History: Did you Know that Forks Were Considered to be Sacrilegious in the past? Here's why.
A cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to hold them to cut with a knife or to lift them to the mouth.
In an article about the origins of the fork, by Chad Ward, at Leite's Culinaria. It turns out the fork is a relatively new invention. Although the first forks were used in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the two-tined instruments were used only as cooking tools at the time. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that a smaller version was used for eating by wealthy families of the Middle East and Byzantine Empire.
What the fork? Forks, the widely used eating utensils, were once seen as blasphemous. They were first introduced in Italy in the 11th Century.
These spiked spaghetti-twirling instruments were seen as an offense to God. And why, do you ask? Because they were "artificial hands" and as such was considered to be sacrilegious.
For the west, it started in the eleventh century when a Byzantine princess scandalized the court by bringing forks to her new husband's Venetian household. Forks were considered a sacrilege and quite rude, after all God had given us natural forks — our fingers.
When she died shortly after her arrival the populous felt she got her due for using such insulting instruments.
Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use; St. Peter Damian seeing it as "excessive delicacy
According to Peter Damian, "the Byzantine princess Maria Argyropoulina brought some golden forks to Venice, when she married the son of the Doge in 1004. Damien condemned the fork as "vanity.""
Even as late as the sixteenth century the English were still ridiculing those who would dare to use a “fork”. At that time one used their hands or a pointed knife to pick up their food. For obvious reasons everyone usually brought their own knife to the table.
Slowly though, folks in the west began to see what their Middle Eastern neighbors had known for centuries. Forks were much more efficient and neater than a pointed knife. Eventually the pointed knife was outlawed at the table.
was too much of a weapon when heated family arguments would erupt. Even in days of old the family holidays could be exciting.
On the other hand the very formal Victorians went overboard with table settings and had a utensil for every conceivable food and dish. Their table settings were a daunting affair with sometimes as many as fifteen pieces of silver at each place. Much like the rules of etiquette have relaxed from that time period so have the number of pieces of silver at each place setting been reduced. Practicality has saved the day on both fronts!
Beautiful old flatware whether it is silver or silver-plate has a special soft gleam to it that just can’t be duplicated. The many years of polishing and rubbing leave that special patina that shows these pieces were well used and loved. Silver tableware’s beauty only increases with age and there are few antiques that weather so well with good care. Enjoy your Thanksgiving table and give a nod to that Venetian princess who first introduced us to the fork — she didn’t have such a bad idea after all.
Credit: Jean McClelland
The Herald-Dispatch.
AP News
Opera News
Wikipedia
Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: V&A Museum.
"This is Interesting!" This goes to show that for every new discovery, their are those who would resist and would always prefer the familiar.
Wow!
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