[Sca-cooks] Early French medieval food compared to late

Sat Jun 8 01:20:31 PDT 2013

It occurred to me that I had already done a survey of at least the major  
sources for the early medieval period for my draft. I have inserted most of 
that  text below, with added links to some of the key documents.

Note that many of these are in French or Latin; even where they have been  
translated into English, be cautious in using such translations. Even a very 
 modern translation of Radegund's biography, for instance, grossly distorts 
 one passage about barley and rye. (Non-food historians can be cavalier 
about  what they consider incidental details.)

As a general note, my approach here has been what I call the "mosaic"  
method. That is, if one considers late medieval cookbooks like the Viandier to  
be "portraits" of that period's food, no such neat depiction exists for the 
food  of earlier centuries. Rather, a more jagged, discontinuous picture 
must be  assembled from innumerable fragments. The result, in terms of 
documentation, is  a very long bibliography, one only hinted at here.

Finally, anyone with a serious interest in food history who reads  French 
should certainly at least browse the three volumes of the eighteenth  century 
writer Le Grand d'Aussy's "History of Private Life". Not only does Le  
Grand himself trace the broad sweep of the history of every sort of food, he  
continually cites references which, taken together, form a comprehensive  
bibliography for French food until his time. One should never use Le Grand as a  
prime source - when he does make mistakes (or distort his sources), the 
errors  can be large (and have too often been passed on by even modern 
writers). But as  a starting point for this kind of research, his work is invaluable.

------------------------------------------------------

The most famous early accounts of Germans come from Caesar and Tacitus,  
each of whom had different reasons to emphasize, even exaggerate, the Germans' 
 simplicity. 

http://books.google.com/books?id=CgRKAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inautho
r:tacitus&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OsuyUePNA8r0iQLbm4HYBA&ved=0CGoQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f
=false

Fortunately, much of what they wrote can be challenged or confirmed  using 
other sources. 

The Germanic groups were extremely mobile in this period – several of those 
 in France came from Scandinavia – and scholars of early German groups 
include a  wide range of countries in their scope. A collection of sagas from 
Iceland, the  "Poetic Edda", is problematic in terms of dating, but is often 
cited as a source  on early Germanic life:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/index.htm

As Roman Gaul fell to various German groups, several Gallo-Roman writers  
portrayed both their own society and the changes affecting it; notably 
Sidonius  Apollinaris

_http://books.google.com/books?id=e4VfAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauth
or:%22apollinaris%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DcyyUcrfLKHhiAKSpIGwBA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAQ#v=
onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=e4VfAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:"apollinaris"&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DcyyUcrfLKHhiAKSpIGwBA&ved
=0CDoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

_http://books.google.com/books?id=y-R1IyarvEgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauth
or:%22apollinaris%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DcyyUcrfLKHhiAKSpIGwBA&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=
onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=y-R1IyarvEgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:"apollinaris"&hl=en&sa=X&ei=DcyyUcrfLKHhiAKSpIGwBA&ved
=0CFkQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

and Decimus Magnus Ausonius

_http://books.google.com/books?ei=Is2yUZetEqrSiwK39IDQBw&dq=inauthor:%22Auso
nius%22&jtp=233&id=Pw7gAAAAMAAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?ei=Is2yUZetEqrSiwK39IDQBw&dq=inauthor:"Ausonius"&jtp=233&id=Pw7gAAAA
MAAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false)  

have left vivid accounts. 

The Franks themselves left the most lively written evidence of their own  
culture in the Salic Law, one of several Latin transcriptions of the various  
invaders' Germanic laws.

_http://books.google.com/books?id=CB0MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP3&dq=%22Lex+Salica%22#v=
onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=CB0MAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP3&dq="Lex+Salica"#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

A number of other Germanic codes, notably the Burgundian Code and the  
Visigothic Law, also contain scattered details on the societies which produced  
them.

After the death of Clovis I, the first Frankish king of France, his sons  
Clothar, Theudoric, Childebert, and Chlodomer divided up the kingdom. In the  
sixth century, the great Ostrogoth ruler Theodoric sent a Greek physician,  
Anthimus, to Theuderic's court in Metz. When he left, Anthimus wrote a 
medical  treatise on diet – a dietetic – as a letter to Theuderic ("De 
Observatione  Ciborum"). 

http://books.google.com/books?id=HRf3wrFq0X0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=observa
tione+ciborum&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8s-yUeWeKavqiwKKwoDIDw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ

(Also available in several translations, including my own)

Though it is not a cookbook, this document has unique value for food  
historians, since it not only includes scattered recipes, but specifically  
addresses foods available in Theuderic's region (Northeastern Gaul). The food it  
describes is essentially Roman; but such food remained the main 'elegant'  
food in France for centuries.

