Lesson 3: Religious food, fast food
Life in the Middle Ages was religious, which had an effect on what food people ate and when. Life in the Middle Ages was also marked by the rapid growth of several major cities and the equal need for fast food.
The aim of this lesson is to help you integrate how both religion and the growth of major urban centres influences food with what you have already learned.
Food and Religion
Food and religion were inextricably linked in the Middle Ages, far more so than today for most people. For instance, the Christian calendar had days when it was forbidden to eat meat, and the Jewish calendar had fast days when it was not permitted to eat or drink at all.
146 days in the year were fast days in the Christian calendar. On these days vegetable fat was used (e.g. olive oil) rather than lard or dripping. Fish replaced meat. Some people would not even eat dairy products, because of their animal origin. Fast days in Medieval Christianity did not always mean that people ate less – how much they ate depended on their own interpretation of what the fast meant. For many, it was a matter of eating as much as usual, but of different foods. For those who regarded fast days as a time for penitence, they might be a bit more careful than most about not turning it into an excuse for a feast.
Jewish fast days were rarer – only a few in the whole year – but they were far more strict. All food was prohibited. The most important fast day in the Jewish calendar was Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) – still a fast today.
All Jewish communities seem to have kept a certain amount of kashruth (had kosher food). But how much individuals followed would have varied according to their location and local traditions. We have very little evidence for assessing just how far kashruth was kept in most Jewish communities.
The actual rules of kashruth have not changed and are still kept by observant Jewish today. Basically, they relate to how meat is treated (humane killing for instance), what other foods it can be eaten in combination with (not any dairy) and what foods cannot be eaten at all e.g. pork, some types of birds. All fish had to have fins and scales, and other animals had to chew the cud and have cloven hooves. Special restrictions to prevent the eating of leavened food (e.g. most bread and cakes) operated during the eight days of Passover.
The big weekly meal for both the Jewish and Christian week was on Friday night and there was often a rush to the fish market to get fish for this celebration. In some communities it was legislated that Christians be able to buy ahead of Jews. Other feast days included Passover and Jewish New Year.
Christian feast days varied according to the region – with different places celebrating the days of particular saints, for instance. However, the twelve days of Christmas were undoubtedly the biggest feast sequence of the whole year.
