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Ad crucis hoc signum fugiat procul omne malignum. Among the remarkable manuscripts which are preserved in the library of the convent of St. Gallen there is a 'Liber Benedictionalis,' written about A. D. 1000, the contents of which throw much light, not only upon the manner of life which was led in the convents, but also upon the state of civilization at that period generally. Ekkehard the fourth, or the younger, (born A. D. 980, died A. D. 1036), monk and schoolmaster in the convent of St. Gallen, and author of the Casus St. Galli,' a work which for the information it contains respecting the middle ages, especially in relation to Alemania, is of inestimable value, wrote, partly while yet a student and under the direction of his tutor Notker, and partly in his riper years, various poems of greater or shorter length, such as monumental inscriptions, titles for pictures, songs for the festivals, blessing at meals, &c., forming together a tolerable volume, which bears the name Liber Benedictionalis, and is marked No. 393 among the manuscripts of the Convent Library. These poems are all in the Latin language, and in rhyming hexameters, so called Leonine verses, which are not remarkable for their beauty, and the meaning of which is sometimes so obscure that the author felt himself obliged to make them intelligible to his readers, by the addition of a word or two in German or Latin. But notwithstanding the imperfections in form, and the total want of poetical feeling, these poems are among the interesting works which give us a glimpse into the private life and economical relations of the middle ages. And especially is this the case with the 'Blessings at table' (benedictiones ad mensas), of which the Archæological Society of Zurich intend shortly to publish an accurate copy. The following account is taken in a great measure from the editor's preface, and contains what seems to be of greatest interest for the generality of readers. Benedictions, or blessings, are, as is well known, those solemn acts, employed in the Mosaic worship, and adopted by the Christian religion, by which the favor and grace of God is sought upon any particular person, or thing, or action. The usual ceremony which, since the first ages of the Christian Church, has been connected with this benediction, was the sprink Ekkehardus, monachus St. Gall: ling of holy water, and the sign of the cross. With this latter form the blessing was pronounced not only by priests on important occasions, but also by laymen at the commencement of almost every transaction of daily life. The sign of the cross was marked on the forehead and the breast, or over the object with which they were about to be employed; it was marked on coming and going, on retiring to rest, on striking a light, over arms and books, over furniture and clothes, and especially over food, of which they were about to partake. The question may arise, whether these and similar forms of blessing were really employed in the convents not only at the commencement of the meal but for each separate dish, or whether the verses of Ekkehard are to be considered mere poetical essays. The former opinion is confirmed by the fact that the most indifferent actions, such as the putting on of a new garment, cutting the hair or the beard, and bleeding, were at that period performed not only in the convents but throughout the whole of Christendom, with certain prescribed forms of prayer. On the other hand the second opinion is undoubtedly the correct one with regard to many of Ekkehard's verses, which contain medical prescriptions, instructions regarding the effects of certain meats, and the like, and which do not at all partake of the character of blessings. Certain forms of prayer for meals are prescribed in the Benedictine rules, and in the regulations furnished to convents by the Frankish emperors. Blessings for bread, for water, and for salt, occur in various forms not only in the Latin, but also in the Anglo-Saxon language. But none of those which have survived to our time, are so complete as the Benedictions of Ekkehard. The single verses, there are 265 of them,are quite unconnected with each other. Each one contains the blessing of a dish or of a beverage which has just been served. But that which gives a value to the order in which these blessings are arranged, is the circumstance that the separate groups seem to indicate the separate divisions, the courses of a meal; this consisted of the chief course, the dessert, and the symposium. It is at least tolerably clear, that the author had according to which they lived