Stefan's Florilegium

13-14C-Eng-Fd-art

13-14C-Eng-Fd-art - 2/13/20

"A Survey of Food in Late 13th and Early 14th Century England" by HL Eulalia Piebakere.  With a wonderful set of appendixes of illuminations.

NOTE: See also the files: 14C-Fingerfds-art, Lenten-Diet-art, Medv-Fd-Myths-art, Period-Pies-art, Rec-Medv-Lent-art, ckbks-13th-C-msg, fd-England-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was added to this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium, with the permission of the author.

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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You can find more work by this author on her webpage at:

http://www.medievalyork.com

A Survey of Food in Late 13th and Early 14th Century England

by HL Eulalia Piebakere, AoA, JdL, GdS

This project grew out of my desire to figure out "what Eulalia would have eaten." My aim is to give a snapshot of food in a particular time and place, namely late thirteenth (and early fourteenth) century England. Focusing on primary sources (recipe collections, other contemporary writing, the archeological record, etc.), I will give an overview of the foodstuffs available and food production, cooking and preparation, and evidence for feasting and eating. As diet was determined by social status, each topic is, wherever possible, broken down by social class, generally split into rural peasants, town‐dwellers, and the elite (land owners, wealthy merchants, some clergy, etc.) with religious orders treated separately when possible.

Scope

I have wherever possible limited my research to the years 1250‐1350; in cases where I have presented evidence from outside this timescale, I have noted this.

Discussion of Sources

As mentioned above, this project is a synthesis of several strands of evidence, including both archeological and written sources. For archeological evidence, I have relied heavily on the analyses presented in Food in Medieval England: Diet and Nutrition edited by C.M. Woolgar et al. Additionally, I have included my own analysis of some of finds from medieval York described by the York Archeological Society.

Written sources include translations of two culinary manuscripts (Hieatt and Jones 1986), one dating to the late thirteenth century (after 1272) and the other dating to approximately 1320‐1340. Together these represent "the earliest English culinary recipes" (ibid); I would encourage those with an interest in historical English food to compare the recipes in these collections to those in some of the more famous later culinary collections (such as Forme of Cury). For this paper, I have analyzed the ingredients listed and cooking techniques described in all of the recipes in these two manuscripts (and I have largely treated them together as a single source). As with all historical cookbooks, these recipes represent elite practice.

While using contemporary fiction as a source for culinary research is hazardous, I have included some discussion of the thirteenth century romance "King Horn." (Tiffin) This romance is based on earlier source material (the twelfth century "Romance of the Horn"), further problematizing any interpretation of the food references therein. It is my general contention that references to food in medieval literature can be used to assert some of the cultural roles of food in medieval society, for example in "King Horn" hunting is mentioned in the context of high‐status individuals, and feasting is associated with significant events and proscribed social roles.

Available Foods and Food Production

Any discussion of English food must, I believe, start with an analysis of the ingredients available. English cuisine remains highly regional, and is at its heart a passionate display of high‐quality, locally‐produced foods. Indeed, in their introduction to Two Anglo­Norman Cookbooks, Hieatt and Jones mention that the recipes in these manuscripts make use of fruits and flowers not found in French recipes dating to the same time period. Even from this early date, when English aristocratic culture was largely a French culture, English food was uniquely English. What were the foods that made a recipe English?

Across social groups, the English diet was based on grains. Up to 80 percent of a harvest‐ worker's calories came from grains; for a soldier, 78 percent, and for the lay nobility, 65‐70 percent (Stone). Ale, porridge, and a variety of breads consisting of different blends and qualities of grains were eaten, with specific types of bread consumed varying by social standing. In England, the climate and soil in most parts of the country made growing wheat difficult, so other grains such as barley, oats, and rye, as well as legumes, were widely grown (Hammond; Woolgar et al; Bennett). Bread made from wheat flour only, therefore, was the most desirable (and expensive), while less desirable breads eaten by the lower classes were made from these other crops. The importance of bread in the diet is indicated in part by the Assize of Bread, introduced during the thirteenth century to regulate prices (Halsall).

