Richard Abbott has won a copy of Napoleon in America by Shannon Selin. Congrats to Richard Abbott!
Thanks to Shannon Selin for a discussion of Napoleon’s fan club in America. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Charlie has won a copy of The Serpent Sword by Matthew Harffy. Congrats to Charlie!
Thanks to Matthew Harffy for the fascinating scoop on what Anglo-Saxons ate during the so-called “Dark Ages.” Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Relevant History welcomes Matthew Harffy, who lived in Northumberland as a child. The area had a great impact on him. Decades later, a documentary about Northumbria’s Golden Age sowed the kernel of an idea for a series of novels. The first is the action-packed tale of vengeance and coming of age, The Serpent Sword. Matthew has worked in the IT industry and as an English teacher and translator in Spain. He has co-authored seven published academic articles, ranging in topic from the ecological impact of mining to the construction of a marble pipe organ. He lives in England with his wife and two daughters. To learn more about Matthew’s books, check out his web site, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
*****
I sat down this evening with my family to eat one of our favourite meals—Chilli con Carne. Beef in a rich sauce of tomato, onions, kidney beans, peppers, cumin, chilli pepper powder, cinnamon, garlic, cocoa, salt, oregano and black pepper. All of this on a bed of basmati rice. It was delicious!
I got thinking about how many of the things I was eating and enjoying would not have been available to the characters in my book, The Serpent Sword. It is set in Britain in 633 A.D., and whilst much of the story is concerned with epic battles, warriors and kings, the fate of nations, and the search for justice in a dark and troubled time, everyone needs to eat!
Dark Ages grub
Food in what is commonly known as the “Dark Ages” was a far cry from our modern diet. Now we can easily obtain fruit, vegetables and spices imported from all over the world. But Europeans had not yet been to the New World (or if they had, they hadn’t returned with all of the wonders of later centuries, such as tomatoes, cocoa, potatoes and the many other delicacies that came from the Americas), and whilst there were some imports from mainland Europe, Asia and Africa, these things would have been extremely rare and expensive, and of course, only items that could remain fresh for a long time, such as spices, could be imported.
Everyday food would have been much simpler than what we are used to. Pottage would have been a staple—basically whatever was available cooked in a cauldron over the house’s central hearth. This would be accompanied by bread, baked in a clay oven or on a griddle. The vegetables used would be seasonal, so the pottage would change as the year went on. There would be times when there was some meat in the stew, such as when calves and lambs were killed in spring to leave cows and ewes with milk. At other times, there would be no meat. Hunting would be an extra source of food that would be very welcome.
In general, meat would have been consumed quite sparingly. Nobles would have eaten more meat than the poor. The richer one was, the more meat one could afford. Fish was eaten fresh or, if it was to be stored for longer periods, it could be smoked or salted. Butter and cheese were made from the milk of goats, sheep and cows. Milk wouldn’t keep for long with no refrigeration, even in the British climate, so converting it to cheese and butter made it last much longer.
There was no sugar for sweets or cakes. The only sweetener was honey. Honey cakes were popular but would have been eaten a lot less frequently than we tend to eat sweet things.
Vegetables and fruit
The staple grain crops were wheat, rye, oats and barley. Wheat and rye were used to make bread, and barley was used to brew ale. Oats were eaten as porridge and also fed to animals.
Commonly eaten vegetables were carrots, but not the orange things we know. These would have been purple-red and much smaller. The inhabitants of the British Isles also ate parsnips and cabbages (though these too, were wild, smaller and tougher). Peas, beans, onions and leeks were common cultivated crops too. Foraged plants, such as wild garlic and burdock, would also have been added to the menu.
Although the food would not have been as rich and spicy as my chilli, there were some herbs that could be used to add flavour to dishes. These included coriander, dill and thyme. The wealthy could possibly obtain imported spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cloves, mace and pepper. However, it is unlikely many would have tasted such things. The import of these goods would become more widespread in later centuries as trade routes to the east were opened up.
Anglo-Saxons ate quite a lot of fruit. Apples, plums, cherries and sloes were all consumed. Of course, no oranges, lemons or bananas!
Drinks
The most popular drink was ale. This would not have been the ale we drink (and I love!) today. Instead it would have been a less alcoholic drink, flavoured with gruit (basically, whatever flowers or herbs you had to hand). Brewed with barley, it would not have had hops, which are what give modern beers their crisp dryness.
