My guest on The British Food History Podcast today is historian Mark Truesdale, scholar of the fifteenth-century King and Commoner tradition and its early modern afterlife and author of The King and Commoner Tradition: Carnivalesque Politics in Medieval and Early Modern Literature, published by Routledge.

We talk about medieval carnival, the plot of a king and commoner tale, spying foresters, rude monks, the love of eating tiny birds, who the audience might be, and the ridiculousness of baking a venison pasty in Sherwood Forest – amongst many other things.

Those listening to the secret podcast can hear about Henry VIII’s love of Robin Hood tales, cowardly herons, and Mark tells me who the king in these tales may (or may not) be referring to.

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast, and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The King and Commoner Tradition: Carnivalesque Politics in Medieval and Early Modern Literature by Mark Truesdale

Mark’s article The Medieval Robin Hood: Folk Carnivals and Ballads on Folklore Thursday

My blog post about King Alfred burning the cakes

The Great Household in Late Medieval England by C.M. Woolgar

Robin Hood and Other Outlaw Tales

Sentimental and Humorous Romances

Ten Bourdes

Serve it Forth website - You can still receive 25% off the ticket price using the code SERVE25 at the checkout!

Serve it Forth Eventbrite page

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