Scroll Blank - Fool with cusped loaf

Details of the original image:

Illuminated Manuscript, Carrow Psalter, Fool with bladder on stick eating cusped loaf, Walters Manuscript W.34, fol. 113r

Shelf mark: W.34

Manuscript: Carrow Psalter

Text title: Psalter-Hours

Abstract: This English manuscript was made in East Anglia in the mid-thirteenth century for a patron with special veneration for St. Olaf, whose life and martyrdom are prominently portrayed in the Beatus initial of Psalm 1. Known as the “Carrow Psalter” due to its later use by the nunnery of Carrow near Norwich, it is more accurately described as a psalter-hours, as it contains, among other texts, the Office of the Dead and the Hours of the Virgin. The manuscript is striking for its rich variety of illuminations, including full-page cycles of saints, martyrs, and biblical scenes, as well as historiated initials within the Psalter, and heraldry added in the fifteenth century to undecorated initials in the Hours of the Virgin. Especially notable is the miniature portraying the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket, for after Henry VIII found him guilty of treason in 1538, his image was concealed by gluing a page over it rather than destroying it, and it has since been rediscovered.

Date: Mid-13th century CE

Origin: East Anglia, England

Form: Book

Genre: Devotional

Language:The primary language in this manuscript is Latin.

Support material: Parchment. Medium-weight cream-colored parchment; slightly heavier-weight parchment used for full-page miniatures

Dimensions: 17.6 cm wide by 24.7 cm high

Written surface: 12.0 cm wide by 17.4 cm high

Layout:
Columns: 1
Ruled lines: 14
Layout does not apply to calendar (written surface 12 x 19 cm, 32-33 ruled lines)


Contents:fols. 1r - 321v:
Title: Psalter-Hours

Hand note: Littera prescissa, with smaller size used as cues for psalms cited in liturgical texts, antiphons, versicles

Decoration note: Manuscript opens with cycle of ten full-page saints’ portraits/martyrdom images interspersed with their suffrages, followed by prefatory cycle of eleven mixed full-page and two-register illuminations depicting Adam and Eve and Christ’s life, death, and resurrection; second group of five full-page Christological illuminations follow that repeat scenes already depicted, and may have been added; images typically glued back-to-back with blank side of previous folio, and have highly burnished gold grounds, rectangular frames; Psalter contains eleven historiated initials at openings of select psalms and one within hours (six to seven lines high); eleven heraldic arms added in fifteenth century within unadorned initials, beginning with Psalm 119 and found throughout the hours; smaller initials in gold or blue with intricate blue and red pen flourishes begin each line of text (one to four lines high); rubrics in red; text in black ink. [1]

Technique:

This project was an attempt to reproduce this beautiful manuscript image which was chosen to be entered into the arts and sciences competition at Summer’s End 2023, which had the theme of “pie”. Anything pie related. More on that, later.

I used gouache and ink on paper rather than vellum and period pigments as I still have not mastered those advanced materials. Working from a high resolution image of the manuscript, [2] I removed the background colors and printed out the image. The design was transferred to the paper by tracing over a light box.

 
I kept the colors similar, to the source, as I liked the reds and blues, although I used a lighter shade of red for the dragon making up the tail of the ‘Q’. I do like the combination of red and blue, particularly with the white lines. Several layers of gold paint were used to make the background and border stand out. The goal was to produce an image that would stand out and be visible when it was displayed in court. This was my first use of ox gall. I had had issues with getting even coats of the dark red and blue and it was suggested that I try adding a drop or two of ox gall to the water and gouache. I purchased a bottle of Holbein ox gall and a couple of drops did help immensely.

 
Once the all of the paint had dried, I outlined all of the sections with black ink to make the image stand out. For the white, I used Winsor and Newton white ink (#974) for the lines and Winsor and Newton Permanent White gouache for the solids. I had intended to have a fainter white for the scalloped shapes, but the white paint was picking up too much of the blue underneath and I was not able to control the consistency. In the end, I used a heavier layer of white to make a solid shape, and then painted blue circles in the white and surrounded the blue with red dots. Both in honor of the source image and because I like how the small amount of red does stand out next to the blue.

