The next section of Ekkehart IV‘s Benedictiones ad Mensas. After bread, many fishes, birds, and domestic animal meat, these are dedicated to game meat:
116 May this game meat blessed under the divine cross
Sub cruce divina benedicta sit ista ferina
117 May all game meat be flavourful under the divine cross
Sub cruce divina sapiat bene quęque ferina
118 May the bear be medicinal once and again by the cross
Et semel et rursus cruce sit medicabilis ursus
119 Physicians know it as healthful and harmful to none
Hunc medici memorant sanum nullique nocivum
120 May the wild boar that is feared for its tusk be less harsh as it is touched by the cross
Dente timetur Aper cruce tactus sit minus asper
121 May the blessing of peace be upon the meat of the swift deer
Cervi curracis caro sit benedictio pacis
122 May Satan and the evil spirits flee this roast deer
Hęc Satan et Larvę fugiant crustamina Cervę
123 May the blessing mark the horn-mighty bison
Signet Vesontem benedictio cornipotentem
124 May the right hand of the true God be with the meat of the aurochs
Dextra dei veri comes assit carnibus Uri
125 May the wild cattle3 be healthy under the triune name
Sit bos silvanus sub trino nomine sanus
126 May the meat of the wild horse be sweet under this cross of Christ
Sit feralis equi caro dulcis in hac cruce Christi
127 May the blessing render the defenceless hind excellent
Imbellem Dammam faciat benedictio summam
128 May the quick, high-jumping roe deer be blessed
Capreus ad saltum benedictus sit celer altum
129 May the roe deer doe be a harmless dish. May she be lovely food.
Sit cibus illęsus Capreę. Sit amabilis esus
130 May the roe deer calves give easy nourishment to those who eat them
Capreoli vescam dent se comedentibus ęscam
131 May the meat of the ibex bring no ill effect
Carnes Verbicum nihil attulerint inimicum
132 Be good, quick chamois, whether boiled or roasted
Pernix Cambissa bona sis elixa vel assa
133 May the meat of the hare be sweet under the divine cross
Sub cruce divina caro dulcis sit leporina
134 May the blessing render the marmot fat
Alpinum Cassum faciat benedictio crassum
135 May the meat of all forest creature be healthful by the power of the cross
Sit caro silvana crucis omnis robore sana
As with the meat of domestic animals, it needs to be said that monks were not allowed to eat game – doubly so because of its association with the aristocratic lifestyle and the violence of the hunt. However, in the context of the imperial church, senior monks often held high offices and governed territories. They were integrated into its upper class and took part in its festivities. That likely explains the room the Benedictiones allow such fare.
The game animals listed here are broadly what you would expect. The bear, still common in Central Europe’s forests, and the wild boar were dangerous game, hunted not least to show off martial skill. Deer were less so, but hunting them called for skill, coordinated action, and endurance. The text mentions cervus (#121 and 122) and further down damma (#127), capreus (#128 and 129), and capreolus (#130). These likely are the European red deer and roe deer respectively, with cervus being the buck, damma the hind, capreus the adult roe deer and capreolus a juvenile. The word is used to designate the species today while capreus classically means a goat, but there are no wild goats in Central Europe and capreus often means a roe deer in Middle Latin.
There are three mentions of wild bovines: vesons (#123), urus (#124), and bos silvanus (#125). The first is the European bison or wisent (Bison bonasus), the second the aurochs (Bos primigenius), both still found in much of Central Europe then. Both were very dangerous animals and provided impressive horns along with their meat. It is not clear what the bos silvanus is, though. It may be a synonym for either of the other two – more likely the wisent as it lives in forests. However, domestic cattle will go feral quite enthusiastically if allowed, and it is not implausible that there were some around in the less populated corners of Germany.
Blessing #126 has become famous because it is so unexpected. Horse meat, after all, was the only meat forbidden by papal decree since 732 and eating horses was considered the height of barbarism. It appears, though, that from fairly early on, wild horses were exempt from this prohibition.
We then find the chamois and ibex mentioned, both found in the Alpine regions around St Gall specifically. Finally, the list concludes with the hare and marmot. Especially the latter is somewhat out of place. While most of the list would demonstrate the prowess and courage of aristocratic hunters and hares, at least, are fast enough to require marksmanship, marmots are not so much hunted as mined. People dug them up from their burrows while the animals hibernated. Their meat was prized for the thick layer of fat that they developed during autumn, and that is exactly the quality blessing #134 lists.
There is very little to say about preparation here, unfortunately. It is likely that fresh game would be cooked quickly and simply, roasted or boiled, but we cannot be certain about this. Later recipe collections also mention preserved venison and sausages and black puddings made from game. Here, we learn that a crustamina is made of deer (#122). As I explained earlier (see #104) it is not fully clear what crustamina is, but a roast is not an implausible reading. Chamois, we find (#132), is either roasted/fried (assare can mean both) or boiled.
The Benedictiones ad Mensas were produced by Ekkehart IV of St Gall, most likely initially written during his tenure as head of the Mainz cathedral school between 1022 and 1031, but expanded and revised until his death in St Gall in 1057. Theyare a collection of blessings to be spoken over food. Written in short rhyming couplets in Latin, they are unusual in their attention to the diversity of foods and preparations. This is not a serious work of theology or medicine, but an intellectual diversion, playful verse meant to show off a broad vocabulary and facility with Latin. That is what makes them very valuable – they give us a glimpse of the mental horizon of a senior cleric of the 11th century at the table.