Meat consumption and availability also varied by class. Rural peasants ate a great deal of mutton, and rather less beef, most likely selling their choice stock to urban centers and eating the less desirable older animals. The urban diet was relatively diverse in terms of meat. Cows and sheep (as well as lambs and calves) were brought into towns, and "specialist traders" sold fish and fowl. The dairy industry, incidentally, was booming during this period. The elite ("estate centres, religious houses, manor houses, and castles") consumed less beef and mutton than other sectors of society, presumably as these meats were low‐status due to being widely available and consumed by the poor. Instead, "[t]he upper ranks of society were able to command greater variety in their diet, consuming larger quantities of pork, poultry, fish, and game." Additionally, the elite ate both young animals (lamb and veal) and older animals. Remains from older animals are more prevalent at "high‐status sites," however it is possible that these remains represent food fed to servants/retainers/lower‐status household members rather than the high‐status individuals. (Sykes)

Pigs were broadly consumed by all classes of society, and an important source of dietary fat in an era when most animals were leaner than today. Pig meat stores well, and lower classes would have consumed preserved pork exclusively (both to the exclusion of fresh pork and of other meats), i.e. bacon and ham; while peasants ate a predominately vegetarian diet, the meat they did eat was pork. (Note that this is in contrast to Sykes' conclusions above.) Beef was the meat most commonly eaten (across social classes), with pork the second most common. Pigs can either be fattened via pannage (foraging on woodland products in fall and winter) or in sties. Preliminary evidence from isotope analysis and tooth microwear suggests that stall‐fed animals predominated in towns, while in rural contexts animals were foraging/rooting. Pig husbandry was also more self‐sufficient than other animal husbandry activities, and few pigs ever made it to market.

However, pork in towns was brought in from elsewhere, and surplus meat in rural areas would have been sold in urban markets. Most pigs would have been slaughtered at "rising two" but there is some variation (including very occasional consumption of suckling pigs as a delicacy). (Albarella)

Patterns of consumption of domesticated fowl varied by social class. While chickens were eaten "by all classes of society throughout the period" (Serjeantson), capons and pullets were restricted to more wealthy households. Geese were found in villages and on manors, but not in towns, and evidence of duck consumption is scant (ibid). Dovecotes are well‐ represented in the archeological record and are found at multiple types of sites, yet pigeon bones are infrequent in food bone assemblages (ibid). Peafowl were kept in captivity and their remains have been found at high‐status sites, towns, and religious houses (ibid).

Game and hunting played an extremely important social role in the lives of the elite. In King Horn, there are two mentions of hunting, and in both it is the king who hunts (Tiffin, see lines 364‐365 and 649‐650). Available game included deer, boar, hare/rabbit, and a multitude of birds. Wild birds in particular appear to have been a status symbol, with bones of many types of wild bird being found with other food bones at high‐status sites (Serjeantson).

The significance of fish in the medieval diet cannot be overstated. Freshwater and saltwater fish were widely consumed, as was preserved fish (like the ubiquitous salted cod and stockfish), and fish consumption was tied closely to religious belief and practice. Marine fish (predominately herring and white‐fleshed fish like cod) and anadromous salmon and eels were preserved (by salting or smoking), while freshwater fish were not (Serjeantson and Woolgar). The demand for freshwater fish was sufficient to warrant the construction of fishponds, primarily for the luxury market (ibid).

In looking at Serjeantson and Woolgar's analysis of the relative abundance of conger eel, cod, ling, and hake at selected thirteenth and fourteenth century sites, I conclude that urban sites have reduced diversity, with cod represented far more than other taxa (in some cases, to the exclusion of other taxa). By contrast, data from household records of Joan de Valence, Countess of Pembroke, during the years 1295‐7 list the following marine creatures: herring, shad, smelt, sprat, cod, dried fish, stockfish, haddock, hake, whiting, conger, dory, gurnard, mackerel, mullet, sea bream, flounders, sole, plaice, turbot, ray, mussels, oysters, whelks, crevices (possibly crayfish), and creye (crustacea). (ibid) As would be predicted, those of reduced means were limited to a few types of fish, namely long‐storing preserved cod, while the wealthy had access to an abundance of fish and seafood.

