Spanish armies of the sixteenth century were built around a small mess
unit of three or four soldiers called a comradra. They would share
a hut when in camp and a common copper pot , while on the march it seems
that one guy would start a fire and the others would forage or ranchear.
This essential nature of military life is reflected a number of sixteenth
century Spanish chronicles. Recording the exploites of the conquistadors
it quickly becomes apparent rather than the traditional, "Gold, Glory &
the Gospel", food and oft times the lack of it was the major day to day
concern of the soldiers.
It Tastes Like Chicken
Staples
Recipies & Cooking Techniques
Food in La Florida
Food Elsewhere in the Americas
Feasting
"While going around on of the lagoons I saw a serpent which we killed
with lances, and I am bringing Your Highness the skin. When it saw us,
it went into the lagoon, and we followed it in because the water is not
very deep. This serpent is about 6 feet long. I think there are many such
serpents in these lagoons. The people here eat them and the meat is white
and tastes like chicken."
-Christopher Columbus
The Log of Christopher Columbus, Trans. by Robert H. Fuson (International Marine Publishing Co., Camden Maine, 1987) p.89.
Then following the same course toward the Antarctic Pole, coasting along the land, we discovered two islands full of geese and goslings and sea wolves. The great number of these goslings there were cannot be estimated, for we loaded all the ships with them in an hour. And these goslings are black and do not fly, and they live on fish. And were so fat that we did not pluck them but skinned them, and they have a beak like a crows.1
1 Pigafetta, Antonio. Translated and Edited by R.A. Skelton Magellan’s Voyage: A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation. (Dover Publications: New York, 1994) p.46.
On their return journey, on a lake near the Orinco, they “saw one of the great fishes as big as a wine-pipe, which they call manati .” This is the manatee, or sea cow. He says nothing of eating manatee: The Indians have superstitions against doing so. It was they Spaniards who developed a taste for it-mainly because, being amphibious, it could be eaten on Catholic fast days. Schomburgk also tucked in with gusto (“of good flavour, intermediate between pork and veal”). 1
1 Nicholl, Charles. The Creature in the Map: A Journey to El Dorado (William Morrow and Company, Inc.: New York, 1995) p.150.
Father José de Acosta could not accept without scruple the idea that the manatee was not an animal, particularly on a Friday when some manatee flesh was served to him as fish. Here is what he had to say in this connection in Chapter 15 of the third book of his Historia natural y moral de las Indias:
“In the islands which they call the Windward isles, which are Cuba, Santo Domingo [Hispanolia] Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, one finds the so-called ‘manatee,’ a strange kind of fish, if one may designate as a fish an animal which brings forth its young alive and has teats and milk with which it nourishes them, and feeds on grass in fields; but in fact it ordinarily lives in the water, and this is why they eat it as fish, although I, when I ate some one Friday in Santo Domingo, almost had scruples, not so much from the reasons just stated, as because in color and in taste the chops from this fish did not seem to be anything but slices of veal and in part ham: it is as large as a cow.”1
Incidently, I’ve been informed by Bill Burger who has had occasion to take part in necropsies of manatees, that they are, like most cetaceans, almost all rib meat!
__________________
1Medina, José Toribido.
(Translated from the Spanish by Bertram T. Lee, Edited by H. C. Heaton)
The Discovery of the Amazon (Dover Publications, Inc.: New York
1988) p. 239.
Liquid staples were often transported to the New World in the ubiquitous
olive jar, found in shipwreck sites and as shards in colonial sites. When
De Soto's flagship nearly foundered on a reef in Cuba on the first leg
of his journey, the sailors rushed"...to the [bilge] pumps [and] drew up
through them a great quantity of wine, vinegar, oil and honey, which came
from numerous earthen jars that had been shattered by the collision." 1
While in Cuba De Soto sought to resupply his troops before the push
into La Florida. "Furthermore, he [Vasco Poracallo] provided a great supply
of meat, fish, corn and cassava for the armada, not to mention other things
they needed." 2
"Before our departure[from Cuba],...Porcallo de Figueroa, a citizen
of Cuba, who was to see that the ships should sail well-provisioned, and
who gave a number of large loads of cassava bread and many hogs."3
______________________________
1Vega, Garcilasco de la. Trans. John and Jeannette Varner. The Florida of the Inca. (University of Texas Press, Austin 1988) p.31.
2 Vega. p.44.
3 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr. and Edward C. Moore ed. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alambama 1993) p.56.
A request for additional supplies from Christopher Columbus for his town of Isabella on the Island of Hispanola. c.1495.
Item: You shall say that on account of much of the wine of that which the fleet carried having run away onm this voyage, and this, s the majority say, being the fault of the bad work which the cooperrs did in Seville. the greatest need which we now have, is of wine. And though we have enough biscuit, as well as corn, for some while, yet it is necessary that some reasonable amount should also be sent, for the voyage is long and provision can not be made every day, and likewise some salt meat, I mean bacon, and other salt flesh, which should be better than that which we brought on this voyage...it is well that everything should be sdone as quickly as possible in order that they may come here in any case in the month of May, so that the people, before the begining of summer, may see and have some refreshment from these things, especially the sick. Of these things we already have great need, such as of raisins, sugar, almonds, honey and rice, of which a great quanity should have come and very little arrived, and that which did come has been expended and consumed, as well as the greater part of the medicines...1
1 Jane, Cecil. The Four Voyages of Columbus. (Dover: New York 1988) pp.84-86.
Excerpted from: Lyon, Eugene. “Niña, Ship of Discovery.” in First Encounters
From the Cargo Manifest of the Caravel Niña, on the 1498 Voyage to the Indies:1
Wheat: 34 cahizes
Wine: 31 pipes
Biscuit: 100 quintals
Olive oil: 2 cuartos de tonal (or tun)
Garbanzos: 2 cahizes
Cheeses: 665, which weighed 2377lb.
Flour: 18 large burlap sacks, which weighed 4375lb.
Salt pork: 12 pannier-baskets and one pannier-basket of garlic, which all weighs 2450 lb
Also some supplies belonging to individuals:.
Of Valdenebro-
Wine: Three pipes
Olive oil: a cuarto de tonel and 80 botijas, filled
Wine: also 3 cuartos de tonel
Vinegar: 1 cuarto de tonel
Pig’s feet: 3 pannier-baskets which weighed 625lb.
Cheese: 1,500 lb.
Garlic: 1 sack
Olive oil: 1 barrel of 400lb.
