(no subject)
Aloma and i went to an exhibition on medieval table manners while we were in France. Don't think that we wanted to; it was in between us and a place we wanted to go. (You had to walk through it to get into a Chateau :( )
Anyway, while we were in there, i was looking at the cutlery section. Knives have been around forever, ever since swords were used for carving meat. But forks? Forks were invented in italy in the 12th/13th centuries.
What I was impressed to learn though, was... use a fork? You're going to hell.
They were banned as heresy by the Catholic church when they first came in - a sign of gluttony apparently. Where eating with your hands was perfectly acceptable...
I just found that fantastic. I'm well aware of the MO - the church immediately bans any advance in civilization, everyone uses it anyway, then the church catches up 3-600 years later and admits it's ok.
I'm just proud that they really started with the fundamentals.
Anyway, while we were in there, i was looking at the cutlery section. Knives have been around forever, ever since swords were used for carving meat. But forks? Forks were invented in italy in the 12th/13th centuries.
What I was impressed to learn though, was... use a fork? You're going to hell.
They were banned as heresy by the Catholic church when they first came in - a sign of gluttony apparently. Where eating with your hands was perfectly acceptable...
I just found that fantastic. I'm well aware of the MO - the church immediately bans any advance in civilization, everyone uses it anyway, then the church catches up 3-600 years later and admits it's ok.
I'm just proud that they really started with the fundamentals.