[Sca-cooks] More about meat-

[Laura C. Minnick]

Ok, so I pulled a bunch of economic histories off my shelf, and have a 
couple of things of interest to note here...

One of my favorite questions when tackling subjects like these, is Where 
and When? It does make a difference, and when considering meat in the 
medieval diet, it is no different- except perhaps to add Who? to the line 
of inquiry

In the Early Middle Ages, it appears that many people ate a diverse diet 
that included a decent amount of meat. This we can surmise from evidences 
given through archeological finds, records of land under cultivation, and 
early manorial records. Sheep, goats, pigs most frequently; it appears that 
in Italy young sheep and goats were often kept for milk production, and 
only butchered when old. There are scattered reports or eating horseflesh- 
the Church began railing against it in the eighth century, and later in the 
Middle Ages it appeared that eating horses was only done in truly 
exceptional circumstances.

There was a shift however sometime in the 10th century, as the increase in 
population forced grazing land to be brought under cultivation. Animals 
were significantly more scarce by the late 13th-early 14th c. than they 
were at the turn of the millenium. Available land was brought under the 
plow to grow grains to support the increase in population. (This indeed 
follows with modern understanding of world hunger issues- the same field of 
grain can feed x amount of people, or the animals that will be slaughtered 
and feed <x amount of people. The more people that must be maintained, the 
fewer animals and more grain must be raised.) At that point the average 
diet was quite high in grains and pulses, with less animal proteins. Wheat, 
rye, maslin, oats, and barley were grown in different areas (most barley 
was grown for brewing, but apparently a dense bread of barley and oats, 
called 'drege' was eaten by the very poor).

(It occurs to me that there is a fairly extended description of peasants 
eating a meal in Adam de la Halle's _Robin et Marion_, but I don't have a 
translation at hand, and the copy I have found is in the Picard dialect of 
Middle French. Mentions bread and cheese and shallots and salt,and probably 
more that I'm missing.)

John Gower complained in the late 14th c that "Laborers of old were wont to 
eat of wheaten bread; their meat was of beans and coarser corn, and their 
drink water alone. Cheese and milk were a feast to them and rarely ate they 
of other dainties." And why is he looking back at these peasants 'of old'? 
Two things happened that changed the economy of eating again: the Great 
Famine, and the Black Death.

The Great Famine (in roughly 1315-1322) was largely the result of the 
burden of population coupled with a spell of lousy weather. A series of 
cold, wet years, rotted seed before it could be planted, and ruined crops 
in the fields (helpful hint- there are some very interesting books on the 
subject, but don't open them if you're prone to depression. Trust me on 
this). Remember that balance of grain to population? Look at this: the 
population in England went from between 1.3 and 1.5 million in the late 
11th century to *5 million* by 1300. That increase in population was 
heavily dependent on that increase in grain production. A failed crop was a 
problem- several years of failed crops meant disaster. On top of that, as 
if it weren't enough, a disease called murrain (actually a group of 
diseases) hit the livestock- sheep and cows. The animals were already 
somewhat weakened by the foul weather, and dropped by the score. As 
example, the flocks at Bolton Priory in 1316/1317 went from over 3,000 
animals to 913.
A combination of crop and animal disease took it's toll on the humans- we 
can reckon something of the mortality rates by evaluating related records; 
for instance, in 1316/1317, the heriot ('best beast') payments on manors in 
Winchester were nearly three times the normal (The 'best beast' was given 
to the lord as payment by whoever claimed an inheritance, thereby giving an 
indication of an estate changing hands due to death). Records such as these 
indicate a reduction in population as high as 10-15%.

Roughly a generation later, as the population stabilized and began to creep 
back up, it was visited with crisis anew when the Black Death hit western 
Europe (1348). Estimates vary, but somewhere between 25-30% of the 
population succumbed in the first wave (subsequent waves, such as in 
1360-61 did not hit as hard). With deaths at those rates, the delicate 
Malthusian balance was completely upended- and as a result, fields that had 
grown grains could be used for pasturage, and with fewer people competing 
for the same calories, a peasant who survived the plague could eat better 
than he ever had- he could scorn the bread made of beans that Gower talks 
of, and demand white wheat bread. (There was of course several legislative 
attempts to put the peasants back in their place, but the shortage of 
workers made those efforts effectively futile.)

And yet standards varied. The peasant in a lovely ditty called "How the 
Ploughman Learned His Paternoster"-

"His hall rofe was full of bakon flytches,
The chambre charged was with wyches
Full of egges, butter, and chese,
Men that were hungry for to ese;
To make good ale, malte had he plentye;
And Martylmas fefe to hin was not deyntye;
Onyons and garlyke had he inowe;
And good creme, and mylke of the cow."

Contrast with the picture that Langland paints for us:

"Also in winter they suffer much hunger and woe
It would be a charity to help them
Bread and penny-ale are a luxury
Cold flesh and cold fish is to them like baked venison
On Fridays and fasting-days, a farthing's worth of mussels
Or so many cockles were a feast for such folk."

It really does come down to When, Where, and Who.

Spread me with butter- I'm toast. Good night-

'Lainie
___________________________________________________________________________
O it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous To use it 
like a giant--Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act II