687 led to the single mayorality for all of the Frankish kingdoms, held by a Carolingian,
which presaged the establishment of the Carolingian dynasty.
Steven Fanning
[See also: CAROLINGIAN DYNASTY; CHARLES MARTEL; PEPIN]
Gregory of Tours. Liber historiae Francorum, trans. Bernard S. Bachrach. Lawrence: Coronado,
1973.
Wallace-Hadrill, J.M., trans. The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with Its Continuations.
London: Nelson, 1960.
Fouracre, P.J. “Merovingians, Mayors of the Palace and the Notion of a ‘Low-Born’ Ebroin.”
Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research 57(1984):1–14.
Heidrich, Ingrid. “Les maires du palais.” In La Neustrie: les pays au nord de la Loire de Dagobert
a Charles le Chauve (VIIe– IXe siècles), ed. Patrick Périn and Laure-Charlotte Feffer. Rouen:
Les Musées et Monuments Départementaux de Seine-Maritime, 1985, pp. 71–72.
MEALS
. In households of comfortable means throughout the medieval period, it seems to have
been customary in France to eat two meals each day: at or before midday, a principal
meal, called disner (the Latin coena or prandiuni), was prepared, and toward the end of
the day a lesser meal, called souper (or merenda). At the midday meal, all possible dishes
might be served in two or more courses or servings, and, if the occasion lent itself, a
proper formal ceremonial at table and in serving could be followed. The evening meal
consisted, as the name suggests, primarily of lighter fare, such as sops (in which bread or
toast was used to absorb a semi-liquid preparation) and pottages (any preparation whose
basis was a broth), these being served with less formality and in fewer courses than the
earlier meal. In religious institutions, the same two meals, disner and souper, were
normal as well, although among the poorest in urban and rural communities little
evidence exists. Peasants working their fields were likely unwilling to take much time for
a substantial midday meal. To these two main meals may have been added two others,
depending upon the social circumstances of the individual household: a desjeunee
(jentaculum) and a light collation at bedtime.
Meals in comfortable households normally were eaten at trestle tables, set up for the
purpose, spread with a cloth, and dismantled after the meal. Optionally, a long lap cloth
at the edge of table functioned as a napkin to wipe fingers and lips. Standard table
settings included a valuable container of salt; round pattens of bread (trancheors), to hold
bits of food as they were eaten; goblets, perhaps shared between two diners; spoons and
occasionally knives, a small knife being a personal possession that most individuals
brought to a dining table. In formal circumstances, a fanfare announced meals with a
summons to wash (the phrase was corner l’eaue); because fingers were the primary
utensils at a meal, and because platters and bowls of food served more than one guest,
cleanliness was emphasized. Collections of contenances de table legislated proper
behavior of diners in refined society. The amount of service provided to diners varied
greatly according to the affluence of the household. Personnel might be responsible for
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