The New Murrey and Blue blog

I’ve written before about the food eaten by medieval monks, and have now come upon another article, this time in The Guardian. It tells of the dire consequences that followed when monks eventually had a meat-rich diet.

The Guardian article was prompted by English Heritage research into “the day-to-day lives and digestive troubles of monks at Muchelney Abbey in Somerset – in particular the consequence of a change in papal law, in 1336, which permitted the twice-weekly consumption of meat from four-legged animals”.

English Heritage historian Michael Carter has been interested in monks and their digestion since visiting Kirkstall Abbey on the outskirts of Leeds and seeing the surviving latrines. “I remember being fascinated by the idea of it being a 900-year-old monastic toilet block,” he says.

To read more, go to The Guardian article above.