Books by C. M. Woolgar

An investigation of life in the great household of late mediaeval England. Based on household accounts and related primary documents, it looks at the daily routines, weekly and annual patterns, and the life-cycle observances of birth, childhood, marriage, death and burial.

In this revelatory work of social history, C. M. Woolgar shows that food in late-medieval England was far more complex, varied, and more culturally significant than we imagine today. Drawing on a vast range of sources, he charts how emerging technologies as well as an influx of new flavors and trends from abroad had an impact on eating habits across the social spectrum. From the pauper's bowl to elite tables, from early fad diets to the perceived moral superiority of certain foods, and from regional folk remedies to luxuries such as lampreys, Woolgar illuminates desire, necessity, daily rituals, and pleasure across four centuries.