The meals of the condemned
The inmates at the Castle of Arco had to pay their own meals. In a register of the municipal archives of Folgaria every detail was noted, also whether the vegetables were dressed with vinegar.
The municipal archives of Folgaria still preserve a small register of eight sheets, entitled: “Registro et memoria delle robe magnative mandate per messer Dominigo et messer Francesco Masenzi, hosti in Archo, a mi Bartholomeo Coal et a Zuan mio fratello per il nostro viver stando retenti in el castello de Archo” (“Register and memoirs of the food given by sir Domenico and sir Francesco Masenzi - hosts of Arco - to me, Bartolomeo Coal, and to my brother Giovanni, during our stay in the prison of the Castle of Arco”). Its content is curious; it is in fact a sort of diary written by a man, Bartolomeo “Coal”, detained in the Castle of Arco with his brother Giovanni, in which he gives an account of the food that they are given every day for lunch and dinner.
The recordings begin on 18th April 1595 and end on 19th May of the same year. The purpose of such scrupulous records is most likely to preserve the memory of the food consumed and its amount, as the prisoners then had to pay out of their pocket the meals received during their detention.
From time to time Bartolomeo also notes carefully in this register the names of those people who delivered the meals; sometimes they are just the same hosts mentioned in the title of the register, or their relatives, such as Antonio, the son of the host Domenico; other times they are people assigned by them to deliver the food.
In some cases other people are mentioned, who are present at the delivery of the food: Baldassarre, for example, the barber of the castle, or Andrea, called the gardener of the castle.
In addition to the mere recording of the food, Bartolomeo sometimes writes a few remarks about the tastiness or the preparation of the food itself: for example, on 13th May he is given “salata latuge senza olio” (lettuce without oil); on 15th May “craute de capuzi mal chonzate” (sauerkraut badly dressed), along with roast veal and beef.
This document provides interesting hints about the history of nutrition: in addition to bread and wine, mentioned at almost every meal, the two inmates were quite frequently given eggs, beans, “tagliatelle” (a form of pasta made in narrow strips), sometimes soup, butter, veal or beef or, less frequently, goat meat and milk cake; vinegar was also offered on several occasions.
01/12/2014