Fishing is mentioned in King Horn, and both nets and lines are used figuratively (Tiffin, see lines 663‐668, 685‐686, 729‐730, and 1142‐1158). In looking at the archeological finds from York, fish bones suggest a change from greater freshwater fish consumption (in the Anglo‐Scandinavian period) to marine fish in the medieval period; that said, fishing equipment recovered (which includes both hooks and net sinkers) shows evidence of both marine and river fishing (Ottaway and Rogers).

Dairy consumption patterns shifted during this time period; sheep dairying was a significant economic activity in the thirteenth century, but later diminished with the shift to wool production (and away from all‐purpose sheep breeds), while cattle dairies became more widespread in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Woolgar). Milk was typically converted to butter and cheese for storage. Some cheeses were highly regarded and consumed by high‐status individuals; Edward I for example had special cheese coffers, and there are thirteenth century records of French cheeses being imported and sold in various parts of England (ibid). During the thirteenth century, cheese was sold both on a small‐scale (typically by women out of the home) and on a larger scale (by male cheesemongers) (ibid).

Peasants who owned livestock most likely produced and consumed their own dairy products, but the quarter to half of all peasants who did not own livestock may not have had access to dairy; villeins who owed harvest labor to the lord would often receive cheese as part of their boon (ibid). Eggs would likely have also been widely consumed, even by peasants and town‐dwellers, and there is some evidence for prolonging the laying period of hens from at least as early as the twelfth century (Serjeantson)

Gardens and garden produce played an important role across social groups. While town dwellers obtained the bulk of their food from agrarian areas outside of towns; individuals could buy foods from grocers, fishmongers, butchers, bakers, and small‐scale (generally female) food sellers known as "hucksters" (McIntosh). Additionally, city dwellers of even small means typically had gardens, providing them with fresh produce (Dyer). Garden products included beans, hemp, onions, garlic, leeks, cabbages, apples, pears, walnuts, cherries, grapes, roses, flax, and most likely other fruits and vegetables (ibid). The agricultural tools found at York sites could have been used for this type of gardening; additionally, there was both a common garden and often a garden for the vicar within the college precinct at Bedern. The agricultural tools dating to my period of interest featured are two iron spade‐sheaths and a pruning hook. The spade‐sheaths would have been used on the edge of a wooden shovel blade to prevent wear. The pruning hook is incomplete, and may or may not have been used on food‐bearing plants. (Ottoway and Rogers)

Fruits and vegetables figured prominently in the diets of "the less privileged sections of society" (Dyer), with peasants growing fruits such as apples and pears in particular.

Peasants may actually have drunk more cider than ale, as cider would have been able to be produced more readily on a small home scale. Additionally, when peasants retired and left their holdings to an heir, they would typically specify that part of a garden, in particular fruit trees or a share of the fruit (or cider) was to be reserved for their continuing use. The elite also highly regarded fruits, which were often eaten at Christmas. (ibid) In addition to garden produce, medieval people also would have collected wild fruits and nuts, including "bilberry, bramble, hazel, rose‐hips, sloe, rowan and service berries, and hawthorn" (Moffett).

A complete list of plant remains from the archeological record can be seen in the following chart:

Table 1: Plant remains (predominately seeds) found at six sites (Leicester, Chester, Upwich, Beverley, Newcastle, and Bristol) dating from the 11th  through fifteenth centuries (after Moffett)

Note: Newcastle assemblage is 13th­fifteenth centuries; no other assemblage dated later than 14th century. Many plants are found across multiple sites.

Notes from the author: Figs and grapes were most likely imported (in dried form), and both peaches and walnuts may also have been imported rather than produced locally.

*Single seed found at Newcastle.

Evidence from the archeological record can be supplemented by and compared to written evidence. Foods mentioned in King Horn are limited to wine, fish, ale, meat, and corn (grain), while the foods found in the two culinary manuscripts of this time period (Hieatt and Jones 1986) are much more numerous:

Table 2: Foods (Ingredients) Listed in Two Anglo­Norman Cookbooks (Hieatt and Jones)

Table 2 (continued)

Taken together, a picture emerges of a rich and varied diet across social classes, based on locally grown or wild‐harvested foods supplemented with (for the elite) imported goods.