in St. Gallen for nearly two centuries, was quite adapted to this abstemious life. It was only in respect to the beverage and the fat used in cooking that they departed from the Italian customs; instead of the half measure of wine they allowed to each person a measure of beer, and instead of oliveoil they used lard in preparing their food. Each had his separate portion of meat and drink. the intention not only to draw up a catalogue of | the abbot Hartmuot, chosen A. D. 872, and a number of dishes, but also to give a poetical description of a feast in all its component parts. The most sacred of all the articles of food, namely, bread, is naturally first mentioned, and that in all its different methods of preparation, and then an equally important necessary of life, namely, salt. Then the meal commences, as is still customary in many countries, with fish; this is followed by poultry, butcher's meat, game, made dishes, and vegetables, and the meal closes with dessert and various beverages. It is not to be supposed that such a number and variety of meats and drinks would at that period have come upon a convent-table even upon great occasions; but it was the author's design that no single dish which was then known in St. Gallen should be excluded from blessing. Each separate verse names therefore an article of food, which in his lifetime was either common or rare, which the mountains or the fertile plains of Alemania produced, or which the great commercial road, which in the neighbourhood of St. Gallen wound along the valley of the Rhine, placed within the reach of the affluent. If during the eighth and ninth centuries the greatest abstinence was ordered and strictly observed in the convents, as well with regard to the nature, as to the quantity of the food which was consumed, these institutions subsequently became the places where, after wealth and the desire of a more genial mode of life had found an entrance, the care of the outer man, and the art of preparing food attained to such a degree of cultivation, that their inhabitants excelled their contemporaries as much in the ease and refinement of their lives as they did in the paths of learning and science; and the convent kitchen was for centuries considered a school for cooks. With respect to St. Gallen the transition from the primitive simplicity and severity to variety and luxury, of which the Benedictions of Ekker hard afford a lively picture, is very striking. Even in the ninth and tenth centuries the monks were not allowed to eat any meat, although their woods were full of game and their stalls of cattle; and on account of their want of the fruits of Italy, and the high price of fish, they were compelled to live chiefly upon pulse and porridge. This porridge was so common an article of food in St. Gallen, that Gero* could not translate the word "cibi" better than by porridge, and the word "coenare "by "eating the evening porridge." The bill of fare which was drawn up by * The author of a literal interlinear translation of the Rules of the Benedictines, which is among the oldest monuments of the German language, and one of the purest specimens of the Frankish dialect; the MS. dates from the eighth century. - ED. DAG. But the table assumed a very different appearance, after they had commenced to eat meat, and our monk gives us a very lively picture of the kitchen and larder of a Benedictine convent eight centuries ago. If the Benedictions of Ekkehard are of the greatest interest to the antiquarian, they likewise offer many remarkable facts to the student in natural history; the more remarkable' since the writings of the middle ages give but little information on the subject. The different sorts of grain were cultivated in almost greater variety than at present, and converted into bread or porridge; but in respect to fruits there was the greatest poverty, and none are mentioned except medlars. Further, a number of animals are spoken of as living in Alemania which have since entirely disappeared from that region, as the bear, the beaver, the wild horse, the buffalo, the bison, the wild goat, and the fallowdeer. The bear is now only found in the Tessin Alps, and that but seldom ; but it must in former times have been abundant in other parts, for the history of the life of St. Gallus proves that the stewards of the convent kept bear-hounds. The bear appears likewise in the Alemanian code of laws, and that as an animal which was preserved as game. The beaver has wholly disappeared from the rivers of Switzerland. But in the time of Conrad Gessner, A. D. 1565, it was still abundant; "the Aar, the Reuss, and the Limmat contain