Beans and garbanzos: 6 fanegas
For Rafael Cataño
Biscuit: 1 pannier-basket and 2 small barrels, which all weighed 150lb.
For Bartolomé de Mesta
Biscuit, cheese and fatback: 100lb.
Gil Delgadillo
Cheese: 3 pannier-baskets; 346 lb.Sardines: 1 cuarto ( de tonel)
Diego Descobar
Sardines: 1 tunCheese and rasins: one-half tun
I am curious as to the nature of the cheese mentioned in the list. Does anybody out there know of a period cheese, preferably documented, that will survive a sea voyage in the tropics unrefrigerated?
In answer to my query as to period cheeses suitable for a tropical voyage. I received a reply from Richard Collins of Tucson, Arizona. Richard is the editor of Las Provincas Internas, and a member of the 2nd Independent Company of Catalonian Volunteers, a late eighteenth century Spanish Colonial living history group.
The closest cheese is Peorino Romano from Sardinia ....and a little later
Oh yes, I discovered another cheese — basically ricotta is the closest thing you’ll find — unfortunately I forgot the name of the real stuff, but its closest relative is a form of Italian cheese, like ricotta, but firmer. You might find it a deli or something, but you’ll have to describe it since I don’t have the the name.
- Richard Collins
I found a ricotta in a package full of water. I think this is the type of cheese I was looking into. It was at a Price/Costco (Sams maybe).Posted by Mike on September 05, 1997 at 16:23:54
In reply to 16th century cheese posted by Tim Burke
“...surface mold is removed”, I think I’ve found THE Cheese!I'd be surprised if they weren't very similar to modern hard Spanish cheeses which will keep very well if uncut - e.g. manchego or idiazabal.
Idiazabal This cheese originates in the Basque region of Spain. Usually is lightly smoked. Uncooked Curd, Holes, Hard, Ewe
Manchego Manchego is named for the Spanish region of La Mancha, also the home of Don Quixote.
The final cheese is usually smeared with olive oil and surface mold is removed.
Fat Content 21%, Water Content 43% , Scaled Curd, Smooth, Semi-Hard, Ewe
Madre! Tim you early man living historian, I've been playing with this cheese thing to frustrating levels and you publish two good possibilities in your newsletter. Then you don't say if you can get them locally! Sure typical explorer stuff. You'll only give us just enough info to make us not burn you and munch you. Please share...a local Cuban deli perhaps? A new age organic market? Or the little Spanish abuelita down the street? And Tim, why would any proper Castillano eat a Basque cheese?
RAC
Mr. Lyon also mentions in his article how the fatback was preserved for he voyage.
Brought from as far as Extremadura, washed with heated lye from the Trina soap works, the pieces of fatback were rubbed with red clay and bran to create a protective crust, marked with an iron, and packed in panniers to load aboard the caravels.
______________________________
1 Lyon, Eugene. “Niña, Ship of Discovery.” in First Encounters Edited by Jerald T. Milanich and Susan Milbrath (University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 1989) pp.64-65.
Then the Captain [Calderon] left the town of Hirrihigua and its fresh gardens which the Castilians as a pastime had planted with lettuce, radishes and other vegetables since they had come prepared with seed against the time they should make a settlement.1
With Hernando de Soto in Guatemala c.1525:
Here “they found some things” left behind by an obviously well-off Mexican [led by Pedro de Alvardo] army, including “red cabbage” seeds...2
1 Vega, Garcilasco de la. Trans. John and Jeannette Varner. The Florida of the Inca. (University of Texas Press, Austin 1988) p.232.
2 Duncan, David Ewing. Hernando de Soto: A Savage Quest in the Americas (Crown Publishers Inc.: New York 1995) p.451.
Columbus lumped all the Taino [the natives of Hispanolia and much of the Caribbean] roots and tubers into the general group he called ajes, but he was really confronted with several varieties of two different species. Today we know each of these by different and somewhat confusing names. Manihot esculenta is known variously in English as manioc, yuca [not to be confused with yucca the plant commonly called the Spanish bayonet], cassava (cazabe in Spanish) is the Taino word for the bread (cacabi) made from the plant; tapioca is a Tupí Brazilian name for the food of the same name made from the plant...
Manihot esculenta is represented by no less than 98 species, all indigenous to tropical America. None are known in the wild state. At one time the genus was thought to include two species, “bitter” manioc (poisonous) and “sweet” manioc (nonpoisonous). This has been proven to be invalid, for all species contain hydrogen cyanide (HCN; prussic acid) to a greater or lesser degree. The HCN content will very within plants of the same garden, even from root to root of the same plant. It is necessary, therefore, to remove the juice by grating, squeezing, and drying before eating.
The bread of the aje (cassava) was of critical importance to Columbus and his men on the return trip. On 13 of January he sent men ashore to collect ajes, and on 25 January the Admiral stated that this “was very necessary because we had nothing to eat except bread, wine, and ajes from the Indies.”1
Yuca was popular in part due to its having the shelf life of wood. For example among the items in the inventory of assets left by the Adelantado Hernando De Soto following his death, 1543.
-ten thousand bushels of yuca from last year
-one thousand bushels of old yuca of two years past
-five thousand bushels of yuca from this year2
As Captain Calderón and company prepare to depart the base camp. ...his Indians, going and coming like ants, did not cease to carry to his country everything that the Spaniards had to leave in that pueblo because they were unable to take it with them. There were large quantities of these things, because of cassava alone...they had left more than five hundred quintels (twenty five tons) alone...3
Peel the Yuca roots and cut into chunks and drop into boiling salted water, as if they were potatoes. Cook for about an hour until tender.
Mojo sauce:
1 head of garlic
1 cup of lime juice
1 ½ tsps. of salt
½ cup of olive oil
Mince the garlic and sauté in the oil, just before serving add the salt and juice and pour over the cooked and drained Yuca.
______________________________
1 Fuson, Robert H. The Log of Christopher Columbus. (International Marine Publishing Company: Camden, Maine 1987) pp. 233-235.
2 Clayton, Lawerence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore Editors. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa 1990) p.492.
3 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James
Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore Editors. The De Soto Chronicles: The
Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol.
II (The University of Alabama Press : Tuscaloosa 1990) p.229.
