Early Modern Europe and Food

The social standing and significance of food became very important in early modern Europe. This essay will be assessing how food was viewed in early modern Europe and concentrate on the different time periods from the fifteenth century through to the seventeenth century. By juxtaposing the different periods against each other one is able to see how the value of food in society was changing and evolving. As expressed by Albala, ‘dietary prejudices did increase from the 16th century due to demographic pressure, economic specialisation and social stratification advancement . This essay will be exploring the numerous ways food contributed to society in early modern early including the hysteria created around food linked to its nutritional value, social hierarchy and religion.

It is evident to note that ‘food was more important than medicine in keeping the body healthy, fit and able.’ . However the hysteria that became connected with food cannot be overlooked, in particular during times of famine when food, especially bread, became extremely scarce. As explained by Camporesi in ‘Bread of Dreams: Food and fantasy in early modern Europe’, when a food staple such as bread became scarce, many people had to take it into their own hands to attempt to source the herbs and ingredients to make the bread. This in itself presented pitfalls to individuals and society itself as not all herbs where considered safe to be consumed. This links back to the belief that there was a ‘fall in the level of mental health’

Certain levels of hysteria arose which began to link ‘stupefying grains’ , to the outlandish and delirious states people where getting into. This shows the social significance of food and specifically how far reaching a food issue like this was able to be spread.

In early modern Europe, stories where spread frequently by word of mouth and in essence could create hysteria. This is what happened in regards to the bread when people believed there could be some ingredients and herbs that where going into the bread and making people insane. This was interesting as there did come out evidence which supported this to some degree as there are some harmful herbs which can create ‘delirious hypnotic states and crises . One herb which was mentioned was named Darnel and was speculated to cause a dazed effect among other conditions. Whether the reactions the peasants where having was from this herb or whether in fact it was from suffer malnourishment and starvation.

In regards to the social nutrition in food and how this was viewed socially by the people can be divided into stages. As explained by Albala, in Eating Right in the Renaissance, in the earlier periods around the fifteenth century food was based on the sensual pleasure and experience. This belief was further supported by Avicenna stating ‘what tastes good is good for us’ , however this view changed by the sixteenth and seventeenth