‘Welcome the coming and speed the parting guest’: hospitality in twelfth-century England

Abstract

The twelfth century saw a renewed interest in outward display and has been described as ‘a new era in the history of manners’. The importance of exercising courtesy, and of controlling one's gestures and emotions in public would have had a bearing on the administration of hospitality. This was particularly important upon the guest's arrival and also on his departure, for it was important to make a first and lasting impression. It gave the guest and host a chance to demonstrate their courtliness and foster good relations, and for the host to exhibit his generosity and largesse of spirit. The prescriptive texts suggest that there was a clear concept of how these proceedings should be conducted, and that hospitality in Anglo-Norman England might be conducted with some formality. 1 This article has its origins in a chapter on lay hospitality in my doctoral thesis on monastic hospitality. This chapter has not been included in the forthcoming book, Monastic hospitality: the Benedictines in England c. 1070–c. 1250 (Boydell and Brewer; Woodbridge, 2007), but published as three articles: J. Kerr, ‘The open door: hospitality and honour in twelfth/early thirteenth-century England, History, 87 (2002), 322–35 considers the motives behind lay hospitality’; ‘Food, drink and lodging: hospitality in twelfth-century England’, Haskins Society Journal (forthcoming) focuses on the feast table and accommodation for guests; the procedures upon the arrival and departure of guests are considered here. The reader is referred to the aforementioned works for further discussion of monastic hospitality and other aspects of lay hospitality. I am grateful to Professor John Hudson for his comments and advice, to Professor Robert Bartlett for the translation of several difficult passages in Daniel of Beccles’ Urbanus, and to the helpful comments given by the two readers for the Journal of Medieval History. 1