medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
1. Others have already mentioned how beans/pulses/lentils/peas were
frequently mentioned by the ancient Greeks and Romans. The *Oxford
Companion to Food* (s.v. "Pea") says that dried peas were an
important source of food for poor people in Europe throughout the
Middle Ages. It does not give any specifics about dates or regions,
and no specific sources are cited.
2. In an early chapter of Calvert Watkins' *How to Kill a Dragon:
Aspects of Indo-European Poetics* (Oxford: OUP, 1995; new ed. 2001)
he argues that the origin of "oats, peans, beans and barley grow"
goes back to an common Indo-European poetic phrase. I'm not sure I
totally agree with his argumentation, but he surely knows more
Hittite than I do.
My guess is that medieval Europeans would have known the poem long
before they realized the benefits of including legumes in their crop
rotation. Of course, once they did, they may have interpreted the
poem that way, but we'd need to see some evidence. Might it be
included in some medieval agricultural manual?
--Jonathan Hall
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