Mummers

Festive meals punctuated all the significant moments of medieval courtly life, such as marriages, christenings, diplomatic receptions and international tournaments. But if no important event could take place without a banquet, then no banquet could take place without various types of entertainment – during the dinner or at the end of it. Spectacles, dances, declamations, prizes awarded to the winners of the tournaments, and other rejoicings were intertwined with the meals: according to the sources, more than the dishes served, it was these festivities which turned the dinner into a feast.
This article, focusing on the Court of Savoy between 1450 and 1550, will try to show that all the important curial events of this time were part of a programme – which included ceremonies, jousts, banquets and, also, special evenings. These moments should be studied together, as they were conceived this way. The nocturnal festivities, in particular, were the outcome of thoroughly planned scenarios.