Corn
A little posting on the subject of corn that
I pulled off of USENET-Tim
Subject: Re: ancient corn
From: gkeyes6988@aol.com (GKeyes6988)
Date: 1997/06/06
Message-ID: <19970606203400.QAA26643@ladder02.news.aol.com>
Newsgroups: sci.archaeology.mesoamerican
[Subscribe to sci.archaeology.mesoamerican]
You see, Robert, maize evolved in America over many thousands of years. It was constantly being improved to provide better varieties. According to Johannessen's hypothesis, since maize arrived to the Old World ca. 2000 years ago, it was an "archaic variety of maize" tht made it to India then. Later, Columbus brought to the Old World an improved variety (sweet-corn). Early European herbals tell us that 2 varieties of maize were known in Europe soon after Columbus. One of them may have been known there before Columbus.
A couple of clarifications:
1. The mainstay maize of the Americas was not sweet corn. Sweet corn (This is the stuff you eat off the cob, cut into nibblets, etc.) is a very recent variety bred from a common mutation. When corn is "in the milk" it contains a good bit of sugar. Most corns convert the bulk of this to starch as the ear prepares to become seed; sweet corn doesn't; it shrivels up. Occasionally, a mutation occurs in "normal" maize such that some of the kernels are sweet. By selecting these over a few seasons, you can breed a "sweet" corn. Sweet corn is a luxury item, like candy. It doesn't have much food value. You cannot make cornmeal, posole, hominy or what have you out of sweet corn.
2. You can from flint/flour corn (if you've seen so called "Indian corn" used at thanksgiving or eaten blue cornmeal you've had contact with this. It forms a hard, rounded seed. You also can from Dent corn, which resembles Flint-Flour corn but is larger and has a deep crease in the top of the kernel (Colonists and Natives alike distinguished between these two varieties very clearly). This is what most of the corn-belt dents grown in the Midwest of the U.S, were bred from. There are also the tropical flints, of which popcorn is an example (hard, with a sort of pointed cuticle). There are a few others weird ones, including husk corn, in which each kernel is distinguished by its own little husk.
There are also abundant distinctions made within these larger categories in terms of row number, color, and size. There are literally thousands of varieties of Native American corns, some quite bizarre, and most native groups grew several of them.
It's no mystery if Europeans spoke of having two maize varieties soon after contact. They could have gotten many more than that.
The archaic varieties of which Yuri speaks have been mostly debunked (like the "waxy" varieties in southern Asia) but there remain in India a pair of botanists who do indeed claim to have a variety of corn from somewhere (I believe -- its been awhile) in Nepal. I found their journal articles and presented their arguments in a post some months ago, admitting that I personally did not have sufficient knowledge of maize genetics (or any kind of genetics) to evaluate their claims, which were pretty technical.
If anyone has my post about this or if it can be gotten from DeJa News, I have no objection to it being reposted, though I prefer that it be posted in its entirety.
The upshot of the current long-winded post is
that there are claims by botanists (Not Johanssen and those guys) of a
maize variety in India best (in their opinions) as a very ancient introduction
to the region. It is very limited in distribution, however, and its characteristics
are not found in European varieties, nor were they, to my knowledge, ever
described there.
--Greg Keyes
Long before she left, in fact back during last spring’s encampment if memory serves, Ranger Susie posed a question about eggs on expedition. I think she wanted to cook an omelet* in camp. Although bringing along hens during the march through La Florida would seem more trouble than its worth†, it seemed to me that fresh eggs aboard a ship or a port side garrison would be quite practical. Alas, I couldn’t find such a reference in the De Soto Chronicles, however I did recently‡ come across this reference, c.1518 :
“He then moved on to Trinidad, from where a caravel was sent, under Diego Ordaz, to intercept a shipload of provisions in the care of Juan Núñez Sedeño. Ordaz was successful, and four thousand arrobas of bread, fifteen hundred flitches of pork and a number of chickens passed into Cortés’ holds.”1
Does anyone know any other specific references, (manifests, narratives and the like) regarding the use of chickens and eggs aboard expedition ships during the 16th century, preferably Spanish in origin?
-Tim -<):{)}
*Which reminds me of yet another adventure in the Dominican Republic story which you will have to ask about around the campfire when children aren’t present.
†There is a scene in Herzog’s Aguirre the Wrath of God showing a chicken laden bearer however.
‡July—what can I say this newsletter exists in a time warp.
______________________________
1 Cortes, Hernan. Translated and edited by Anthony Pagden. Letters from Mexico. (Yale University Press: New Haven and London 1986) p.lii.
c. 1539 in La Florida
Up to that time, no one had been able to get servants who should make his bread; and the method being to beat out the maize in log mortars with a one-handed pestle of wood, some also sifting the flour afterward through shirts of mail, the process was found so laborious, that many, rather than crush the grain, preferred to eat it parched and sodden, The mass was baked in clay dishes, set over a fire, in the manner that I have described as done in Cuba. 1
There he [De Soto] awaited the men who were coming behind, who were experiencing great hardship from hunger and bad roads, as the land was very poor in maize, low, and very wet, swampy, and covered with dense forests, and provisions brought from the port were finished. Wherever any village was found, there were some blites [bredos], and he who came first gathered them and, having stewed them with water and salt, ate them without anything else. Those who could not get any of them, gathered the stalks from the maize fields which still being young still had no maize, and ate them...they found palm cabbages in low palm trees.2
c.1541 in the Amazon
Let us return now, to Gonzalo Pizarro and his men, who had remained behind waiting for the provisions whcih Captain Orellana was to bring them: as he did not come back with these, and [as] the hunger was so great, it became absolutely necessary fro them to eat up their horses little by little, and eventually there were soldiers in such a condition that they gradually accepted the espedient of bleeding the horses once a week and cooking their blood with herbs in the morions which they wore, and of cooking it in this way along with the herbs and all; and this they did in order that their food supply might not give out so soon;...3
On Wednesday the twenty-eighth day of November, one thousand five hundred and twenty, we issued forth from the said straight and entered the Pacific Sea, where we remained three months and twenty days without taking on board provisions or any other refreshments, and we ate only old biscuit turned to powder, all full of worms and stinking of the urine which the rats had made on it, having eaten the good. And we drank water impure and yellow. We also ate ox hides which were very hard because of the sun, rain and wind. And we left them four or five days in the sea, then laid them for a short time on embers, and so we eat them. And of the rats, which were sold for half an écu apiece, some of us could not get enough.4
_____________________________
1 Elvas p157.
2 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr. and Edward C. Moore ed. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alambama 1993) p.65.
3. Medina, José Toribido. (Translated from the Spanish by Bertram T. Lee, Edited by H. C. Heaton) The Discovery of the Amazon (Dover Publications, Inc.: New York 1988) p.320.
