-33, passim.
10 Kulturhistoriskt lexikcnfor nordisk medeltid, vol. 5, 687.
11 Jürgen Küster, Wörterbuch der Feste und Bräuche im Jahreslauf (Freiburg im
Breisgau: Herder, 1 985), 123; Handwörterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens, vol. 3,
290.
12 KB Reva/ 1463-1507 and KB Reva/ 1507-33, passim.
“ KB Reva/ 1507-33, fol. 23v: ltem beta/t den vyskers vor de vyskerie in deme
Hinckenpe unde ock vor heckede do sulvest gekojft 5.5 mr. 6 s.; 73r, 86r, 98r, 2 1 9r:
60
belonged to the town and fishing there without the permission of the
councillors was met with punishment.84
When speaking of feast-dependent festive food, it is necessary to
add that in the medieval period there was still no dish connected
exclusively to certain feasts. Our modern minds would immediately think
of the „traditional“ foods of Christmas, Easter, or Carnival, but very
often such traditions do not reach back further than to the nineteenth
century. For example, gingerbread (peperkocken), one of the modern
symbols of Christmas, was eaten by the members of the Table Guild in
medieval Reval on the second Sunday after Easter.85 Sources from
elsewhere in German Iands, for example from Prussia, likewise indicate
that gingerbread was consumed at various occasions. 86 It was also eaten
at Christmas, but it was certainly not specifically a Christmas sweet.
In his recent article, E. H. Segschneider attempts to prove that
another baker’s product, a ‚hot bun‘ (hedewäggen or hete wegge), was a
specific Carnival cake in the Hanse region and that its spread in late
medieval Hanseatic towns coincided with the emergence of the Camival
feast as such. 87 However, one of the earliest documeotations of this cake,
which Segschneider hirnself cites (but through a secondary reference),
comes from Riga and is connected to weddings. 88 The source in question
is found in the ordinances of the town of Riga from 1502. Its content is
comparable to sumptuary laws, and the reference to the heten weggen is
to be found in a section which regulated and restricted luxury at wedding
feasts.89 Hence, although there are indeed records from different towns in
northem Germany (in particular Hamburg, Lübeck, and Wismar) that
associate hete wegge with Camival, in the Middle Ages it was not
exclusively connected to this feast.
Botaleth den fisschers des rades dieke tho botehende up Hengepe, wen de karusen
umgesant werden, 4.5 mr. 1 f
a. Paul Johansen and Heinz von zur Mühlen, Deutsch und Undeutsch im
mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Reval (Cologne: Böhlau, 1973), appendix I ,
442, bursprake ofReval from the second decade ofthe fifteenth century, § 78e: Item
so ene sal nymant vischen in des stades diiken sunder des rades vu/bord, by 1
mark …
as
TLA, coll. 1 9 1 , inv. I, no. 193 Rechnungen der Tafelgilde 1482-1554, fol. 7, 9, 10,
12, 14. See also table 3.
16 Ulrich Tolksdorf, Essen und Trinken in Ost-und Westpreussen, part I (Marburg:
Ei wert, 1975), 320-2 I.
17 Ernst Helmut Segscheider, „Heißwecken als Fastnachtsgebäck im Hanseraum,“ in
Nahrung und Tischkultur im Hanseraum, 429-61 . IS
Jbid., 437.
19 Monumenta Livoniae Antiquae, vol. 4 (Riga, Leipzig: Frantzen, 1 844), no. 148,
page ccliii (253): Ock schal nen brudegaem in dagen des lo.ffien de brut besenden
mit hekeden, wine, heten weggen …
6 1
Thus far we have discussed only the items purchased for feasts, and
not the food itself as it appeared on the table. The account books
obviously are not very revealing in this area. Even though the order in
which the foodstuffs have been recorded, together with expressions like
„butter and pepper for cakes“ or „ground ginger for meat,“ as weil as our
general knowledge from medieval recipe collections helps us to
reconstruct how certain foodstuffs were combined into dishes, the exact
ingredients and methods of preparation remain to a great extent
uncertain.
It becomes evident from our account books that beef and mutton
were mainly prepared as a pot roast (smorbrad, grapenbrad) and
seasoned with ground ginger, salt, pepper, and mustard. Anima! fat
(speck, Jet) was the most common substance for frying and roasting, but
butter, and to a lesser degree oil, were also used. ln general the sources
do not specify what kind of oil was meant, but there are occasional
references to both poppy-seed oil (man olie; see table 2), a native
product, and to ‚Lissabon oil‘ (Lisbonis olie), that is, imported olive oil.90
We learn from the feast accounts that fish was eaten with butter, onions
and other condiments. Harn, tongues, and sausages served as cold dishes.
Bread for the merchants‘ banquets was mainly wegge, baked from wheat
flour; whereas a coarse bread out of rye was distributed as alms.91
Besides these and the kinds of breads discussed in connection with the
town councillors‘ feasts, other types of bread occasionally turn up in the
accounts, for example schottelbrod, referring to big loaves of bread used
as plates, and schonroggen, a wedge-shaped fine bread, baked from the
mixture of wheat and rye flour.92 Ingredients for cakes included wheat
flour, eggs, and milk, and (combined or variably) saffron, anise, pepper,
and raisins. Cakes were often served with butter.
The limitations of the account books become especially visible
concerning the information on local herbs and vegetables. The accounts
mention mainly parsley, mustard, and onions, and in single cases
caraway, sage, and garlic. At the same time we know from
archaeobotanical evidence that the choice of herbs used in cookery was
much more varied. Although on the basis of macro-rests of plants from
archaeological excavations we cannot distinguish between everyday and
festive food, it is highly likely that such widespread condiments as dill
and celery93 were used in flavouring feast meals as weil. The reasons for
90 KB Reva/ 1463-1507, no. 1 739; LECUB ll, vol. I, no. 3 1 .
9 1 TLA, coll. 1 9 1 , inv. 2 , no. 3 , fol. 6r: groff brot to almussen; no. 15, fol. 6 1 :
roggenbrot to almussen.
92 Pöltsam, „Essen und Trinken,“ 1 1 8.
93 Sillasoo, „Eesti keskaegsete linnade,“ 1 10- 1 1 , 1 13.
62
not listing them in the account books can be manifold. On the one hand,
the native herbs were very cheap and consequently not important enough
to be written down. On the other hand, they might have been obtained via
channels other than buying and were therefore not recorded. The Iack of
evidence for many types of legumes and vegetables known to have been
locally cultivated may also derive from the fact that these were not
considered to be festive foods.
Information on combinations of different foodstuffs increases from
the mid-sixteenth century. One of the characteristics of medieval
cookery, the mixing of flavours (sweet and bitter, sweet and salty) in
order to balance the ‚temperaments‘ ofthe various ingredients,94 becomes
visible, for example, in the town accounts of Riga, which record roasted
hare with sugar, or pike with saffron, almonds, and raisins.95
Nevertheless, if we wish to know more about the dishes in different
courses and about the order in which they were served, we have to seek
additional information from other types of sources. In a sumptuary law,
issued by the town council of Reval ca 1540, the menus for wedding
meals were fixed according to one’s social status.96 At the banquets
taking place in the Great Guild and at midday (Middageskost), the
following six courses were to be served:
Firstly: a black sauce or sop (swart Juchen speise). It was forbidden
to serve a yellow sauce (gele Juchen speise) as had been an earlier
practice; also fresh meat, such as that of capons, flavoured with horseradish.
Secondly: roast meat (gebradt), and one kind of wine, such as
Rhenish wine. Wine was allowed on the table only as long as the meat
was eaten.
Thirdly: ham, mettwurst, and tongues.
Fourthly: rice, and no almond puree.97
Fifthly: butter and cheese, but in moderate quantities.
Sixthly: apples, nuts, and cakes, according to the old custom.
9< See Scully, The Art ofCookery, 41-46, 5 1 -53.
9′ KB Riga 1555-56, 72, 83.
96 TLA, coll. 230, inv. I, no. B.s. 7: Kleider-, Hochzeits-, Kindtauf usw. Ordnungen
1497-1738, fol. 15-17; published by Eduard Pabst, „Beiträge zur Sittengeschichte
Revals,“ in Archiv for die Geschichte Liv-, Est- und Curlands, ed. F.G. von Bunge,
vol. I (Dorpat, 1 842), 220-29.
97 This line is damaged and reads: T … erden r . . . … d kein M .. . mus. However, the extant
letters and spaces between the words allow us to reconstruct the text: Tom verden ris
tmd kein Mandelmus.
63
On the same evening it was permitted to serve a pot roast
(grapenbrade) and cold dishes left over from the banquet at midday. The
meal was to be finished with butter and cheese.
The food to be served at artisans‘ weddings, in St. Canute’s guild
and in St. Olaf’s guild, was of a more restricted variety and quantity. For
example, the dishes allowed for the members of St. Olaf’s guild were: pot
roast, one type of roast meat, ham, butter and cheese. Wine is not named;
neither do we find luxury desserts (rice, almend puree) made out of
imported foodstuffs. Social distinction was reflected not only in food but
also in the number of guests which could be invited: for the members of
the Great Guild it was 1 20 male and 80 female persons, for the members
of St. Canute’s guild respectively 80 and 60, and for the members of St.
Olaf’s guild, depending on whether they celebrated in the house of St.
Canute’s guild or in their own house, either 60 and 60, or 30 and 30.
One characteristic feature in the case of feasts discussed thus far is
the rarity of wild game and fowl. Wild game was in general an
aristocratic food, reserved for members of nobility, and this distinction
remairred even in the late Middle Ages, despite the growing attempts of
well-off burghers to adapt standards of the noble Iifestyle. Still, the town
councillors, the top of the urban elite in Livonia, occasionally had a
chance to enjoy wild game (and here I do not refer to the festive
receptions of noble visitors which will be discussed below). The town
accounts of Riga reveal that once a year, at Camival, the councillors
customarily ate deer (re).98 Although in a number of cases it is specified
that deer was sent to them by the master of the Livonian branch of the
Teutonic Order (henceforth Ordensmeister), in other years the
councillors obviously purchased the animal themselves. Reval, which
was situated far from the Ordensmeister’s residence and had a less
important roJe in the politics of the Order than Riga, rarely received
presents of game from him. One example originates from the year 1 454,
when the councillors enjoyed a deer and a wild swine, sent by the
master.99 However, as in Riga, the councillors of Reval occasionally
purchased a stag or a deer themselves, mainly for their banquet at
Camival.100 The situation changed towards the middle of the sixteenth
98 KB Riga 1405-74, 126: It. 3.5 mark to der koste do de heren to vaste/auende eten vp
der bode do de mester dat ree sande.; 129, 282, 285, 301, 308, 3 1 3.
99 KB Reval 1432-63, no. 944: ltem kostede de kost dre mr., do de raet upp deme
rathuse to hope at dat re unde wildeswin, dat unse here de mester hiir sande.
100 KB Reva/ 1463-1507, no. 1640: It. betalet vor kruth yn den Vastelavende, do de
radt dat herte ath, is 7 f; no. 1 674: It. to Vastelavende wart eyn rehe gekoffi to des
rades behoff und up deme radhuse gegeten, und dat kostede myt 1ryne, brode und
anderen dinge, dat dar to quam, 9 mr.; no. 1945: ltem betalt Hans Alvuse vor eyn
64
century, when some species of wild game and fowl (hare, crane,
capercaillie, swan) gradually began to reach the tables of the merchants‘
guilds (tables 3 and 5). However, even at this point bigger game animals
such as boar or deer, do not appear in the feast accounts.
The subject of wild game takes us to the next and last category of
festive food, namely the ‚extraordinary‘ one. The same town accounts,
which are not very revealing in the case of the yearly feasts of the
councillors, are much more detailed conceming the receptions organised
in honour of particularly distinguished guests such as ambassadors of the
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, the Livonian Ordensmeister,
bishops, and so forth. One can observe how the economic resources of
the town increased over time, the examples starting with relatively
modest banquets in the 1430s, and finishing with lavish celebrations in
honour ofHermann von Brüggeney in 1536101 (table 6). The expenditures
for these events, in particular receptions connected to the festive entries
ofthe Ordensmeister, have been recorded in the town accounts with great
care and detail.102 The most remarkable difference from ‚ordinary‘ feasts
is the variety of food served. This variety especially concems the
different sorts of meat purchased: in addition to domestic animals, such
as oxen and cows, sheep, chicken, and geese, we find wild game and
fowl, such as deer, hare, partridge, and even peacock, a bird not at all
native to Livonia. The variety involves basically all types of foodstuffs:
the accounts Iist several sorts of cheese, especially imported cheese, and
a nurober of imported fruits and nuts (dates, Iimes, olives, almonds, and
walnuts). The choice of spices was rieb and their amounts conspicuous.
Some of the spices were tumed into candies like drossye (dragee)’03 and
rega/.104 Other desserts served were rice and almond puree. The variety
herte unde ree, dar van Dantzike quam, 11 D.g. TLA, no. B.a. 6, fol . 295 ( 1 546
Camival): vor 2 ree van ryge 14 mr.
101 TLA, coll. 230, inv. I , no. B.a. 6, fol. 288, published by Amold Süvalep,
„Ordumeister Hermann von Brüggeney külaskäik Tallinna 1 536.a. ja turniir Raekoja
platsil“ (The visit of the master of the Livonian Order Hermann von Brüggeney to
Tallinn in 1536 and a joust in the Town Hall square), in Vana Tallinn I (Tallinn:
Tallinna Ajaloo Selts, 1936): 55-76. The publication contains a few mistakes, e.g.
Süvalep has read „peperkome“ (peppercoms) instead of „peperkome“ (cumin).
102
On this subject, see Anu Mänd, „Signs of Power and Signs of Hospitality: The
Feslive Entries of the Ordensmeister into Late Medieval Reval,“ in The Man of
Many Devices, Who Wandered Fu/1 Many Ways: Festschrift in Honor of Janos M.
Bak, ed. Baläzs Nagy and Marcell Sebok (Budapest: CEU Press, 1 999), 281 -93.
103 On drossie, see Hartmut Boockmann, „Süßigkeiten im finsteren Mittelalter: Das
Konfekt des Deutschordenshochrneisters,“ in Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
Schriften, vol. 42 Mittelalterliche Texte, ed. Rudolf Schieffer (Hannover: Hahnsehe
Buchhandlung, 1 996), 179-80. See also Scully, The Art of Cookery, 130-3 1 .
104 O n regal, see Boockmann, „Süßigkeiten,“ 1 80.
65
likewise concems the beverages: in addition to local beer some of the
most famous sorts in Germany, the Einheck beer and Harnburg beer,
were purchased for these occasions. The wines included several
expensive and well-known sorts: Rhenish wine, claret, wines from the
Mediterranean (malmsey, romney), and France (Poitou). The highlight of
those receptions were without doubt the „surprise“ dishes, in which the
emphasis was laid on visual theatrical effects, for example gilded and
silvered candy in 1470105, and a gilded peacock in 151 3.’06
Although the festive entry of Wolter von Flettenberg in 1525 took
place during Lent (Oculi Sunday), the tables in the town hall were
covered more richly than ever before. lnstead of meat dishes a !arge
variety of fish was prepared: herring, rotscher, salmon, sturgeon, eel, and
‚fresh fish‘, and a fortune of 45 marks was spent on 1 2 butts of jelly
(galreyde107) brought from Dorpat especially for this occasion. Jellies
were considered to be high-status dishes, which owed much of their
prestige to the skills required for their preparation.108 Another Special
delicacy served at this banquet were beaver tails ( beversterte ).109
Although beaver is a mammal, its tail, covered with scales, was
categorised with fish. 110 Because of its nutritional value (high fat
content!), beaver tails were much appreciated Lenten food, and medieval
cooks tended to prepare them as alternatives to meat particularly on days
•os KB Reva/ 1463-1507, no. 1396: 4 purzt regal vorguldet und vorsi/vert.
106 KB Reval 1507-33, fol. 50r: Item eynen pawen to vorgulden 1 mr. The excerpts
from the town accounts conceming the visits of Pleitenberg in 1 500, 1 5 1 3, and
1525, have been published in Pau1 Johansen, „Ordensmeister Pleitenberg in Reva1,“
Beiträge zur Kunde Estlands 1 2 ( 1 927), 108-15.
107
On different ingredients and methods of preparation of galraid, see Johanna Maria
von Winter, „Interregional influences in Medieval Cooking,“ in Food in the Midd1e
Ages: A Book of Essays, ed. Melilta Weiss Adamson (New York: Garland
Publishing, lnc., 1 995), 47-48.
108
Barbara Santich, „The Evolution of Culinary Techniques in the Medieval Era,“ in
Food in the Middle Ages, 66.
109 Johansen, „Ordensmeister,“ 1 1 4.
110
As Hugo von Trimberg wrote: bibers zage/ vischin ist; cited in Gertrud Blaschitz,
„Der Biber im Topf und der Pfau am Spieß,“ in Ir su/t sprechen wi/lekommen:
Grenzenlose Mediävistik, Festschriftfor Helmut Sirkhan zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. C.
Tuczay, U. Hirhager, and K. Lichtblau (Bern: Peter Lang, 1998), 422. The same
concept is revealed in medieval cookbooks, for example Koch und Kellermeistery I
von allen Speisen vnnd Getränken I viel guter heimlicher Künste I etc. (Frankfurt am
Main: Herman Gulfferich, 1 547), 7: Vom Biber. Der Biber ist ein Thier wie ein
Meerhundt I /anng vnd schwanger I hat sehr lang Zeen I er mag nit la(n)g lebenn er
hab denn den schwanz im Wasser I den(n) er ist halb jleisch I vnd d(a)z ander theil
der Schwa(n)z ist Visch …
66
of abstinence.111 The amount of jelly purchased for this particular banquet
indicates that it was meant for a !arger number of diners; the three beaver
tails, on the contrary, were most Jikely reserved only for the
Ordensmeister.
By calling these feasts and the food served ‚extraordinary‘, I am
suggesting that they were extraordinary from the merchants‘ (town
councillors‘) point of view, and not from that of the Ordensmeister.
Studies on food and drink purchased for the Grand Master of the
Teutonic Order have shown that wild game, Mediterranean fruits, a rieb
choice of spices and candies, and several sorts of wine commonly
appeared on his table.112 Though there are no similar surveys on the
living Standards of the Livonian Ordensmeister, the situation could not
have been significantly different. lt is justifiable to ask to what extent the
town councillors were able to taste all the delicacies served at the
receptions in honour of the Ordensmeister. These banquets included
hundreds of guests seated at the tables according to their rank, and the
dishes meant for different tables depended on the status of the persons.
However, the arrangement of the tables in 1 525 reveals that the
councillors were seated in the ‚dornitze‘, in the same room as the
Ordensmeister, some of his most influential commanders, and the
representatives of the nobles from Harrien and Wirland. The rest of the
guests on the other band, were placed at tables laid in the ‚vorhus‘ and
presumably also in the cellar. 113 Hence it is quite likely that at the
receptions in honour of their Iord, the councillors had a chance to try
dishes which were in fact „above“ their status.
The cooks in the service of the town council had to be familiar with
how to prepare for such grand feasts, both in qualitative and quantitative
terms. After all, the festive entries of the Ordensmeister were rare
„‚ Bridge! Ann Henisch, Fast and Feast: Food in Medieval Society (Pennsylvania:
The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1976; 5th reprint 1 994), 47. Some recipes
for preparing beaver tails are discussed in Blaschitz, „Der Biber im Topf,“ 422.
1 12
Tomasz Jasinski, „Was aßen die Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens und ihre Gäste
am Anfang des 1 5 . Jhs?“ in Studia historica slavo-germanica, vol. 1 8 for 1 99 1 –
1 992, ed. Antoo Czubinski (Poznan: Wydawnictwo naukowe, 1994), 1 5-25;
Boockmano, „Süßigkeiten“; Klaus Militzer, „Der Wein des Meisters: Die
Weinversorgung des Hochmeisters des Deutschen Ordens in Preusseo,“ in Zwischen
Lübeck und Novgorod: Wirtschaft, Politik und Kultllr im Ostseeraum vom frühen
Mittelalter bis ins 20. Jh, ed. Ortwin Pelc and Gertrud Piekhan (Lüneburg: Institut
Nordostdeutsches Kulturwerk, 1996), 143-55.
113 Johansen, „Ordensmeister,“ 1 13. lt is not directly stated that there were tables laid
in the cellar, but we may assume it was on the basis of records on the quantities of
beer and wine sent to the cellar. The persons celebrating there were obviously of
lesser importance, e. g., the servants ofthe knights.
67
occasions, and could take place only once during the chefs lifetime. The
town accounts of Reval record payments to the cook of the Ordensmeister
as weiL 114 Thus we may assume that he assisted the local cooks in
the preparations for the banquets and perhaps also introduced some novel
dishes and cooking methods.
Such grand receptions cost the town council ten up to even a
hundred times more than their own annual festivals and the food served
there was certainly more varied and costly than what the councillors
could afford for their ‚ordinary‘ feasts. However, such expenditure was
unavoidable – the feast had to correspond to the status of the guest. 1 1 5
Besides, the benefits the town expected to reap in response to such
receptions, for example the confirrnation or enlarging of the privileges,
were obviously worth every penny spent.
By analysing the feast accounts of Livonian urban associations, I
hope to have demonstrated how strongly the choice of certain foodstuffs,
their quality, and methods of preparation depended on one’s status and
served as signs of socio-cultural identity. It is true that many of the
foodstuffs discussed above were basic for medieval feasts in general, and
not only for these of the merchants class. Certain features, however, such
as extensive consumption of luxury goods (imported wines, fruits and
nuts, and a nurober of exotic spices, including sugar) and the quality and
variety of local foodstuffs (in particular of bread and meat), are
characteristic of merchants and differentiale them from the artisans and
the lower social strata of the urban population. At the same time, the rare
consumption of wild game and fowl draws a line between merchants and
members of the nobility. One should also not overlook the social
distinctions within the merchants‘ class itself. The quality and variety of
certain items at the town councillors‘ tables were without doubt higher
than in the guilds. This was especially the case in the choice of wines, in
particular the consumption of prestigious claret, as weil as spices and
confectionery.
In the course of time, such distinctions became less strict, and the
food consumed began to depend more on one’s wealth than status.
Around the middle of the sixteenth century, wild game increasingly
114 Ibid., 1 14: Botaleth des hern meysters koeke vor 6 jloel em thom wamboys vor syn
arbeit to kaken gesehenekel – 30 mr.
115
On the cost of the banquets arranged in honour of the Ordensmeister, see Mänd,
„Signs of Power,“ 286.
68
appears in the accounts of the merchants‘ guilds and many of the luxmy
goods were no Ionger a rarity at the tables of wealthy artisans.116
In the end, there is one more aspect I would like to address briefly in
this essay, namely local characteristics in food consumption. Although
the sources discussed above are limited to social elites, they reflect to a
degree some general features of diet in the Livonian urban environment.
One can say that the towns with their German upper and middle class
largely followed German cookery traditions, however vague such a
classification may be. In particular we can draw parallels with
consumption pattems in North Germany and other regions around the
Baltic Sea. These similarities were determined by the natural
environment and further promoted by the Hanseatic trade. The dominant
position of beer as compared to wine, the consumption of mead and other
drinks out of honey, the widespread use of honey itself, the use of lard
and poppy-seed oil, the extensive consumption of fish (both salt- and
freshwater species), the baking of various kinds of rye breads in addition
to wheat bread, the rare appearance of Mediterranean fruits – these
named features are characteristic of dietary models in Livonia as weil as
in northern Germany and Scandinavia. At the same time, it is obvious
that extensive generalizations about regional nutrition cannot be drawn
only on the basis of festive food. It is relevant to study pattems of
consumption of day-to-day food of the different social strata and to
combine the results from various types of written sources with
archaeological and archaeobiological data.
116 For example, in 1563, such luxury items as rice, sugar, and olives first appear in the
feast accounts ofSt. Canute’s guild. TLA, coll. 190, inv. I , no. 60 Alte Nachrichten
der St. Kanutigilde, part 2, fol. 43.
69
TABLE la. Foodstuffs purchased for the town councillors‘ feasts
in Reval l404/05 and 1427/281
w = Christmas (winachten), f = Camival (vastelauend), h = All Souls‘ Day
(hinckepe)
1 1 1 1 1 1
4 4 4 4 4 4 Original tenns
0 0 0 2 2 2
4 5 5 7 8 8
w f h w f h
Pepper X X X X TJeJ)er
Saffron X X X X sa(feran
Ginger X X X X X X enj!ever
Cloves X X X nef{elken
Cinnamon X X kanell
Cu beb X X X kabeben
Grains ofparadise X X X X TJardiskorne
Seeds of meadow X X X X polse hauere
saxifrage (?) (semen
ex sese/i)
‚Baking‘ spices X backen krude
Cardamom X kardemom
• (White) sugar X X (wyth) sucker
Dates X X dadelen
Raisins X rosinen
Rice X ris
Sweat wine for X sote win to den
• (almond?) puree mose
Beef(cow, ox), X X X X X X ko vlessch, ossen,
roast, pot roast brade,
rinderen brade,
J!rOJ)en brade
Pork roast X X swines brade
Salted meat X X X vleß met softe
Pigs‘ feet X X X X X
.( swyns) vote
Mutton X X X X schaTJe
1 Beverages are excluded from this table.
70
Chicken X X X X X honre
Hare X X X X hasen
Harn X X X schinken
Tongue X X tunf?en
Mettwurst X X metworste
White sausage_s X wytworste
Geese X X gose
Boar’s gristle (?) X beren schilde
(Fresh) fish X X X X X (verssche) vyssche
(Fresh) pike X X X (verssche) hekede
Small species of X X stromelink
herring (Strömlinf?)
Herring X he1ynck
Perch X barss
Stockfish X stockvyssche
Vimba X X wemga/len
Salt X X soft
Bread X X X X brot
Wheat bread X X wegge, wit brot
Sort of bread X X X stakelwegg e
Sort of bread X X talyor brot
Sort of bread X X wrenen brot
Sort of bread X scherfbrat
Cheese X X X X X kese
Butter X X X X X X botter
Lard X X X speck
Onions X X X X sypo/len
Vinegar X X X X etyck
Mustard X X X X sennep
Parsley roots X X petercilien
wortelen
Garlic X X kluglok. knufflock
Apples X X appel
Nuts X note
Hone)‘ X honnig
Milk X melk
Eggs X eyer
71
TABLE 1b. Foodstuffs purchased for the town councillors‘ feasts in
Reval, 1477-1547
I I 1 1 1 1 1 1 I I 1
4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Original tenns
7 0 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 4 4
7 7 1 5 6 8 1 1 4 6 7
f f f w f f f f f f f
Pepper X X X X X X X X X pßper
Saffron X X X X X X X X X X safferan
Ginger X X X X X X X X X X engever
Cloves X X X X X X X ne􀇋e/ken
Cinnamon X X X X X X kanel/
Cu beb X X X X kobeben
Grains of X X X X X X X pardiskorne
paradise
Mixture of X X X backen krude
‚baking‘
spices
Mixture of X X X spisekrut,
spices /adenkrut
Nutmeg X X X X X musschalen
Mace X X X X X X X X musschalen
blomen
Anise XI anis
Dragee X X X X drossie
Confectionery X x“ X konfeckt
Sugar X X X X X X X X X (hot, wyth,
kanarrys) sucker
Dates X X dadelen
Raisins X rosinen
Almonds X mandelen
Olives X oliuen
Deer XJ re
Beef(cow, X X X X X ko vlessch, ossen,
ox), roast smor brade
Mutton X X X X X X X X X X X schape,
botfinge
72
Chicken, X X X honre, kappunen
capons
Harn X X X X X X X X X X X schinken
Tongue X X X X X X X X X tun􀃘en
Mettwurst X X X X X X X X X X metworste
(Fresh) fish X X X (verssche)
vyssche
Pike (from X X (derpsche, van
Dorpat) dorpte) hekede
Cod X dorss
Herring X X X herynck
Bream X X X X X bresseme
Stockfish, X X X stockvyssche,
rotscher rotscher
Dried salmon X X X X X X X X X droghe laß
Plaice X butten
(Fish?)j elly X galraid
Crayfish X kreuete
Salt X X X X X X soft
Bread X X X X X brot
Wheat bread X X X X X wegge, wit brot
Alms bread X X a/mussen brot
Zwieback X X tweback
Cakes X X X X X X X X koken 4
Ginger- X peperkoken
bread(?)
Ring- or knot- X X X X kringe/1,
shaped pastry ringeilkoken
Cheese X X X X X X X kese
Butter X X X X X X X X X X botter
Lard X X speck, {et
Onions X X X sypol/en
Vinegar X X X X etyck, win etyck
Horseradish X X merredich
Parsley X X petercilien
wortelen, p.
bladen
73
Garlic X kluglok, knufflock
Apples X X X X X X X, X X X appß/
(Baked) pears X xo X X X X X X (brat) beren
Hazelnuts X X X X X X X X hasse/note
Walnuts X X X X X X X walnote
Honey X honnig
Sweet milk X sote melk
Flour X X mel
Eggs X X X X eyer
x –amse candy, x — gmger candy, x — 2 deers from Riga (2 ree van ryge), x-· — heathen
cakes (heidensche koken), x5= kryues appe/, x6= bratberen
74
T ABLE 2. Food and drink purchased for the bird-shooting festival in
Riga 1466-1543
1 I I be- I I I I 1 Original
4 4 4 fore 5 5 5 5 5 terms
6 9 9 1 5 I 2 3 4 4
6 5 9 l i 8 ? 9 0 3
Beer X X X ** X * * X X X ber
Table beer X X X tafel ber
Sort of X X X dunneber
weak beer
Sort of X sachte ber
weak beer
Mead X X X mede
Rhenish X X X Rinsck win
wine
Beef(ox or X X X X X X X X jlesk, oss,
cow), rinnden
pot roast brad,
grapenbrad
Meat with X X Sennip jlesk
mustard
Dried meat X X X X X X X Dro[?eflesk
Mutton X X X X X X Botelinge,
schape
Lamb X X X Lamm er
Harn X X X X X X X Schinken
Tongue X X X X X X X Tungen
Mettwurst X X X X X X X X Metworste
Chicken X X X Ounge).
Honer
Fish X X X X Fiske
Pike X X Heckede
Salmon X X Lesse
Stockfish X Stoclifisk
Crayfish X X X Kreuete
Saffron X X X X Safferan
Ginger X X X X X Engefer
p�,tder
Pepper X X X X X X Pepe r
Herbs X X X X (gron) krut
75
Anise X X X annis
Salt X X X X X X solt
Mustard X X X X sennep
Vinegar X X X ettick
Poppy- X X X X man o/ie
seed oil
Lard X smolt
Honey, X X X X X honich,
honeycomb honich sem
Sugar X X sucker
Bread X X X brot
Wheat X X X X wegge
bread
Sort of X X wressenbrot
bread
Sort of X X X schottelbrot
bread
Zwieback X X X tweback
coarse X X grewen brot
bread (?)
(Wheat) X X X X (wetenn) mel
flour
Eggs X X X X ei􀅢er
Butter X X X X X botter
Sweet X X sote melck,
milk, smant
cream
Raisins X X X X rossinen
Olives X X olliuen
Limes X limomm
Apples X X X appell
Hazelnuts n X X X hasselnote
Walnuts n X X X walnote
Onions X X X X sipollen
Horse- X merredick
radish
Parsley X X petersillie
Sage X salwie
** The begmmng ofboth hsts ts mtssmg, therefore no dnnks are found.
n = a general term ’nuts‘ (note) is used.
76
T ABLE 3a. Annual feast of the Table Guild of Reval on the 2nd
Sunday after Easter 1482-1534
I 1 1 I 1 1 I l 1 1 1 Original
4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 terms
8 I l 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
2 4 8 0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4
Beer X X X X X X X ber
5-ferding X X X X X X X X X 5ferdinck
beer ber
6-ferding 6ferdinck
beer ber
Table beer X tafe/ber
Mead X X X X X X X X X X mede
Beef X X X X X X X X X flesch, oss
Mutton X X X X X X X X X X botlinge,
schape
Harn X X X X X X X X X X X schinken
Tongue X X X X X X X X X X X tungen
Mettwurst X X X X X X X X X X X metworste
Saffron X X X X X X X X X X X safefran
Ground X X X X X X X X X X X engeuer
ginger puder
Pepper X X X X X X X X X X X pepper
Cumin X peperkomen
Salt (fine X X X X X X X X X X X k/en und
and coarse) groffsolt
Vinegar X X X X X X X X X X etick
Mustard X X sennep
Onions X X X X X X X X X X sipo/len
Wheat X X X X X X X X X X X wegge, wit
bread brot
Alms X X X X X X X X X X X a/mussen
bread, brot,
coarse groffbrot
bread
(Rye) flour X X X X X X X X X (roggen)
mel
Cheese X X X X X X X X X X X kese
Butter X X X X X botter
77
Raisins X X X X X X X X X X X rosinen
Almonds X X X X X X X X X mandelen
Olives X oliuen
Honey, X X X X X X X honnich,
honeycomb honi􀅟sem
Ginger- X pepperbread
kocken
Eggs X X X X X X X X X X eier
Parsley X X X X X X X X X X X petersilien
roots wortelen
78
TABLE 3b. Annual feast of the Table Guild of Reval on the 2nd
Sunday after Easter 1535-57
1 1 1 1 I I I I I 1 I 1 Original
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 tenns
3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
5 7 9 1 3 5 7 9 1 3 5 7
Beer X X X X X X her
6-ferding X X 6 ferdinck her
beer
Strong X X X X X X starck her
beer
Jug beer X X X X X X kroch her
Mead X X mede
Ci der X X X X X X X X X X appeldranck
Beef X X X X X X X X X X X X jlesch, oss
Mutton X X X X hotlinge
Harn X X X X X X X X X X X X schinken
Tongue X X X X X X X X X X X X tungen
Mett- X X X X X X X X X X X X metworste
wurst
Hare X X X X hasen
Crane X X X kranen
Caper- X vrhanen
caillie
Swan X X swanen
Pike X X X heckede
Salmon X lass
Saffi·on X X X X safferan
Ground X X X X X X X X X X X X engeuer
ginger puder
Pepper X X X X pepper
Cumin X X X X X X X X peperkomen
Cin- X X X X X kanneil
namon
Cloves X X X X X negelken
Salt X X X X X X X X X X X X klen und
.g roflsolt
Vinegar X X X X X X X X X X X X etick
Mustard X X sennep
Onions X X X X X X X X X X X X sipollen
79
Wheat X X X X X X X X X X X X wegge
bread
Alms X X X X X X X X X X X X a/mussen
bread brat
Rye X X roggen mel
flour
Cheese X X X X X X X X X X X kese
Butter X X X X X X X X X X X botter
Lard X X speck
Honev X X X X honnich
Sugar X X X X X (hot, kanerye)
sucker
Damson X X X X X p/umen van
olums darnassehe
Raisins X X X rosinen
Almonds X X X X mandelen
Olives X X X X X X o/iuen
Limes X X X X Iimonen
? X X X vritsen
Ginger- X X X X pepperkacken
bread
Eggs X eier
Parsley X X X X petersilien
roots worte/en
80
T ABLE 4. Food and drink purchased for the May Count festival in
Reva1 1526-43
1 l l 1 l l l l l l 1 1 I l 1 1 1 1
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Origi-
2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 na1
6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 terms
Be er X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X ber
Table X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X tafelher
beer
Ber- X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Berckhoren
ckhoren
Harn- X X X X X X X X hamburg
borger
beer ber
(Rhen- X X X X r r r r r r r r X X X r X X (Rinsch)
ish) win
wine
Beef X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X jlesch,
oss
Harn X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X schinken
Tongue X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X tunf(en
Mett- X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X metwurst
worste
Ground X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X engefer
ginger puder
Salt X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X klen und
(fine, groff
coarse) satt
(Wheat) X X X X w w X X w x w w w w w w w w wegge,
bread brot
Alms X X X X X X X X X X X X X X a/musbread
sen brot
Cakes X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X koken
Flour X X X X X X mel to
for koken
cakes
Butter X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X botter to
for koken
cakes
8 1
Saffron X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X safferan
Pepper X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X pepper
Apples X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X appelen
Hazel- n X X X X X n X X X X X X X X X hasse/-
nuts notte
Wal- n X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X walnotte
nuts
r = specified as Rhenish wine
w = specified as wheat bread (wegge)
n = a general terrn ’nuts‘ or ‚two sorts of nuts‘ is used (notte, twigerleie notte)
82
T ABLE Sa. Carnival and Christmas feasts of the Great Guild in
Reval l509-1523
w = Christmas ( winachten) f = Camival (jastelauend)
I. Food for the elders, when they ‚tasted the beer up in the chamber‘
li. Food for the main banquet (‚beer-tasting day‘)
ITI. Food for the day, when the town councillors, women and maidens
were invited
1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
0 l 1 I 1 I l 1 l I 2 2 2
9 0 1 2 3 5 5 6 7 8 l 2 3
f f w f w f \\ w f w f w f
I.
Herring X X X herinck
Pike X hecket
Stockfish, X X stoclifisch,
rotscher rotscher
Butter for X botter up den
rotscher rotscher
Beef X rindes brad
Mutton X botelink
Ground X X engefer puder
ginge r
Bread X X X X brot
Alms X X a/mussen brot
bread
Satt X soft
Butter X X botter
Cheese X X kese
Sturgeon’s X storrogen
roe
SQices X spisel.:rut
Mustard X X senp
II.
Beef, pot X X X X X X X X X X X X X oss, rint,
roast (smor)brad
Fat (for X X X X X X X Jet
roasting)
(Skania) X X s X X X X X X X X X (Schonsse)
herring herinck
83
Rotscher X
Butter
Salt (fine, X X X X
coarse)
Ground X X
ginger
Harn X X X X X X
Tongue X X X X X X
Mettwurst X X X X X X
Wheat X X X X X X
bread
Alms X X X X X X
bread
(Rye)
flour
Mustard X X
Sage X
Ill.
Cakes X X X X X X
Butter for X X X X X X
cakes
Pepper X X X X X X
Walnuts X X X X X n
Hazelnuts X X X n
Apples X X X X X X
(Baked) X b
pears
S = specified as herrings from Skania
n = a general term ’nuts‘ is used
X X
X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X X
X
b = specified as baked pears (bratberen)
84
X rotscher
X botter
X X X X X (klen und grojj)
solt
X X X X X engeuer puder
X X X X X schinken
X X X X X tunf(en
X X X X X metworste
X X X X X weiten brat,
brat
X X X X almussen brat
X X X (roggen) mel
X X X X sennep
sa/fie
X X X X X kocken
X X X X X botter to kocken
X X X X X pepper
n X X n n walnotte
n X X n n hasse/notte
X X X X X appel
X beren,
bratberen
T ABLE Sb. Carnival and Christmas feasts of the Great Guild in
Reval 1524-l539
w = Christmas (winachten) f= Camival ifastelauend)
I. Food for the elders, when they ‚tasted the beer up in the chamber‘
Il. Food for the main banquet (‚beer-tasting day‘)
111. Food for the day, when the town councillors, women and maidens
were invited
1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 5 6 7 9 0 2 3 5 6 8 9
w f w f w f w f w f w f
I.
Herring X X X herinck
Pike, fresh X X fersche
fish heckede
Bream X bressem
Rotscher X X X rotscher
Butter X X X botter
Ground X engefer
ginge r puder
Wheat X X X wegge
bread
Sugar X sucker
Horse- X X merredick
radish
II.
Beef, pot X X X X X X X X X X X X ossen,
roast smorbrad
(Skania) X X s X X X X X X X X X (Schonsse)
herring herinck
Rotscher X X X X X X X rotscher
Butter X X X X X X X botter
Solt (fine) X X X X X X X X X X X X klen soft
Harn X X X X X X schinken
Tongue X X X X X X tun􀃘en
Mettwurst X X X X X X metworste
Ground X X X X X X X X X X X X engeuer
ginge r puder
85
Wheat X X X X X X X X X X X X wegge, brot
bread
Alms bread X X X X X X X X X X X X almussen
brot
Rye flour X X X X X X X roggen mel
Onions X X X X X X X X sipollen
Mustard X X X X X X X X X X X sennep
Vinegar X etick
Caraway X 􀇌artkomen
111.
Cakes X X X X X X X X X X X X kocken
Butter for X X X X X X X X X X X botter to
cakes kocken
Saffron X X safferan
Pepper X X X X X X X X X X X pepper
Anise X annis
Walnuts X n X n X X X X X X X X walnotte
Hazelnuts n X n X X X X X X X X hasselnotte
Apples X X X X X X X X X X X X appel
Sort of X krygges
apples1 appel
(Baked) X b X beren,
pears bratberen
1 Lasch, Mittelniederdeutsches Handwörterbuch, Lfg. 20, 672, 677: apples from
Krivitz (Mecklenburg).
86
T ABLE Sc. Carnival and Christmas feasts of the Great Guild in
Reval 1539-1552
w = Christmas (winachten) f = Camival ifastelauend)
I. Food for the main banquet (‚beer-tasting day‘)
li. Food for the day, when the town councillors, women and maidens
were invited
I 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5
9 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 0 I 2 2
w w f w f w f w f w f w
I.
Beef X X X X X X X X X X X X ossen,
jlesch
(Skania) S X X X X X S X s s S X (Schonsse)
herring herinck
Bream X bressam
Fresh fish X verssge
vissge
Rotscher X X X X X X X X X X X X rotscher
Butter X X X X X X X X X X X X botter
Salt (fine and X X X X X X X X X X X X klen und
coarse) 􀅠ro{fso/t
Rares X X X X X X X X X x hassen
Capons X X X X kappunen
Ground X X X X X X X X X X X engeuer
ginger puder
Sugar X X X X X X sucker
Cinnamon X X X X X X X X X X kanel/
Cloves X X X X X X X X X X ne􀅡e/ken
Lard X X X X X X X X X x speck
Olives X X X o/iuen
Wheat bread X X X X X X X X X X X X wegge
Alms bread X X X X X X X X X X X X almussen
brot
Onions X X X X X X X sipollen
Mustard X X X X X X X sennep
Vinegar X X etick
Saffron x safferan
87
Pepper x pepper
II.
Cakes X X X X X X X X X X X X kocken
Butter for X X X X X X X X X X X X botter to
cakes kocken
Saffron X X X X X X X X X X X X saf(eran
Pepper X X X X X X X X X X X X pepper
Anise X X X X X X X X X X X annis
Walnuts X X X X X X X X X X X walnotte
Hazelnuts X X X X X X X X X X X hasselnotte
Apples X X X X X X X X X X X X appe/
Pears X X X X X beren
Wheat bread x we��e
88
T ABLE 6a. Receptions in the town hall of Reval in honour
of distinguished visitors
OM = Ordensmeister (Master of the Livonian branch ofthe Teutonic
Order)
14381 14392 14513 14604 14705 14716
Gerhard OM H. V. OM J. Bisbop OM J. OM J. W.
von von von of W. von von Herse
Cleve Overberch Men- Dorpat Herse
gede
Rhenish Rhenish Rhenish wme wine
wine wine wine ( 1 20 ( 1 32 stop)
stop)
claret
beer (5 beer (7 beer (8 beer (7 beer ( 1 beer ( 1 6
tuns) tuns) tuns) tuns) last) tuns)
\1.1 ofa
cow
2 weth- 3 sheep 3 sheep 6 sheep 5 sheep
ers
2 hams 4 hams 4 hams 7 hams 6 hams
tongues 8 tongues tongues 6 tongues
tongues
mett- sausages mett- mett- 7 mettwurst
wurst wurst wursts
chicken, 8 chicken
capons
fresh pike
fresh cod
sugar sugar
(5 lisp.) (4 /isp.)
cloves
cubeb*
1 KB Reva/ 1432-63, no. 353 (22. Nov. 1438). On his way to Holy Land, Gerhard von
Cleve also acted as an ambassador of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.
2 Ibid., no. 397 (26. Sept. 1439).
3 lbid., no. 842 (20. Feb. 1451). The visit took place around Candlemas (2. Feb.).
4 Ibid., no. 1 1 1 7 (2. Aug. 1460).
5 KB Reva/ 1463-1 507, no. 1396 (7. July 1470). The visit took place on June 26.
6 Ibid., no. 1438 (7. Sept. 1471). The visit took p1ace on Aug. 26.
89
(0.5 /isv-:f
mace (0.5
/isp.)
ging er ginger ginger
( 1 lisp.) ( 1 .5 ( 1 /isp.)
lisv.)
dates gilded
(0.5 lisp.) and
silvered
regal
(4 lb)
spices gebacken backen- gebacken
krut krude- krude,
tabulat tabulat
(4 /isp.) (4 /isp.)
spices queden- spisekrud
for krude (0.5 /isp.)
claret (3.5 lisp.)
clene
kruden
salt salt salt salt
vinegar vinegar
mustard onions
bread bread wheat wheat
bread bread
rye bread rye bread
3 sorts of 3 cheese
cheese
butt er butt er
cakes cakes cakes
nuts walnuts nuts nuts nuts nuts
apples apples apples
pears
• The original reads kolehe, but most probably it is a miswriting offrohehe (it is listed
arnong the spices, between cloves and mace).