What does this have to do with pie?

My original intent was make some sort of verbal jigery-pokery to explain that what the figure was holding was a pie and not manna, as I had thought it was. I started working on the image before I paid attention to the title: I had thought that it was an image of Moses or another person eating manna while wandering in the desert looking for the promised land. I knew that the Pslter had inhabited initials of scenes from the Book of Exodus and had assumed that this image might have been from that book. I was planning on arguing that we don’t know what manna was. In fact the word manna is derived from the Hebrew question “Ma’n Hu?” or “What is it?” [3] Perhaps manna was actually Hostess fruit pies.

Then, when I was gathering my notes for this documentation I noticed the title of the page: Fool with bladder on stick eating cusped loaf started the page of Psalm 51. Definitely not from Exodus. So, what does “cusped loaf” mean? I spent the better part of a day trying to track this down. Cusped has a few meanings in 13th century England. One is the precursor to “cupped”. As in cupped hands. So, it could refer to something that could be held in one hand. Cusped could also mean something that was enclosed, like a hot pocket or a Cornish pastry. Cusped could also mean something that was scalloped or had pointy bits, like an arch or like the loaf in the fool’s hand, in the image. The last result that I found was in relation to fools and jesters. A cusped loaf could refer to a enclosed pie filled with custard that was used as a weapon against another jester or against someone whom the jester’s boss found tiresome. A medieval version of the pie fights of the early cinema. Or, the jester or fool could have eaten it in a very messy fashion, either for comic relief or to lampoon someone sitting at feast. I was unable to discover anything more about such custard pies, such as what color the custard was, as their intent was to make a mess. The Scheide Psalter-Hours [4] has a similar fool holding a “bauble and loaf”, only wearing just a cloak. I don’t know why these two psalters chose to depict fools for Psalm 51 and 52: The first begins with “Have mercy on me, O God” and the second, “Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?” But, the purpose of this paper is to explain my illumination and it’s connection to pies. Further research into professional fools and the Psalms will have to wait until another research project.

References:

Anglo-Norman Dictionary :: Word of the Month: Nice! An Anglo-Norman Insult. https://anglo-norman.net/word-of-the-month-nice-an-anglo-norman-insult/. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Bennett, Adelaide. “The Scheide Psalter-Hours.” The Princeton University Library Chronicle, vol. 55, no. 2, 1994, pp. 177–223. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26509121. Accessed 10 Sept. 2023.

“Bible Gateway Passage: New International Version.” Bible Gateway, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2051&version=NIV. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

“Biblical Hebrew Words and Meaning.” Hebrewversity, 14 Mar. 2018, https://www.hebrewversity.com/word-mannamean-hebrew/.

Buhrer, Eliza. “But What Is to Be Said of a Fool?: Intellectual Disability in Medieval Thought and Culture” in Mental Health, Spirituality and Religion in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age (Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture), Ed. Albrecht Classen (Berlin and Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2014). www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/18029983/_But_what_is_to_be_said_of_a_fool_Intellectual_Disability_in_Medieval_Thought_and_Culture_in_Mental_Health_Spirituality_and_Religion_in_the_Middle_Ages_and_Early_Modern_Age_Fundamentals_of_Medieval_and_Early_Modern_Culture_ed_Albrecht_Classen_Berlin_and_Boston_Walter_de_Gruyter_2014_. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

“Cusped.” The Free Dictionary. The Free Dictionary, https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cusped. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Cusped - Advanced Search Results in Entries | Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/search/advanced/Entries?textTermText0=cusped&textTermOpt0=WordPhrase&dateOfUseFirstUse=false&page=1&sortOption=AZ&tl=true. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Cusped - WordReference.Com Dictionary of English. https://www.wordreference.com/definition/cusped. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.
Definition of CUSPED. 5 Sept. 2023, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cusped.

