| Vulnerati Non Victi | |
|---|---|
| Date of formation: | 1482 |
| Company association: | Cooks and food |
| Order of precedence: | 35 |
| Motto: | Vulnerati Non Victi |
| Website: | www.cookslivery.org.uk |
The Worshipful Company of Cooks of London is the smallest of the Livery Companies of the City of London.
The Company received its Royal Charter in 1482.
Its origins can be traced back to the 12th Century, founded from two guilds of cooks in medieval London - the Cooks of Eastcheap and the Cooks of Bread Street.
As you would expect from a Company whose roots can be traced back to 1170, the Worshipful Company of Cooks has a rich and colourful history from the earliest records of Cooks in the Middle Ages and their control of the craft until the 19th Century to the Company’s current charitable works.
The Cooks Company is no longer an association of tradesmen in its original sense of control; yet, its membership today still includes craft tradesmen, and its actvities engage with a broad range of organisations associated with cooking.[1] The Company's purpose in contemporary times has come to rest in a public search for the common good, to contribute as effectively as it can to the pursuit of a good society - to be socially useful. It does this through four principal objectives that translate its origins, history, traditions, affiliations, and activities into meaningful outcomes for today's world:
The Cooks' Company ranks thirty-fifth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies.
Its motto is Vulnerati Non Victi, Latin for Wounded not Conquered.
1. A new history of the Company, written by Dr Alan Borg, was published in 2011: A History of the Worshipful Company of Cooks of London