The drink that perhaps epitomises the images we have of this period, is mead. Beowulf and other heroic Old English poetry talk of the medubenc (mead bench) in the lord’s hall, where warriors would drink from great horns (literally the hollow horns of cattle). Mead was made from honey and often flavoured with herbs, or meduwyrt (mead plant).
Wine was imported and therefore rare and expensive. Cider (or apple-wine) was drunk, as were fruit juices.
The process for distilling spirits was not yet known, so there was no whisky, brandy or the like.
So food and drink were less varied than today and a far cry from our modern diet, high in fats, sugars and protein. Today we are spoiled, seldom eating something we do not like the flavour of. The amount of fibre and vegetables in the diet of the Dark Ages, coupled with the effort required to pull together enough to survive, would today be seen as the basis for a healthy lifestyle.
However, it was not all good news. In the worst times, when crops failed or when the winter stores were depleted, no amount of effort was enough to keep sufficient food on the table. Death from starvation was not uncommon in this period, and there is even evidence of cannibalism!
I’m happy to stick with my chilli con carne and all the trimmings, but there are many people today who extol the virtues of living in closer connection with the seasons, eating only locally-sourced produce. Perhaps we should call this modern trend to lower our carbon footprint “the Dark Ages Diet.”
References:
http://regia.org/research/life/food.htm
Images attributions:
“Bowl of chili” by Carstor – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bowl_of_chili.jpg#/media/File:Bowl_of_chili.jpg
“Ecologically grown vegetables” by Elina Mark – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecologically_grown_vegetables.jpg#/media/File:Ecologically_grown_vegetables.jpg
“Magenbitter und Halbbitter” by ChasseurBln – Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magenbitter_und_Halbbitter.jpg#/media/File:Magenbitter_und_Halbbitter.jpg
“Grilled Lamb Loin Chops-01” by Naotake Murayama from Los Altos, CA, USA – Grilled Lamb Loin ChopsUploaded by Caspian blue. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grilled_Lamb_Loin_Chops-01.jpg#/media/File:Grilled_Lamb_Loin_Chops-01.jpg
*****
A big thanks to Matthew Harffy. He’ll give away a signed paperback copy of The Serpent Sword to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Laura Frantz has won a copy of A Book of Cookery by Kimberly Walters. Congrats to Laura Frantz!
Thanks to Kimberly Walters for showing us some complexities of cooking in the 18th century. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Relevant History welcomes Kimberly Walters, a living historian, author, and owner of K. Walters at the Sign of the Gray Horse, which offers historically-inspired jewelry. Kim is a proud horse mom first and foremost. She is a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, currently of the Fincastle Chapter of Louisville, Kentucky, as well as the Association of Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums. She also serves her country as a Federal employee. Sales from A Book of Cookery by a Lady help support her rescued Colonial Williamsburg horse. To learn more, check out her web site.
*****
When I started participating in living history events, a friend recommended that I look into hearth cooking to give me a purpose and something to do. I was skeptical, but I am not one to sit around and do nothing, no matter where I am. Wasn’t that hot and sweaty work? With five rescue horses, I’m not a lightweight, so I am used to working hard, but this was a different kind of work. Nevertheless, I was not prepared for what I was getting myself into! I did start my research with passion and immersed myself into the subject. What’s not better to like than food?
After I studied period cookery books and actually cooked over a fire, I compiled appropriate recipes (also known as receipts in the time period). I was so enamored with how they did things in the kitchen and in dining, I couldn’t stop. My original concept was to find the most common things of the time period that would assist me with interpreting this part of history to the public without a bunch of notes tucked away in my pocket (or having to remember it). It was all really meant for me. That sounds kind of selfish but it is true! However, many of us that do research cherish the little bits of information that we find that are not well known and like to keep them close to us like the “Gollum” did of the “One Ring” of the The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. They are precious!
Five years later, I decided to publish my findings as A Book of Cookery by a Lady. I did so on what would have been my Mom’s birthday as a tribute to her. I was also enamored with an article written about Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, George Washington’s housekeeper during the war years, by Ms. Nancy K. Loane. Mrs. Thompson’s service is not really well known, yet she deserves to be remembered for running the great general’s household and feeding his staff. I have compiled a history on her as a memorial of her service. It is a highlight of the book.