 
Dienstbier, Jan. The Image of the Fool in Late Medieval Bohemia, in: Umění/Art LXIV, 2016, 354–370. www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/32931743/The_Image_of_the_Fool_in_Late_Medieval_Bohemia_in_Um%C4%9Bn%C3%AD_Art_LXIV_2016_354_370. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Ewbank, Anne. “How Pie-Throwing Became a Comedy Standard.” Atlas Obscura, 10 July 2018, http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-people-throw-pies.

Flickr Photostream for Walters Art Museum Carrow Psalter, Fool with bladder on stick eating cusped loaf, Walters Manuscript W.34, fol. 113r. https://www.flickr.com/photos/medmss/6165863401/in/photolist-btQupQ-aoREnF

Fool | Etymology, Origin and Meaning of Fool by Etymonline. https://www.etymonline.com/word/fool. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Model, Ben. “Pie-Eyed – In Search Of The Pie Fight’s Origins.” Ben Model, 18 Jan. 2020, https://silentfilmmusic.com/charlie-chaplin-pie-fight/.

Okyere, Kojo. The Ways of the Fool A Literary Reading of Psalm 14.Pdf. www.academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/29319309/The_Ways_of_the_Fool_A_Literary_Reading_of_Psalm_14_pdf. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Oliver, Judith. “The Mosan Origins of Johannes von Valke.” Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, vol. 40, 1978, pp. 23–37. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24657566. Accessed 10 Sept. 2023.

“Pain Quotidien: Images of Bakers in Medieval France.” Different Visions, https://differentvisions.org/images-of-bakers/. Accessed 9 Sept. 2023.

Pantry, The Past is a Foreign. “Chastletes: 1390.” The Past Is a Foreign Pantry, 7 Aug. 2020, https://thepastisaforeignpantry.com/2020/08/07/chastletes-1390/.

Sforza Tarabochia, Alvise. “The Staff of Madness: The Visualization of Insanity and the Othering of the Insane.” History of Psychiatry, vol. 32, no. 2, June 2021, pp. 176–94. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1177/0957154X21989224.

Sidsel. “Small Medieval Meat Pies - Hand Pies - Postej & Stew.” Postej & Stews, 14 May 2017, https://postej-stew.dk/2017/05/small-meat-pies/.

Walters Art Museum: Digitized Walters Manuscripts: Walters Ms. W.34, Carrow Psalter. https://www.thedigitalwalters.org/Data/WaltersManuscripts/html/W34/description.html


[1] https://www.thedigitalwalters.org/Data/WaltersManuscripts/html/W34/description.html
[2] Provided by The Walters Art Museum’s Flikr page.
[3] Hebrewversity
[4] Scheide Library ms 16, folio 42V, Psalm 52

 Book Review: To The King's Taste.

I was recently gifted with a copy of Lorna J Sass' "To the King's Taste: Richard II's Book of Feasts and Recipes Adapted for Modern Cooking". Published in 1975 and is now out of print. I do see that there is a used copy on Amazon for $14, though. It is a small book, which is both a pro and a con. Pro, because recipes are one to two pages each. Con because there isn't enough page space to provide explanations for any changes made to the source material. Sass does provide, for each recipe, the original recipe, her translation of the recipe into modern English, and her redaction including modern oven temperatures and times. In the introduction, she explains that she spent years testing the recipes and explains that she does make changes to produce a better taste for the modern pallet. "In my interpretations I have departed from the original instructions at times. For example, when I boiled the rabbit for "Connynges in Cyrip", I found the meat to be tough and tasteless. So I recommend browning it in seasoned flour. ... My aim has been to find a common meeting ground for the medieval palate and our own..." [p34]

The recipes are well organized and are written in an accessible fashion, only basic cooking skills are needed for most of the recipes. And there is a detailed glossary. Most of the recipes come from "The Forme of Cury"; the few that don't, she provides the source information. 

