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WonderHistory fact

The table fork was long viewed with suspicion in Europe. When the Byzantine noblewoman Maria Argyropoulina ate with a golden fork in Venice after her marriage in 1004, the churchman Peter Damian later condemned it as vanity.

History of cutlery

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The story behind the card

Maria Argyropoulina, of the Byzantine Argyros family, married Giovanni Orseolo, son of the Doge of Venice, in 1004 and brought golden forks with her. In Byzantium forks were already in polite use, but in Venice her habit looked like excessive refinement. Writing decades later, the reforming churchman Peter Damian called it vanity and presented her early death as divine punishment. Italy came round first: by the 14th century table forks were common there, and by 1600 almost universal among merchants and the upper classes. The English traveller Thomas Coryat described them in a 1611 book on his Italian journey, and the habit was dismissed in England as an unmanly Italian affectation. Forks became usual in Britain only in the 18th century.

Türkçe oku
Çatal, Avrupa'da uzun süre hoş karşılanmadı. 1004'te Venedik'e gelin gelen Bizanslı soylu Maria Argyropoulina yemeğini altın bir çatalla yiyordu; din adamı Petrus Damianus sonradan bu alışkanlığı kibir diye kınadı.

Bizans'ın Argyros ailesinden gelen Maria Argyropoulina, 1004'te Venedik dojunun oğlu Giovanni Orseolo ile evlendi ve yanında altın çatallar getirdi. Bizans'ta çatal kibar sofralarda zaten kullanılıyordu; Venedik'te ise bu alışkanlık aşırı bir incelik gibi göründü. Onlarca yıl sonra yazan kilise reformcusu Petrus Damianus bunu kibir saydı, genç yaşta ölümünü de Tanrı'nın cezası diye anlattı. Çatalı ilk benimseyen İtalya oldu. 14. yüzyılda çatal orada yaygınlaşmıştı; 1600'e gelindiğinde tüccarların ve üst sınıfın neredeyse tamamı çatalla yiyordu. İngiliz gezgin Thomas Coryat, 1611'de yayımlanan İtalya gezi kitabında çataldan söz etti; İngiltere'de ise bu âdet erkeğe yakışmayan bir İtalyan özentisi diye küçümsendi. Çatal Britanya'da ancak 18. yüzyılda olağan hâle geldi.

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