Medieval Food and Culture
The Blackfriars – Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies bi-annual series of talks and themed lunches.
The Blackfriars / Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies lectures and lunch series has been running since 2012. Every May and November we gather at Blackfriars for a talk and a suitably-themed lunch. This November sees our seventeenth such gathering . The talks have ranged from local interest and the history of the priory, to etiquette across medieval society, literary depictions of Viking feasting, the curious links between dining and bathing, the science of food and taste, and what peasants, hermits, and religious societies ate. Lunches offer the opportunity for the Eat Medieval team to explore new dishes with the chefs and new interpretations of the recipes. Cutting-edge research for public consumption!
‘Really changed my perceptions of what and how food was eaten in the past.’
‘Coming to these lectures has made a big difference to my understanding of the Middle Ages: great to hear the experts and have some fun too.’
‘Sampling new recipes while learning about the past is a brilliant way to spend a Saturday lunchtime.’
Feedback from regular attendees







Previous Talks and Speakers
Giles E. M. Gasper & Andy Hook | Eat Medieval: Heritage and Hospitality, Medieval and Modern |
Fiona Whelan | Did manners maketh the medieval man? Etiquette at the twelfth-century dining table |
Debby Banham | The Early English Bread Project: the Making and Meaning of Bread in Early Medieval England |
Adrian Green | Blackfriars and the Newcastle Craft Guilds |
Giles E. M. Gasper | The Science of Food in the Middle Ages: Taste, Pleasure and the Senses |
Christian Liddy | Common Rights and Natural Resources: the 1217 Charter of the Forest in Historical Perspective |
Daniel Newman | Food of the Arabian Nights: An Introduction to Medieval Arab Cuisine |
Elizabeth Archibald | Dining and Bathing for Health |
Iona McCleery | The Healthy Medieval Diet |
Eleanor Barraclough | A Feast of Trolls: Feeding, Fighting and Fornicating with the Trolls of Nordic Folklore |
Peter Brears | Ettiquette in the Middle Ages |
Andrew Jotischky | A Hermit’s Cookbook: Monks, Food and Fasting in the Middle Ages |
John Clay | Horses for Courses: Food and Faith in Early Medieval Times |
Chris Woolgar | Cooking and the Peasantry Ate in Late Medieval England |
Michael Prestwich | Castles and their Food |
Giles E. M. Gasper | Eggs Benedict, Monks and their Food |
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