Soon after this, an Italian poet, Venantius Fortunatus, came to France on a 
 pilgrimage and, rather improbably, became a bishop and later a saint. 
Fortunatus  has been portrayed as a sybarite and a sycophant, but it is these 
very traits  which make him a valuable source on social life. 

_http://books.google.com/books?id=eS5KAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauth
or:%22venantius+fortunatus%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qdCyUfnBDYf8iwLtqICAAw&ved=0CDcQ
6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=eS5KAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&d
q=inauthor:"venantius+fortunatus"&hl=en&sa=X&ei=qdCyUfnBDYf8iwLtqICAAw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1115054.r=.langEN

He also became good friends with one of Clothar's wives, Radegund, who had  
fled her luxurious life to found a convent. Ironically, Fortunatus' 
biography of  this self-mortifying nun is a valuable source on food and other 
luxuries of the  time.

_http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000791_00073.html?sortIndex=0
10%3A010%3A0004%3A010%3A02%3A00&sort=score&order=desc&context=fladone&divisi
onTitle_str=&hl=false&fulltext=fladone_ 
(http://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000791_00073.html?sortIndex=010:010:0004:010:02:00&sort=score&ord
er=desc&context=fladone&divisionTitle_str=&hl=false&fulltext=fladone) 

http://mw.mcmaster.ca/scriptorium/radegund.html

In general, Fortunatus' hagiographies (like those of others) are useful  
sources for scattered references to food and drink.

Fortunatus also knew Gregory of Tours, whose "History of the Franks",  with 
all its biases and faults, remains the major work on this period. Gregory,  
a Gallo-Roman bishop, records innumerable horrors committed by the Franks, 
yet,  because they were Catholics, clearly favors them over other German 
groups, who  typically were Arians; that is, heretics. 

_http://books.google.com/books?id=v_gUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=inauthor:%22gregor
y+of+tours%22+franks+etiam+puis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5NKyUcvDFYaWigKRgoGIDA&ved=0CD
oQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=v_gUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA49&dq=inauthor:"gregory+of+tours"+franks+etiam+puis&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5NKy
UcvDFYaWigKRgoGIDA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

Gregory's hatred of heresy is abundantly clear in another work, his Books  
of Miracles. As virulently credulous as the latter tales are, they provide a 
 wealth of details on daily life.

_http://books.google.com/books?id=6oB3k9PfPGgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauth
or:%22gregory%22+miracles+tours&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LdOyUevqCureiAKQj4GYDA&ved=0CI
0BEOgBMA8#v=onepage&q&f=false_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=6oB3k9PfPGgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:"gregory"+miracles+tours&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LdO
yUevqCureiAKQj4GYDA&ved=0CI0BEOgBMA8#v=onepage&q&f=false) 

Gregory's chronicle was continued by the pseudonymous Fredegar, who,  
however, is less informative on society.

For these under-documented centuries, some of the most precious records are 
 those of churches and monasteries, notably the many wills and donations 
which  enumerate properties left to the Church. 

http://books.google.com/books?id=vapg5zo4pKYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs
_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Some such also contain precious inventories of foods purchased or given as  
rents.

The rules for several different orders also outline such subjects as what  
monks were to eat and when. 

http://books.google.com/books?id=PP0pAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA220&dq=rule+of+chrodegang
&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mNSyUbf9I-aniAK-xYGIDg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=rule%20of%
20chrodegang&f=false

Finally, the decisions of various Church councils are often informative on  
food, as strictures on diet became more nuanced and explicit.

http://books.google.com/books?id=4CRUAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&
q&f=false

During this period too royal messengers and other dignitaries had the  
right to requisition food and other goods on their travels. A number of  
tractoria document these rights in some detail. One is in a curious collection  by 
Marculfe of what are essentially fill-in-the-blank forms for various  
purposes.