Sass is known, today, for her many books on vegetarian and vegan cooking, but she does have a PhD in medieval literature so she was well equipped to translate the 14th Century English of Richard II. As a two time winner of the James Beard Award for her writing (1982 and 2007) she does have the cooking skills to back up her redactions. In 1977 she wrote "To the Queen's Taste: Elizabethan Feasts and Recipes", also out of print. 

That being said, I wish more page space was used to explain why all of her changes were made. On pages 90 and 91, she gives two recipes for sauces: galantine and cameline. In both of her redactions she suggests stock be added even though stock is not mentioned in the source material. No reasoning is listed for galantine sauce, but for the cameline sauce she says, "If you don't temper the sauce with broth, it is quite pungent, although this quality is set off considerably by the spices and sweet raisins." Is the same true for the galantine sauce? It would be nice to know. 

She also provides different spices for recipes requiring pouder fort, pouder douce or whyte pouder. It would have been better, in my opinion, to have a separate section on these powders and give one or two recipes for each, since there are several medieval sources that have recipes for them. If the reader is told how to make pouder fort, or strong powder, then they can make a large quantity of it and use a teaspoon or more when needed, rather than to make a batch just for one dish. 

All in all, this is an excellent cookbook and belongs on the shelf of any SCAdians who wish to cook from medieval recipes. There are many recipes, in it, that I wish to try. She offers recipes for appetizers, entrées, deserts, and sauces. Her book would make a great starting point for an A&S project and can help guide a feast-o-crat to making a period dish in a modern kitchen. I can only hope that Sass will revisit the book and republish it in a longer format to include more information about her choices and what she has learned in the 49 years since it was published. 

Scroll Text - Joel de Grace - Sycamore 2024

Kingdom of AEthelmearc - A&S Award

Pray attend to the words of the Crown of AEthelmearc. Salutation to all unto whom these present letters from  Murdoch and Rioghnach, most beloved Monarchs of these Sylvan Lands. Forasmuch as We, of Our special grace, in consideration of the true and faithful service which Joel de Grace has done unto Our Kingdom, of which the making of maile and the teaching of the skills of its making is only in part of why We have taken action. Know you all that We have affirmed and awarded unto him a place within our Noble Order of the Sycamore where he and his skills shall thrive and prosper. We further give him leave to wear the badge of the Order as he sees fit for one of his station and further give unto him all said rights and duties of the Order and demand that the Order receive and admit him without delay; and these Our Letters shall be his Warrant. Given by Our hand at War Practice, AS 59. 

Inspired by Signet Letter for the Issue of Letters under the Privy Seal only (20 Nov., 16 Edward IV)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/calebreynolds/53718856987/in/dateposted/

Ode to Count Jehan

Oh, divine beings of the afterlife, please hear my words.

A warrior makes his way to you, please make him welcome. He acted for peace more than for war.

A bard makes his way to you, please set a chair next to the fire for him, for he has a lifetime of stories to tell. 

A scholar makes his way to you, please grant him access to your library, for he never ceased seeking for answers.

A teacher makes his way to you, please provide him with a classroom, for death itself cannot stop his desire to instruct.

A herald makes his way to you, please employ him as you see fit, for while he had the ability to curse, he spoke only praise of others. 

An inspiration makes his way to you, please give him such honors the equal to each tear that has been shed by his passing. 

Oh, divine beings of the afterlife, please hear my words.

Written 5/17/2024 on the passing of Count Sir Jehan de la Marche.

Cowboy Candy

This was a facebook post from 2020. Posting here so that I can find it, again. 

Candied and pickled Jalapenos. I don't have canning hardware so these will just go into the fridge until I eat them all. Not as good as fresh, but I'll have chilis when I need them.

1 pint of apple cider vinegar.

3/4 cup of Sugar in the raw

3 tablespoons of kosher salt

10 good size fresh jalapenos.

Dice the jalapenos into 1/4" wheels. Add the salt and sugar to the vinegar and bring to a rolling boil. Cut the heat and add the jalapenos. Let them sit for 20 minutes, them move them into mason jars. Let cool completely and either can the or move them into the refrigerator. 

