A food list from the eighth-century reign of King Ine of Wessex.Image credit: Chapter of Rochester Cathedral
Posted on 05/01/2022 12:45:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Despite their high status, Anglo-Saxon royalty didn't regularly feast on copious amounts of meat and fish. Rather, these medieval rulers dined primarily on vegetables, just like the commoners they ruled over, according to two new studies.
In fact, social hierarchy did not have any bearing on the amount of meat consumed; both royalty and peasants chowed down on large amounts of meat only occasionally, the research revealed. It wasn't until the Vikings settled in what is now the United Kingdom in the ninth century and onward that meat became more common on the menu, the team reported.
The findings are based on the analysis of more than 2,000 deceased individuals from the Anglo-Saxon era, which showed no evidence of these people eating "much animal protein on a regular basis," Sam Leggett, a bioarchaeologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said in a statement, as well as an investigation into Anglo-Saxon records about food consumption.
These findings surprised Tom Lambert, a historian at Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge who had studied medieval texts that indicated that the Anglo-Saxons did eat a lot of meat.
So, the two paired up to investigate the reality of Anglo-Saxon cuisine. The pair analyzed food lists, both royal and nonroyal, from southern England during the reign of King Ine of Wessex (circa 688 to 726). These food lists showed that people feasted on a large amount of meat, a modest amount of bread, a decent quantity of ale and no vegetables.
However, the duo soon realized that these food lists weren't menus for everyday living but instead spreads for rare lavish feasts.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
A food list from the eighth-century reign of King Ine of Wessex.Image credit: Chapter of Rochester Cathedral
New study suggests that Anglo-Saxon Kings lived mainly on a vegetarian diet, but would often be treated to large barbecues by the peasants they ruled.Peasants held large barbecues for Anglo-Saxon Royalty
“Anglo-Saxon royals were largely vegetarian”
No wonder the Romans kicked their butts.
'Viking Skin' Nailed To Medieval Church Doors Is Actually From Farm AnimalsImage credit: Robert Edwards
A case where “science” proves what we want to believe?
Being vegan and all that jazz is cool and ethical today: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/349086
What do you think? Real or rationalizing the newest fad/trend?
Unlike our politicians, Anglo-Saxon royalty chose not to live off the largesse of their peasantry.
No chance. This is bull. For almost the entire year there was nothing but meat and fish to eat. Stored veggies were sparse. They could store salted fish and meats. And they could live on dairy as well.
This was the world before potatoes and winter wheat and rice.
Good for them. Just downed some grilled boneless beef ribs. They would be jealous.
Frankly, their proof seems a bit weak. They did have those lavish dinners with plenty of meat. Maybe they had those feasts quite often. LOL
Our new overlords want us to eat bugs and lentils. They get all the meat.
Where’s the beef? It is on all the tables in Washington DC.
When were oats, barley, rye and millet introduced?
If you look at the church calendar then, lots of saints lots of reasons for feasts!
This is all part of the propaganda campaign to get the “hoi polloi” used to eating like a half-starved Dark Age peasant!
More for the Elites, just like the good old Dark Age days!
The rest of the Anglo Saxons keyword, sorted:
I was going to say the samething, but with the vikings kicking thier butts.
“I was going to say the same thing, but with the vikings kicking their butts.”
You’re right, I just guessed in my posting - to get the concept out there before the pro-Ukrainian types start lecturing to us about how great being a Vegetarian is.
Hi.
In the fwiw department, I still have my incisors.
They weren’t designed for vegetables.
Matter of fact the word “vegan” in Apache means “one who can’t hunt.”
5.56mm
No kidding.
And the Blancmange will still win Wimbledon.
“No chance. This is bull. For almost the entire year there was nothing but meat and fish to eat. Stored veggies were sparse. They could store salted fish and meats. And they could live on dairy as well.”
Yes. They would have had ale (good way to “store” grain”) and mead. Their drinks had lots of stuff added to them so they were something like modern protein drinks. Ergot (a fungus) also infested a lot of their grain. One affect among many is hallucinations. I often think this is why we hear much about “visions” in history. Those that converted their grain to alcohol (monks) avoided that problem somewhat
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