Cooking Techniques and Food Preparation

The archeological record can indirectly provide evidence for preparation techniques through finds of tools. Finds from York include an incredible variety of knives (suggesting well‐developed specialized uses, at least some of which must have been food‐related), querns (which date to the twelfth century and earlier, after which they fell out of use), mortars and pestles, and hearth‐related equipment (Ottaway and Rogers).

Mortars were found at all of the York sites, with the earliest finds (and the only pestle) dating from the thirteenth century; mortars are believed to have been an innovation of the thirteenth century, superceding the use of rotary querns. Those found at York sites were made from limestone (many from local limestone), and were designed to be set on a tabletop with both hands used to operate the pestle. The bases have differing degrees of roughness, likely corresponding to the food intended to be ground. Only one stone pestle has been definitively identified, and the general consensus is that pestles were made of wood (this is supported by an illustration in the Luttrell psalter). (ibid)

Hearth‐related equipment found at York includes a fleshhook dated to the twelfth or thirteenth century that would have had a wooden handle attached. A strike‐a‐light that resembles one found in London dated 1270‐1350 was also found, as was an iron shovel dating to the thirteenth‐fourteenth centuries. Iron shovels were used in contexts where a hot fire made a wooden shovel untenable, e.g. in a hearth or baker's oven. Numerous S‐ hooks were also found which would have had multiple uses (hanging pots, butchered carcasses, etc.) (ibid) Many of these finds came from a Coppergate site that has been tentatively identified as having been a bakery or malting house during this period; this would imply that these are tools used by professionals, not necessarily in private dwellings. Other tools came from Bedern, which was the site of a college throughout this period; this further supports analysis that these tools were specific to large‐scale kitchens.

More precise evidence of cooking techniques is found in the written record, in particular the two contemporary cookbooks here examined. I went through the recipes in these two manuscripts and tabulated each of the techniques described. Overall, the most common techniques are grinding or crushing (in a mortar), adding color (or foods specified as being a specific color), and boiling or cooking in a liquid. These techniques are fuel‐conservative, which is in line with what we know of medieval cooking generally. Crushing or grinding food may have also been used to blend ingredients with different humoral properties, with smaller pieces putting different ingredients in closer contact and offering a greater balance. (For more on humoral theory as it applies to cooking, see Galen.) Coloring food added visual interest and may have acted as a display of wealth.

Even sorting techniques broadly, my analysis resulted in twenty two distinct categories of preparation methods in these two short sources. I would argue that this offers strong

evidence of a sophisticated food culture. Each category has its own subset of distinct terms, further evidence that medieval English cookery was advanced and subtle. See Table 3 for a complete list of these categories and terms.

Table 3: An analysis of the recipes in British Library Manuscripts Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.xii (reprinted and translated in Hieatt and Jones: "Two Anglo‐Norman Culinary Collections…")

Feasting and Eating

Examination of the visual record can give some insight into the thirteenth and fourteenth century table, although most illuminations feature religious scenes, which may complicate interpretation. Overall these images show dishes of food being shared amongst diners, bread laid on the table, jugs or other containers most likely containing drink, sometimes knives ready to hand, and sometimes servants presenting or carving foods.

A number of pieces of tableware were found at York. Of the abundance of knives, many would have been used at the table. A copper alloy spoon with a leaf‐shaped bowl was found, which matches spoons from the late thirteenth to the early fourteenth centuries. Metal spoons were typically made of pewter or lead/tin, and were relatively rare in the medieval period (wooden spoons being much more common). Wooden spoons generally do not persist in the archeological record, but one wooden spoon (dating to the mid to late thirteenth century) was found at York. A copper alloy sheet bowl was also found and has been tentatively dated to the early thirteenth century. (Ottaway and Rogers)

A relatively large quantity of glass fragments were found at York; glass finds at medieval English sites are restricted to high‐status sites in prosperous areas of towns, religious sites, castles, palaces, and manors. Although some glasswares were produced in England, the pieces found at York can be linked to production centers on the continent, in particular in Germany and France. Identifiable fragments from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries include painted beakers, a greenish footed goblet, a yellow high‐lead goblet, a unique and highly decorated blue bowl, a yellow high‐lead pouring flask or jug, and multiple containers with little decoration that may have been used as bowls, cups, or lanterns. These glass table vessels were likely only used by important persons, and may further have been shared by multiple diners at once. (Ottaway and Rogers)

There are a number of descriptions of feasting in King Horn, which I have included below. Keeping in mind the problems in extrapolating contemporary practice from this literary piece, the image that emerges is of a social code governing feasting. The young Horn is to be trained in carving and serving as part of his upbringing, Rymenhild's serving of wine and ale appears to follow carefully constructed rules and norms, social and community occasions are specifically marked with feasts, and feasts may feature some form of entertainment; all of this taken together implies that a feast consists of more than just food, namely it is the social elements which convert a meal to a feast.

