How widespread was the consumption of rabbit meat by the poor in Medieval and Early-Modern Britain?
score:5
Near Thetford in Norfolk, there is a place called Thetford Warren. The remains of Thetford Warren Lodge is still standing, and is managed by English Heritage. The lodge was used by the warren keeper.
There is a write-up on their website:
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/thetford-warren-lodge/history/rabbits-warreners/
The following quote is from the website:
In the Middle Ages, if you wanted to invest in a luxury business, rabbits were a safe bet. Rabbit warrens or farms were an excellent way of gaining an income from poor, sandy or heath land.
Rabbits are not native to Britain. Their bones have been discovered on Roman sites in southern and eastern England, and we know that the Romans valued rabbits for both their fur and their meat. But they seem to have died out here after the Romans left – there is no Old English word for rabbit.
It was the Normans who reintroduced them in the late 11th or 12th century. Ill-adapted to the English climate and easy prey for native predators, rabbits (or coneys, as mature rabbits were then known) had to be kept in special areas or warrens – often walled or fenced to prevent them from escaping. Their rarity meant that their meat was prized as a delicacy, while their fur was used for trimming clothes. In the 13th century one rabbit was worth more than a workman’s daily wage.
I don't know how accurate this is - presumably it comes from an English Heritage historian - but it does suggest that they were certainly not food for the poor.
Upvote:1
First, this commonly repeated statement is refuted here as myth.
Pope Gregory stated in a Papal Edict of the year 600 AD that fetal rabbits were permissible to eat during the Lenten fast, greatly enhancing their popularity, ....
There is no agreement on when rabbits were first domesticated, in the sense of being bred for desirable characteristics, except that it occurred sometime between 600 C.E. and 1800 C.E.
However rabbits (along with ferrets) had been introduced to Britain by the Romans in the first century C.E. Prior to their domestication they were both hunted with ferrets and kept in courts (simple earth pits) or warrens (more extensive walled or hedged enclosures).
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