Fig. 5a, 5b, 5c / Quote 2 / Recipe 2
“Fumus est color niger, si cum ab igne candele sepi vel cere, vel a lampadis lumine exit, colligatur, qui aliter fuscus, et aliter fuligo nominatur.”[1]
[1] “Fumus [smoke] is a black color when it is collected as soon as it emerges from the fire of a tallow or wax candle, or from the flame of a lamp, and which is sometimes called fuscus, sometimes fuligo.”. In: Le Begue. 1431. BnF MS Latin 6741: fol. 6v, table of synonyms. Transcribed in: In: Merrifield. 1849. Original Treatises, Dating from the XIIth to the XVIIIth Centuries, Vol. 1: p. 27. Translated by I. Bartusch, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften.
The cheaper version of wax candles were candles made from tallow. For centuries, tallow candles and oil lamps constituted transportable sources of light, affordable even for common people. They were notorious for their unpleasant smell. Specific tallow-chandlers guilds were formed in European cities from the thirteenth century onwards, for instance, The Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers which was established in London around 1300. [1] Tallow candles were sold by candle merchants but could also be easily made at home.
The tallow is prepared by heating pieces of animal fat like beef- or mutton tallow, goat fat or suet for several hours, until they are fully melted. The resulting liquid is strained through a sieve to remove impurities. Liquid tallow could be filled in a fireproof bowl containing a wick made from tow or waste yarn, and would congeal at room temperature.[2] Another method was to dip a wick repeatedly into the warm, liquid tallow, building up the candle to the size and thickness wanted.
It is strange that, despite their widespread use, just a few recipes refer to tallow candles. Le Begue (1431) specifies soot from tallow candles from that of wax candles under the lemma fumus in his table of synonyms at the commencement of his manuscript.[3] A fifteenth-century German recipe refers to lights made from Unschlitt (tallow), but not for soot production, but only as a source of heat to melt frankincense to obtain soot.[4]
[1] The Tallow Chandlers’ Company, https://www.tallowchandlers.org/about-us/our-history, last visited 16 Dec. 2020.
[2] For a reconstruction of medieval tallow lights, see tutorial: Light into the darkness – making tallow for lights, https://wh1350.at/en/tutorials-en-all/light-into-the-darkness-making-tallow-for-lights/
[3] Le Begue. 1431. BnF MS Latin 6741: fol. 6v, table of synonyms.
[4] Liber illuministarum. 1450 / 1500-1512. Munich, Staatsbibliothek, MS. Germ. 821: fol. 28r, 28v, 143r. In: Bartl et al. 2005. Der “Liber illuministarum” aus Kloster Tegernsee: p. 93, 267.
[1] The Tallow Chandlers’ Company, https://www.tallowchandlers.org/about-us/our-history, last visited 16 Dec. 2020.
[2] For a reconstruction of medieval tallow lights, see tutorial: Light into the darkness – making tallow for lights, https://wh1350.at/en/tutorials-en-all/light-into-the-darkness-making-tallow-for-lights/
[2] For a reconstruction of medieval tallow lights, see tutorial: Light into the darkness – making tallow for lights, https://wh1350.at/en/tutorials-en-all/light-into-the-darkness-making-tallow-for-lights/
[2] For a reconstruction of medieval tallow lights, see tutorial: Light into the darkness – making tallow for lights, https://wh1350.at/en/tutorials-en-all/light-into-the-darkness-making-tallow-for-lights/