The Importance of Color in the Middle Ages

A medieval banquet scene from an illuminated manuscript, where rich colors—red, blue, green, and gold—signaled wealth, virtue, and festal meaning.

The Importance of Color in the Medieval and Renaissance World

Color in the medieval and Renaissance world wasn’t decoration—it was language. Every hue carried meaning, from the virtues on a knight’s shield to the foods on a feast table. This article explores the rich symbolism of color across heraldry, religion, humoral medicine, and banqueting, with a case study of the tawny-hued drink Tannye from Harleian MS. 279. Discover how cooks used spices, herbs, blood, and even saffron to dye their dishes with purpose, and how diners read those colors as signs of faith, fortune, and health.

One recipe in Harleian MS. 279—Tannye—offers a striking example of how color even flavored the kitchen. But first, a quick tour of the period’s color frameworks.

Color Frameworks

Geoffrey Whitney (1585): Everyday Color Associations

For mourners, blacke, for the religious, white,
Which is a sign of conscience pure and free.
The greene agrees with them in hpe that live,
And eeke [also] to youth this colour wee doe give.
The yelowe next, unto the covetous wighte [person],
And unto those whom jelousie doth fret.
The man refus’d, in tannye [tawny] doth delite [delight].

— Geoffrey Whitney, Choice of Emblemes (1585)

Jean Courtois (1420): Armorial Tinctures & Virtues

• Gold (or) — wealth (richesse)
• Silver (argent) — purity (pureté)
• Red (gules) — eminence (haultesse)
• Blue (azure) — loyalty (loyauté)
• Green (vert) — happiness (lyesse)
• Black (sable) — modesty (simplesse)
• Purple (purpure) — abundance of goods (habondance de biens)

The Church: Seven Virtues in Color

• Faith = or (gold)
• Hope = argent (silver)
• Charity = gules (red)
• Justice = azure (blue)
• Fortitude = vert (green)
• Prudence = sable (black)
• Temperance = purpure (purple)

Cosmic & Seasonal Colors

Seasons: Spring = vert; Summer = gules; Autumn = azure; Winter = sable.

Planets: Sun = or; Mars = gules; Moon = argent; Jupiter = azure; Mercury = purpure; Venus = vert; Saturn = sable.

Humors & the Ages of Man

• Humors: Sanguine = gules; Choleric = azure; Phlegmatic = argent; Melancholic = sable.
• Ages: Infancy = argent; Childhood = azure; Adolescence = or; Youth = vert; Maturity = gules; Elderliness = purpure; Decrepitude = sable.

📖 Sidebar: Color & Humoral Dietetics

In period dietetics, color signaled temperament. Sources mapped colors to humors, and humors to qualities:

• Red (gules) — Sanguine — hot & moist: red wine, certain meats; strengthening in moderation.
• Blue (azure) — Choleric — hot & dry: a symbolic pairing found in some sources; true blue foods are rare.
• White (argent) — Phlegmatic — cold & moist: fish, dairy/almond milk; calming during fever or excess heat.
• Black (sable) — Melancholic — cold & dry: dark breads, lentils, very dark sauces; to be balanced carefully.

Feast planning impact: Balance hot vs. cold, light vs. dark—visually and medically.

Color in the Kitchen: A Case Study

Color symbolism extended into food. Many medieval dishes were literally named for their hues—Blancmanger (white dish), Sawse Verde (green sauce), Blak Sauce, and Tannye.

Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430), Cxj. Tannye
“Take almaunde Mylke, & Sugre, an powdere Gyngere, & of Galyngale, & of Canelle, and Rede Wyne, & boyle y-fere: & þat is gode tannye.”

Modern sense: Almond milk, sugar, ginger, galingale, cinnamon, and red wine; heat gently together until just shy of the boil.

🌿 Sidebar: Color in Food Preparation

• Saffron → gold/yellow (wealth, divine light)
• Spinach/parsley juice → green (youth, fertility, hope)
• Madder / alkanet / sandalwood → red (courage, vitality)
• Turnsole / indigo → purple/blue (royalty, temperance)
• Charcoal / burnt bread → black (mourning, modesty)

Names of dishes reflect this priority: color mattered as much as flavor.

🩸 Sidebar: Blood as Color, Binder & Humor

Coloring: deep red to black-brown, symbolizing vitality, courage, sacrifice.

Thickening: proteins bind sauces like eggs; classic in black pudding, Saracen/black sauce, and hare/venison civet.

Humoral view: Blood embodies the sanguine humor (hot & moist). Red dishes were strengthening—fit for winter or warriors—but should be moderated.

Modern substitutions: chicken liver purée; dark wine reductions; beetroot juice/purée for vegetarian cooks.

🍽️ Sidebar: Color in Banquet Symbolism

• Clothing & heraldry: colors signaled status or season (black for mourning; red/gold for weddings).
• Pageantry foods: gilded pies; peacocks re-dressed in feathers; spectacle amplified by color.
• Religious timing: white dishes at Easter; purple in Lent; red on martyrs’ days.

Color wasn’t garnish—it was communication.

Conclusion

Color was a universal language of the late medieval and Renaissance world. It shaped theology, medicine, art, heraldry—and the dining table. A dish like Tannye wasn’t just a drink; it was a statement in tawny, signaling contrition, courage, or even false valor. To cook with color was to cook with meaning.

Appendix: Tannye (Harleian MS. 279)

Ingredients: 3/4 cup almond milk; 2 tsp sugar (or to taste); 1/4 tsp ginger (or 1/2 tsp if no galingale); 1/4 tsp galingale; pinch cinnamon; 1/4 cup red wine.

Method: Combine all in a small pan; heat gently to just below a simmer; serve warm. Cook’s note: gentle heating helps avoid curdling from wine acidity—strain if desired.

Sources

• Geoffrey Whitney, Choice of Emblemes (1585).
• Jean Courtois, Le Blason de toutes armes et escutz (1420).
• Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery Books, Harleian MS. 279; Harleian MS. 4016, ed. Thomas Austin.
• Roy Osborne, Renaissance Colour Symbolism (2015).
• Robert Grosseteste, De Colore (c. 1230s).
• Leon Battista Alberti, De Pictura (1435).

Related reading: See also your articles on heraldry basics, liturgical colors, and medieval dietary theory (link these internally as available).

Labels: Medieval; Renaissance; Historical Reference; Period Techniques; Color Symbolism; Humoral Theory; Feast Planning; Drinks; Harleian MS. 279