4 Pigafetta, Antonio. Translated and Edited by R.A. Skelton Magellan’s Voyage: A Narrative Account of the First Circumnavigation. (Dover Publications: New York, 1994) p.57.
In one of those amazing coincidences of life, the day before the Menendez Landing event, I came across the column below. As it happens, I had made a fresh batch of ship’s biscuits for the, “This is why the Spanish killed Indians and took their food,” demonstration. So after returning from St. Augustine, I dashed off a quick letter and some leftover biscuits to the Food Editor. Much to my surprise the next week
I found my answer to her query had become much of her column.
The orginal letter is as follows:
Linda Brandt
Food Editor Sarasota-Herald Tribune
P.O.Drawer 1719
Sarasota, FL 34234
I have been a living-history volunteer at De Soto National Memorial, doing sixteenth century re-enactment for the past few years and noticed your request for a simple ship’s biscuit recipe in the Thursday, September 5, 1996 issue of the Sarasota Herald Tribune. I believe the recipe published in your column is far to complicated for a product expected to have the shelf-life of gravel. I’ve used the following the traditional recipe, which I learned from an English Civil War cookbook. You may notice a strong resemblance to the formula for kindergarten paste. This recipe makes about ten biscuits. This quantity, unless you are outfitting an expedition, should be more than enough satisfy anyone.
2 Cups of Flour (Whole Wheat is more period, but ordinary white flour will do.)
1 Cup of Water
1 Teaspoon of Salt
Mix together thoroughly, as if kneading bread, roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into 2-3 inch rounds (I prefer round as they can then be more easily substituted for cannon ammunition) or squares. On a cookie sheet or baking stone bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour, until golden brown and rock hard. Turn the oven off and allow to cool inside, a process similar to case hardening in blacksmithing. Put them up on the shelf away from moisture, bugs and worms, and they will ruin dental work into the next century.
It may be worth recounting that the first contact between Spanish explorers and the Aztec empire involved ship’s biscuit. “The strangers [Spaniards] gave the Mexicans some less impressive objects, including some ship’s biscuits, some bread (presumably made from cassava) and necklaces of green and yellow beads.
...The Mexicans drank some wine. Like most Indians when they drank it they liked it.
...The Emperor then examined the presents. He liked the beads. He ate one of the biscuits. He said that it tasted of tufa rock. He weighed a piece of rock and another of the biscuits against each other, and naturally found that the rock weighed less. Montezuma’s dwarfs ate some of the bread given by the visitors. They found it sweet. The remains of the biscuits and the rest of the bread were taken solemnly to the temple of Quetzalcoatal in Tula.”
Speaking of Cassava Bread, historically popular because it was said not to be susceptible to going moldy on sea voyages. I am looking for a recipe, if you know of any I would greatly appreciate it. Enclosed are a few ship’s biscuits, from a fresh batch even, to sample or use as paper weights.
Bon Appitete!
Timothy T. Burke
Well, not so much the food but the cookware of the conquistadors ; Copper vs. Iron Ware.
A previous article mentioned the use of an “iron kettle” by a camradra of soldiers on the march. After some discussions and research over the past few months I have begun to question this assumption. At the Spanish Treasures exhibit at the Collier County Museum in a conversation with Sheila Benjamin and archaeologist Jenette Flow this subject came up. She could not recollect any iron cookware as having been recovered from 16th or early 17th century wreck sites, only that of copper. I certainly would rather carry a lightweight hammered copper pot on my back rather than iron Dutch oven for a 4000 mile march.
I can’t find any direct mention of cookware used on the De Soto expedition other than that of clay pots looted from native villages. However, “the Inventory of Assets left by the Adelantado Hernando de Soto Following His Death, 1543,” does give an indication as to what was in use in the 1540’s.
The things that Doña Isabel de Bobadilla declared that she has in her chamber at home.1
-there were the following copper things:
-three copper pitchers
-two stills
-one copper bread oven
-one large copper pot for a ship
-one new copper pot
-one larger pan with its iron handle
-another copper pan for making wax
-two skillets
-a casserole dish with a new top
-two other pot tops
I don’t find any other mention of cookware in the inventory other than “two caldrons and one old pan,” though no mention is made of the material they're made of.
Interestingly enough the origin of the name “Calderon” is from the name for copper pots for cooking.
There is an English example of copper pots that I recently came across; this from the first voyage to Roanoke, c.1584. “We exchanged our tinne dish for twentie skins, worth twenty Crowns, or twentie Nobles: and a copper kettle for fiftie skins worth fiftie Crowns.”2
Do you know of other examples of copperware used in the 16th century? Counter-examples? Please feel free to send in further information.
______________________________
1 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight Jr. and Edward C. More De Soto Chronicles Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 1993)pp.489-498.
2 Quinn, David Beers. ed. The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590. Vol. I. (Dover, New York: 1991). p.101.
Another edition of “Cookware of the Conquistadors.” This information is excerpted
from the Emanuel Point Ship Website. The ship is thought to be part of the expedition of
Tristán de Luna who led an attempt by Europeans to colonize Florida in 1559. Only a
month after his fleet arrived in Pensacola, a hurricane destroyed most of the ships at
anchor in the bay.
where two Indians brought him [De Soto] a stag...In the town he found an abundance of maize, beans and pumpkins, of which their food consists, and on which the Christians lived on there. Maize is like coarse millet and the pumpkins are better and more savory than those of Spain.1
______________________________
1Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr. and Edward C. Moore ed. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press: Tuscaloosa, Alambama 1993)p.69-70.
The cacique sent him two thousand Indians bearing gifts, namely, many
rabbits, partridges, maize bread, two hens [turkeys] and many dogs, which
are esteemed among the Christians as if they were fat sheep because there
was a great lack of meat and salt. Of this there was so much need and lack
in many places and on many occasions that if a man feel sick, there was
nothing with which to make him well; and he would waste away of an illness
which could have been easily cured in any other place, until nothing but
his bones were left and he would die from pure weakness, some saying; "If
I had a bit of meat or some lumps of salt, I should not die." The Indians
do not lack meat; for they kill many deer, hens, rabbits, and other game
with their arrows. In this they have great skill, which the Christians
do not have; and even if they had it, they had no time for it, for most
of the time they were on the march, and they did not dare turn aside from
the paths. And because they lacked meat so badly, when six hundred men
with De Soto arrived at any town and found twenty or thirty dogs, he who
could get one and who killed it thought he was not a little agile.
And if he who killed one did not send his captain a quarter, the latter,
if he learned of it, upbraided him and gave him to understand it in the
watches or in any other matter of worth that arose with the which he could
annoy him.1
The Indians there made him service of three hundred dogs, for they observed
that the Christians liked them and sought them to eat; but are not eaten
among the them [the Indians] ...Twenty Indians came out to meet him each
carrying his basket of mulberries which grow in abundance,...as well as
walnuts and plums.2
I remember that one day seven horsemen left the camp to ranchear (that is, to look for food) and to kill some little dog, for in that land all of us were accustomed to eating these animals and held the day fortunate when a portion of one fell to our lot.3
____________________
1 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight Jr. and Edward C. More. The De Soto Chronicles Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa 1993) p.77.
2 Clayton, p.87.
3 Vega, Garcilasco de la. Trans. John and Jeannette Varner. The Florida of the Inca. (University of Texas Press, Austin 1988) p.259
From the Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition in Florida: c.1528
On landing in Florida:
...Alonso Enríiquez ventured to an island in the bay and called
to the Indians, who...[traded] fish and venison for trinkets.1
Four leagues inland:
We showed them [Native Americans] some corn to see whether they knew
what it was...they showed us some corn not yet fit to harvest.2
...We proceeded another ten or twelve leagues...where we saw a large
cornfield ready to harvest, some of the ears already to dry.3
Leaving the Port of La Cruz for the interior:
...The Governor ordered two pounds of biscuit and half a pound of bacon
rationed each man who was going with him.4
We traveled [northward] for fifteen days on our rations without finding
anything edible but palmettos... 5
One of the mounted men...drowned with [his] horse...This death hit us
hard, for until now not a man had been lost. The horse meanwhile, furnished
a supper for many that night.6
Near Tallahassee, Florida:
Once in a while we did find corn, but usually had to travel seven or
eight leagues without any. Also, many men developed raw wounds from the
weight of their armor and other things they had to carry.7
We found a large stand of corn ready to pick, and a lot more dried and
stored...8
We asked about the country to the south...where the people...had plenty of corn, beans and melons[?]--also fish, being near the sea.9
Melons?, This is the fist time I’ve come across that as a native
food in Florida. I suspect that it is a translator’s error, quite possibly
occurring in 1528, and instead refers to squash.
We found the village deserted and all the houses burned. But corn, squash,
and beans--all beginning to ripen--were plentiful.10
At the confluence of the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers, where the expedition built boats:
For food while the work proceeded, we decided to make four forays into Aute with every man and horse able to go, and kill our of our horses every third day to divide among thee workers and the sick. Our forays went off as planned. In spite of armed resistance, they netted as much as 400 fangas [about of 100 bushels] of corn.
Twice in this time, when our men went to coves for shellfish, Indians ambushed them...11
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1 Covey, Cyclone Trans.&Annot. Cabeza de Vaca’s Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America (University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque: 1993) p.31.
2 Covey. p.32.
3 Covey. p.33.
4 Covey. p.35.
5 Covey. p.36.
6 Covey. p.37.
7 Covey. p.38.
8 Covey. p.39.
9 Covey. p.41.
10 Covey. p.43.
11 Covey. p.46.
12 Covey. p.74.
Having found the passes he desired for crossing the swamp, the governor
[Hernando De Soto] thought it well to give information of them immediately
to Luis de Moscoso, his maese de campo, so that he might march after him
with the army, and also in order that as soon as he should receive the
news he might send him a supply of biscuit and cheese, because the people
whom he had with him were in need of food, as they had brought few provisions,
not having intended on going so far.1
....Learning of the general’s order, prepared the thirty horsemen to return immediately with Gonzalo Silvestre, who scarcely took time to breakfast on two mouthfuls of half-matured maize cooked on the ear and a little cheese they gave him, as there was nothing else, for the whole camp was suffering from hunger. They took two pack mules laden with biscuits and cheese, a scanty enough provision for so many people ...2
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1 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore Editors. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. II (The University of Alabama Press : Tuscaloosa 1990) p.134.
2Clayton. p.140.
My thanks to Bill “Chief Bear Butte” Burger
for digging out this article from which I’ve excerpted some highlights.
In his own words, “Dated in places, but still interesting.”
Selections from “Food Plants of the DeSoto Expedition, 1539-1543” by
Adin Baber, published in the Tequseta Vol. 1, No.1, August 1942. pp.34-40.
...no growing gardens were found to plunder, and the members of the
expedition ran out of all supplies, including the emergency rations, “biscuits
and cheese.” In this extremity they ate “roots roasted and others boiled
with salt.” Now these could have been the Arrow head, Saggitaria variables,
or the Swamp Potatoes, Saggitoria lorata, such as Cabeza de Baca, of the
ill-fated Narvaez expedition had to dig while a prisoner of the Indians;
or it may have been the roots of the American Lotus, Nelumbo lutea.
July 26, 1539, As soon as the Withlacoochee River itself was crossed,
they came upon the Cabbage Palms, Sabal palmetto, the hearts of which were
eaten.
...For the first time on the trip, they had Beans, of which the Indians grew about all the present known varieties.
These may have been of the dolichos, Dolichos lablab, for this variety
later was seen in that section by the botanist, Romans. And they may have
been of the Hyacinth of which there were two species indigenous to Florida.
For seasoning these beans were cooked with “little dogs” and wild pepper,
and this was no doubt the first hot dogs served to white men in America,
July 29, 1539.
...our Spaniards being well-fed and feeling good, went northward...
Corn was boiled, roasted, and pounded into flour; or it was crushed and sifted through cane baskets, the coarse part boiled with pumpkin, or beans, or bean leaves, then thickened with the fine corn flour, and the whole mass seasoned with soda lye ashes, to make the famous Sagamite.
No doubt this was awashed down with copious Callabash gourdfulls, Curcurbita
lagenaria, of a good American tea Dahoon, Ilex cassine, but I am sure that
these hardy souls could scarcely stomach the drink made from “Fruit like
a bean,” the infamous black drink Yaupon, Ilex vomitoria.
