The symbolic meaning of food, as an institutional
function, signified one’s economic, political and social power, reflecting not
only in the monarch’s diet but also in the hierarchical order of his servants. This
hierarchical order ranged from high nobility to lower servants who received
different portions of food based on different quantities and qualities
depending on their rank. Therefore, although the food that wasn’t consumed by
the king was used for feeding nobles with a high-ranking position, it didn’t
cover the diet of the vast hierarchy of servants so the royal kitchen was also
in charge of providing nourishment to all of them. Thus, the court was seen as
a big family where the monarch was the father who had to fulfil his duty of
feeding his subordinates. Albeit, during
the eighteenth century there was a tendency to try to exchange this portion of
food for an amount of money or to remove this remuneration in kind if it was
possible.
However, apart from the food distribution in the court
that was stipulated in contracts, the monarchy also had to make occasional food
deliveries based on traditions and customs as the serving of food that each
Sunday was given to the “regalero” of Aranjuez, the shipment of the first red
sea breams that arrived to the court –that was given to certain servants –or
the delivery of marzipan to Marqués de Velada at Easter.
Moreover, the monarch also had religious duties that concerned
the royal food expenses through alms-giving –especially to Madrid convents –
and gifts based on celebration of weddings, religious professions or similar
holy ceremonies. In particular, one of this religious events was the dinner
that was served to thirteen poor people on Good Thursday as remembrance of the
Last Supper. It consisted of a splendid banquet for them with a very specific
social, economic and political aim. This feast was not only a symbol of power
and condescendence. It was also important due to the exaggerated quantity of
food that was displayed in order to guarantee that they couldn’t eat all of it,
reinforcing the image of the monarchy through the establishment of a
parallelism between this endless banquet and the monarchy’s power.
As a result, food portions stipulated on contracts,
occasional deliveries and religious duties were also part of the royal food
expenses in the eighteenth century, which exceeded the feeding of the monarch.
Moreover, with regard to these costs, it is also necessary to take into account
the organisation of all the members whose professions were directly or
indirectly related to the royal food service. This resulted in an excessive
amount of servants, causing a superfluous outlay because of the maintenance of
positions that weren’t truly needed and that wasn’t resolved until Carlos III
ascended to throne. Thusly, after the death of his wife, the Queen María Amalia
de Sajonia, he rearranged the service joining the King and the Queen’s
personnel in just one house. Additionally, he also regulated the number of
servants, the salaries of each position according to its importance, and
responsibility and the promotion system with the aim of consolidating an
economic rationality and reducing unnecessary costs.
Extracts of «Reglamento de los individuos de que se han de componer las servidumbres de mi Real Casa y sueldos que han de gozar anualmente», in which is showned, in reales, some of the salaries that the King Carlos III established for his servants.
References:
PÉREZ
SAMPER, María de los Ángeles. La alimentación en la corte española
del
siglo XVIII. Cuadernos de Historia
Moderna. [En línea] 2003, Anejo II, pp. 153-197. [recuperado 3 de noviembre
de 2013]. Disponible en:
LÓPEZ-CORDÓN, M. V.Entre damas anda el juego: las camareras mayores de Palacio en la edad moderna. Cuadernos de Historia Moderna. [En línea] 2003, Anejo II, pp. 123-152. [recuperado 7 de noviembre de 2013] Disponible en: http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CHMO/article/view/CHMO0303220123A
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario