Feeding a Templar Knight

Templar should be pronounced TEM-pler, but sometimes I say tem-PLAR when I read it. Don’t do what I do 🤣

"Wash their hands before eating, wash table before putting food on it, those working outside not allowed to touch food..." Huh, I think I can guess why they lived longer than the average person...

I love the confidence that animals were drawn in these books by people who had clearly never seen one in person.

I shot a wild hog this week, they're legal to hunt at any time of the year in my state, because they're an invasive and destructive species, and this one was destroying my wife's flower garden. So I came back to this video for your recipe, since we now have an abundance of fresh pork. We ate it with armored turnips and a spinach salad, and it was fantastic.

The napkin on Good Friday was considered the napkin in the Holy Sepulchre, so they would not use the napkins until after Easter Vigil. Also they would not be seated for their bread and water as this was a sign of penitence and mourning. The Cistercians, today’s Trappists followed similar observances during Holy Week. In my day even the younger monks would remove their shoes and stockings in the house during the Triduum. As well as Ash Wednesday.

10:24 That specifically means "Don't try to throw food into someone else's mouth, no matter how much he thinks he can totally catch it." I love that they had to make a rule specifically forbidding that, because that is exactly the sort of thing that a bunch of 15- to 20-something soldiers would do, medieval or otherwise.

"The most fearsome warriors in Europe and they were treated like children." I cannot express how true that rings for soldiers today ...

When I lived in Germany I went to a castle and displayed there was a suit of armor from back then. A notable feature, other than it being short, was that it had long pointy toes. Very long.

It's amazing how sophisticated they were considering hygiene, that's what probably helped them live slightly longer.

I googled around a bit for the history of napkins, and found several possible answers as to why they may not have been used on fast days. Note that this was a very cursory search, so more of a starting point for further thought and/or research than actual answers: 1. At certain points in the middle ages, napkins were actually large and communal. Those larger napkins could cover a large part of a table, and be quite ornamental. So it could be that they were not permitted on fast days because it would make the table look too festive and fancy. 2. Napkins could also be used to give privilege to certain people at the table, by giving them their own napkins where the rest had to share. These were actually laid out on the table (a bit like a placemat I imagine). Again, these could also be decorated. So perhaps such a distinction of ranks was not permitted during fast days. 3. Napkins became less common the more widely forks were used. They were actually quite needed before that, if one did not want to wipe their food-stained on their clothes. I can imagine an order wearing white not wanting to do so. However, if only bread and water were served, these napkins should maybe not be needed. So it could be a practical rule, or one that made it more difficult to sneakily eat some more palatable food.

That "not repair his sword without permission, change his stirrup" and so on just sounds like an old-timey way to describe modern Army rules, specifically "hey grunt, don't screw with your rifle, you don't know what you're doing, you'll f' it up, give it to the armorer".

My oldest known relative was in fact a Templar during the second crusade, and I always wondered what life may have been during those times so thanks for the video

I just made this using deer backstrap and my husband was apprehensive about the sauce but as soon as I reduced it and served it with the meat, he was in love. Thanks for yet another amazingly historic and delicious recipe.

The whole washing thing - of hands and table, and not touching food if you've been working outside - would go a long way to accounting for the slightly extended life span of the Knights Templar.

I‘m from Bavaria and it’s said back in the day they led pigs into the water before butchering because if it comes out of the water it‘s fish and so they could eat meat during Lenten season. Not sure if this is true, but we are known for this kind of shenanigans, so probably yes😅

A video on the hospitallers cuisine could be interesting seeing as their line of work included caring for the sick, usually when looking at their sources by means of a specific diet!

Easily my favourite cooking and history channel on the platform. Thank you good sir for the research and the knowledge you are sharing.

I can't believe that the templars got lunch detention, that's hilarious.

Half a nutmeg! Townsends must be immediately informed of this recipe...

Going back to Max's question of "Is it worth it?" Well, considering your options of not joining the Order of Solomon aka the Knight's Templar were pretty bleak if you weren't born into a high family. A lot of the rules they had were strict and seem childish but there is a method to the madness. First: was to instill discipline, pride, class, and esprit de corps into all in training since they came from any class system, though to be an actual knight you'd have to already been knighted prior to joining the Templars. Those who weren't actual knights were farmers, blacksmiths, masons, carpenters, ordained priests, and everyone in between who fought along side the knights as light cavalry and foot soldiers. Second: all those rules developed muscle memory when times became hard or they were off fighting in the Holy Lands. When food and water became scarce you could handle rationing and not waste it. Or if you couldn't follow simple rules in peace, how could you follow orders in battle. That kind of stuff. Third: they were a religious order. They firmed believed in atoning for their sins and following these rules of deprivation helped them achieve that. It's not much different from the Franciscan, Benedictine, Jesuit, Dominicans, Knights Hospitaller, Order of St. James, the Teutonic Knights, and other religious orders followed. The Templars also referred to themselves as the Poor Knights of Christ so they led a life of poverty, which some of those rules reinforced. Last: some of these rules kept politics and influence out of the the Templars. Those Templars coming from royal or influential families would've been separated from them. With no contact those families couldn't gain influence over the Templars, and those members couldn't gain standing within the Templars because of who their families were. Food looks delicious though.