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The Medieval English Urban Cook The Medieval English Urban Cook Jeffery Crandall Berry Master of Philosophy University of York Medieval Studies September 2016 Abstract Abstract This thesis explores the place of late medieval English urban cooks in their towns and cities. It takes as its point of departure a 1519 quote from William Horman in his Vulgaria, 'That my coke can not do : the towne coke shal fulfyll,' which contains an implicit understanding of the role of cooks in an urban environment. This thesis examines the activities of cooks, both the town or common cook and the private or household cook. It explores their economic situation, and the way they were perceived both by the municipal authorities and by the other inhabitants of the municipality. It utilises civic records, wills and probate inventories, literary sources, and archaeological evidence with the goal of building context which can inform the future study of medieval urban cooks. The first chapter examines common cooks from an administrative perspective, using various regulations as a window not only onto the activities of cooks, but also asking what those regulations imply about how cooks were viewed by the municipal authorities. The second chapter considers cooks from the perspective of other urban inhabitants. It asks what perceptions were held of cooks by town or city dwellers and how the cooks viewed themselves. It interrogates the sources to determine what activities cooks were engaged in and what may be determined about their economic situation. The last chapter asks what differentiated a common cook from a household cook, and whether any differences were qualitative or quantitative. The conclusion brings the various strands together to provide a fuller context for urban cooks than any single perspective could offer. 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................2 Table of Contents ..............................................................................................................3 List of Tables.....................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................5 Author's Declaration .........................................................................................................6 Introduction.......................................................................................................................7 Major Sources Used ....................................................................................................12 Memoranda Books ......................................................................................................12 Court Rolls ..................................................................................................................19 Wills and Probate Inventories .....................................................................................19 Literary Material .........................................................................................................20 Structure ......................................................................................................................21 Chapter One, Cooks and the City....................................................................................24 The Statute of York.....................................................................................................25 Food Safety .................................................................................................................27 Sanitation.....................................................................................................................33 Trade and Market Regulations....................................................................................37 Cooks and Other Victualling Trades...........................................................................44 Clientele of Common Cooks.......................................................................................50 Guild Ordinances ........................................................................................................52 Conclusion...................................................................................................................61 Chapter Two, Cooks in the City......................................................................................66 Suspicious Cooks ........................................................................................................66 Cookshops and Caterers..............................................................................................77 The Economic Situation of Urban Cooks ...................................................................83 Conclusion...................................................................................................................97 Chapter Three, Cooks and the Household.......................................................................99 Types of Cookery......................................................................................................100 Wealth and Types of Cookery...................................................................................106 Views Toward and Perceptions of Private Cooks.....................................................112 Conclusion.................................................................................................................119 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................121 Activities ...................................................................................................................121 Economic Situation ...................................................................................................122 Administrative Concerns...........................................................................................122 Social Position and Perception..................................................................................123 Final Thoughts ..........................................................................................................124 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................126 Appendix B ...................................................................................................................132 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................139 Bibliography..................................................................................................................140 3 Tables List of Tables Table 1, p. 13 Population of Urban Areas Under Consideration Table 2, p. 84 Ratio of Wills to Franchise-holders Table 3, p. 89 Gender Distribution in Victualling Trades in York in 1304 Table 4, p. 91 Cooks found in the Nottingham Borough Court Rolls Table 5, p. 93 Types of Actions Involving Cooks from NBCR Table 6, p. 109 Value of Estates Inventoried in Houses Containing Kitchens without Spits Table 7, p. 109 Value of Estates Inventoried in Houses Containing Kitchens with Spits Table 8, p. 110 Distribution of Inventories Noting Spits 4 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisors, Jeremy Goldberg and Nicola McDonald for their guidance and patience. My scholarship has improved immeasurably under their tutelage. Gillian Galloway and Brittany Scowcroft made a mature American student feel welcome in York and in England, and showed an interest in my field of study which was most gratifying. I recall the Medieval Bake-Offs with great fondness. I must thank my parents, Jerry and Linda Berry, who encouraged me from an early age to learn to cook. None of us could have imagined that a road which started with cookies and crêpes in Colorado would lead to frumenty and mortrews in the UK. I have nothing but gratitude and admiration for those fellow enthusiasts who introduced me to medieval cookery and encouraged me in its practice. Chief among these are Marie Heuser-Fickas, Jennie Bennett, and Billye Roberts. They not only provided me with my first taste of medieval cuisine, but also with opportunities to cook medieval meals for dozens, and upon occasion hundreds, of my friends. Most importantly, my gratitude is due to my wife, Lorree True, without whom I would quite literally not be here. It was her unwavering support that allowed us to uproot ourselves from our old life in New York to build a new life in old York. Finally, to all those people over the years who have eaten my food, medieval and otherwise, and listened to me ramble on at length about six-hundred year old recipes - thank you for indulging me. 5 Declaration Author's Declaration This thesis is the result of work undertaken by the author at the University of York in the pursuit of this degree. Where references have been made to the work of other scholars, it has been cited and acknowledged appropriately in the text and in the bibliography. No part of this work has been published or presented prior to this time, nor is it under consideration for publication or presentation at this time. 6 Jeffery Berry Introduction In 1519, William Horman wrote in his Vulgaria, a Latin grammar with a selection of English sentences followed by Latin translations, 'That my coke can not
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