In doing a De Soto expedition impression in Florida and that of Calderon’s Company in particular we have documented access to a wide variety of foodstuffs. Although the expedition would live off the land, or more particularly off Indian stockpiles, as much as possible, the conquistadors brought with them a large quantity of European and adopted Caribbean style staples. Such food as cassava (yucca), honey, salted meat, olive oil, cheese and of course wine are mentioned in the expedition narratives as been carried aboard the ships in their initial foray into La Florida. They were also partially resupplied with provisions while making the first winter encampment in Tallahassee. At the garrison left behind in the fortified village of Ucita, under the command of Captain Calderon, the soldiers were able to supplement their rations by growing a vegetable garden and fishing. Of course by the time Soto’s army had crossed the Mississippi river two years into the expedition there would have been none of that food left (well except maybe for the piece of ship’s biscuit at the bottom of your bullet bag that you were saving for later). So with my upcoming trip to the Parkin site in Arkansas this month I thought that it would be interesting to see what the chronicles have to say about what kinds of food Soto’s conquistadors were eating just west of the Mississippi.
Arkansas - June 1541 to March 1542
Aquixo: ...he [the cacique] ordered three canoes to come up in which he bought a quantity of fish and loaves made of the pulp of plums [persimmons?] in the shape of bricks.1
Anybody got a recipe for persimmon brick?
Casqui: In the open field were many walnut trees with soft nuts shaped like acorns; [pecans?] and in the houses were found many which the Indians had stored away. The walnut trees did not differ in any other way from those of Spain, or from those seen before except only a smaller leaf. There were many mulberry trees and plum trees like those of Spain, and others gray, differing but much better...2
Pacaha: In the town was an abundance of old maize and new maize in the maize fields in great quantity....As many fish as they wished were caught with nets which were found in the town; and however many of them were drawn out, there was no lack of them found. In many of the swamps thereabout, there were also many fish, but they were soft and not so good as those that came from the river, and most of them were different from those of the fresh water of Spain. There was a fish called “bagre,” a third of which was head; and it had large spines like a sharp shoemaker’s awl at either side of its throat and along the sides those of them which were in the water were as large as a “pico.” In the river there were some of one hundred fifty pounds. Many of them were caught with the hook. Another fish resembled the “barbel” [barbo]; and other were like the “chupa,” with a head like that of the “besugo” and between russet and brown. This was the one that was most relished. There was another fish called the “pexe palla.” its snout was a cubit in length and the tip of the upper lip was shaped like a shovel. There was another fish which the Indians brought sometimes, of the size of a hog, called “pexe pereo.” It had rows of teeth below and above. The cacique of Casqui frequently sent gifts of fish in abundance, and blankets and skins.3
Cayas: It was a fertile land so abundant in maize that the old was thrown out to store the new. There was also a great quantity of beans and pumpkins, the beans being larger and better than those of Spain; the pumpkins likewise. When roasted the latter have almost the taste of chestnuts.4
They drank from a very warm and brackish marsh of water...Thitherto the Christians had lacked salt, but there they made a good quantity of it in order to carry it along with them.5
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1 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight Jr. and Edward C. More De Soto Chronicles Vol. I (The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa: 1993. p.112.
2 Clayton. Vol. I. p.114.
3 Clayton. Vol. I. pp.117-118.
4 Clayton. Vol. I. p.123.
5 Clayton. Vol. I. p.124.
In 1566 the Adelantado Pedro Menéndez established a mission and
fort in the Bay of Carlos “on a islet that is in the middle of [the bay],
with thirty-six houses encircled with brushwood faggots and lumber.” This
settlement lasted until 1571 when an Indian rebellion forced the abandonment
of the mission and fort.
From a listing of provisions set to the Forts at Carlos, Tequesta, and
Tocobaga, 1566-1571 AGI, Seville, Contaduria 1, 174
At the end of April of the year fifteen hundred and sixty-seven Vicente, Master of the Advice-boat named Santa Cruz, delivered in the said fort of Carlos to Blas Alvarez, keeper of provisions of the said fort, eleven barrels of wine and one hundred and fifty bottles, peruleras [earthenware jugs], of wine and two hundred fanegas of maize and one hundred quinteales of biscuit and twenty-five arrobas of oil and one barrel of vinegar as is evident from the letter of receipt of the said keeper of provisions. ...[Feb. 1567]...one hundred bottles of wine and three hundred fanegas of maize and fifty arrobas of oil and seventy-five quintleas of biscuit....[Aug. 1567]...two hundred coligintas [ropes of onions or garlic?], three hundred arrobas of meat and six barrel of wine and one barrel of vinegar and twenty-five arrobas of oil...[Jan. 1568]...two hundred fanegas of maize and six barrels of wine and three hundred arrobas of meat and ten barrels of flour and one hundred quintals of biscuit and barrel of vinegar....[June 1568]...two hundred boxes of manioc cake and one hundred quintals of biscuit and three hundred arrobas of meat and ten barrels of wine and twenty arrobas of oil...[Nov. 1568]...two hundred fanegas of maize and one hundred hens, thirty goats, two arrobas of wax and six bottles of honey...[Sept. 1569]...one hundred and fort-five quintales of biscuit and three barrels of flour and two hundred arrobas of meat and eight barrels of wine and thirty arrobas of oil and one hundred colginatas, two barrels of vinegar...[Apr. 1570]...fifty fanegas of maize, three hundred arrobas of meat and six barrels of wine, fifty perurnleras bie__of wine...[June 1570]...fifty loads (cargas) of manioc-cake and fifty fanegas of maize... 1
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1 Hann, John H., ed. Missions to the Calusa (University of Florida Press, Gainesville 1991) pp.303-309.
In the year 1545 d’Escalante Fontaneda was shipwrecked at the age of 13 in South Florida . He remained a captive of the Calsua Indians for 17 years until his release when he was rescued, probably by the either the French or the English. He later returned to Florida serving as Pedro Menéndez de Avilés’ interpreter in 1565. In 1575 Fontaneda wrote a memoir of his life in Florida. Among its passages are descriptions of the food the Indians were eating. This is of course the same food stuffs that of any conquistador comrada out ‘ranchearing’ would be likely to procure.
...which is according to what I saw while I was among these Indians. Some eat sea wolves [lobos merinos-the manatee?]; not all of them, but the principle persons eat them. There is another fish which we here call langosta (lobster), and one like unto a chapin (trunk fish), of which they consume not less than of the former.Smith, Buckingham. trans. Memoir of D° d’Escalante Fontaneda Respecting Florida: Written in Spain, about the year 1575 (Glade House: Coral Gables, Florida 1945) pp. 26-28....for turtle are there, and many come at night to lay their eggs in the sand. The animal is the size of a shield, and has as much flesh as a cow; it is like all kinds of meat, and yet it is fish.
