Medieval peasants didn't exactly have it easy. Aside from the endless wars, the abject poverty,
and the occasional plague, they had to get by on a relatively meagre diet. But just what did
they actually rustle up for dinner? Here's what medieval peasants really ate in a day.
Here's a question: how does anyone actually know what peasants ate in the medieval era?
After all, it's not like peasants were keeping detailed records of their daily lives.
In fact, it's been estimated that, even in the later years of the Middle Ages, only around 10
percent of men and one percent of women were literate. And those that were literate weren't
really writing about their breakfast, lunch, or dinner — so researchers have had to get creative.
For example, in 2019, a study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science took
samples of medieval pottery from West Cotton, Northamptonshire and analyzed the residue left
inside. The molecular analysis allowed them to put together a picture of what was cooked inside.
What did they find? Well, the staples were meat — mostly sheep and cattle — as well as
cabbage stews, cooked in the pots over an open hearth. There were also a lot of dairy products,
which the study notes were affectionately referred to as "white meats of the poor."
A few years ago, English Heritage followed a reenactor as she made a traditional medieval stew,
and it'll actually look pretty familiar to 21st-century cooks.
Meat was first browned over an open fire, then transferred to a large dish. Carrots, onions,
and any other available veg were added, as well as a little cider. It was sometimes seasoned
with whatever herbs could be foraged, then barley was added, too — a staple grain in peasant diets.
That was then left to cook over an open fire or a hearth. Doesn't sound so awful, does it?
It's important to know that there wasn't just one kind of peasant. For example,
while many lived in small villages or on farms, as you might expect,
others lived in large cities. And, according to Radford University anthropology professor
Cassady Yoder, where you lived made a huge difference when it came to what you were eating.
Yoder has studied the diets of medieval peasants from three places:
Ribe, Denmark's largest medieval city, the mid-sized metropolis of Viborg,
and a small rural community around a Cistercian monastery. Interestingly, her findings showed that
the people with the most varied diet were those who lived near the rural monastery.
They didn't have much in the way of meat, but they did eat a variety of cereal grains and vegetables.
On the other hand, the peasants of Ribe and Viborg had a more narrow range of foods,
but their diets were much higher in meat and protein — mainly a lot of fish, pigs, and cows.
Butter has been around for a long time — well over 4,000 years, in fact.
Take Ireland, a country still known for its butter. Before refrigeration, the ancient Irish
had a massive dairy industry and stored butter in containers buried in bogs. Surviving samples
have been found dating back to 1700 BC, and can even still be edible… if you're brave enough.
"You must not partake of the sacred butter, that was gifted to the gods of yore!"
Fast forward to the Middle Ages, and butter was still extremely important to every social class.
While it was a treat for some, it was a necessity for others as it helped stave off malnutrition.
That was especially true for the penitents; those who kept a strict bread-and-water diet
to demonstrate their faith. Malnutrition and death were widespread among the penitents
until church officials started telling of a vision of an angel who had visited a saint
praying for guidance. The angel had told them to:
"Mix some meal with their butter to make gruel, so that the penitents should not perish."
Bottom line? The nobility loved it because of the taste,
and the peasants loved it because it was a cheap, widely available source of nutrition.
One of the most commonly-held assertions about the medieval era is that people
tended to drink a lot of beer, because it was safer than drinking the water.
But that's not actually true, according to food historian Jim Chevallier. Chevallier did
his own deep dive into the claim, and found that not much of it stands up to scrutiny.
For starters, there are a ton of references in medieval texts to people drinking water.
They range from one writer's description of water in Italy — as clear, without odor, and cold — to
excerpts like one from Gregory of Tours, who wrote in the 6th century about a man arriving
in his village and asking for some water. Gregory also writes about hermits drinking from streams
and says that water was far from feared — instead, it was more often linked with holy figures and
miraculous cures. And some texts from the 14th century even recommended drinking only water.
Some people — such as the Gauls — did prefer to drink water that had been run through a
beehive and slightly sweetened. The medical authorities of the medieval era also issued
some warnings about water, but they tended to advise that people not drink water that looks
unsafe or unhealthy, which seems obvious, but is also solid advice. If it was cold,
clear, and didn't have a funky smell, then it was absolutely fine to drink.
Unsurprisingly, peasants in the medieval era didn't have quite
the variety of drinks we had today. That said, they weren't actually too bad off.
At the very least, they had more available than beer, water, and wine. Mead was popular
in some areas, and there's also the occasional mention of fruit juices in contemporary sources.
Apples were commonly used in ciders, which were sometimes alcoholic and sometimes not,
and could occasionally be flavored with various types of berries.
More surprisingly, medieval Franks were also drinking vermouth,
as the art of making wine from wormwood had been passed down from Rome. Tonics were also common,
especially among monks, as perfectly common natural ingredients could be easily infused
into water. There was also the occasional mention of hot drinks, which were often medicinal — and
could range from anything like warm goat's milk to teas made from barley, chamomile, and lavender.
