Famine, hundred years of war, and a plague that almost killed off the entire continent.
The dark ages could not have been darker for Europe than the 14th century. Have you ever
wondered how they managed to keep food on their plates despite everything? Today at Nutty History,
let’s find out what people eat to combat the deadly plague called the Black Death.
14th century Europe was perhaps as medieval as it can be. The feudal system had the whole continent
in its grasp and while Lords and Nobles enjoyed luxurious lives and delicious dishes, the peasants
who grew the food lived miserably like slaves. Wages were low, the lands were concentrated in
the hands of the aristocracy and nobody was gonna change this system the masses were subject to.
Rich were rich, poor were poor, and that was the way of medieval European life.
Thanks to this social hierarchy, common people were paying for the food
that they grew themselves. But the advent of the Black Death was a game changer,
not only for the mortality rates of the population but also for the system.
Wherever the plague’s cold dead hands touched, the population fell drastically and with it, the
supply of food went down as well. Many villages became ghost towns as most of their residents
died or abandoned them. All the fertile land that was claimed by humanity once again returned to the
wild. Before the Black Death, Europe followed an intensive arable agriculture farming technique.
Essentially, it means that small pieces of land were farmed intensively to produce crops. But
as Europe rapidly lost half of its population to the plague, the equation changed. Now there was
an abundance of land and not enough labor. Serfs also figured out that the demand for the workforce
was more than the supply. And they knew with half the population dead this wasn’t gonna change soon.
Peasants were in the commanding position to set terms with the needy lords who were
having no better luck at surviving the plague. The Black Plague did not discriminate at all.
As the conflict between peasants and lords grew, agriculture further went down in production.
While a good chunk of the nobility gave in to peasants' demands and compromised to pay higher
wages while earning lesser profits, others remodeled their lands for different purposes.
But some found a new method of food production without paying for too many men. There was a
lot of unattended cattle and lots of land growing unattended grass and weeds. Some
nobility found it a perfect match and instead of hiring lots of farmers they invested in a
few herders to take care of the cattle. This is how meat won the food battle against the grains.
By the end of the 14th century, there were 60% more sheep in England than there had been
at the start of the century, whole grain harvests merely recovered their pre-Black Death numbers
at the end of the century. But obviously, that didn’t happen overnight. During the plague’s peak,
many lords, and nobles, and knights experienced craving and starvation for the first time in their
lives. And though most of the common population continued to die of hunger at an alarming pace,
some lucky peasants got to feast on the food they could only dream of before. Surprisingly,
the diet of an average peasant in the 14th century was healthier than our diet today. They ate a lot
of grains, their diet consisted of rye bread and pottage, which could be defined as an ancestor to
modern-day porridge. They also ate a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, but were
not able to preserve very much. Food preservation by pickling, drying, smoking, or salting was quite
popular and fresh meat was only available in the winter. Calling it fresh was a bit
of a lie as animals were slaughtered months ago. Pigs were perhaps the main source of the meat.
Cows were kept for their milk, which was also processed as butter and cheese.
Sheep were kept for wool, but they were also often used as a source of meat. Fish and occasional
games such as hedgehogs, rabbits, pheasants and heron were also served in manors and castles.
But the Black Plague much like the swine flu on a larger scale totally changed the menu.
As the Black Plague affected grain production, the demand for fresh meat rose high. The shift
in the eating habit out of necessity caused people to eat more on the regular and this initiated the
surge in agricultural production on the continent. The nobility well they were happy to eat more
fresh meat and the peasants well they were forced to have more cattle to keep up with demand. Grain,
which was the champion of food before the black death, was now forced to redefine itself.
The lack of both supply and demand caused a change of status for the white bread.
Considered a posh delicacy till the arrival of Black Death, White Bread found its way in
peasants’ plate for the price of wheat tanked. Rye and Barley would soon be used for a greater
commodity ale. Dispelled from kitchens, Rye and Barley found their new homes in breweries
as they were used more and more to manufacture better quality ale. Among other things that lost
their place on a common dining table were fresh fruits and cooked vegetables. As the plague raged,
rumors began to spread in the same fashion as they had in the pandemic of the 21st century.
It was widely believed in the middle of the 14th century that fruits carried the disease. Some
authorities even forbid the sale of the fruits. Still, people cooked fruits to make desserts,
as they thought cooking would kill germs in the raw fruits. Even fresh milk was discouraged.
During the 14th century, the milk would turn sour soon due to lack of technology to keep milk
refrigerated. Peasants well they enjoyed soured milk, buttermilk or whey. Peasants were eating
more meat, drinking better ales, and enjoying foods that had once been reserved for elites. The
rich on the other hand were getting addicted to almond milk instead. Almond Milk was quite popular
among culinary books of the era and the rich used it for medicinal purposes too. Doctors believed
it was easier to digest than whole almonds and they could still provide essential nutrients
to the ill. But as almond milk was quietly costly, peasants would have to settle for a regular latte.
The continent lost 20 million lives within five years as the plague spread across
all of Europe from the ports of Sicily. Physicians were puzzled to combat the
growing mortality rate as no one exactly knew what caused it, how it was transmitted,
and how to save the lives of its victims. Bewildered, the medical professionals used every
herb, food, and substance they could. One of the major symptoms of the Black Death was the big ugly
boiling blisters which led physicians to believe that the body was heating too much internally.
They believed the cooling substance needed to be used to reduce the temperature of the ill.
Because of its mentholated cooling effect, mint sauce along with applesauce was used to
help bolster patients. They also made potions out of vinegar to refresh the body from the inside.
In truth, vinegar was given to mask the smell of rotting flesh and upcoming death. Religion was
at its peak during this time and people started consuming mustard seeds just because they were
mentioned in the New Testament. And when people’s faith began to weaken, they turned to magic!
Potions containing “Unicorn Horn” were in high demand as the quacks who posed as physicians would
advertise them as instant remedies. These potions were sold at exorbitant prices to lords, kings,
and other nobilities in their desperate attempt to cheat death. The only magic that followed
the sale was how fast the sellers vanished after the purchase of the potion. Real physicians were
struggling to provide solutions or cures as well. Some physicians tried to mix arsenic in edibles,
hoping that one poison would kill the other. Duh, for those who are not chemists, this is a
very bad concept and do not try this at home. Some asked patients to apply them on the swollen lymph.
Other toxic elements that were prescribed as medicine were metallic salts, crushed minerals,
and urine. All of them only caused quicker deaths. Hmm, how lucky are we to have a good
medical system in present times? So are we currently working toward a grain focused diet
with greenhouse gases of cattle increasing? What will our diets look like in five to ten years?
Time will only tell. What other periods of food history would you like to see on our channel?
Tell us in the comments. Oh and thanks for watching Nutty History.