many; also the Birs near Basle." During the middle ages the flesh of the beaver, which might be eaten on fast-days, was a favorite article of food, and the beaver chase, for which a particular kind of hound was kept, was among the favorite sports. Ekkehard says: Sit feralis equi caro dulcis in hac cruce Christi. According to Strabo, there were wild horses in the Alps; but allowing the truth of his statement, there were no longer any in the days of Pliny; far less can we suppose that a thousand years later, and when the higher regions of Switzerland were far more populous, wild horses can still have existed. They must have been runaway horses, roaming about wild on the Alps, | published by the Literary Society in Stuttgard, according to which sauces were composed of sour grapes, sage, and garlic, or of wine, ginger, honey, pepper, and garlic. which are here meant. That the Germans, and Signet vesontem benedictio cornipotentem. These lines confirm the opinion of Cuvier, that the bison (vesons) and the buffalo, (urus, Germ. urochs) are different animals. The existence of the bison in Switzerland is proved by the name of the village Wisendangen near Winterthur, formerly written (A. D. 808) Wisuntwangas (Bison chase). The buffalo is now confined to a single spot in all Europe, namely, one forest in Lithuania; but it is well ascertained that formerly it existed in Switzerland, and in the convent of Rheinau is preserved a huge silver mounted buffalo's horn. The fallow-deer, so abundant in the forests of Switzerland in the days of Conrad Gessner, has been totally destroyed or driven away. Ekkehard speaks of the peacock, the swan, and the crane. We learn from the orders of Charlemagne, according to which the royal farms were to be provided with peacocks, pheasant, ducks, pigeons, and doves, that the peacock, which is still eaten in England, was kept as early as the eighth century. The swan, a native of northern Europe, visits Switzerland but seldom; but in the Salic laws it is spoken of as a domestic fowl. The crane likewise is but seldom seen; but in former times it must have been preserved, since by the Alemanian code a penalty is inflicted for stealing or killing this bird. Among fish the poet mentions the Trisca (quab), which is still so well known. How favorite a dish its liver must have been in the middle ages, is proved by the fact (vouched for in the chronicle) that the lady-abbess of the convent of St. Felix at Zurich "consumed a whole vineyard, called the golden hill, in quab-livers." Bread and salt give Ekkehard occasion to * enumerate the various kinds of bread and sauces. Among the former are several which are still common; as "panis lunatus," rolls in the shape of a half moon, made of the best wheat flour, which were eaten in the convents during lent; they are still known in various parts of Switzerland and Suabia under the name "gipfel;" further, "panis elixus," boiled bread, in the form of a ring; similar bread is still prepared. What was meant by sauce (“salsa," "salsura") may be clearly seen from the old kitchen-receipts A fish of very disagreeable appearance, which is abundant in the large rivers of Germany. It resembles a large toad with the tail of a fish. The meat is rarely eaten by any but the poorest persons, but the liver is esteemed a delicacy. - ED. DAG. Nor are the dietetical rules and medicinal remarks without interest; as, for instance, that mushrooms, not to be hurtful, must be boiled seven times; that hazelnuts are injurious, and garlic wholesome; that pulse is poison to a feverpatient, and that leeks are harmless only if taken with a good deal of wine; that the meat of peacocks, swans, and ducks is indiges ible, and goats' milk very nourishing. The ignorance of the age is also very evident; thus the beaver is called a fish, and enumerated among fishes. A number of the articles which are mentioned, especially fruits, indicate the vicinity of the convent to the great commercial thoroughfare to Italy, and its connexions with that country. Through the intervention of Italian monasteries, not only spiritual nourishment, such as manuscripts, pieces of music, &c., but also many temporal enjoyments, and especially rare and costly delicacies, may have reached this celebrated and much visited convent. Even if chestnuts, peaches, plums, mulberries, figs, and other fruits were already cultivated on the shores of the lake of Constance, and in the domains of the convent which bordered on the Rhine, at least melons, pomegranates, olives, almonds, lemons, dates, kidney-beans, and many other articles, were the produce of more Southern countries. And in the stewing of