Food and the middle ages

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe study of food in the middle ages attracted much interest among antiquarians from the eighteenth century on. New perspectives came with the growth of social and economic history. Over the last two decades, re-evaluations of historical sources, along with contributions from other disciplines, especially archaeology, the archaeological sciences, anthropology and sociology, have changed the possibilities for this area of research. The study of cooking, of cuisine and its cultural context, as much as food production and the material conditions of life, is now central to developing our understanding of consumption. This paper explores new possibilities for the study of taste and demotic cuisine, food and virtue, the association of women with food, and the role of food in society and in cultural change.It is hardly surprising that food is ubiquitous in our sources for the middle ages; what is less expected is that interest in food in the past has not been more in the mainstream of study in history or in related disciplines. There are now ample signs that this is changing and historians expect to consider a wide range of topics intimately connected to food: the place of fasting and feasting; the relationship with virtue and religion; taboos; physical arrangements for cooking, along with the development and training of cooks; the role of gastronomy, the development of taste and specialised food products; food grammar d the structure and timing of meals; food preservation and marketing; technological change and new foods; famine and glut; group diets, regional and wider food cultures; seasonality, wild foods and hunting; and connections to nutrition and to demography. It is a list easily susceptible to expansion. With it have come important developments in the availability and use of evidence, and an interest in the interpretative models of cognate disciplines. *

An environmental (pre)history of European fishing: past and future archaeological contributions to sustainable fisheries

“…One plausible interpretation is that wild freshwater fishes were under pressure by the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries CE, with increasing catches thereafter due to increased effort despite decreasing availability. This interpretation is justified by historical evidence for the emergence of an increasingly elite monopoly on freshwater fish consumption and of a new emphasis on aquaculture to meet this aristocratic demand (Dyer, ; Serjeantson & Woolgar, ; Woolgar, ). It is also supported by a reduction in the size of freshwater and diadromous fish species consumed in York during the 11th century CE (Harland et al, ).…”

Deciduous enamel 3D microwear texture analysis as an indicator of childhood diet in medieval Canterbury, England

“…Human diet during the 11 th to 16 th century in medieval England is best understood for adults, higher status families, or 'closed-communities' such as monastic settlements (Dyer, 2000: 83;Slavin, 2012: 8;Woolgar, 2010). Knowledge of childhood diet during this period is generally more limited because it was not a focus for medieval writers.…”

Quantitative diet reconstruction of a Neolithic population using a Bayesian mixing model (FRUITS): The case study of Ostorf (Germany)

“…There are, however, historical analogues that show that a diet rich in protein is compatible with a caloric intake predominantly from plant foods. For instance, it is well‐known from historical records that medieval Europeans often had a high protein intake from meat and fish while foods produced from cereals (e.g., bread, ale) were the main source of energy (Dyer, ; Harvey, ; Woolgar, ). Fish consumption was particularly high during the medieval period and isotope analysis of medieval individuals often shows values similar to those observed in the Ostorf individuals (e.g.…”