one repast; Taillevent mentions pastry called _covered pastry,
Bourbonnaise pastry, double-faced pastry, pear pastry_, and _apple
pastry_; Platina speaks of the _white pastry_ with quince, elder flowers,
rice, roses, chestnuts, &c. The fashion of having pastry is, however, of
very ancient date, for in the book of the "Proverbs" of the thirteenth
century, we find that the pies of Dourlens and the pastry of Chartres were
then in great celebrity.

[Illustration: Fig. 124.--The Table of a Baron, as laid out in the
Thirteenth Century.--Miniature from the "Histoire de St. Graal"
(Manuscript from the Imperial Library, Paris).]

In a charter of Robert le Bouillon, Bishop of Amiens, in 1311, mention is
made of a cake composed of puff flaky paste; these cakes, however, are
less ancient than the firm pastry called bean cake, or king's cake, which,
from the earliest days of monarchy, appeared on all the tables, not only
at the feast of the Epiphany, but also on every festive occasion.

Amongst the dry and sweet pastries from the small oven which appeared at
the _issue de table_, the first to be noticed were those made of almonds,
nuts, &c., and such choice morsels, which were very expensive; then came
the cream or cheesecakes, the _petits choux_, made of butter and eggs; the
_echaudes_, of which the people were very fond, and St. Louis even
allowed the bakers to cook them on Sundays and feast days for the poor;
wafers, which are older than the thirteenth century; and lastly the
_oublies_, which, under the names of _nieules, esterets_, and
_supplications_, gave rise to such an extensive trade that a corporation
was established in Paris, called the _oublayeurs, oublayers,_ or
_oublieux_, whose statutes directed that none should be admitted to
exercise the trade unless he was able to make in one day 500 large
_oublies_, 300 _supplications_, and 200 _esterets_.

Repasts and Feasts.

We have had to treat elsewhere of the rules and regulations of the repasts
under the Merovingian and Carlovingian kings. We have also spoken of the
table service of the thirteenth century (see chapter on "Private Life").
The earliest author who has left us any documents on this curious subject
is that excellent bourgeois to whom we owe the "Menagier de Paris." He
describes, for instance, in its fullest details, a repast which was given
in the fourteenth century by the Abbe de Lagny, to the Bishop of Paris,
the President of the Parliament, the King