History of the Medieval Fork… or Lack Thereof.

In the delightful but historically inaccurate movie Becket, starring Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton, one of the least of the errors made was Becket introducing young King Henry II to the table fork.  The fork barely existed then even in Venice where it was probably introduced in the West.  At about the time that Henry ruled, it had just been introduced from the Byzantine Empire.

Even venerated scholars of Medieval anthropology, such as Joseph Strutt, have been known to express disbelief upon discovering that there would appear to be absolutely no record of the table fork in Medieval times.

I find here no mention of forks. It is strange that so useful and cleanly an utensil should not have been of more ancient date; but of certainty, in all the old delineations of feasts, &c. I find knives and spoons, but never either forks, or any things which might seem likely to supply their place.[1] 

In all the records we have, the standard table setting includes only a spoon and table knife by way of utensils.

We may have evidence of its first introduction in Europe.  The Venetian Doge, Domenico Selvo, married the Byzantine Princess Theodora Anna Doukaina in 1075.[2]  Among the many traits for which the Venetian people despised the haughty Theodora was her use of a silver fork when she ate.

Pompeo Molmenti does not give his reader the specific date but does follow his passing mention of the Princess with a highly informative footnote on our subject:

In the West the earliest mention of a fork is in an inventory of Edward I of England, dated 1297. In 1368 we find a gold fork in an inventory of Louis d'Anjou; but the forks did not become well known till 1379, when we find them recorded among the plate of the royal household; nor did they take their place as a common article till the end of the sixteenth century. Montaigne declares that he made but little use of fork or spoon.  [The French King] Henry III, who on his way through Venice had seen forks in use, made haste to adopt them (Havard, Dict. de I'ameublement, s. v. fourchette), but even Louis XIV thought a fork a superfluous luxury. The Venetian fork appears in Italian guise for the first time in the fourteenth century in an inventory of the Commune of Florence (1361).[3]

The reference to the inventory of the English King Edward I is not to his “plate” — his implements of eating — but to his collection of rare and curious objects for display.

The first mention we have of the table fork, in England, as an implement of eating, remains the much quoted swatch from Thomas Coryat’s Crudities:

Here I will mention a thing, that might have been spoken of before, in discourse of the first Italian town. I observed a custome in all those Italian cities and townes through the which I passed, that is not used in any other country that I saw in my travels, neither doe I thinke that any other nation of christendome doth use it, but only Italy. The Italian and also most strangers that are commorant in Italy, doe alwaies at their meales use a little forke, when they cut their meate. For while with their knife which they hold in one hande they cut the meate out of the dish, they fasten their forke, which they hold in their other hand upon the same dish, so that whatsoever he be that fitting in the company of any others at meale, should unadvisedly touch the dish of meate with his fingers, from which all at the table doe cut, he will give occasion of offence unto the company, as having transgressed the lawes of good manners, in so much that for his error he shall be at the least brow beaten, if not reprehended in wordes. This forme of feeding I understand is generally used in all places of Italy, their forkes being for the most part made of yron or steele and some of silver, but those are used only by gentlemen.  The reason of this their curiosity is, because the Italian cannot by any means indure to have his dish touched with fingers, seeing all mens fingers are not alike cleane. Hereupon I myself thought good to imitate the Italian fashion by this forked cutting of meate, not only while I was in Italy, but also in Germany, and oftentimes in England since I came home: being once quipped for that frequent using of my forke, by a certain learned gentleman, a familiar friend of mine, one M. Laurence Whitaker, who in his merry humour doubted not to call me at table Furcifer, only for using a forke at feeding, but for no other cause.[4] 

After Coryat, the mentions become much more frequent.  For decades still, however, those mentions will portray the implement as foreign and/or ridiculous.

In Chamber’s journal we are reminded that

Fynes Morison, in his Itinerary (1617), when relating the bargain he made with the master of the vessel which was to convey him from Venice to Constantinople, says: ‘He gave us good diet, serving each man with his knife, a spoon, and a fork.’[5]

With the exception of Italy, however, no other European country adopted the fork as its custom until at least the 16^th century.  Coryat, who brought it in the 17^th century, would be long in the grave before it became common in Britain.

After Coryat, the fork had the singular good fortune, in Britain, to tickle the fancy of Ben Jonson who made fun of those affected to use it in two plays.  Fletcher still writes of it as an affectation in his play Queen of Corinth in 1647.

By 1652, the implement appears to have made inroads.  Peter Heylyn tends to be an excellent source[6] and he tells us it had become popular with the young gallants around town.

The use of silver Forks with us, by some of our spruce Gallants taken up of late, came from hence into Italy, and from thence into England.[7]

This, of course, was sure to make the fork a common item on English tables in short order.

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[1] Strutt, Joseph.  Horda Angel Cynnan, III. n. 108

[2] Numerous historians of the fork mention the date as 1095, many years after the Dogressa / Princess had died.

[3] Molmenti, Pompeo.  Venice Its Individual Growth from the Earliest Beginnings to the Fall of the Republic.  Hortio F. Brown, transl. (1907).  126-7.  Citing Lumbroso, Mem. ital. del buon tempo antico, pp. 8i et seq. Torino, 1889.

[4] Warner, Rev. Richard.  Antiquitates Culinariae; or Curious Tracts relating to the Culinary affairs of the Old English. liii – liv.  Citing Coryat's Crudities, vol. I. p. 106. edit. 1776. 8vo.  The Crudities was originally published in 1611, describing Thomas Coryat’s tour through Europe in 1608.

[5] “Table-Forks, Historically Handled.” Chamber’s Journal, Volume IV, Nos. 79-104   July-December, 1855.  266-8 @ 267.

[6] However much he claims that the fork was introduced into Italy from China.

[7] Heylyn, Peter. Cosmography (1668). III. 182.

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• A Medieval Hodge-Podge. March 17, 2019. “The hogge pot had already existed for centuries, however. Many who fail to realize this have given spurious derivations to the name.”
• Hedingham Castle Fact Sheet with Virtual Tour Link.  January 20, 2019. “The modern entrance to the keep is on the first floor by way of a stone stair, discharging through the W. wall, where a fore-building used to stand.”
• Did Shake-speare Die of a Stroke?  August 03, 2014. "In October of 1601 De Vere begins to complain of his health again in letters to his brother-in-law, Robert Cecil, who was representing him in certain legal matters at Court."
• Check out the Medieval Topics Article Index for many more articles about this fascinating time.
• Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time.