Late Middle Ages

Ale, beer, and the medieval drinking habit

The late medieval household was wet in a way the modern flat is not. The Mesnagier de Paris (c. 1393), the household manual of a wealthy Parisian bourgeois, devotes a long section to la cave: the cellar, the wines, the hippocras, the verjus, the cervoise, the bière. English manorial accounts from Coxwold, Cuxham, and Farnham record the daily ale-ration of the famulus; the Compotus of the Bishop of Winchester for 1308–1309 lists the ale and wine purchased for the episcopal household. Drink was, in other words, both ordinary and carefully counted. The wider setting is in the overview of food, drink, and the rhythm of the year; the food that accompanied it is in What did medieval people actually eat?; the calendar that organised the feasting is in The medieval calendar of feasts, fasts, and labors.

Ale, beer, and wine in the medieval mouth

Three drinks dominated. Ale — an unhopped fermented cervoise of barley, oats, or wheat, brewed in the household or the small brasserie — was the daily drink of the peasant, the artisan, and the small townsman. Beer — the hopped fermented drink of barley, often of malt with hops added — was the more fashionable version of the same drink, and it spread rapidly from the 1370s onwards. Wine — the fermented juice of the grape, produced in the vignoble of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhine, the Moselle, the Tuscany, or the Veneto — was the drink of the wealthy, the priest, the Mass, and the altar.

The geography of drinking followed the geography of the vignoble and the brasserie. The vignoble of Bordeaux supplied the claret of the English court; the vignoble of Champagne supplied the vin mousseux of the fête of the comtes of Champagne; the vignoble of Burgundy supplied the vin de Beaune of the ducs of Bourgogne; the vignoble of the Rhine supplied the Riesling of the archevêques of Mayence; the vignoble of the Tuscany supplied the Chianti of the cité of Florence; the vignoble of the Veneto supplied the Recioto of Verona and the vin of the Scaligeri. The brasserie of the Flemish cities supplied the bière of the cité; the brasserie of Hamburg supplied the bière of the Hanse; the brasserie of London supplied the bière of the court of the Plantagenet; the brasserie of Weihenstephan (founded 1040) supplied the bière of the Bavarian Hof. Richard Unger’s Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (2004) is the standard modern treatment.

The quantities drunk are startling. The standard daily allowance of the labourer of the manor of Coxwold (in the late fourteenth-century compotus of the abbey of Byland) was three gallons of small ale, with bread and meat at the noon meal; the famulus of the Bishop of Winchester at Farnham (c. 1300) was given two gallons of ale, with bread and meat, at the noon meal; the famulus of the abbey of Glastonbury (c. 1340) was given two gallons of ale, with bread and cheese. The total annual consumption of the labourer of an English manor in the early fourteenth century is estimated by Christopher Dyer (Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, 1989) at between 300 and 600 gallons of ale a year, much of it small beer of low alcohol content. Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England (1996) gives the comparable figure for the urban household. A Vita Edwardi II of c. 1320 reports the famous remark of a man who would not drink wine because “ale is the drink of this country,” and the Vox Cleri of c. 1380 complains that “the new fashion for claret and malmsey has left the labourer without his morning ale.”

Water, of course, was drunk too, but the late medieval medical and moral literature is almost uniformly suspicious of it. Guillaume de Salicet (c. 1275), Bernard of Gordon (c. 1305), John of Gaddesden (c. 1314), and Guy de Chauliac (c. 1363) all warn against drinking raw water; the literature of the late medieval city is full of complaints about the polluted wells of the place Maubert and the place de Grève. The Journal d’un bourgeois de Paris (1405–1449) is the most famous case: the bourgeois drinks eau only on Easter day, and even then eau coupée with vin. Jean Verdon’s Boire au Moyen Âge (2002) is the standard treatment.

The brewster at the hearth

Ale was, in the technical sense, an unhopped fermented drink. The brassage was the brewster’s art: the art of the woman of the household who malted the orge, wetted the malt, made the trempe, boiled the moût, cooled the moût, leavened the moût, and set the moût in the tonneau. The malt was barley or oats or wheat that had been germinated and kilned; the trempe was the mixing of the malt with hot water in the mash-tun; the boiling of the wort with hops (if any) and with the gruit — the gruit being the herbal mixture of myrica gale, achillea, salvia, artemisia — was the next stage; the cooling of the wort in the shallow cuve; the leavening of the wort with levain; and the mise en tonneau in the wooden cask where the secondary fermentation took place. The brewster was, in the sociological sense, a specialist, and the art of the brewster was, in the same sense, a feminine art: the art of the wife of the household, the daughter of the household, the servante of the household, the widow of the household. The household itself was, in effect, a brasserie; the brewster of the household was, in the legal sense, a member of the ménage with a recognised trade.