They have a bread of roots [Zamia integrifolia], which is their common food the greater part of the time; and because of the lake, which rises in some seasons so high that the roots cannot be reached in consequence of the water, they are for some time without eating this bread.
There is another root, like the truffle of here, which is sweet [Apios tuberosa - mud potato]; and there are other different roots of many kinds; but when their is hunting, either deer or birds, they prefer to eat meat or fowl. I will also mention, that in the rivers of fresh water are infinite quantities of eels, very savory, and enormous trout. The eels are the size of a man, thick as the thigh, and some of them are smaller. The Indians also eat lagartos (alligators), and snakes and animals like rats, which live in the lake, fresh water tortoises, and many more disgusting reptiles, which, if we were ever to continue enumerating, we should never be through.
The natives are poor at the place to which...[the] Spaniards went, although some seed pearls are found there in certain conchs. The cat fish, oysters (roasted or raw), deer, roebuck, and other animals. While they kill these the women bring wood to cook or broil on grates.
...Indians of the town of Abalachi...Their food is maize and fish; and there is a great deal of both. The kill a great many deer, antelopes, and other animals that they eat; but their usual food is fish. They make bread from a certain root, such as I have described before as growing in swamps; and they have fruit of many different kinds, which to mention would be endless.
Those who came overland-numbered one hundred and fifty horse-divided into two divisions in order not to burden the islanders, ...The food they took consisted of cassava bread, which I have mentioned above. It is of such quality that if water touches it, it immediately crumbles. On that account, it happened that some ate meat for many days without bread. they took dogs and a native of the country hunted as they marched, or killed what hogs they needed at the place where they had to stop to sleep. They were well supplied with beef and pork on that journey.1
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1 Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore Editors. The De Soto Chronicles: The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America in 1539-1543. Vol. II (The University of Alabama Press : Tuscaloosa 1990) p.55.
The account of the Gentleman from Elvas gives a description of the food
available in Cuba that is worth recounting nearly in full.
They have large farms on which are many trees differing from those of Spain--fig trees which produce figs as big as the fist, yellow inside and of little savor; and other trees which produce a fruit called 'anona,' of the shape and size of a small pineapple. It is a tasty fruit, and when the rind is removed, the pulp resembles a piece of curd. On the farms of that country are other large pineapples which grow on trees that resemble the aloe. They are of excellent odor and of taste. Other trees yield a good fruit called 'mamei,'[apricot] of the size of a peach, which the islanders consider the best of all fruits of the land There is another fruit called guava, resembling the hazel nut in form, the size of a fig. There are other trees as tall as a good lance, with a single stalk having no branches, with leaves broad as a javelin, the fruit of the size and form of a cucumber (on one bunch twenty or thirty); and also as the the fruit goes on riping, the tree goes on bending with it . They are called plantains in the land and of agreeable taste.* They ripen after being gathered, although those that ripen on the tree itself are better...There is another fruit on which many people live, especially the slaves, which they call 'batata' [aje]...They grow underground and resemble the yam. The almost have the taste of chestnuts. The bread of that land is is also made from roots which resemble potatoes [manioc]. The bread made from these roots resembles the pith of alder.1 ... Should any person, thinking it to be a potato, eat any of it, he runs great risk of death, as was found by experience in the case of a soldier who, as soon as he ate a very little of a root, died immediately. They pare those roots and grate them and crush them in a press.
The juice that comes out has a bad smell.++ The bread has but little taste and less nourishment. Of the fruits of Spain, it [Cuba] has figs and oranges...There are many wildcattle and hogs whereby the people of the land are well supplied with meat...It sometimes happens that some Christian gets lost and wanders about lost...[keeping] alive on fruits and palmetto cabbage..."2
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* Although after three months of having to eat them nearly every day while working in the Dominican Republic this is an opinion to which I must whole heartedly disagree!
1 What is “pith of alder? Anybody?
++ Prussic acid, see Appendix F "Roots and Tubers" of The Log of Chritopher Columbus pp.233-235 for a detailed discussion of these plants.
2Clayton, Lawrence A., Vernon James Knight, Jr., and Edward C. Moore Editors. The De Soto Chronicles:
The Expedition of Hernando De Soto to North America
in 1539-1543. Vol. I (The University of Alabama
Press : Tuscaloosa 1990) pp.52-53.
Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, 55, sails from Panama November
1 in two caravels with 112 men and a few natives to explore “Piru”. He
writes in his journal, “It is very flat country, they live by irrigation,
it does not rain here. They raise many llamas, they raise ducks and rabbits.
The meat which they eat they do not roast or cook, and the fish they make
into pieces and dry in the sun, and the same thing with the meat. They
do not eat bread as we do, the maize they eat toasted and cooked, and that
is their bread. They make wine in great quantity from this maize.”1
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1 Trager, James. The Food Chronology: A Food Lover’s
Compendium of Events and Anecdotes, from Prehistory to the Present (Henry
Holt and Company, Inc.,: New York 1995)
The Governor sent us some refreshing, as bread, wine, oil, apples, grapes, marmalade, and such like.1
Island of St. Iago:
Thus we continued in the city the space of fourteen days, taking such spoils as the place yielded, which were for the most part, wine, oil, meal, and some other such like things for victuals, as vinegar, olives & some other trash, as merchandise for their Indian trades.2
...which valley is wholly converted into gardens and orchards well replenished with divers sorts of fruits, herbs & trees, as lemmons, oranges, sugar canes, cochars or cochos nuts, plantens, potato roots, cocombers small and round onions, garlicke, and some other things not now remembered, amongst which the cochos nuts and plantens are very pleasant fruits, the said cochos having a hard shell and a green husk over it, as hath our walnut, but it far exceedeth in greatness for this cochos in this green husk is bigger than any mans two fists, of the hard shell many drinking cups are made here in England, and set in silver as I have often seen.
Next within this hard shell is a white rind resembling in shew very
much as any thing may do, to the the white of an egg when it is hard boiled.
And within this white of the nut lieth a water, which is whitish and very
clear, to the quantity of half a pint or thereabouts, which water and white
rind before spoken of, are both of a very cool fresh taste, and as pleasing
as anything may be. I have heard some hold opinion that it is very restorative.
