ABSTRACT
Rhetorical skills to be shown during a feast will be the main focus of this chapter, subdued to the virtues of temperance and affability. As a matter of fact, table manner treatises – labelled as “courtly literature” – also consider the conversation at the table. This is due to the fact that conversation was one of the fundamental elements with which to cultivate education among diners and, therefore, it had a direct implication in the creation of new spaces of sociability. This contribution aims to show the development of rhetorical capabilities in the framework of a banquet from monastic environment towards secular courts.
