The first one is more subtle, but he's even more brazen.

"For you must know that without Ceres and Bacchus Apollo grows cold."

Ceres is the goddess of fertility. Bacchus the god of booze.

Yeah that's the one I was referencing. Ceres is also the goddess of agriculture and grains, so I figured he was asking for beer (Ceres) and wine (Bacchus).

Although your interpretation of Ceres would make this a much more interesting thing to write home to dad about.

Of worthy note: "In the year 1400 he penned this imaginary letter from a student to his father:"

So that particular letter was a parody?

Yes, that one was, although it's still medieval.

Though parodies and satires still offer you an insight into the lives and state of minds of people back then.

That's the Eustache Deschamps one. The first one, which the article doesn't attribute and doesn't claim is imaginary, also makes a veiled reference via Bacchus, though.

You have to keep in mind that in the time period in question beer or weak wine was what you drank when you were thirsty a lot of the time. Safe drinking water was hard to come by.