Food in Early Modern Europe

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Food played a significant and crucial role in early modern social Europe. This paper will argue the social significance of food by examining the lifestyles and food choices of those that lived during the early modern period. Social class and differentiation were intrinsically interwoven with food consumption. Firstly, though a short recount of the famine period will be given to provide insight into why food had such a significant role during the early modern period. Secondly, an examination of different class structures and they types of food consumed will be provided. An outline of illness and death as a result of food consumption will also be scrutinized. Wealthy extravagance and indulgence in food will also be examined, with links made between food consumption and control of social equilibrium. It will be evident within this paper that food was very much intertwined with a persons position in the community. Any deviation from the status resulted in some type of harm. Finally it will be evident that social Europe was closely linked and ruled by the quality of person and the quality of food consumption Food was a significant part of social modern Europe. Food and social class were intrinsically interwoven, with the type of food individuals consumed directly related to the types of position they held in the community. However to understand the significance of food and social construct in early modern Europe, it is imperative to grapple with the shortcomings early modern Europe faced in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century. During the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries Europe had been gripped by significant episodes of famine and hunger. As such many of European countries were in the midst of nutritional disasters with the inability to produce enough food to sustain their populations. Recounts of that famine period in localized towns
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