Life in the medieval era was invariably difficult, and sometimes, tough times called
for drastic measures. So to answer the question you dared not ask: yes, there was cannibalism.
There's a lot about medieval cannibalism we don't know,
but there are plenty of references scattered through old texts that imply peasants resorted
to cannibalism in times of extreme hardship, such as during famines. For instance,
there's one report that English markets in the 11th century had human flesh for sale.
Did they really? Honestly, it's hard to tell, but we do know that cannibalism during the Crusades
was reported in multiple independent sources, giving at least that one some greater credence.
Even at the time, people weren't generally thrilled with the idea that folks might
be partaking in human flesh. Still, medieval history is dotted with stories of desperation.
In 1594, those under siege in Paris resorted to making bread from the bones of their dead,
and during the European famines of the early 14th century,
there were numerous reports of cannibalism. It has even been suggested that those particular
instances inspired the Brothers Grimm to write the tale of Hansel and Gretel, 500 years later.
Deer farming in medieval England was a pretty huge deal. Deer parks were sustainably managed sections
of wilderness that supported massive herds of not only deer but other wildlife, too. These
vast parks were managed by the upper classes, who were legally the only ones who could hunt there.
And they did — indeed, deer were an important source of meat, and it wasn't just a matter of
hunting the deer that happened to be on your land. It was an entire industry, and had a lot
in common with sheep or cattle farming. That said, venison was supposed to be reserved for that same
upper class and their guests. Anyone who broke that law could find themselves quickly repressed.
"Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!"
"Shut up!"
"Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!"
But that doesn't mean the rules actually stopped people from eating deer themselves. Evidence of
poaching has certainly been uncovered, like the cesspit uncovered in northern England in 2008.
Excavation of this pit uncovered more than a hundred bones,
all belonging to fallow deer and dating back to the 15th century. Given the size,
they were mostly young animals — which meant they were killed outside of the accepted winter
hunting season. Given the lack of meat bones and the presence of more bones like the legs,
archaeologists came to the conclusion that it was the work of peasants, who had poached the deer,
taken the meatiest parts, and buried the evidence in hopes of avoiding the law.
"Bloody peasant!"
"Ooh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh?
That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?"
Luckily, it wasn't all doom and gloom for people in the medieval era,
and there was one bright spot in the year. And medieval people didn't just celebrate Christmas,
either — they celebrated all 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany.
During that time, there was usually at least one big Christmas feast,
even for the peasants. While they weren't dining on the meat and sweet treats the upper class had,
it was still a time to enjoy things that were otherwise in short supply through
the winter months. Those typically included foods like salted fish,
dried apples and vegetables such as peas and beans, and meats like bacon and sausage.
Depending on where you lived — and how amenable your lord was — this was also
a time that peasants got a genuine taste of the high life. Leftovers from the manor hall feast
were often distributed among the poor, giving them a taste of exotic dishes like peacock,
swan, and desserts that had been made with a very rare ingredient indeed: sugar.
As Historic Royal Palaces tells us, there's a popular belief that during the medieval era,
spices were often used to mask the smell and taste of rotten meat.
Makes sense, right? But it's not true.
See, there's one big flaw in that tale. During the Middle Ages, spices were well-known,
but they were also imported from the Far East at a truly massive cost. That means
only the very rich could afford them, and not only were the wealthy not eating rotten meat,
but they wouldn't have wasted spices on them if they had.
People were also quite familiar with the idea that eating bad meat could make you sick,
and it wasn't something they would voluntarily do. They may not have known about things like
microbes and bacterial contamination, but they knew it was bad to eat something that had gone
off. The solution? Peasants would just make sure their meat didn't go bad in the first place,
by salting, drying, or smoking it.
The peasants in medieval cities in particular had it rough. Many were living in crowded
conditions and didn't have access to what they needed to cook their own food,
so they relied on what was essentially medieval fast food. What does that mean? Well, there was
one area on the Thames, for example, that was essentially a group of shops that were open 24/7,
and sold a variety of foodstuffs at all different price points.
The urban peasant could expect to find items such as meat pies, pasties, bread, pancakes,
hotcakes, wafers, and, well, more pies. Why were pies so popular? Because they contained
plenty of ingredients in one handy pocket, and could therefore be eaten on the go.
But there was a major problem. Unscrupulous vendors quickly discovered that they could hide
all kinds of things in pies and no one would know the difference until it was too late.
Customers would pay, leave, and get food poisoning pretty shortly after — but by
then it wasn't the vendor's problem. Laws were subsequently put in place
against the selling of diseased or rotten meat, reheating pies,
and against claiming meat was something that it wasn't. And that gave rise to a medieval saying:
"God sends the meat, but the devil sends the cooks."
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