Medieval Consumption

Europe in the Middle Ages

The medieval period in European history lasted from around the fourth or fifth century to near the end of the fifteenth century. Events that are sometimes used to mark the beginning are Constantine's adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome near the beginning of the fourth century or the end of the western Roman Empire around 476 CE. The end is often marked by the fall of Constantinople in 1453 or the discovery of America in 1492.

One would not expect any thousand-year period to be changeless, and so it is with the Middle Ages. [Page 943]The period up to about 1000 CE is often called the Dark Ages, in large part because we know little about what happened then. Much more is known about the later period, including about consumption, and we shall focus on this period. However, even this later period saw considerable change, both in larger consumption patterns and in fashions. In part, these changes came about from large population changes. For example, the population of England probably fell from around 5 to 6 million to half that number between 1300 and around 1450, in consequence of intermittent famine, bubonic plague, and a variety of other causes, and this fall seems to have affected consumption patterns.

Consumption also differed between different areas or countries at the same time. For example, the foods consumed in the Mediterranean area were different from those consumed in northwestern Europe, as indeed they still are.

Compared to contemporary Western society, medieval society was poor. There were fewer types of goods to consume, and many of these were in very restricted supply. The distribution of goods was very uneven across different social classes. Almost every period and area in medieval Europe featured class differences that were more pronounced than those in our own societies. Unsurprisingly, the large differences in status and wealth were reflected in differences in consumption. More subtly, differences in consumption between the classes, for example, with regard to clothing, also served as class markers.

Food

Although there remains much to discover, our knowledge of what medieval Europeans ate and drank has expanded. Sources include medieval recipe books, the accounts of manors and other organizations, and the results from archaeological investigations, such as counts of animal and fish bones found in medieval rubbish tips. (See Woolgar, Serjeantson, and Waldron, 2006, for an overview of methods and of many of the findings reported in this section.)

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