Charlemagne Learns to Eat Moldy
CheeseDuring the Middle Ages, when cheese was
evolving into a finely crafted food, even an
emperor of France had to learn a thing or
two about how to appreciate it. About 50
years after Charlemagne’s death in 814, an
anonymous monk at the monastery of Saint
Gall wrote a biography of him that
includes this fascinating anecdote (slightly
modified from Early Lives of
Charlemagne, transl. A. J. Grant, 1922).
Charlemagne was traveling, and found
himself at a bishop’s residence at
dinnertime.
Now on that day, being the sixth day of the
week, he was not willing to eat the flesh of
beast or bird. The bishop, being by reason
of the nature of the place unable to procure
fish immediately, ordered some excellent
cheese, white with fat, to be placed before