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You are here Undergraduate > Single Honors History > Food, Drink and Society in Early Modern Europe

HIU34514: Food, Drink and Society in Early Modern Europe

This module explores the changing nature of food and drink consumption in the early modern period, a period of profound transformation in consumer demand and taste. During this period, European voyages of discovery to the ‘New World’ meant direct contact with novel foods and culinary practices, while the desire to profit from expanding trade encouraged the development of new markets. 

  • Module Coordinator:
    • Dr Susan Flavin
  • Duration:
    • Hilary Term
  • Contact Hours:
    • 2 hours per week
  • Weighting:
    • 10 ECTS
  • Assessment:
    • 40% essay, 60% examination

At the same time, renaissance humanist writers opened a range of debates regarding what and how to eat; table manners became formalised; and the printing press made both culinary and courtesy literature available to mass audiences. This was also a period when emergent ideas of ‘nationhood’ made people increasingly aware of different food cultures, and food and drink served to represent and define national, social and religious identities. Students will examine diet and attitudes to food consumption from a multidisciplinary perspective, integrating the use of primary documentary sources with visual, archaeological and literary sources and a range of online resources, including museum catalogues, digitised archival collections and archaeological databases.