Food: People
had to make their own food. If you were a villager, you provided for yourself from
farming your own food.
Most
people ate bread. People preferred white bread made from wheat flour. Richer
farmers and lords in villages were able to grow the wheat needed to make white
bread. Peasants usually grew rye and barley instead.
Maslin
bread was made from a mixture of rye and wheat flour. After a poor harvest,
when grain was in short supply, people were forced to include beans, peas and
even acorns in their bread.
As
well as bread, people ate a great deal of pottage. This is a kind of soup-stew
made from oats. People made different kinds of pottage. Sometimes they added
beans and peas or other vegetables such as turnips and parsnips.
The
peasants relied mainly on pigs for their regular supply of meat. They also ate mutton. This comes from sheep. People
used the blood of the slaughtered animal to make a dish called black pudding
(blood, milk, animal fat, onions and oatmeal).
Currency: Money in the Middle Ages was used as currency
in the form of metal coins. These coins came in different qualities and
weights. People also used the currency of promise (or fiat currency) which was
often used in large-scale transactions. For general transactions, coins were
predominantly used. Small silver coins or penny (also known as pfennig or
denarius) were the most commonly used coins. Rich people of medieval period
also used the pounds, schillings and pence. A schilling was used to be equal to
12 pence, while 20 schillings made a pound. During the 13th century, large
amount of bigger silver coins (pennies) were introduced which were known as
groats. A groat was around four times bigger than a small ordinary penny. Until
1252, all coins were produced of silver. However, in the year 1252, gold coins
were also introduced in Florence. These gold coins of Florence were called as
florins. Soon after that, people restricted using silver coins and they adopted
for copper coins.