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Welcome to the Great Hall.
Jhon & I host our guests here and you're always welcome at our table!
Here I conduct my social activities at AncientWorlds and in Germania.
You can leave me a message on my personal message board or take
a look at my friends list. Soon you will be able to check my calendar
of events as well.
About The Great Hall and Dining:
Food and Drink. The fare at the lord's table was as full of variety as the peasant's was spare. Meat, fish, pastries, cabbage, turnips, onions, carrots, beans, and peas were common, as well as fresh bread, cheese, and fruit. At a feast spitted boar, roast swan, or peacock might be added.
Normans dining. Wine or ale was drunk, never water, which was rightly considered suspect. Ale was the most common drink, but it was not the heady alcoholic drink we might imagine. It was thin, weak, and drunk soon after brewing. It must have had little effect on sobriety. Fruit juices and honey were the only sweeteners, and spices were almost unknown until after the Crusades.
Table Manners. Meat was cut with daggers and all eating was done with the fingers from trenchers, a flat, dry bread. One trencher and one drinking cup was used by two people. Scraps were thrown on the floor for the dogs to finish. There were no chimneys, and the fireplace was in the middle of the hall. Smoke escaped by the way of louvres in the roof, at least in theory.
House Layout. In the early medieval period the centre of life in castles and manors was the great hall, a huge multipurpose chamber safely built upon the second floor. These halls were dimly lit, due to the need for massive walls with small windows for defense from attack. The solar, or family room, remained on the first floor. It became the custom for the family to eat in the solar, leaving the great hall to minor guests and servants. Hall life decreased as trade increased. Trades specialized and tradesmen and women moved out of the hall. The communal life of the hall declined and families became more private. Manors sustained fewer people as trades separated from the manor community.
Credits: "Daily Living in Medieval Times"
A souvenir from Eire
A souvenir from Antioch
Antioch became one of 4 feudal states after the fall of Jerusalem during the First Crusade in 1099.
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