Not All Sugar Is Created Equal 

or Caleb has writer's block on the article he needs to finish so he wrote this, instead.

by Caleb Reynolds

In our modern middle ages, we attempt to create dishes and treats from ancient cook books. We are often stymied by the lack of detailed steps of how to make a thing, and there certainly were no temperatures listed to help us with our modern ovens. We also have to figure out what is the closest thing available, today, to what our ancestors would have had. Is a modern chicken the same as one from the 14th century? Are our eggs the same size? What can I use from my local supermarket to substitute for garum? Even simple sugar can be far more complicated that one can imagine. [1]

We are so used to going to the aforesaid supermarket and buying a pound of 99.99% pure sucrose sugar; bleached whiter than white with each grain separate and scoopable. All for the low, low cost of $5. Or brown sugar by the bag. Even "raw" sugar by the box. As much as we want, anytime of the year. But, was this what was available to our medieval counterparts? 

Well... Yes and no. Modern, mass-produced sugar is well above and beyond the technological means of medieval Europe and North Africa. Sugar makers use massive machinery to turn raw sugar cane into a chemically pure product in numbers that would be un-imaginable to anyone living before 1900. Even brown sugar is different: it's pure sucrose blended with a precise ratio of molasses, then dried and packaged so that it is still scoopable. Compare that with Mexican piloncillo sugar packaged in hard blocks or cones that have to be grated or chopped up before it can be used. French muscovado is also a raw, "brown" sugar, but processed not in hard, compacted cones, but in a soft format that one can stick a spoon into without much effort. Both piloncillo and muscovado sugar are considered "exotic" by today's standard because it is barely processed. Our perception of sugar is that bright white crystals is the norm; anything else is weird. 

So, what was available to the Medieval chef? Period inventories and shopping lists mention sugar loaves as well as references to “sugre blanche”, “white sugar” or “candy sugar”. Which indicates that there was a difference between the varieties of sugar. Furthermore, many cookbooks use the word “sugar” in most recipes but calls for other varieties of sugar in some: “good white sugar” “lump white sugar”, “white sugar” “pounded white sugar”, “white manna of sugarcane” and “Sulaimani sugar”. [2]

Balducci Pegolotti, an early 14th century Floretine trader, listed various types of sugar in his handbook; “five kinds of loaf sugar, in order of quality: mucchera, cafetino, bambillonia, musciatto and dommaschino. The color and cost of the loaves varied widely. A sugar loaf looks a little like a bomb.” [3]

"The Arabic sources from medieval times describe raw sugar as red (sukkar ahmar) rather than brown. A cone-shaped loaf of sugar, also called an ubluj, typically had a white upper section and a red or dark lower point. Tricks...were clearly employed by the sugar merchants to hide the red part, and present the illusion of an entire white cone." [4]

"Sugar itself was exported in solid conical loaves of various sizes, since a cone-shaped mould was in standard use wherever sugar was refined. We tend to think of sugar as a pure, white and unvarying substance, but the difficulty and expense of refining meant that until the mid 19th century there were many more grades of sugar than today, and that a batch or loaf of sugar was by no means always white - and if it looked white on the outside, it may have been brown within." [5]

The 15th century "Liber cure Cocorum" lists various types of sugar in its pages. Take the recipe for frumenty:

"Color it with saffron and salt it well,

"And serve it forth, Sir, at the meal;

"With sugar candy, you may sweeten it,

"If it is served in [a] great lord’s house.

