Now that the skeleton of the last Plantagenet King, Richard
III, has been located (beneath a car park in Leicester), we can ponder what he
ate for his last meal.
It was probably breakfast. He had a long day ahead, what
with having to do battle and all. In 1485, you weren’t excused from the gory
part of ruling just because you were the King. There was no “get out of battle
free” card just because you had numbers after your name. And to make matters
worse, as the King, you were a rather obvious mark, especially when you had to
wear a special target on your head (a circlet — a small crown) so that the
enemy could identify you more easily.
Perhaps he was feeling a tad nervous and had an anxious
tummy. Chances are he had a nice plate of cryppys to fortify him for the task
ahead. People had been eating cryppys for a long time. Richard III wanted to
continue to eat cryppys for a long time yet.
Sadly, for Richard III, he got the cryppys beat out of him
on Bosworth Field. Specifically, he had the back of his head hacked off.
Clearly, Henry Tudor didn’t want to waffle about. The House of Plantagenet may
have been left in the dust, but the International House of Pancakes carried on,
so that we can all enjoy eating some cryppys in the morning.
This recipe is from a book compiled in 1390, nearly 100
years before Richard III died.
The Forme Of Cury, 1390
