Jerarquía social y desigualdad alimentaria en el Mediterráneo Noroccidental en la Baja Edad Media. La cocina y la mesa de los estamentos populares

Abstract

As a consequence both of economic expansion and the establish­ment of the feudal system, the West had to undergo some important chan­ges in nourishment. Bread became the main element in the diet of the lower classes. When the growth of feudal society had already achieved its highest point towards the end of the XIIIth Century, the ever precarious balance between the population and resources was broken and starvation appeared. From about 1200, town and country were two economically com­plementary areas, though the cooking of their respective subordinates was not the same towards the end of the Middle Ages. The main differences arose from mechanisms of supply: while country people produced most of their invariable food, the lower classes in the towns had to depend on the market and so their eating habits changed more rapidly.