Article
French
ID: <
10670/1.pzmbsb>
Abstract
The municipal archives of Toulouse possess a series of supporting documents concerning municipal accounts from the years 1403 to 1790. This documentary evidence of payment produced by the various Capitouls’ treasurers, informs us about purchases made on the occasion of several different types of meals: applying not only to the annual banquets of the city, gatherings of the consuls, municipal staff and members of the urban elite; but also to a series of dinners and suppers offered in the 1460s, on the occasion of meetings intended to establish the basis and scales of royal taxes. And finally, there are records of meals procured for the consuls over a period of several months (four separate occasions from 1444 to 1470), during their detention in the Town Hall for having refused to collect royal taxes. These meals form an invaluable source of information regarding the diet of municipal elites, both in everyday life and during banquets, which were by definition, special occasions. Moreover, meals associating the consuls and their subordinates provide a comparison with the diet of lower social groups.