Best Of 2024: Richard II’s Blowout Banquet

Today In History with The Retrospectors

Olly’s favourite episode of 2024 unfolds on September 23rd, 1387: the day of the most extravagant feast of the Middle Ages, featuring dishes like broth, venison, roasted swan, and boar-heads… and 12,000 eggs.

It took place at the London home of the Bishop of Durham, and was given in honour of King Richard II. Just 20 years old, Richard had already developed a reputation for extravagant tastes, employing 2,000 cooks to feed his court. But, despite the abundant and luxurious menu, the atmosphere at the feast was likely solemn, given the churchy setting and the era's rigid rules of etiquette.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the cooks roasted birds in increasingly extravagant styles, yet served spices NEAT; discover how to make a "subtlety"; and dip into the rulebook for the carvers trained in the fine art of slicing and presenting food fit for a King…

Further Reading:

• ‘King Richard's Feast Of 1387’ (OAKDEN): https://oakden.co.uk/king-richard-second-feast-1387/

• ’Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery’ (1990): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Oxford_Symposium_on_Food_Cookery_1990/XseXnb98h90C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=23rd+September+1387&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover

• ‘How To Prepare A Traditional Medieval Feast | Let's Cook History’ (Chronicle, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkqQ5iGATrk

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