have you been to a scriptorium?

the scriptorium, this is the place to write

scribes often spent their entire life in an ill-lit scriptorium. the manuscript-writing was a laborious process that could damage one's health. this is a complained in the tenth century:

Only try to do it yourself and you will learn how arduous is the writer's task. It dims your eyes, makes your back ache, and knits your chest and belly together. It is a terrible ordeal for the whole body. 

the director of a monastic scriptorium was the armarius, who provided the scribes with their materials and supervised the copying process. the armarius also played the censor (not all books are permitted).

to break the monotony, scribes had the habit of drinking after a long and tedious session. they often drank piment. 

here's the recipe: 

it serves 12 to 16. 

2 litres or 3.5 pints or 8.75 cups of red wine

6oz of white sugar

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

0.75 tablespoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of ground cloves

1 teaspoon of marjoram (fresh is best)

1 teaspoon of ground cardamom

1 teaspoon of ground black pepper

a pinch of ground galingale (if available)

the original recipe calls for long pepper, grains of paradise and spikenard all of which are virtually unobtainable today but this recipe will produce a cheering and warming drink with a good spicy medieval flavor. 

warm the wine until just beginning to steam. add the sugar and allow to dissolve. mix all the spices and herbs together and stir HALF of this mixture into the wine. while you will probably need most if not all of this mixture, tastes vary and you should now taste the wine and add more of the mixture until the taste is to your liking. simmer the wine mixture gently for 10 minutes and then strain it through a jelly bag (this may take several hours). bottle the wine when it is cold and cork securely. drink within a week.