Why did clergymen prohibit using forks?

Wielding this cutlery at dinner, modern people do not think that the fork has a long history and a rather thorny path.

Blasphemy, sinfulness and indulgence of the devil - this is the list of what the ministers of the church blame this unfortunate invention for. It is believed that the fork came to Europe in the 11th century. The wife of the Venetian Doge was a Byzantine princess. And she literally shocked the public by using her own fork at the wedding feast. After all, Europeans, even noble ones, used an instrument exclusively donated by nature, that is, their own fingers, for food. The poor woman, in whose homeland the nobility had long used forks, was subjected to an avalanche of criticism.

The churchmen forbade the use of cutlery, arguing that this item is not needed for life. And what you can do without is contrary to Christian canons. When the plague killed that same princess, the monks cheered and rubbed their hands, claiming that the cause of death lay in the use of the devil's pitchfork. After all, the Lord gave man hands. Why philosophize and invent any heresy?

Two different women are mentioned as the heroine of the story with the fork - Theodora Dukain and Maria Argiropulina. The periods are different, but the general message is identical in both cases: both women at different times married the Doge in order to strengthen the military-trade unions of Venice and Constantinople.

Why anger God if any solid food can be put into the mouth in a proven way - with your hands? Europeans of the Middle Ages ate liquid dishes with pewter or wooden spoons, scooping them from a common bowl or cauldron. And as napkins, they used the edge of the tablecloth, even at feasts.

The victory of the fork over darkness and lack of culture

Although the clergy protested violently, the people appreciated the convenience of the cutlery. After all, thanks to forks, one’s hands remained clean. And the fashion for them began to spread gradually. The fashion for forks in France was introduced by Catherine de Medici. By the 17th century, the fork changed its shape, acquired additional teeth and a bend in the handle, and set off to conquer England and the States.

In the 19th century, it firmly took its place on the table and in culture, ceasing to be an instrument of pagan deities and the devil and becoming a useful serving element, without which it is impossible to imagine a modern meal.