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5652856k/f80.image

Charlemagne in general encouraged both education and the preservation  of 
written works and so there are an unusual number of documents from his  
period. Few are so valuable, however, as his own collections of royal commands,  
contained in documents organized by chapters, or capitals, and so called  
"capitularies". 
Notably, the capitulary he issued to the stewards of his own  estates, the 
Capitulary de Villis, is extremely detailed.

http://www.le.ac.uk/hi/polyptyques/capitulare/site.html

(Note that one of Le Grand's mistakes - also repeated by a modern writer -  
is to treat this document as if it applied to Charlemagne's whole kingdom.) 
The  nineteenth century writer Benjamin Guerard's close analysis of this is 
valuable  not only for exploring the main document but for numerous 
references to other  related details of the period:

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6358436s.r=Capitulaire+Guerard.langEN

Audits of some of these same estates are contained in documents  called 
brevia and document the actual situation (as opposed to royal intention)  at 
selected estates.

http://www.le.ac.uk/hi/polyptyques/brevium/site.html

Charlemagne's contemporary (Einhard/Eginhard) and near-contemporary  
(Notker the Stammerer, AKA 'The Monk of St. Gaul') biographers also include  
mentions of food and society in their texts.

Guérard also edited the Polyptych (or Polyptyque) of St  Germain-des-Pres, 
better known as the Polyptych of Irminon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyptych_of_Irminon

The Latin text itself includes valuable details on rents and foods, but it  
is also useful to read Guérard's summary of its contents in the first  
volume:

http://books.google.com/books?id=JRdCAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Irminon
&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y9myUYeZK7D0iwKru4DgDA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

Other monastic records, notably those of Corbie, also provide valuable  
details.  

These are essentially the major sources; but a number of similar ones  can 
be found as well.

===================================================

Among the many papers which contain useful information, one especially  
valuable one (and a rare document, either book or paper, to closely study the  
food of this era) is:

Nutrition and the Early-Medieval Diet
Kathy L.  Pearson
Speculum
Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jan., 1997), pp. 1-32

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2865862?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=37
39256&sid=21102376123267

Which, within its narrow but important scope, is comprehensive and  
methodical. Notably, Pearson makes it clear that food in this earlier era may  have 
been "natural", but, often being smoked, salted or preserved in fat, was  
anything but healthy.

Pearson herself also has some interesting notes on female mortality, but  
these are largely based on:

Female Longevity and Diet in the Middle Ages
Vern Bullough and Cameron  Campbell
Speculum
Vol. 55, No. 2 (Apr., 1980), pp. 317-325
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2847291?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=37
39256&purchase-type=article&accessType=PSS&sid=21102376123267&showMyJstorPss
=false&seq=1&showAccess=true

Otherwise, a great deal of information can be found in numerous studies  
(many of archeological digs) available at persee.fr. Some samples, among many  
others:

L'habitat mérovingien de Goudelancourt-les-Pierrepont (Aisne). Aperçu  
provisoire d'une unité agricole et domestique des VIe et VIIe siècles
Alain  Nice    Revue archéologique de  Picardie     Year   1994    Volume  
1    Issue   1-2    pp.  21-63

“Le cimetière franc d'Ennery (Moselle) “, Emile  Delort     Gallia     
Year    1947     Volume   5      Issue   5-2     pp. 351-403

Compter et mesurer les os animaux. Pour une histoire de l’élevage et de  l’
alimentation en Europe de l’Antiquité aux Temps Modernes  
Frédérique  Audoin-Rouzeau 
Histoire & Mesure   Year    1995     Volume   10     Issue   3    pp. 
277-312 

Étude d'une concentration de semences carbonisées provenant d'une  
structure du Xe siècle, place des Hallettes à Compiègne  (Oise) 
Véronique Matterne    Revue archéologique de  Picardie    ssue   13    pp.  
219-228

Le site du promontoire du château de Blois du VIIIe au XIe s.  
(Loir-et-Cher). (Première partie : niveaux et structures) / The site of the  promontory 
of the castle of Blois from the 8th to the 11th century  (Loir-et-Cher). 
(First part : layers and structures)  
D. Josset , V.  Aubourg     Revue archéologique du Centre de la  France     
Year   2000      Volume   39     Issue    39     pp. 161-197

This is probably useful too, though not available on line, I  think:

Pigière, Camels in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire

In general, works of paleoanthropology in particular are valuable, but  
even studies of pottery for instance can be very revealing. The shards of the  
mosaic lie in many unexpected places....

Jim  Chevallier
North Hollywood, CA
_www.chezjim.com_ (http://www.chezjim.com/) 

How to Cook an  Early French Peacock:
Anthimus' De Observatione Ciborum -
Roman Food for a  Frankish King
Bilingual Second Edition  

In a message dated 6/6/2013 4:48:24 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
mkvanden at gmail.com writes:

I so  agree, this is some great information!  tyvm

On Thu, Jun 6,  2013 at 4:45 PM, Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com> wrote:

>  Interesting.
>
> Would it be possible for you to list your sources  or a bibliography at 
the
> end of the columns?
> I am sure that  readers would appreciate being able to see the sources.
>
>  Johnnae