The Planten groweth in cods, somewhat like to beans, but it is bigger and longer, and much more thick together on the stalk, and when it waxeth ripe, the meat which filleth the rind of the cod becommeth yellow and is exceedingly sweet and pleasant.3
On the Island of Dominica...being inhabited ...with savage people...helping
our folks to fill and carry on their shoulders fresh water from the river
to our ships boats and fetching from their houses, great store of Tobacco,
as also a kind of bread, which they fed on, Called Cassado, very white
and savory, made of the roots of Cassania. In recompense whereof, we bestowed
liberall rewards of glass, coloured beads and other things, which we had
found at St. Iago, wherewith (as it seemed) they rested very satisfied,
and showing some soroful contenance when they perceived that we would depart.4
In his later years Drake patronized the work of Hugh Plat, who produced for him a pasta ‘in the form of hollow pipes’ that was supposed to retain its freshness for years.5
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1.Bigges, Walter. Sir Francis Drakes West Indian Voyage. ( Da Capo Press: New York 1969) p.7.
2 Bigges p.13.
3 Bigges. pp.14-15.
4 Bigges. p.20.
5 Sugden p.155.
In the meantime lacking other victuals, we were eating leather from the seats and bows of saddles, and also the leather from some [on the outside] of the chests or hampers whose covering was made of it, in which we were transporting the little clothing and bedding that we had, and a few tapir skins, not to mention the soles and even whole shoes that could be found among the members of the party; and though there was no sauce other than the hunger itself, this latter created in them [i.e. the men] a taste [for these things] and such an appetite [for them] that up to the point where we could stand it no longer these dishes of a sort so new were tolerated in order that this wretched flesh of ours might be sustained. A few companions ate herbs with which we were not familiar, and these were the worst off of all; and they reached the point where it was thought that they would not escape with their lives, and [yet] God saw fit to allow them [i.e. their lives] to be saved by means of a little oil that was found among the medicines that happened to be on board, and which belonged to the surgeon of the expedition.1
1Medina, José Toribido. (Translated from the Spanish
by Bertram T. Lee, Edited by H. C. Heaton) The Discovery of the Amazon
(Dover Publications, Inc.: New York 1988) p.408.
“Here’s Tirant lo Blanc! Give it here, friend, for I promise
you I’ve found a wealth of pleasure and a gold mine of enjoyment in it...I
swear to you that it is the best book of its kind in the world. The knights
in it eat, sleep, die in their beds, dictate wills before they go into
battle and many other things you can not find in other works of this sort.
For all that and because he avoided deliberate nonsense, the author deserved
to have it kept in print all his life. Take it home and read it, and you’ll
see everything I’ve said is true.
- Cervantes in Don Quixote
Tirant
Lo Blanc was first published in 1490 in the Catalan dialect of Spanish,
Castilian in 1511, Italian in 1538. Yet is far less well known then other
knightly romances of the middle ages. In spite of its relative obscurity
it is typical of the kind of stories that the conquistadors would have
been imbued with from youth as to how to behave. If you have any aspirations
to portraying a hilgado I highly recommend this book. During dinner of
the Feast of La Cruz the subject of proper table manners and such came
up, so I have included this brief excerpt from Tirant. It would take many
pages to describe the the entire plot of Tirant; suffice to say that Tirant
and his companion Philip are traveling about the Mediterranean world doing
knightly deeds. Philip is a bit of a lout, lacking in the social graces
expected of a young knight, and so allows the author to spend the novel
demonstrating the behavior of proper gentlemen.
HOW TIRANT REPAIRED A GRAVE ERROR PHILIP HAD COMMITTED AT THE KING OF
SICILY’S FEAST
When Mass had ended, they returned to the palace, and to honor Philip, the king seated him at the head of the table facing Ricomana. Tirant wished to remain standing so he could be near his friend, but the king said: “ Tirant, the Duke of Messina will not sit down until you do.”
“My lord, ” replied Tirant, kindly bid him be seated, for at such a feast it is only right that I should serve a prince.”
The princess grew impatient and said angrily: “Tirant, why must you always climb onto Philip’s lap? We have many knights who can attend him, and your services are not required.”
When Tirant saw how vexed the princess was and realized he had to abandon Philip, he whispered in his ear: “When the king picks up the finger bowl and you see the princess kneel and take it from him, imitate her and try not to behave like a dolt.”
Philip said he would do so, and when everyone was seated, they brought the fingerbowl to the king, whereupon the princess knelt and took it while Philip tried to do the same, but His Majesty refused to let him. Then Ricomana offered the bowl to the queen, and when it was her own turn, she took Philip’s hand so they could wash together, but although the prince showed his courtesy by trying to kneel and hold the bowl for her she refused to wash until they both did it together. Then the bread was brought in and placed upon the table, but no one touched it because they were waiting for the other dishes. When Philip saw the bread in front of him, he quickly picked up a knife and cut an entire loaf into twelve big slices. Beholding this pantomime, Ricomana and every one else roared with laughter, and naturally Tirant noticed, since he had his eyes fixed upon his friend. Our knight quickly rose, thinking: “ My God! Philip must have done something loutish and dishonorable.”
Tirant approached the king’s table and, guessing the cause of their mirth, he picked up the slices, placed a gold ducat upon each one, and donated them to the poor. When the king and Ricomana saw what he had done, they stopped laughing and asked what it meant.
“Sire,” replied Tirant, once I have finished I shall tell you.”
Tirant distributed all the slices, each with its ducat, and upon reaching the last one, he brought it near his mouth, said a Hail Mary to it, and then gave it away.
The queen said: “I would love hear what this pantomime means.”
Tirant turned to the king and replied: “You are surprised and amused at what Philip has begun and I have finished, and the meaning, since Your Majesty wishes to know, is that the most Christian Kings of France, in thanks for the many blessings God has bestowed upon them, ordained that until the day they are knighted, all their sons must take the first loaf of bread at lunch and cut it in twelve slices. Then they must place a silver real on each slice, giving it away as charity in honor of the twelve apostles. After they have been knighted, they must place a gold piece on each slice, and to this day everyone in the French royal house follows this practice. For that reason, my lord, Philip cut the bread into twelve slices, that each apostle might have his just share.”
“May God preserve me!” cried the king. “What a splendid act of charity! I am a crowned king myself, yet I do not give away that much charity in a month.”
As the food had now arrived, the princess asked Tirant to leave them, while Philip, realizing his error and how discreetly our knight had repaired it, watched the princess and ate only as much as she did.1
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1 Martorell, Joanot and Marti Joan de Galba. Translated
by David H. Rosenthal.Tirant Lo Blanc. (Schocken Books, New York
1984) pp.146-148.
“Cassava (Yuca) is to the conquistador
of the sixteenth century as Spam was to the soldier of World War II”
-Sheila Benjamin