MedievalAuthor
Historical fiction by Jean L Gorman
  • About the Chronicles
    • The Queen's Knight
    • At the King's Pleasure
    • About Richard the Lionheart
  • Mediaeval Castles
    • Border Castles
    • Grosmont and Skenfrith
    • Goodrich Castle
    • White Castle
    • Ludlow
    • Rochford
    • Raglan
    • Mediaeval Isle of Wight
    • Brecon Area
  • Mediaeval Life
    • Jousting
    • The battle of Mortimers Cross
    • Mediaeval Craft
    • Mediaeval Weaponry
    • Mediaeval Armour
    • Mediaeval Gunnery
  • About Me
    • Travels Through France
    • Contact Me

So what COULD one eat?

22/9/2014

 
Picture
Meat, meat, meat if you were rich enough. Otherwise, turnips, cabbage, oats, barley, wheat, apples, plums, elderberries and wild garlic. Nothing of which inspires me! The meat led to horrible intestinal problems for the rich, so they died just as early as the poor. Henry 11 a case in point.

Easier to say what one could NOT eat. There were of course no New World vegetables. No potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers, peanuts, beans, sunflower seeds, squash, sweet potatoes and worst of all no chocolate. 

No swede - some advantages after all. No African fruit so no melons. Dates, coffee, oranges and lemons were brought back by Crusaders,
Other things were not eaten much as they had not been developed to a size we know today. Carrots for one. They had the disadvantage of the plant's resemblance to Hemlock, a deadly poison.

Honey was used for sweetening. Hives had to be destroyed to harvest the honey. Of course there was mead to drink, as well as wine and ale. It has been calculated that without the extra calories provided by the ale, many would have starved. Nowadays, it just gives us beer-bellies.



Comments are closed.

    About this Blog

    My travels through contemporary France in search of Richard the Lionheart and relics of his 12th century kingdom. 
    Picture
     Paris,  Rouen then the Duchy of Aquitaine, seeking useful detail and atmosphere for the second novel in the Lionheart Chronicles.

    See The Queen's Knight
    p

    Posting Topics

    All
    Book News
    Castles
    Language
    Music
    Richard Duke Of Normandy
    Richard TheLionheart
    The Domestic Castle
    Weapons

    Blog Archive

    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    LINKS
    Itinerary
    King Richard
    Medieval Weaponry
    Lionheart Chronicles


    RSS Feed

Photos used under Creative Commons from jurvetson, jurvetson, Capt' Gorgeous, @lain G, le retour !, jurvetson, texaus1, Dani_vr, umbrellahead56