Lady Rowena Invites You... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Five

At that time, King Edward III was reaching the end of his fifty year reign in England, and he had made several Laws designed to prevent extravagance among the people. One of these measures was the Law which set out specific numbers and composition of dishes to be served at meals.
A typical five course meal for a Lord and Lady could include such now exotic ingredients as swan and peacock among the more mundane chicken, pheasant, pork, and venison.

Answer: Forks

Every one who sat down to eat would wash their hands first, with bowls of water, slops bowls, and towels brought and held by servants for each guest.
Drinking glasses, although rare and costly, were in use and were seen as status symbols for the very wealthy, brought out on special occasions and to impress visitors.
Everyone ate with a table dagger and their fingers, or a spoon, and forks were unknown as table utensils at the time.

Answer: Thursday

The Church forbade the eating of meat on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as throughout the entire period of Lent and Advent.
Thus we can eat meat at our St. George's Day celebration, but only because it is not one of those days of the week.
These Church rules applied to every single Christian in the country; basically everyone, from the King himself to the lowest serf or peasant - to disobey was a sin, and people at that time were very much afraid of the punishments set out for sinners in Hell.

Answer: Spring onions

Chibols was the name for scallions or spring onions.
Most people who lived outside a town, or who had a plot of land within a town, had a kitchen garden to grow their own vegetables and herbs. If there was sufficient space, they might also have a fruit tree or two as well.
By growing turnips, garlic, parsley, onions, beans, and cabbages, the householder knows his family will be fed, even if the cereal crop harvest fails, as it quite often did in those days. A few rows of vegetables could make the very difference between life and death in a hard year!

Answer: Sugar

Sugar was widely available to all who could afford it, at the spice shops of the day.
"Caffetin" was the most refined, and thus the most expensive, and records show that it typically sold for around 18d per pound in 1390.
Given that an entire "best suckling pig" could be had for 8d, and a pheasant for just 2d, this gives us an idea of how expensive the best quality sugar then available was.

Answer: True

Many different wines were available in the fourteenth century, with barrels being imported from as far afield as France, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
Although whole barrels were relatively expensive, and only really bought by the wealthy, many taverns would buy wine to sell by the cup, so even the poorer people could partake.
English wine was made at the time, though only in white varietals. It was mainly made by religious communities - abbeys and monasteries - and noble estates, and for their own consumption.

Answer: Small Bird

A martinet was a small species of swallow. Along with thrushes, curlews, or sparrows, they were cooked and served whole, bones and all, as a "dainty", often for the third of the five courses of a Lord's meal.

Answer: By the Pipe

A pipe of wine contained 105 UK gallons. The King was not as fond of his drink as it might appear from his wine bill - an awful lot of wine (and other victuals and goods) was dispensed as largesse to the members of the Royal Court, and the most high-ranking staff of the King's household. The lower ranks of staff were given an ale allowance each day instead - wine was for the "higher ups" so to speak.
Interestingly, "a gallon a day" of the wine in question was used as part of the wages paid to Geoffrey Chaucer by King Edward.

Answer: Sturgeon

A sturgeon would be tranched and served - the sturgeon was prized as a luxury foodstuff, and a fresh one, if obtainable, would perhaps be gifted to a Duke or even the King himself. Generally they were pickled after being caught, and with no part of the United Kingdom being more than seventy miles from the sea, fish and other seafood were readily available, even during the Middle Ages.
A lobster would be barbed, a pike splatted, and a trout culponned at table, before the choicest morsels were offered to the Lord and his Lady, and any honoured guests.

Answer: Spiced wine

Hippocras/hypocras was a spiced red wine, served as a signal that the meal was at an end.
The trenchers (plates) and leftovers would be cleared by the serving boys as the Lord, his family, and any guests drank.
Leftovers would either be eaten by the kitchen and serving staff, or in the household of a generous and benevolent Lord would be distributed to poor people who would gather at the gatehouse of the estate during the meal.
Word of a Lord's generosity (or parsimony!) would soon spread, and charitable acts were deemed to raise a Lord's standing and reputation.