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"Wish to go travelling medieval style? Here is a list of books, which will tell you all about how people in the Middle Ages went about it What time of the year should you venture out? Which mounts should you choose? Or should you go by the sea? Where to cross rivers? What inns were safe? Where to find food? Anyone living in the Middle Ages had to have a good working knowledge of what was both reasonable and feasible. At a time when people had to move around in order to trade, to learn, to fight - or just to connect, practical knowledge about landscapes, food, hostile strangers and friendly hospices might often mean the difference between life and dead. Here is a list of books, which will introduce you to the field in general. Further literature may be found in the generous bibliographies, they are all fitted with."

have a close look and see what is on the table and being carried out around the scene. Can you identify any foodstuffs or recipes we've already discussed? Can you make out the eating implements, or a formal layout of the table? Share your findings or thoughts below.

Major setbacks occurred at the end of the thirteenth century and continued into the fourteenth, when population expansion and declining crop yields coincided with a devastating and widespread plague, the Black Death (1348-1349). This had a major impact on population numbers-which dramatically declined-and on both society and economy. Immediately following an economic crisis, a period of crop failure, and an intensification of criminal activity (which may, perhaps, have been linked to fluctuations in food prices), the plague was devastating in its effects, and forms a turning point in the history of medieval England. Nor was the Black Death an isolated event; further pestilence struck in the 1360s, accentuating the problems. Read more: Medieval Britain - Documentation, Norman Period, Feudal Period, Economic Recovery, Cathedrals, Churches, and Monasteries, Impact of Protestantism - England, Castles, Century, Period, Norman, and Built - JRank Articles http://www.jrank.org/history/pages/5958/Medieval-Britain.html#ixzz1Z3mRCdHa

The Black Death reaches England. The summer of 1348 was abnormally wet. Grain lay rotting in the fields due to the nearly constant rains. With the harvest so adversely affected it seemed certain that there would be food shortages. But a far worse enemy was set to appear. It isn't clear exactly when or where the Black Death reached England. Some reports at the time pointed to Bristol, others to Dorset. The disease may have appeared as early as late June or as late as August 4. We do know that in mid-summer the Channel Islands were reeling under an outbreak of the plague. From this simple beginning the disease spread throughout England with dizzying speed and fatal consequences.

This book is intended as a manual of 'good housekeepimg', presented as advice given by an elderly householder for his young wife. The recipes form a substantial section of the text. The manuscript includes descriptions of the food presented for a range of different occasions. The advice is quite particular; for example, the need to discard and replace the water used to soak pulses before cooking! An online translation

"In his anger at the English barons, William commanded that all crops and herds, chattels and foods should be burned to ashes, so that the whole of the North be stripped of all means of survival. So terrible a famine fell upon the people, that more than 100,000 young and old starved to death. My writings have often praised William, but for this act I can only condemn him." Orderic Vitalis

Harold made mistakes by having two battles in the same period of time, and using the wrong weapons. Harold should have waited before engaging battle with the Normans; The Normans burned the lands they pillaged through and consequently would have eventually had to return back to Normandy in order to get food.

In March 1191, the first corn ship to reach the camp outside Acre arrived. As welcome as the food was the news that Richard I of England and Philip II Augustus of France had finally arrived in the east. Philip arrived at Acre first, on 20 April 1191, but it was the arrival of Richard, eight weeks later on 8 June, that made the difference. Luck played a part in his success. Philip had spent his time building siege engines and pounding the walls, but it needed someone of Richard's military background and ability to energize the attackers.

Another famous collection, now known as Le Viandier de Taillevent, was originally compiled at the beginning of the 14th century; later it was attributed to the head chef of the Valois court, Guillaume Tirel, also known as Taillevent, who had a long and distinguished career as a professional chef. Tirel had the status of a squire and the coat of arms on his tomb, at St Germain en Laye outside Paris, incorporates a row of three cooking pots. The collection has the distinction of being the first printed cookery book; this occurred in the 1480s and the book went through several subsequent editions. The contents were modified considerably with the passage of time; the first printed version contains an additional group of contemporary recipes that have been described as the 15th century French 'nouvelle cuisine'! - you can see an online version at: