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