Blackfriars Lecture: Len Scales, 'Fit for a Kaiser: Feeding the Roman Emperor'

The Holy Roman Emperor had the highest status of any prince in medieval Europe, and providing appropriate food and entertainments when the emperor and his retinue visited other princely courts therefore represented a particular challenge. The talk will illustrate several such occasions, with a particularly close look at the visit of the emperor Charles IV to the French royal court in January 1378, for which we know some details of the food that was served. The talk will also discuss the practicalities of feeding and providing for the medieval imperial court, which spent much of its time on the road, travelling between different centres in central and western Europe.