Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Friday, 12 June 2026

Medieval cooking ingredients


I came upon an interest post on Substack from The Fake History Hunter which sets out to show the wide variety of foods available to medieval people before the introduction of modern staples from the New World. The list includes some items that definitely belong to the world of the social elite, but it is nonetheless very impressive and given that society was not as rigidly differentiated as popular presentations might suggest would allow, one way or another, for considerable or occasional variety.


Reading through the list of foodstuffs I felt I wanted the much lamented and irreplaceable Two Fat Ladies to roar into view on their motorcycle and sidecar and set to creating an extravagantly inviting feast.



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