Food In Medieval Times

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.

A medieval manor was a large agricultural estate that was made up of various types of farming lands, a village where the current manor tenants would live, and a manor house where the lord who owns or controls the estate lives. It was typically the wealthy who owned or had control over any of the manors. Most manors were built of natural stone and were built to last. Their size usually illustrated the owner’s wealth.

Breakfast wasn’t as important as lunch and dinner nor was it a sit-down meal. Lunch was around 11 and supper was eaten somewhere between 6-9 (Singman 132). Foods varied depending on where you lived in England. Bread, cheese, and butter were very common. Fish was a heavy part of their diet for a source of protein as well. Vegetables and fruits like apricots and cabbages were also popular (Forgeng 167). Since the water system had many problems, people preferred brewed drinks over water. Ale, which consisted of water, and spices, was a very common drink. Beer was popular in cities like London(170). When it came to cooking food, it depended on the type of kitchen utensils you had. Fire was required for boiling, roasting, or baking food. Women had to use pots with legs for most of the meals. Utensils were made from clay, iron, or copper (169). Food was a way to bring the family together after a long day of school, work, or labor.

The Middle Ages were a major turning point in history. During the Middle Ages, Europe was run under a manorial system. People were self-sufficient and only traded within their own community, as they believed that the outside world was dangerous. However, the population increased in the 11th century and new agricultural technologies came about, such as the windmill, water mills and the iron plow (Document 1). The crusades allowed many people to view life outside of their villages. People left their villages to fight the wars, and even though the crusades were a failure, the end result was beneficial in an economic and in a social way. The crusades opened many trading routes between Europe and the Middle East. Europeans,

A major impact for this period of time was the “Black Plague” or also called Black Death. This Phenomena was a bubonic plague that wiped out 1/3 of Europe’s population. The plague was considered one of the deadliest pandemics in the history of humankind. 75 million people around the world lost their lives to this plague noting the biggest number of people being located in Europe. The “Black Plague” played a major role in the economic history of the Western Civilization due to so many people dying, Europe was declining rapidly. There were shortages of labor providing a fertile ground for economic diversification and innovation in technology. There was famine and pestilence, which would eventually lead to the capital accumulation intensification in the urban areas, stimulating the growth of trade and industry.

With labor shortages apparent, people began to starve due to a lack of farming because people had abandoned their farms and villages. The *Serfs at the time were the main laborers, and due to the inevitable plague they were no longer tied to their masters of land. Due to the economic strain at the time, Serfs who survived were able to demand higher wages and better working conditions from their new landlords (Utah State University). Therefore, worker’s wages had skyrocketed. It was known that “a reaper was not to be hired for less than eightpence [a day, 50-75% up], plus his meals,” (The Economist). This eventually led to the end of Serfdom and the start of workers rights in Europe. This in turn socially changed the way people felt about the different socioeconomic classes due to the Peasant's Revolt (Utah State University). The need for better working conditions and situations for Serfs forever changed Europe.

Black Death During the Middle Ages many changes took place that would later affect modern society. Though there were many events that contributed to these changes, probably the greatest cause for change was the Black Death. The Black Death (plague) was the greatest event to change human history because it killed nearly a third of the population, made people more inclined to do medical research, and caused many other religious groups to form.

In Medieval Europe there was feudalism and the groups of the people. The first group was the king, who powered over everyone. Second ones are the nobles , who were people that were very special because the king gave them land. The second to last were the knights, who fought all the time to protect everyone. Finally, the serfs were the people who cleaned and cropped food. Historians consider the breakout of the bubonic plague a watershed moment in history because a lot of people died and the peasants gained a lot of money after the plague.

Summary: This website tells the history of food at the time of the Elizabethan Era.Poor people had unvaried diets consisting largely of bread, fish, cheese and ale, but the rich of Elizabethan England ate well.All kinds of meats were served to the rich people of Elizabethan England.Vegetables and fruits were regarded with some suspicion and was far more common for roasted and boiled meat to be accompanied with bread.Tudors were fond of desserts.Sometimes wine glasses, dishes, playing cards and trenchers were made out of a crisp modeled sugar called sugar-plate which would be elaborately decorated.

When it comes to the Middle Ages all people think about are knights, kings, queens, and castles. But something happened during that period of time that changed Europe completely. The Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Plague or the Black Death, was one of the most deadly outbreaks in Europe. In total it killed about 75-200 million people in Europe and some parts of Asia. The plague spread quickly and if you got it, there was no cure. The Black Plague affected Europe with trade from the East, because of all the deaths it brought, because it caused political chaos, because it caused the people to question their faith, and because it led up to the regrowth of Europe.

Gentry and rich folks ate “brown meats” like: beef, venison, mutton, and pork. Poor also ate a lot more vegetables than the rich they could make it just fine without fancy dishes eaten by their richer social class. Nutritionists today would appreciate the peasant’s simple diet.

The common person usually ate “white meat” that contained precious little meat, made of things like, milk cheese, butter, eggs, bread, and pottages. These were sometimes derivative of fish, rabbit, or bird. Killing larger game in the forest was considered poaching and was very dangerous. Gentry and rich folks ate “brown meats” like: beef, venison, mutton, and pork. The poor also ate a lot more vegetables than the rich that insisted on eating only greens that were fancily prepared. Peasants had easy access to beef, pork, and other high-end meats, but they couldn’t afford to keep a lot of it for their personal meals. They could make it just fine without fancy dishes eaten by their richer social class. Nutritionists today would appreciate the peasant’s simple

In the middle ages one of the biggest impact on society was the black plague. The black plague was huge, and went on for a long time. It had a lot of BACKGROUND and symptoms it, it effected the middle ages a ton, and the people came up with many weird was of trying to find a cure for it. The plague killed about 25 million people, about 1/3 of the population! Hope you learn a lot from this.

During the Middle Ages a peasant’s life was, indeed, very rough, there were anywhere from ten to sixty families living in a single village; they lived in rough huts on dirt floors, with no chimneys, or windows. Usually one end of the hut was given over to storing livestock. Furnishings were quite sparse; three legged stools, a trestle table, beds softened with straw or leaves and placed on the floor; the peasant diet was mainly porridge, cheese, black bread, and a few homegrown vegetables. Peasants had a hard life, yet they did not work on Sundays, and they could travel to nearby fairs and markets. The basic diet of a lord consisted of meat, fish, pastries, cabbage, turnips, onions, carrots, beans, and peas, as well as fresh bread, cheese, and fruit. This is by no means equivalent to the meals the peasants ate, a lord might even feast on boar, swan, or peacock as well.

Behind each house was a garden or small plot of land. The common fields surrounding the village were some distance away, divided into strips and separated by twigs and pieces of unplowed land. Past the open fields was the waste, the uncultivated land which provided grazing land for the cattle, sheep and pigs and also fuel and timber for building.11 Bread was the staple item of the peasant diet. Eating meat was either a rare or nonexistent occurrence. Peasants ate whatever they grew: grains and a small percent of vegetables and potatoes. Barley and oats were made into both food and drink for consuming. The good grains, the meat from the animals, and the tasty fruits and vegetables went to either the lords or to the upper classes.12 “The peasant’s housing was as basic as his diet.” Most houses consisted of two rooms, one for living and one for sleeping. The walls were constructed of clay or straw supported by wooden frames. The roofs were thatched and animals were free to wander in and out. The smells of animals, sweat and waste were anything but pleasant and were more than plentiful.Water was gathered from an outside well or spring and there was no form of sanitation leading to a low level of personal