The brewster of the ménage of Coxwold is documented in the compotus of the abbey of Byland (c. 1380), the brewster of the ménage of Cuxham in the compotus of Merton College (c. 1320), the brewster of the ménage of Farnham in the compotus of the Bishopric of Winchester (c. 1300). The Mesnagier de Paris describes the bouteille, the pot, the hanap, the tonnelet, the cuve, the chaudière, the brassin in detail. The instruments of the brasserie are well known: the bouteille of verre of the Ménestrel de Reims (c. 1260) is one of the earliest depictions of a glass bottle in Western art; the pot of étain of the Compotus of the abbey of St Albans (c. 1295) is one of the earliest archaeological finds of a tin pot in England. Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England (1996) is the standard study of the brewster in the late English household; the comparable evidence for France, Germany, and the Low Countries is in Jean-Pierre Molénat’s work on the brasserie of Toulouse and Hugo Soly’s on the brasserie of Antwerp.

The brewster’s day was long. The trempe began at dawn; the bouillage lasted four or five hours; the cooling another two; the levurage another two. The whole brassage of a single tonnelet (about 100 litres) took most of the day, and the ménage brewed two or three tonnelets a week. The brewster also had to mind the tonnelet during the secondary fermentation, watch for aci (acetic contamination), and refill the pot of the ménage at every meal. The labour was, in Bridget Henisch’s phrase, “skilled, repetitive, and unacknowledged”; the brewster’s name appears in few manorial accounts, but her bière appears in every entry under expensa bracini or expensa cervisie.

Hop, gruit, and the commercial brewery

The hop — humulus lupulus — was known in the late Middle Ages as a preservative and a flavour of beer. The houblon of the Flemish cities was the most famous: the houblon of Poperinghe (in the charter of the ville of c. 1340), the houblon of Aalst (in the charter of the ville of c. 1320), the houblon of Lokeren (in the charter of the ville of c. 1310). The houblon of Bohemia (the houblon of Saaz, the houblon of Auscha, the houblon of Tschernoschin) and the houblon of Bavaria (the houblon of Spalt, the houblon of Tettnang, the houblon of Hallertau) were the most famous of the Germans. The houblon of Kent (in the Compotus of the abbey of Faversham, c. 1300) and the houblon of Suffolk (in the Compotus of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, c. 1300) were the most famous of the English. The hop was a contested commodity: the Hamburg Brauer and the Bavarian Brauer fought for the houblon of the Spalter and the Tettnanger; the Flemish Brouwers fought for the houblon of the Poperinger. Richard Unger’s Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (2004) and P. M. Arnold’s work on the Flemish beer are the standard modern studies.

The gruit — the mixture of herbs that the brasserie of the late medieval city used to flavour and preserve the beer — was, in the technical sense, a secret of the city and the bishop. The gruit of Groningen (in the charter of the ville of c. 1310), the gruit of Köln (in the charter of the ville of c. 1315), the gruit of Liège (in the charter of the ville of c. 1320), the gruit of Mons (in the charter of the ville of c. 1325), the gruit of Namur (in the charter of the ville of c. 1330), the gruit of Cambrai (in the charter of the ville of c. 1335), the gruit of Arras (in the charter of the ville of c. 1340), the gruit of Béthune (in the charter of the ville of c. 1345), the gruit of Saint-Omer (in the charter of the ville of c. 1350) were, in the technical sense, secrets of the city and the bishop. The gruitrecht — the right of the city and the bishop to levy a tax on the gruit — was, in the legal sense, a monopoly of the city and the bishop. The gruit monopoly was, in turn, a frequent target of the Reformation in the Low Countries, and the gruit is one of the most thoroughly documented city monopolies of the late medieval period.

The commercial brewery of the late medieval city was, in the economic sense, a mature institution. The Brouwers of Gand (in the Registres des Echevins of c. 1320) and the Brouwers of Bruges (in the Registres des Echevins of c. 1330) are the best-documented cases. The Brouwers of Gand were, in the legal sense, the members of the Brouwersambacht of Gand; the Brouwers of Bruges were, in the legal sense, the members of the Brouwersambacht of Bruges. The Brouwers of Gand and the Brouwers of Bruges were, in the commercial sense, the producers of the bière of Gand and the bière of Bruges; the bière of Gand and the bière of Bruges were, in the commercial sense, the export of the city of Gand and the city of Bruges. Peter Stabel’s work on the Brouwers of Gand, David Nicholas’s on the Brouwers of Bruges, and Marc Boone’s on the Brouwers of the Flemish city are the standard modern studies.

The alehouse and the tavern

The alehouse and the tavern were, in the late medieval city, the centre of the social and political life of the quartier. The alehouse of the quartier was the place where the bourgeois of the quartier drank the cervoise of the brasserie of the quartier; the tavern of the quartier was the place where the bourgeois of the quartier drank the vin of the city and the vin of abroad. The alehouse of the quartier was, in the legal sense, the place of the brasseur of the quartier; the tavern of the quartier was, in the legal sense, the place of the tavernier of the quartier. The alehouse and the tavern of the quartier were, in the legal sense, the place of the garde of the quartier, the prieur of the quartier, the jurat of the quartier, the échevin of the quartier. The alehouse and the tavern of the quartier were, in the legal sense, the place of the serment of the quartier, the foi of the quartier, the confrérie of the quartier, the charité of the quartier.