90
T AßLE 6b. Receptions in tbe town ball of Reval in honour
of distinguished visitors.
15007 15138 15259 153610
OM W. von OM W. von OM W. von OM H. von
Plettenberg Plettenberg Plettenberg Brüggeney
Rhenish wine Rhenish wine Rhenish wine Rhenish wine
(970 stop) (10.5 ame) (4.5 ame) (4.5 ame)
malmsey (30 ma1msey ( l
bottles) ame, 42 stop)
romney ( l romney ( 1 butt)
butt)
wine (50 wine from
stop) Poitou (2 pipes)
c1aret (64 claret (72 stop)
stop)
beer (5 tuns) beer ( 1 1 tuns) beer (33 tuns) beer (49 tuns)
Einheck beer Einheck beer berchhornen
(2 vats)
Harnburg beer
( 1 tun)
venison (1 deer)
beef (0.5 of an beef (:Y. of an jelly ( 1 2 beef ( 3 oxen)
ox) ox) butts)
6 wethers 9 sheep 22 wethers
hares 3 beaver tails 1 1 hares
partridges 1 1 1 chicken and
capons
gilded (gristle?) of a
peacock boar
8 hams 7 hams 8 hams
1 2 tongues
16 mettwursts
cod ( l tun) rotscher (8
/isp.)
7 KB Reva/ 1463-1507, no. 2523 (24. Oct. 1500). The visit took p1ace around Sept. 8.
8 KB Reva/ 1507-33, fol. 50r. The visit took place on Sept. 19-22.
9 Ibid., fol. 178v-1 79v. The visit took p1ace on March 1 9-24.
10
TLA, coll. 230, inv. I, no. B.a. 6, fol. 288; Süvalep, „Ordumeister,“ 76. The visit
took p1ace around Candlemas (2. Feb.).
91
sturgeon
2 fresh salmon ( 1 .25
salmons tun)
herring ( 1 tun
4 wal)
eel
fresh fish fresh fish
dragee dragee (drossie)
(drossie)
rice
almond puree
almonds almonds
(3 /isp. 3
markp.)
Iimes olives ( l
/echgel)
saffron (0. 125 saffron (2.5 saffron ( 1 lb)
lb) lb)
ginger (0.5 lb) ground ginger cumin ( l lb)
(2 lb)
cloves ( 1 Iot) cloves ground cloves ( 1
lb)
pepper (0.25 pepper (3.5 pepper (2 lb)
lb) lb)
fine and coarse salt fine salt
salt
sugar (6 lb) sugar
honey (3 lisp. honey (2 lisp.)
3 markp.)
wheat bread wheat bread wheat bread wheat bread
table bread a/unsbroet schonroggen alms bread
cakes cakes cakes cakes
raisins (4 raisins ( 1
lisp.) basketful)
cheese cheese (4 2 sorts of cheese
lisp.)
butter oil (4 /isp.) lard
vinegar vinegar
onions onions
mustard (parsley) roots
apples apples apples apples (2 tuns)
92
pears pears pears
nuts nuts nuts nuts
eggs (hundreds ot)
eggs
milk
• Fish IS not directly named, but the Iist contains payment to the fisher.
93
MEDIUM AEVUM
QUOTIDIANUM
41
KREMS 1999
HERAUSGEGEBEN
VON GERHARD JARITZ
GEDRUCKT MIT UNTERSTÜTZUNG DER KULTURABTEILUNG
DES AMTES DER NIEDERÖSTERREICHISCHEN LANDESREGIERUNG
Titelgraphik: Stephan J. Tramer
Herausgeber: Medium Aevum Quotidianum. Gesellschaft zur Erforschung
der materiellen Kultur des Mittelalters, Körnermarkt 13, A-3500
Krems, Österreich. Für den Inhalt verantwortlich zeichnen die Autoren,
ohne deren ausdrückliche Zustimmung jeglicher Nachdruck, auch in
Auszügen, nicht gestattet ist. – Druck: KOPITU Ges. m. b. H., Wiedner
Hauptstraße 8-10, A-1050 Wien.
Inhalt
Vorwort ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Franz Mandl, Mittelalterliche und frühneuzeitliche Tierdarstellungen
in den nördlichen Kalkalpen Österreichs und Bayerns ……………….. 7
Verena Winiwarter, Landscape Elements in the Late Medieval Village:
Can Information on Land-Use Be Derived
from Normative Sources? ……………………………………………………….. 22
Anu Mänd, Festive Food in Medieval Riga and Reval ………………. . . . . . . . 43
3
Vorwort
Die Beiträge des vorliegenden Heftes von Medium Aevum Quotidianum
beschäftigen sich mit Problemkreisen mittelalterlicher und frühneuzeitlicher
Alltagsgeschichte, die diesmal den Bereich der Aussage bildlicher
Quellen, j enen der ‚Umweltbewältigung‘ und manche Aspekte des
Nahrungswesens im Zeitrahmen festlicher Anlässe betreffen. Sie
beziehen sich damit alle auf Perzeption, Praxis und Praktiken im
Spannungsfeld bzw. Einklang zu Normen, Wünschen und/oder Idealen.
Die folgenden Hefte von MAQ werden sich einerseits neuerlich
verschiedenen alltagshistorischen Einzelstudien von eingeladenen Beiträgem
und von Mitgliedern und Freunden unserer Gesellschaft widmen,
welche die Bandbreite der Inhalte und der angewandten Methoden in der
Forschung, sowie neuer Zugänge zur Alltagsgeschichte des Mittelalters
vermitteln sollen. Andererseits werden im Jahre 2000 die bereits
angekündigte Bibliographie zu den Graffiti des Mittelalters und der
frühen Neuzeit, sowie die Arbeit von Lothar Späth zu Raum,
Raumverständnis und Raumfunktionen in frühen englischen Zisterzen als
Sonderbände unserer Publikation erscheinen. Die Planungen fiir einen
Band zu alltagsrelevanten Bereichen der „Neithard-Rezeption in Wort
und Bild“ sind ebenfalls schon recht weit fortgeschritten. Die stark
erweiterte und überarbeitete Neuauflage der ,,Bibliographie zu Alltag und
Sachkultur des Mittelalters“ (vgl. Medium Aevum Quotidianum 718,
1986) ist ebenfalls in den Planungen für die nähere Zukunft enthalten
und befindet sich bereits in Erarbeitung.
Gerhard Jaritz, Herausgeber
5