Beef was not as common as today, while cows and oxen were in first place valued as working animals and for milk production. Relatively common were also chicken and lamb, while fish was viewed as an alternative to meat and was usually eaten on fast days. Pork was the most commonly eaten meat by both serfs and nobility. Meat was considered prestigious by all classes of feudal society in the Middle Ages. Those who were lower in the social hierarchy were served with fewer and less prestigious foods. The social status of the host was revealed by both quantity and exclusivity of foods that were served, while the served foods also revealed the social rank of the invited guests. They were characterized gluttonous eating and drinking but there was a major difference between those that were organized by nobles of higher social rank and petty nobles. Medieval banquets are the best evidence for the role of food as a status symbol in the Middle Ages. The nobles in the Middle Ages also viewed food as a status symbol. Many types foods were considered luxurious goods and were very expensive, while some types of foods such as game was an exclusive privilege of nobility. Medieval social elites – nobility and clergy ate more diversified foods than the serfs. Foods Eaten by Medieval Nobility and Clergy Cereals were the main ingredients of the majority of medieval meals, while bread became one of the basic foods only in the 12th and 13th centuries. The serfs who were at the bottom of the medieval social hierarchy predominantly ate gruel and porridge along vegetables that were available at a particular region and season of the year – cabbage, beets, legumes, carrots, onion, etc. The gap between the classes of medieval society was incomparably larger than today and the food that was eaten in the Middle Ages depended on an individual's social rank.įood was an obsession for all classes of medieval society but the types of food that were eaten in the Middle Ages primarily depended on an individual’s social rank. The medieval society was obsessed with food and viewed it as a status symbol.
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