A lot of chapters are interesting from a historical viewpoint—but also very practical for today. This includes items in season, cooking terms, measurements, receipts, how to carve meats, setting a table for one to thirty dishes, and even how to choose your produce at the market.
Kitchen cleanliness and safety in the 18th century
One of the other areas that I think is highly important and underrepresented is cleanliness and safety in the 18th-century kitchen. What was really considered, done, and written down? I’m always asked if I am going to use bleach, soap, and sanitizer when cooking. No. I use 18th-century methods, and they work. General observations for cooks and what they needed to do to ensure they did not poison or make anyone sick were also noted in my book. This focused on utensils and equipment.
The types of metals that the equipment was made from and how they were cleaned was very important. If a cook wanted to poison someone, they could do so by using a certain type of pot that had verdigris on it and serving it right up! Cooks did not know that some of the metals were deadly that they used, but they at least knew that if they were not cleaned correctly, they could be deadly.
I caution the reader not to use an original pot or utensil to cook for demonstration or at home. We may not be able to identify the type of metal it is made from today. By focusing on M. Radcliffe, I highlighted this very issue. Radcliffe talks about lead and its hazards, which is somewhat unique, but by this time well known. Here is an excerpt from her book:
Lead is a metal easily corroded, especially by the warm steams of acids, such as vinegar, cider, lemon-juice, Rhenish wine, &c. and this solution, or salt of lead, is a slow and insidious, though certain poison. The glazing of all our common brown pottery ware is either lead or lead ore; if black, it is a lead ore, with a small proportion of manganese, which is a species of iron ore; if yellow, the glazing is lead ore, and appears yellowish by having some pipe or white clay under it. The colour of the common pottery ware is red, as the vessels are made of the same clay as common bricks. These vessels are so porous, that they are penetrated by all salts, acid or alkaline, and are unfit for retaining any saline substances. They are improper, though too often used, for preserving sour fruits or pickles. The glazing of such vessels is corroded by the vinegar: for, upon evaporating the liquor, a quantity of the salt of lead will be found at the bottom. A sure way of judging whether the vinegar or other acid have dissolved part of the glazing, is by their becoming vapid, or losing their sharpness, and acquiring a sweetish taste by standing in them for some time; in which case the contents must be thrown away as pernicious.
Source:
Radcliffe, M., A Modern System of Domestic Cookery: or, The Housekeeper’s Guide, Arranged on the Most Economical Plan for Private Families. Originally published in 1823, digitized on Google Books Aug 15, 2007.
*****
A big thanks to Kimberly Walters. She’ll give away a copy of A Book of Cookery by a Lady to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available within the U.S.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
How were girls and women educated in Tudor and Regency England and Revolutionary America? I join Relevant History author guests Anna Castle and Libi Astaire on the Historical Fiction eBooks blog for this “back-to-school” report.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Kathy Waller has won a Slant of Light coffee mug. Congrats to Kathy Waller!
Thanks to Steve Wiegenstein for a glimpse at the Utopia experiment in 19th-century America. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Relevant History welcomes Steve Wiegenstein, author of Slant of Light, published in 2012, and This Old World, its sequel, published in 2014. Steve grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, the setting for his novel series, and worked there as a newspaper reporter before entering the field of higher education. He is an avid hiker and canoeist who hits the trails and float streams of the Ozarks every chance he gets. Steve lives in Columbia, Missouri, but loves to speak at libraries, civic organizations, and other groups across the country. His books are available from major retailers and his publisher. To learn more about Steve’s books, check out his web site and blog. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
*****
Life is pretty much a mess, most of the time. People don’t behave as they should; they follow their own interests and desires, bringing them into disagreement with others and creating unnecessary heartache and conflict. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could agree in advance that they would act for the common good, setting aside their own wishes in favor of what’s best for everyone?
That is the essence of the Utopian ideal, and that’s why it has fascinated me for many years. I first got interested in Utopian movements when I read about the Icarians, a little-known group that lived in the United States for about fifty years in the Nineteenth Century. That interest led to a wider appreciation for the entire Utopian movement, which was a transatlantic movement inspired both by Romanticism and by the newly created idea of “social science,” both of which contributed important elements to the movement in varying degrees.
