The Goodman of Paris (Le Ménagier de Paris) : a treatise on moral and domestic economy by a citizen of Paris, c.1393

Author:Eileen Power

Summary:The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris) wrote this book for the instruction of his young wife around 1393. He was a wealthy and learned man, a member of that enlightened haute bourgeoisie upon which the French monarchy was coming to lean with increasing confidence.When he wrote his treatise he was at least sixty but had recently married a wife some forty years his junior. It fell to her to make his declining years comfortable, but it was his task to make it easy for her to do so. The first part deals with her religious and moral duties: as well as giving a unique picture of the medieval view of wifely behaviour it is illustrated by a series of stories drawn from the Goodman's extensive reading and personal experience.In the second part he turns from theory to practice and from soul to body, compiling the most exhaustive treatise on household management which has come down to us from the middle ages. Gardening, hiring of servants, the purchase and preparation of food are all covered, culminating in a detailed and elaborate cookery book. Sadly the author died before he could complete the third section on hawking, games and riddles.This unique glimpse of medieval domestic life presents a worldly, dignified and compelling picture in the words of a man of sensibility and substance.

Print Book, English, 2006

Edition:View all formats and editions

Publisher: Boydell Press, Woodbridge, UK, 2006

Genre:Cookbooks

Physical Description:xiv, 238 pages ; 23 cm

ISBN:

9781843832225, 1843832224

OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:62892301

Subjects:

Conduct of life Early works to 1900

Cookbooks

Cooking, French

Cooking, French Early works to 1800

Early works

Économie domestique Ouvrages avant 1800

Falconry Early works to 1800

France Paris

Frankrike kultur- och sammhälsliv historia 1300-talet

Home economics

Home economics Early works to 1800

Hushåll ekonomiska aspekter historia Frankrike 1300-talet

Hushåll sociala förhållanden historia Frankrike 1300-talet

Manners and customs

Paris (France) Mœurs et coutumes Ouvrages avant 1800

Paris (France) Social life and customs Early works to 1800

Traditioner etik och moral historia Frankrike 1300-talet

Contents:

PREFACE

xiii

INTRODUCTION

(30)

PROLOGUE

(4)

FIRST SECTION

(92)

ARTICLE I To salute and thank God on waking and rising and to be suitably clad,

(3)

ARTICLE II To be suitably accompanied,

(1)

ARTICLE III To love God, serve Him and keep within His grace: Concerning mass,

(26)

Contrition,

(2)

Confession,

(3)

The deadly sins,

(13)

The seven virtues,

(6)

ARTICLE IV To keep continence and live chastely: Of Susanna,

(8)

Of Raymonde,

(1)

Of Lucrece,

(3)

Of the queens of France,

(2)

ARTICLE V To be loving to your husband: Of the dog Macaire,

(3)

Of the dog at Niort,

(3)

ARTICLE VI To be humble and obedient to your husband: Tale of Griselda,

(37)

The woman who let her husband drown,

(1)

Of Eve,

(1)

Of Lucifer,

(3)

Of a citizen's wife,

(1)

Of the bailly of Tournai,

(4)

Of the abbots and the husbands,

102

(1)

Of my lady d'Andresel,

103

(1)

Of the husbands at Bar-sur-Aube,

104

(2)

Of a cousin of the author's wife,

106

(1)

Of the Roman woman,

107

(6)

ARTICLE VII To be careful and thoughtful for your husband's person: Good treatment,

113

(6)

Of fleas,

115

(1)

Of flies,

115

(4)

ARTICLE VIII To be discreet: Of Papirius,

119

(5)

Of the woman who laid an egg,

120

(1)

Of the Venetian couple,

121

(1)

Of a wise Parisian betrayed by his wife,

122

(1)

Of a famous advocate,

123

(1)

ARTICLE IX To restrain your husband gently from his errors: Of Jehanne la Quentine,

124

(3)

SECOND SECTION

127

(78)

ARTICLE I To care for your household with diligence and perseverance,

127

(1)

ARTICLE II Of gardening,

128

(9)

ARTICLE III How to choose varlets, servants and chambermaids and set them to work: Young women using foul language,

137

(7)

Care of the house,

138

(1)

Life in the country,

138

(1)

Divers recipes,

139

(4)

Concerning servants,

143

(1)

ARTICLE IV How to order droners and suppers: The sales of butchers and poulterers,

144

(18)

General terms of cookery,

146

(2)

Dinners and suppers,

148

(7)

Divers matters incidental to the same (feast of the Abbot of Lagny, wedding feasts, etc.)

155

(7)

ARTICLE V Ordering, devising and causing to be made all manner of pottages, civeys, sauces and all other viands: General terms of cookery,

162

(43)

Common pottages, thin and unspiced,

164

(5)

Pottages, thin and spiced,

169

(1)

Other thick meat pottages,

170

(5)

More thick pottages without meat,

175

(1)

Roast meats,

175

(1)

Pasties,

176

(1)

Freshwater fish,

177

(2)

Sea-fish, round and flat,

179

(1)

Divers ways of preparing eggs,

180

(1)

Entremets, fried dishes and glazed dishes,

180

(5)

Other entremets,

185

(3)

Sauces, not boiled,

188

(1)

Boiled sauces,

189

(3)

Beverages for the sick,

192

(1)

Pottages for the sick,

193

(1)

Other small things that be needful,

194

(7)

Other small matters which need no chapter,

201

(4)

NOTES

205

(20)

I TO THE INTRODUCTION,

205

(3)

II TO THE PROLOGUE,

208

(1)

III TO THE FIRST SECTION,

208

(6)

IV TO THE SECOND SECTION,

214

(11)

INDEX

225

Notes:

"This edition first published 1992 The Folio Society"--Title page verso

Language Notes:Translated from the French