MANNERS

ETIQUETTE

TABLE MANNERS

Manners for the well-bred woman

Manners were a very important part of medieval life. The common misconception of a rough and rude society with little polish is a widely-mistaken belief.

It is true that medieval life could be violent and dangerous but all people from all walks of life were bound to adhere to a certain amount of daily courtesy. To fail to do so was social peril and could cost a person their life for an insult, whether real or perceived, against a person of higher social standing.

Covered on the pages below are aspects of etiquette that every medieval woman should know.

- ETIQUETTE - basic daily manners
- TABLE MANNERS - what to do and not to do

The late medieval poem, "How The Good Wife Taught Her Daughter" gives motherly advice for general deportment in public:

"And when thou goest on thy way,
Go thou not too fast,
Brandish not with thy head,
Nor with thy shoulders cast,
Have not too many words,
From swearing keep aloof.
For all such manners
Come to an evil proof."

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