The Founding Thinkers
When I think of the foundations of this movement, three names come to mind: Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, coiner of the memorable phrase “Property is theft”; Charles Fourier, the Utopian socialist whose concept of the “phalanx” inspired communities on both sides of the Atlantic; and Robert Owen, the Welsh reformer who put his ideas into action in Britain and the United States. The intellectual roots don’t attract me as much as the human drama, though.
The Icarians, like a lot of Utopian groups, originated with a charismatic leader who attracted a group of followers. But the Icarian movement was different from most others as well. For one thing, its founder, Etienne Cabet, hadn’t actually intended to form a settlement. He wrote a novel, Voyage to Icaria, largely to comment on the political situation in France and to keep his name in front of the French public while he served a period of exile. But the novel, in which he set forth his communistic ideas in the form of an imaginary community in the South Seas, caught the public imagination, and in 1848 Cabet found himself leading a group of immigrants to the United States to establish a real-life Icaria. The experiment was marked by equal amounts of strife and heroism, nobility and pettiness, but the last colony of Icarians didn’t disband until 1898, and their dogged persistence in trying to live out their ideal deserves our admiration, if not imitation.
The Fictional Appeal
Those of you who have read my first novel, Slant of Light, will recognize that situation as the starting premise of the book—a charismatic social reformer who founds a community, almost by accident. I depart from history at that point, but certainly one of the central themes of my book is the Utopian impulse that lives in us all, and whether that impulse can ever be realized. This Old World picks up that story after the devastation of the American Civil War, when the first wave of Utopianism died down as dreams of a radical refashioning of human nature felt to most Americans more like a cruel hoax than an achievable ideal.
Somewhere below the surface, the Utopian impulse has a dictatorial side—it’s the “I know best” impulse, the belief that life’s messes and strife could be avoided if only you would agree to what I know is best for us all. You can see hints of this impulse in the obsessive fascination with order that characterizes many of the Utopian theorists’ visions of the ideal community. Fourier’s ideal phalanx was to have 1,620 people, equally divided among male and female, and encompassing what he imagined to be all combinations of the common passions of humanity. To the social reformer, our human imperfections are a problem to be solved. But to the novelist, they’re what makes us so interesting.
The fictional inhabitants of Daybreak, the name of my fictional community in Slant of Light and This Old World, try earnestly to arrange their lives for the common good. They hold weekly meetings to vote on everything from whether to install windows in their cabins to whether to buy cloth for mourning dresses. They eat together, work together, travel together. But their communal urges keep getting thwarted by their human desires. They envy, they betray, they fall in love with the wrong people. It’s the struggle between these two sides of human nature—the desire to improve and perfect ourselves, and the desire to have what we want when we want it, regardless of others—that drew me to the Utopian experience of the Nineteenth Century as a microcosm of human nature.
*****
A big thanks to Steve Wiegenstein. He’ll give away a Slant of Light coffee mug to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Janet Oakley has won a copy of Chorus of the Dead by Tracy Ward. Congrats to Janet Oakley!
Thanks to Tracy Ward for a chilling look inside the world of Victorian-era physicians and surgeons. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
Relevant History welcomes Tracy L. Ward, the historical mystery writer behind the Dr. Peter Ainsley Mystery series, gothic morgue mysteries played out in the dark streets of London. The fourth novel in the series, Sweet Asylym, was just released at the end of June and features the continuing story of Peter Ainsley, a young surgeon, and his high-born sister, Margaret Marshall, as they are pulled unwillingly into a mystery involving a young pregnant woman and her strange, ominous family. A former journalist, Tracy has been writing creatively for a number of years and currently has four novels and three anthologies to her name. To learn more about Tracy’s books, check out her blog, and follow her on Facebook.
*****
Chances are sometime during your lifetime you’ve required the services of a doctor. I would also wager that during treatment you were grateful for the doctor’s knowledge regarding your illness or medical needs. That gratitude stems from understanding that these individuals have amassed a great amount of knowledge and the fact that their pursuit of this knowledge has benefited you. The Victorians, on the other hand, did not hold reverence for the medical profession.
During the 19th century, a time of mass improvements within the medical field, the average person both young and old, distrusted the medical establishment with fervor. Gone were the days of the four humors (blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm), but that didn’t mean the end of superstition and poor health practices.