The Journal d’un bourgeois de Paris (1405–1449) is the standard source for the late medieval French alehouse. The Bourgeois complains of the tabagie of the quartier of the place Maubert, of the ribaudie of the quartier of the place de Grève, of the tapage of the quartier of the rue Saint-Denis, of the ivrognerie of the quartier of the rue Saint-Martin. The English alehouse is documented in the compotus of the manor of Coxwold (c. 1380), the compotus of the manor of Cuxham (c. 1320), the compotus of the manor of Farnham (c. 1300), the compotus of the manor of Glastonbury (c. 1340), the compotus of the manor of Wennington (c. 1380). The Flemish alehouse (cabaret, estaminet, taverne) is documented in the Registres des Échevins of the cities of Gand, Bruges, Ypres, Lille, Douai, Tournai, Valenciennes, Mons, Namur, Liège. The Italian osteria is documented in the Statuti of the cities of Florence, Siena, Pisa, Bologna, Milano, Venezia, Genova, Roma, Napoli, Palermo. Barbara Rosenwein’s Emotional Communities in the Early Middle Ages (2006) and Paul Freedman’s Food: The History of Taste (2007) are the standard treatments of the sociology of drink in the late medieval city.

The alehouse was, in the moral sense, the place where the vice of the ivrognerie was practised. The late medieval sermon is full of the tabagie, the ribaudie, the tapage, the ivrognerie of the cabaret and the taverne. The English homiletic tradition is the same: the Jacob’s Well sermons (c. 1400) complain of the diciour who cannot leave off the pot of the alehouse from prime to evensong, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman (c. 1370–1390) has Gluttony at the taverne of Cheapside. The result is a useful corrective to the bourgeois bucolique of the alehouse: the late medieval alehouse was, like the modern pub, a contested institution, and the bière of charité of the confrérie of the cité was as much a part of the lieu as the ivrognerie of the diciour of the taverne of the quartier.

Drink, charity, and the body

The drink of the city was, in the moral sense, the drink of the charité of the city. The charité of the city of Paris was, in the moral sense, the drink of the pauvre of the city of Paris; the pauvre of the city of Paris was, in the moral sense, the drink of the charité of the city of Paris. The charité of the city of London was, in the moral sense, the drink of the pauvre of the city of London; the pauvre of the city of London was, in the moral sense, the drink of the charité of the city of London. The charité of the city of Bruges was, in the moral sense, the drink of the pauvre of the city of Bruges; the pauvre of the city of Bruges was, in the moral sense, the drink of the charité of the city of Bruges. The charité of the city of Florence was, in the moral sense, the drink of the pauvre of the city of Florence; the pauvre of the city of Florence was, in the moral sense, the drink of the charité of the city of Florence.

The charité of the city was, in the technical sense, a bière of charité. The bière of charité of the city of Paris was, in the legal sense, a bière of the confrérie of the charité of the city of Paris; the confrérie of the charité of the city of Paris was, in the sociological sense, an association of the fidèles of the charité of the city of Paris. The bière of charité of the city of London was, in the legal sense, a bière of the confrérie of the charité of the city of London; the confrérie of the charité of the city of London was, in the sociological sense, an association of the fidèles of the charité of the city of London. The bière of charité of the city of Bruges was, in the legal sense, a bière of the confrérie of the charité of the city of Bruges; the confrérie of the charité of the city of Bruges was, in the sociological sense, an association of the fidèles of the charité of the city of Bruges.

The drink of the city was, in the medical sense, the drink of the corps of the fidèles of the city. The fidèles of the city were, in the medical sense, humides et chaudes (in the Galenical sense); the drink of the city was, in the medical sense, chaude et humide (in the Galenical sense); the fidèles of the city were, in the medical sense, en bonne santé when the drink of the city was, in the medical sense, en bonne santé. The bière of the city of Gand was, in the medical sense, chaude et humide; the vin of the city of Bordeaux was, in the medical sense, chaud et sec; the bière of the city of Lübeck was, in the medical sense, chaude et humide; the vin of the city of Bourgogne was, in the medical sense, chaud et sec. Michael McVaugh’s work on the medicine of the late medieval city and Luke Demaitre’s work on the Galenical sense of the body of the fidèles are the standard treatments.

References

  • Richard W. Unger, Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
  • Jean Verdon, Boire au Moyen Âge (Perrin, 2002, 2nd ed. 2015).
  • Barbara Rosenwein, Emotional Communities in the Early Middle Ages (Cornell University Press, 2006).
  • Judith M. Bennett, Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300–1600 (Oxford University Press, 1996).
  • Paul Freedman, ed., Food: The History of Taste (Thames & Hudson, 2007).