Dining with Christ and His Saints. Tableware in Relation to Late Medieval Devotional Culture in Sweden

Abstract

SummaryThe profane meal was an important part of social life during the Middle Ages and could take place within a single household, at a larger banquet or in the community of a guild. The focus of this article is on medieval material culture in relation to the meal. At the centre are cutlery and drinking vessels from medieval Sweden such as spoons, knives, jugs, drinking horns, bowls and goblets. These categories of objects have so far been studied only on a limited scale and mostly from the perspective of the material, technique, style, trade and practical use, while the function and meaning of inscriptions and images have not been thoroughly examined. The article points at the appearance of pious images and prayers in relation to Christ and the saints on utility goods as an expression of a desire for and a promise to receive help and protection in everyday life. Devotional images or short prayer inscriptions could in all likelihood generate a response in the form of a quick prayer or a pious thought. Objects such as the presented utility goods could accordingly activate devotion. Open to the senses in relation to devotion, the owner could view the images, read the prayers aloud or silently, touch the images and words with the fingertips, lips and tongue and in that way come in direct bodily contact with what was regarded as sacred.