Physician vs. surgeon
In Victorian times there were two distinct classes of doctor: the physician and the surgeon. A physician was a medical professional with a somewhat limited understanding of anatomy. Their main purpose was the diagnosis of illness and the prescription of various tonics. Physicians were seen by the average person as a more upper-class position, but that did not mean automatic respect. Physicians spent most of their days with illness and disease, which made their profession far less desirable. Despite society’s need for them they did not enjoy a robust salary nor were they welcome in all corners of society. This changed closer to the end of the century but before then physicians were not praised or revered by any means.
Surgeons were even worse off. Working in surgery meant getting your hands dirty. Unlike physicians, surgeons did the nitty-gritty of medical work, and the Victorian classes viewed this as labour. Before the time of gloves, surgeons often wore the mess of their trade as they traveled from patient to patient. Surgical uniforms stained with the evidence of prior surgeries were worn with honour, a tribute to the wearers experience at the surgical table. Handwashing as well was not widely practiced at this time, which contributed greatly to the spread of infection and in turn high rates of mortality.
In fact, until handwashing was proven as effective bacteria control, surgeons would move freely from morgue to labouring women without taking care to wash their hands. This practice has been proven to contribute greatly to infant and female mortality rates following childbirth. It was the experiments of Louis Pasteur and Joseph Lister in the 1860s that convinced the medical establishment that germs could be abated and even eradicated if proper instrument washing and heat application techniques were used. These discoveries have saved many lives and changed medical practices irrevocably. (Photo taken by Tracy Ward: This case of obstetric tools used in the mid-18th century at Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospitals in London, England is currently on display at the Old Operating Theatre Museum.)
Women and their doctors
Despite advances in cell theory and anaesthetic development, there remained a huge gap in medical care available to women. Prior to 1850 all doctors were male and none were permitted to touch their female patients unless absolutely necessary. This applied not only to treatment but also research. Such moral barriers halted advancements in childbirth techniques and menopause treatments. So much of the female body remained a mystery that when locomotive engines were invented and installed throughout England, women were advised not to travel on them because of suspicion their uteruses could not handle the high rate of speed!
The first medical college for women was established in 1850 in Pennsylvania, US. It was 1870 before Edinburgh University in Scotland began allowing women to attend anatomy classes, but even then they wouldn’t permit any of the women to gain medical licenses until 1876. The introduction of women in medicine brought about swift change in how women’s health was studied and treated, which paved the way for advancements in fertility health.
Forensic police work
Prior to the 1800s formal police departments were rare both in North America and across the pond. A spike in crime rates in London in the 1820s highlighted the need for a unified police force to service the boroughs outside the City of London. This need paved the way for the creation of The Metropolitan Police, or more famously Scotland Yard (which was really the name of their building). By the mid-19th century an interesting partnership between surgeons and detectives had emerged. It had become apparent that the bodies of the dead could give many clues to the method of their demise through close observation both outside and in.
Post mortems were nothing new. The ancient Greeks had been studying the bodies of the dead, utilizing the Y shaped incision, long before the invention of forensic science. The practice of autopsies, which means “to see for one self,” fell out of vogue for a number of centuries due to strong Christian views regarding the afterlife. Medical schools were finally permitted to study the dead in the 17th century. Their cadavers were often procured via questionable means before strict laws were introduced in 1834 (England).
Using a highly skilled surgeon with an observer’s eye and a nose for clues, detectives in the 19th century soon realized how invaluable the right doctor could be. Forensic investigations were still limited though. Fingerprinting was at least half a century away, and DNA was more science fiction than proven fact. However the Victorian scientist knew a great deal about chemical reactions and the construct of anatomy. The quintessential text, Grey’s Anatomy, was first published in 1854 and is still used today. The second half of the century saw doctors relying less on superstition as many embraced the scientific method of trial and error and later the power of deduction.
The bulk of advancement within the medical field can be attributed to the Victorian scientists and doctors who often challenged long held, erroneous beliefs and ushered in a new era of scientific advancement. Were it not for the experiments of Pasteur and Lister, we’d view surgery as a definitive death sentence. I also have no doubt that countless murders would remain unsolved. So, this begs the question, have you thanked a Victorian surgeon today?
*****
A big thanks to Tracy Ward. She’ll give away an autographed trade paperback copy of the first book of her series, Chorus of the Dead, to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available in North America, including Hawaii and Alaska.
Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.