wine, in the cooking of the quab with mushrooms, and in the eating of these as a vegetable, we see traces of Italian customs; the same may be said of the snaring of small birds, an occupation of which the Lombardese are passionately fond, and for which they evince a decided talent. The intercourse of central Europe as well with the distant east as with the north, is proved by the mention of many articles which were doubtless looked upon as dainties, and not easily procured; such as spices, which were used in the preparation of made dishes ("cibi arte facti") and the composition of beverages; and likewise foreign fishes, as herrings and codfish; it seems at least most probable that Ekkehard speaks of the codfish, when he says Sit cruce millena benedicta marina balaena. the convent bill of fare; enumerating the prinWe now proceed to give a general view of cipal fishes, and adding to each course a specimen of the pious culinary poet's verses. He commences with a prayer that God will be pleased to preserve the guests assembled around the plentifully furnished board from all strife and contention; a prayer which will not appear by any means superfluous, if we consider | dark and white mulberries, mulberry wine, how frequently in those days the most violent spiced mead, pounded herbs, spices, bran-cakes, quarrels arose at festive meals. eggs, beans, chickpeas, vetches, lentils, pulse, kidney beans. Bread. Omne genus panis repleat benedictio donis. Triticeum panem faciat crux pestis inanem. Breadcake, pies, moon-shaped bread, boiled bread, toasted bread strewed with salt, eggbread, yeast-bread, leavened bread, bran-bread, wheat bread, rye-bread, oaten-bread, barleybread, new baked bread, cold and warm bread, bread baked in the ashes. After all the kinds of bread have been enumerated, there follows a blessing to be spoken over the crumbs, which are not to be wasted, or unworthily employed. Fishes. Piscis sit gratus crucis hac virtute notatus. Codfish, huso, salmon and salmon-trout, quab, pike, lamprey, the various kinds of trout, herring, lesser lamprey, eel, perch, crawfish, peppered fish, shad, groundling, gudgeon, beaver, sturgeon. Birds. Crux benedicat avem faciatque sapore suavem. Nil noceat stomachis caro non digesta pavonis. Peacock, pheasant, swan, goose, crane, duck, quail, pigeon, wood-pigeon and other kinds of doves, fowl, capon, chicken, ptarmigan, small birds caught in snares. Meats. Sub cruce divinâ caro sit benedicta bovina. Beef, veal, mutton, lamb, goat's flesh, kid, oxshoulder (roasted or boiled), pork (roasted or boiled), ham, pig, bacon, hashed meat, boar, meat first boiled and then roasted. Game Sub cruce divinâ sapiat bene quæque ferina. Bear, wild boar, deer and doe, bison, buffalo, wild horse, fallow deer, roebuck and hind, fawn, wild goat, chamois (boiled and roasted), hare, marmot. Dessert. Hoe pigmentatum faciat crux addita gratum. Crux domini pisas descendat in has numerosas. Milk, cheese, cheese with honey, pepper and wine, goat's milk, honey-comb, mulberry jam of Fruits. Da Petre de Româ sint mitia cedria poma. Apples, olives, lemons, figs, dates, grapes, pomegranates, pears, medlars, quinces, chestnuts, peaches, plums, cherries, sour cherries, hazelnuts, walnuts. Vegetables. Hoc holeris semen stomacho fac Christe levamen. Saepius elixos repleat benedictio fungos. Roots, herbs, boiled and raw leeks, boiled mushrooms, cabbage of all kinds, melons, garlic, pumpkins, lettuce, herbs cut up in vinegar (salad). Beverages. Vina vetustatis bona sint simul et novitatis. Wine, must (new wine not fermented), new and old wine, wine mixed with honey and spices, cider, mulberry-wine, mulled wine, mead, honeywine, beer, water. We see that even travelling princes might be content with the fare of a table served according to the rules of St. Benedict, and if they were disposed to criticize it would assuredly not be the pious verses of the convent-poet, which doubtless they swallowed whether they understood them or not. But it is solely to this pious custom of pronouncing benedictions that we owe this peep into the habits of that remote age. Antiquity thought not of describing its life and manners; it thought the existing state of things too natural to imagine any necessity for it. It was reserved for our time, which is always looking forward as well as backwards, to record for the benefit of posterity how we lived and what we ate. Ekkehard's "benedictiones ad mensas," composed for holy service, and the long bills of fare published (no one knows for what purpose,) by the High Steward of the Hannoverian Court, are equally characteristic of the two ages. - Morgenblatt. |