"Take black sugar for meaner men;" [6]

The cost of sugar varied by the quality. In January 1601, during the building of Gawthorope Hall, in Lancaster, the housekeeper paid 22d [7] for 1 pound of sugar, but paid 2s 8d [8] for 1/2 pound of white sugar. [9] For a marriage feast, also at Gawthorope Hall, in 1530, two loaves of sugar weighing 16 pounds were purchased for 9s 9d. [10] In a letter from Sir Edward Wootton to Lord Cobham, dated Calais, March 6th, 1546, states that Sir Edward had “purchased 25 sugar loaves at 6s a loaf, which is 8d a pound,” [11] although the source does not mention where the sugar was purchased: England; France; Spain? A pound of securades sugar, white, refined sugar, in 1433 London, cost 2s 8d. [12]

"“I find no loaf of sugar in 1481 [in written texts]. Two loaves are then bought in London each of 7# weight. In 1529 2 loaves at 7 1/4 # each. In 1527 3 loaves are nearly 7# 5oz each. In 1530 there are loaves of 8# and in 1533 on 6 1/2#.... Sugar loaves then up to 1533 generally weighed about 7#. Afterwards they are manufactured into about 11#, and finally the weight is raised to nearly 16#. The increase in the weight indicates, I think, an improvement in the process of manufacture.... The average price of sugar by the pound being 5 1/4d. In 1520 the price [increases] to 6d. Sugar plate [used to make fondant] ... in 1406 it is 1S 2d the pound; in 1467, 1s 4d; in 1469, 1482, and 1488, 1s [per pound].”" [13]

“Between 1478 and 1482, the price of sugar [in London] dropped dramatically from a mode price of 20d per pound to 12d per pound; and then dropped again to around 7d per pound c.1495. Sugar prices were dropping throughout Europe in these years as a result of the new Portuguese navigation and subsequent colonial developments, which included a large-scale development of sugar production and trade in and from the new territories.” [14] Essex has long been the hub of English sugar refining, importing sugar cane and refining it on English soil. [15]

It is clear that sugar was an affordable luxury for some people of England. “The wages of sundry workmen were first fixed by act of parliament 25th Edward III, 1350. [Harvest-men were paid per day] 1350, 1d; 1460 2d; 1568 4d. [16] While Jane Hodgkinson, the housekeeper of Gawthorope Hall, could spend the equivalent several week’s wages on sugar in Lancaster, for the Hall, [17] it is unlikely that Jane would have been able to afford the sugar for herself. Hall records show that Jane and three other female servants were paid, collectively, 17s, 6d per quarter, or an average of 52.5 pence per quarter or just over 2d, per person, per day. As opposed to the 10 male servants who were paid, collectively, £3, 18s, 4d. per quarter, or 940d per quarter or just over 7d per person a day. [18]

Please keep in mind that Europeans thought of sugar as a spice: an expensive luxury that was imported from far off lands. If you could afford sugar, you bought the quality, and color, that you could afford. Today, raw muscovado sugar actually costs three times what ultra refined white sugar goes for, but this is only because of the industry and machinery used in today's sugar refineries. The very wealthy would buy the finest, whitest sugar to show off their wealth. The middle class would buy the best they could afford and still show off their station merely by having sugar in any quantity. White sugar became an affordable luxury for the poor only in the 19th century, and we would not consider what was sold then to be white sugar. We would look at it and think that it was more like "Sugar In The Raw" processed turbinado sugar than our cheap but pure sugar. 

Why is this important? Well, go on the interwebs and look for a breakdown of what various kinds of sugar can do for the end result of a cookie. It does make a difference in the end product and, depending on who the dish is meant for, changing the sugar will change the dish. Like that recipe from  "Liber cure Cocorum": Candy sugar for a Lord, black sugar for "meaner" men. To my mind, we have some options for medieval sugar. Muscovado or piloncillo for "cheap" sugar. Both are loaded with molasses and are rich with flavor. Turbinado sugar for the mid-range sugar. Still some molasses but mostly sucrose crystals. 