Excerpt: Lines from King Horn (trans. Tiffin) dealing with feasting:

(Starting at line 231) "Steward, now take here

my foundling, to instruct him about your occupation,

and wood and river, and teach him to harp with his fingernails, to carve before me,

and to serve the cup. …"

(Starting at line 371) Athelbrus went from her. He found Horn in the hall, in front of the king at table, in order to pour wine.

(Starting at line 525) Merry was the feast,

and with fair entertainments ‐ but Rymenhild was not there,

and it seemed like seven years to her.

(Starting at line 1113) Rymenhild rose from the table in order to pour wine,

after meat in the hall, both wine and ale.

One horn she carried in her hand, as the custom was in that land.

Knights and squires all drank of the beer; but Horn alone

had no share of it.

Horn sat upon the ground; his thoughts bound up.

He said, "Gracious queen, turn towards me;

give to us among the first; the beggars are athirst." Her horn she laid down,

and filled, from a brown bowl, his bowl a gallon full;

for she thought he was a glutton.

She said, "Have this cup and this other thing with it. I never saw, so I believe,

a beggar who was so bold." Horn gave it to his companion and said, "Queen so dear, wine is not my desire

except out of a white cup. You think I am a beggar, and I am a fisherman come very far to the east to fish at your feast.

My net lies here, at hand at a fair shore.

It has lain there fully seven years.

I have come to see

if it has taken any fish.

I have come here to fish;

I will drink nothing from any dish ‐ I will drink to Horn from a horn.

From far have I travelled." Rymenhilde looked at him; her heart began to chill.

She did knew nothing of his fishing nor anything of Horn himself.

For wonder she thought

why he bade her drink to Horn. She filled her horn with wine and drank to the pilgrim.

She said, "Drink your fill and then tell me truthfully if ever you saw

Horn in the woods."

Horn drank a while from the horn and threw the ring into the bottom.

He said, "Queen, now seek what is in your drink."

(Starting on line 1221) "Rymenhilde," he said, "I will go down to the end of the wood; there my knights are

ready to fight;

armed under their clothes, they shall anger

the King and his guests who come to the feast. Today I shall teach them and sorely strike them."

(Starting on line 1250) All who were inside except his twelve friends and King Aylmar,

he made them all sorry they were at the feast; they left their lives there.

(Starting on line 1265) Horn went with his men to the king's palace; there was a bridal feast for rich men to eat there.

No tongue can tell

the joy that was sung there.

(Starting on line 1395)

He came to his mother's hall in a wall of rock.

He had corn carried and a merry feast made.

(Starting on line 1443) He took her by night into his new fortress. He began the feast before the sun rose.

Conclusions

The food culture of England in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries was overall well‐developed.

An abundance of ingredients was available, and while persons of lower social standing and economic means were more restricted in the variety of their diet, between foods that could be produced on a small‐scale at home or readily purchased most people had access to adequate food with adequate variety. Across social classes the diet was based on grain products (i.e. bread). The peasant diet most likely was largely vegetarian (with the addition of stockfish and whenever possible preserved meats) and was supplemented heavily with garden produce and, when available, eggs and dairy. Town dwellers had access to a variety of foods that were brought into towns to be sold, both in raw and prepared form, as well as in many cases having a garden that supplied produce; some town dwellers further augmented their food supply through the keeping of pigs and chickens. Wealthy individuals had a much greater variety of foodstuffs available, including young animals, specialty cheeses, wild birds and other game, and imported goods like spices and wine.

Sophisticated culinary practices had developed by this time period, at least among those who cooked for the elite, with dishes that were elaborately spiced and colored. Feasting was also an important social practice for the elite, marking specific occasions with a meal and merriment.