MEDIEVAL LECTURE: THE INEDIBLE MIDDLE AGES

On Saturday 13 May 2023, Blackfriars will host, in partnership with Durham University’s IMEMS (*), the 21st Public lecture on The Inedible Middle Ages: Food, Performance and Status in Medieval Society

Medieval cookbooks, which survive from the 1290s onward on large numbers, often include ingredients that we would today regard as indigestible or downright inedible – from porpoise and beaver to flowers, and even gold. Such recipes were designed as much to show off the skill and artifice of the chef as to suggest practical recipes. Banquets in the late Middle Ages often featured castles or ships made from food and intended as entertainment rather than to be eaten.

At the same time as all this apparent waste, however, extremes of abstinence and fasting on religious grounds were idealised, and stories of saints who survived on hardly any food were considered as good examples to the faithful. In this talk we will explore extremes in the consumption of food, and consider how medieval different people’s diet was from our own.

We are delighted to welcome back Andrew Jotischky, Professor of Medieval History at Royal Holloway, University of London, a historian of medieval religion and culture, with particular interests in and the relationship between belief and lived experiences, and how religious institutions in the Middle Ages worked, as well as the eastern Mediterranean and the Crusades.

WHERE: Blackfriars Banquet Hall

TIMES: 11am arrival for 11.30am start

COST: £35 per person including arrival tea or coffee and a suitably medieval-themed 3 course set lunch served communally. Places are only confirmed once paid in full and are non-refundable or transferable.

(*) IMEMS has a long-standing relationship with Blackfriars Restaurant.

DIETARY REQUIREMENTS: Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements, conditions we should know about or any other specific requests.

TICKETS & VOUCHERS: please note although we don’t send out physical tickets, you will receive a confirmation from our on-line booking system (note: this will state a table has been booked).

E-vouchers are available upon request – please email info@blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk or call us on 0191 261 5945 to arrange.