On the high end of the scale, I use organic, pure cane sugar that is unbleached and granulated. It still has some color to it, but it can't be called "brown". Using the organic sugar ensured that no bleaching agents were used to make the sugar completely white, as well as no anti-clumping agents were added. Do not mistake it for evaporated cane juice, which still has a lot of molasses in it: more than turbinado but less than muscovado or piloncillo. You can also use crystal sugar, which is extremely refined sugar that is allowed to grow into large crystals. Rock candy is crystal sugar that is normally grown on sticks. It can also be purchased by the pound so that it can be ground into appropriate size grains needed for any baking project. You can turn all sugar in to crystal sugar, but it takes a while and then you would have to grind the big crystals into the powder size you wish. Beet sugar shouldn't be used for an A&S project: Sugar beets were developed in the 19th century. I don't think it would matter for a dish at feast; I don't think anyone would notice the difference if you used it in a cake or a cookie. 

Why should this matter? Well, we should be striving to create accurate projects. And, as I said earlier, different types of sugar can affect the final product. It is also of interest of how expensive a project would be in period. So, Digby has a recipe in his book for Doctor Harvey's Pleasant Water-Cider [19] that calls for five pounds of brown sugar. Poking about I see that Muscovado sugar was imported into London, from the Caribbean, at a cost of 2S [20] per hundred-weight. [21] A hundred-weight was 8 stone, or 112 pounds. [22] The same sugar was sold retail at an average of 17d per pound around the year Digby published his book. [23] Doctor's Harvey's cider would require 85 pence, or 7 shillings and one pence worth of brown sugar. Which is between $85 and $1118 in today's money, depending on how you do the calculations [24]. Somewhat pricey, even in the perspective of a full bushel of apples required to make this cider. We can conclude that this recipe was probably not intended for the average working Joe or Jane. By selecting the correct type of sugar, we can better simulate what our project would have been like to the people who would have enjoyed it, centuries ago. 

[1] Not to be confused with simple sugar.

[2] Various sources.

[3] Richardson, p101-2

[4] Sato, p69

[5] Richardson, p101

[6] Renfrow’s translation, recipe 56

[7] 22 pence or pennies.

[8] 2 shillings, 8 pence, or 32 pence

[9] Remains, p1001

[10] Harland, 1029

[11] Harland, 1029

[12] Rogers, p678

[13] Rogers, p676-7

[14] Threlfall-Holmes p95, Hicks and Hicks, 152, almost verbatim.

[15] Constable. p496

[16] Remains, 1074

[17] Harland, 1001

[18] Harland, p168. The source mentions that the male servants included the Hall steward and bailiff, who would have been paid more than the farm laborers, housekeepers and carters. My source does not list what other compensation was added, food, clothing, etc. Harland does list Christmas presents given to the servants, which were nice bonuses at the end of the year, elsewhere in his book.

[19] p104

[20] 24d

[21] Governance

[22] No, I don't know why it's called a hundred weight. Feel free to figure it our on your own.

[23] Boulton, p459

[24] see https://www.measuringworth.com/ for more information.

Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook. Kitab al tabikh fi-l-Maghrib wa-l-Andalus fi `asr al-Muwahhidin, li-mu’allif majhul. The Book of Cooking in Maghreb and Andalus in the era of Almohads, by an unknown author: 13th Century Al-Andalus Cookbook. translation is by Charles Perry and others

Ashtor, Eliyahu. Levant Trade in the Later Middle Ages. Princeton University Press, 1983.

Boulton, Jeremy. “Food Prices and the Standard of Living in London in the ‘Century of Revolution’, 1580-1700.” The Economic History Review, vol. 53, no. 3, 2000, pp. 455–92. 

Constable, William Page. The Victoria History of the County of Essex, Volume 2. Herbert Arthur Doubleday. 1907. 

Digby K, The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened: Whereby Is Discovered Several Ways for Making of Metheglin, Sider, Cherry-Wine, &c.: Together with Excellent Directions for Cookery As Also for Preserving, Conserving, Candying, &c. Published by His Son’s Consent (1669)

Edel, Matthew. “The Brazilian Sugar Cycle of the Seventeenth Century and the Rise of West Indian Competition.” Caribbean Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, 1969, pp. 24–44. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25612106. Accessed 13 May 2024.

Epstein, Steven A. Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe. UNC Press Books, 1991.

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