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A mancipe was responsible for purchasing and storing food for institutions in the Middle Ages. The word originates from the Latin word for a slave who had been bought. Some Oxford and Cambridge colleges still have manciples, and the word is occasionally used to describe certain food management jobs. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales features a manciple who tells a cautionary tale about the dangers of vicious storytelling. Mancipe Street in London is named after Chaucer’s work.
In the Middle Ages, a mancipe was the person responsible for purchasing and storing food for an institution, such as a college or monastery. He may also have had a role in preparing the food. The word notably arises in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, which appears to be an early example of its use. Manciple Street, in one of the oldest parts of London, is part of a group of streets, including Prioress Street and Pilgrimage Street, named after Chaucer’s work. Despite its archaic origins, the word is still occasionally used to describe certain food management jobs.
Some of the Oxford and Cambridge colleges have staff called manciples. In 2010, Saint Edmund’s College, Cambridge advertised the opening of a mancipe which would be responsible for overseeing the provision of regular meals and the catering of special events. Job duties also included supervising general housekeeping and maintenance and assisting in the development of health and safety policies.
In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a gratuity for one of the inns of court belongs to the company of pilgrims who tell stories as they travel. In the prologue of the work, the mancipium reveals himself to be an intelligent but unscrupulous man. He is able to fool the lawyers who hire him because they don’t notice a man they believe is inferior to themselves. He tells the story of a raven who told the god Apollo that his wife was unfaithful to him. Apollo’s final response is to curse the crow whose gossip has caused him so much pain.
Mancipe tells his story following a fight with the drunken cook, whom the head of the company warns Mancipe against offending. The host reminds the manciple that the cook could get him into trouble if the manciple tells a rude story about cooks. The tale seems to warn of the dangers of vicious storytelling, whether the stories are true or not.
The English word manciple comes from the Middle English word maunciple, which is the form of the word used by Chaucer. Its earliest recorded use is in the 13th century Ancrene Riwle or Guide for Anchoresses. The word ultimately comes from the Classical Latin mancipium, which referred to a slave, a person who had been bought. Mancipium became the medieval Latin manceps which added the concept of food purchaser to the definition.
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