Foods and Nutritional Practices of the Elizabethan Era
By Davril B.
The Elizabethan Era was very ironic in terms of status and nutrition of the rich and poor as the rich were known to have worse health than the poor and common people. Which asks the question, what are the differences between the nutrition health, and table/food manners between the poor/common people and rich? Since the rich has more money which leads to a bigger variety of selections and the poor and common peoples did not, what are the reasons for this outcome? Just like today, food mannerisms and culinary practices are still quite alike to the Elizabethan Era. For example, they washed their hands thoroughly before eating and they ate 3 meals a day, breakfast in the early morning, dinner/lunch at midday and supper during the evening. Just like how there are some traditions where people eat fish on Fridays or Sundays, there was a law where fish had to be eaten on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. There wasn’t a religion or tradition that was the reason to eating fish on those days, it was solely for the reason of supporting the fishing companies and if a law is broken the consequence would be up to 3 months in jail. Important manners of the rich were the seating at a table, as they would be sitting in a “U” shaped formation where the people of the lowest honor would sit at the bottom at the table and the higher honors would sit at the top. Their manners were very alike to today as there
One of the important things during the time of the Renaissance was food. Food was very important to the people. They cooked and served food in a unique way. Others had ovens and others did not. Others who did not have ovens, they cooked their food over an open flame. In Renaissance times, food relied on what your social class is. There were the upper class people and lower class people. The upper class people had more choices of what they wanted to it and the lower class people didn’t have many choices of what they wanted to eat. Some of the foods were expensive. For them to have food they had farm. The upper class owned farms and they planted crops and harvested the crops for food. They raised animals for them to have meat and milk.
Although there were no wars during the Elizabethan era, life was hard for most people. There were four different social classes determined by how much money people had and what they did for a living (Lace 42-46). There was trash in the streets and poor sanitation. Boys went to school while girls stayed home and learned how to run the house from their mothers (Davis 91). People generally worked long hours during the week and spent the weekends doing activities and attending plays (Davis 341). Generally the Elizabethan era was good for wealthy people and could be a struggle for poor people (Lace
The Elizabethan Era was a time where everything flourished. After the Black Plague, England entered a time called the Renaissance. Family life during the time was simple and on a routine. Each day seemed more and more liked the day before. Each member of the family had a different impact on the community and society. Ordinary life in England consisted of being with family, working everyday, going to school, and eating food.
The Elizabethan time period emphasized the dominance of men in society and family ties. Women had no choice but to depend on their families and the man the family picked for them to marry. All the money comes from the husbands income. Family was essential to Elizabethan time, because everyone in the household depended on one another. Men and women both could not function without their immediate family.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, English Protestants established a group referred to as the Puritans. The Puritans were resistant to bold flavors and intense ingredients, such as garlic, for these had “Catholic Continental political references”. This led to a distinguishable description of English cooking. (Amelia Meyers) Puritan meals and meal times are different from what we know today. Although the English from this time ate most of the same foods that we eat today, their selection was quite divergent from ours. In fact, citizens back then had an abnormal idea of what foods were healthy for them (Plimoth.org). The Puritans had several meal responsibilities; women were in charge of meal planning, and food preservation
This site is great for people that have a report on the Elizabethan Era.It gave me more information then I needed and gave me portraits with brief summaries.
THESIS STATEMENT: During the Elizabethan era various types of foods were eaten and extensive details were added to these foods. Social classes also played a big role in what the rich or poor ate.
During the Elizabethan era various types of foods were eaten and extensive details were added to these foods. Social classes also played a big role in what the rich or poor ate.
The diet between the upper and lower class differed in what they could afford. The upper class citizens of the Elizabethan era ate lavishly and extravagantly. As they could afford the spices from Asia and the freshest meat on the market. While the lower class citizens ate poorly. The lower class diet consisted of many vegetables and fruits with meat as a rare luxury. Vegetables were seen as unfit for the wealthy because they came from the ground. While the diets of the upper classes seem to be very different from those of the lower classes, there are many similarities that can be
Life in Elizabethan England was hard. While some people believe that the life was great in that era, but they are mistaken. The life during Elizabethan England era was very hard because of the poverty levels being very high, the towns were unclean and their diets were very poor.
For the well-to-do, eating during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods was a fancy affair. A king or queen when going abroad could expect banquet tables filled with hundreds of dishes--for just one meal! There was much pageantry and entertainment. At Leicester, Queen Elizabeth I (predecessor of King James VI & I) was greeted with a pageant of welcome displayed on a temporary bridge. There were cages of live birds--bitterns, curlews, hernshaws and godwits. One pillar held great silver bowls piled with apples, pears, cherries, walnuts and filberts. Other pillars held ears of wheat, oats and barley, gigantic bunches of red and white grapes, great livery pots of claret and white wine, sea fish in quantity laying
In Elizabethan England, as many as one or two hundred people died in one city due to illness over the course of a month (Davis and McBride 57). Death was common during the Elizabethan Era because people were not educated about proper health. Unhealthy diets, limited medical practices, and unsanitary public places contributed to making a diseased population of England. During the Elizabethan Era, public knowledge of health was low resulting in poor diets, medical practices, and public sanitation.
This article contains several pictures of how colonial men would dress during the time period. It discusses in detail the type of weapons and equipment that the militia would use in the 18th century. The article also discusses the training and maneuvers that the militia would be performing at the time of the battle of Lexington.
At the time of the Reformation the Papacy was very corrupt and had a lot of issues from the Middle Ages. The church did not provide spiritual comfort, leadership, or answers during the black death, which weakened the people's faith in the church. The church also could not prove its authority when the Great Schism occurred after three popes who supposedly were all the one Pope, but disposed in favor of another Pope. Moreover, Indulgences were extremely over used by those who could afford them, while the poor could only live with the burden of knowing they would suffer more in purgatory. Not only did this oppose doing good works to repay sins, most indulgences were bought in advance and the the church gained wealth from selling indulgences. Therefore,
The diet of the peasants was dominated by grain, wheat, oats, barley, and millet. A typical peasant meal consisted of thin vegetable soup made from peas, beans, or cabbage, eaten with bread. Vegetables and fresh fruit were eaten by the poor, vegetables would have been included in some form of stew, soup or pottage. Food items which came from the ground we're only being considered fit for the poor. Peasant lived near a body of water of some sort, they may have caught fish to supplement his diet, and peasants ate mostly what they could grow.The lower classes were healthier than the upper class due to their consumption of vitamin C, fiber, and calcium. Meat was a rare luxury for the poorer classes. Their meals typically featured bread, eggs, and dairy products.“Their diet also included freshwater and sea fish, such as salmon, trout, eel, pike, and sturgeon, and shellfish such as crabs, lobsters, oysters, cockels and mussels. For the poor, bread was the staple food and it would be eaten with butter, cheese, eggs, and pottage. (“Elizabethan Food”). (“Food and Drink”) & (“Elizabethan