Our Legal Heritage, King AEthelbert, 596 to King George III, 1775Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage, King AEthelbert, 596 to King George III, 1775
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
The King's family, immediate circle, and most distinguished guests
dined elegantly in the Great Hall at midday. They would first
wash their hands in hot water poured by servants over bowls. The
table had silver plate, silver spoons, and cups of horn, crystal,
maple wood, or silver laid on a white cloth. Each guest brought
his own knife in a leather sheath attached to a belt or girdle. A
procession of servitors brought the many dishes to which the
gentlemen helped the ladies and the young their seniors by placing
the food in scooped-out half-loaves of bread that were afterwards
distributed to the poor. A wine cup was handed around the table.
In the winter after dinner, there would often be games of chess or
dice or songs of minstrels, and sometimes dancing, juggler or
acrobat displays, or storytelling by a minstrel. In the summer
there were outdoor games and tournaments. Hunting with hounds or
hawks was popular with both ladies and gentlemen. The King would
go to bed on a feather mattress with fur coverlet that was
surrounded by linen hangings. His grooms would sleep on trundle
beds in the same room. The queen likewise shared her bedchamber
with several of her ladies sleeping on trundle beds. Breakfast was
comprised of a piece of bread and a cup of wine taken after the
daily morning mass in one of the chapels. Sometimes a round and
deep tub was brought into the bedchamber by servants who poured
hot water onto the bather in the tub. Baths were often taken in
the times of Henry III, who believed in cleanliness and
sanitation. Henry III was also noted for his luxurious tastes. He
had a linen table cloth, goblets of mounted cocoa-nut, a glass cup
set in crystal, and silk and velvet mattresses, cushions, and
bolster. He had many rooms painted with gold stars, green and red
lions, and painted flowers. To his sister on her marriage, he gave
goldsmith's work, a chess table, chessmen in an ivory box, silver
pans and cooking vessels, robes of cloth of gold, embroidered
robes, robes of scarlet, blue, and green fine linen, Genoese cloth
of gold, two napkins, and thirteen towels.
In the King's 1235 grant to Oxford, the Mayor and good men were
authorized to take weekly for three years 1/2 d. on every cart
entering the town loaded with goods, if it was from the county, or
1d. if it came from outside the county; 1/4 d. for every horse
load, except for brushwood; 1/2 d. on every horse, mare, ox, or
cow brought to sell; and 1/2 d. for every five sheep, goats, or
pigs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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