I’m at work today, and I took a break to get up from my desk and walk to the cafeteria to grab a muffin and juice. Normally, I enter through the side entrace, situated at the end of the L-shaped dining area, which requires passing by all the tables before getting to the actual cafeteria area where you line up and purchase your food. The dining area is one of the larger rooms in the building, and is often “comandeered” for larger meetings between people, though signs will usually be posted and/or the doors will be closed.

This morning, however, was a little different. As soon as I turned through the side entrance doorway, I spotted all the tables on the right hand side of the dining area had been converted into one incredibly long table, and was completely surrounding by people sitting and having a meeting. At first, I had to step back and see if there was a notice on the door, but there was not. Seems kinda odd to hold a meeting there during peak coffee break hours.

But it kinda reminded me of all that stereotypical imagery of Medieval banquets involving long tables occupied by royalty and nobility. You know the kind.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Usually, when you see those banquets scenes portrayed, the people are often only seated along one side of the table(s), with the tables positioned in one long row, semi-circle, or an open-sided square configuration. Portrayals always seem to imply this is for a courtyard of sorts or for entertainers to perform jokes, stunts, or music (e.g. the first series of Blackadder).

My question is, after having looked through the Medieval cuisine article on Wikipedia, I’m a bit curious how often or infrequently (if it even ever happened at all). Obviously, I’m mainly just talking about the aristocracy and rolalty, not the layity.

How often did they have meals in such grandiose fashion, and did they always just sit on one side or was that an invention of screen and television, so you could see the actors.

The reason I ask is because I wonder if that one side of the table always gets worn down more than the other. And if so, do they rotate the position of the tables in between banquets to save on supplies?