How table manners became polite?
Carson Skiles
2025-07-16 00:32:39
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: 13
Table manners are a system of civilised taboos which came into operation in a situation fraught with potential danger. They are designed to reduce tension and to protect people from each other. In medieval dining, table implements could become weapons if violence erupted. Knives on the table therefore had to be placed with blades facing in towards the plate, not facing one’s neighbour and must never be held upright, waved about or pointed at people. It wasn’t until 1669 that the French King Louis XIV ordered that table knives have rounded ends, as fork usage was common and knives were no longer necessary for piercing food. Good manners had to be learnt if one wanted to be accepted in higher levels of society. Jingles would be memorised that taught courtesy and consideration of others when dining, such as: There was an Old Person of Buda Whose conduct grew ruder and ruder Till at last, with a hammer, They silenced his clamour. By smashing that Person of Buda Manners ensured that everyone knew how to behave at any event and according to a 16th century jingle ‘Meat feeds, cloth cleeds, but manners make the man’ so what you eat and what you wear are less important than how you do both. The essence of good manners consists in freely pardoning the shortcomings of others although nowhere falling short yourself.
Emory Runte
2025-07-15 23:59:06
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: 9
Table manners reflect traditions, respect, and social status. Over time, customs have changed, but the essence of good manners remains. In ancient Egypt, people ate with their hands but followed strict cleanliness rules. Ancient Greeks used bread as napkins and believed in sharing food equally. Confucian teachings promoted respect, influencing Chinese dining etiquette. By the 17th and 18th centuries, table manners became more structured. The French led the way in refined dining, introducing multiple courses, elegant table settings, and strict etiquette rules. British high society followed, making politeness and proper behaviour essential at the table. Across the world, various cultures shaped their own etiquette. Fine dining etiquette goes beyond basic table manners, it involves knowing how to act, use cutlery, and engage in polite conversation. Dining etiquette evolution has shaped fine dining practices, evolving over centuries to reflect changing cultural norms and traditions.
Brenna Frami
2025-07-15 20:13:30
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: 7
Cutlery, as opposed to eating with your fingers; sitting up straight in a high-backed chair; these were innovations in the way people defined themselves at table in 18th-century Europe. The children learning their table etiquette in Chardin's 1740 painting are in the avant-garde of a cultural revolution. It was, in fact, the culmination of hundreds of years of changing manners. Only in Renaissance Europe do paintings and artefacts reveal the dawn of table manners. New meals were even invented specifically as occasions for polite manners: the English tea time dates from the 1700s and is richly illustrated in paintings by Hogarth and Devis. Europeans in the middle ages had had little ceremony when it came to food. Their manners consisted of making sure they didn't get too greasy when tearing meat with their fingers. Etiquette changes radically but it always exists.
Jose Torp
2025-07-15 19:42:30
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: 9
In Europe, from the 12th century onward, numerous written works began to record and codify behaviour at the table. Control over one’s body and gestures, moderation and good hygiene were principles advocated during the Middle Ages and carried through to the Renaissance. The Church wished to ease the moral standards and customs of feudal society and contributed to the codification of table manners, notably by prescribing control over one’s gestures. Courtly literature also played a role, by emphasising the importance of hospitality, the quality and quantity of the dishes, and the beauty of the utensils, clothes and people, all of which were values reflecting moral virtue. In 1530, Erasmus produced De civilitate morum puerilium (On Civility in Children), which soon left its mark on the whole of Europe. Later, in the 19th century, bourgeois society was educated with books on good manners, in particular with the guide to etiquette Usages du Monde – Règles du Savoir-Vivre dans la Société Moderne by Baroness Staffe. Rules multiplied and became stricter in the 19th century. Today, the idea of conviviality prevails and allows for more flexibility. Many rules have become fully integrated into our table manners and continue to be shared within the family circle.
Otho Koch
2025-07-15 19:06:56
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: 6
Table manners became quite important in Europe in the 1100s. That's when people developed the idea of courtesy - how to behave in court. Soon these rules began appearing in written texts. The rules about eating were meant to make the experience pleasant, thoughtful, and tidy. Early texts instructed diners to keep their elbows down and not to speak with their mouths full. In 1530, a Dutchman named Erasmus wrote a book on manners titled "On Civility in Children." Erasmus told people not to blow their noses or spit at the table, and never to put chewed bones back on their plates. During the Crusades, between AD 1000 and 1300, even knights had to learn manners. In the 1300s, the Renaissance arrived, and new table customs evolved. People ate from plates, and everyone had his own cup. Fingers were to be wiped on napkins, not tablecloths. Bones were not to be thrown on the floor, but left on the plate. Manners kept moving toward cleanliness and order.
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