An example of a heavy wheeled plow that would have been used in the Northern Plains.

Agriculture During the Renaissance

Agriculture practices during the European Renaissance divided the continent into two regions: the Mediterranean Region and the Northern Plains. The Mediterranean Region was characterized by dry summers and sandy soils. In contrast, the Northern Plains had heavy summer rainfall and wet, heavy soils [1]. These differing climates led to the development of different farming practices and equipment. The scratch plow was the preferred tool for planting in the Mediterranean, while the heavy wheeled plow was used more in the Northern Plains. 

However, a common practice across the European continent during this time was a system of crop rotation to stop the fields from becoming denutriated [2]. The crop rotation system operated on a yearly cycle that divided up a field into thirds. During any given time, 1/3 of the field was left bare to fallow, 1/3 would be planted with spring crops, and the final 1/3 would have fall crops. Which fields contained what would cycle yearly so that after three years, 1/3 of the field would have been spring crops, fall crops, and fallow. Farmers would also fertilize their fields using burned grass and wood ash as well as human and animal waste [3]. 

Common crops grown during this period using the crop rotation system include: wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, beans, onions, garlic, leeks, cabbage, clover, and the potato. These crops along with the animal husbandry of cows, sheep, pigs, geese, hens, ducks, pigeons, and beehives, created a diverse diet for the people [4]. 

A 16th century rendition of the Great Chain of Being that was commonly referred to by Renaissance era people to determine the foods appropriate for consumption based on their social class.

Social Order of Food

 Foodstuffs of the Renaissance were almost as stratified as society was. Those of higher standing ate foods that were considered "refined", while the lower classes ate foods that were considered more suitable to their rank, also called "courser" foods [5]. The Great Chain of Being gave people a way to place their food items on a hierarchical ladder. Those things closest to the top of the ladder were considered the foods that were closest to God. This ladder gave foods a social value. The ladder was divided into four categories based on the four natural elements of the world - earth, water, air, and fire [6]. The foods that were relegated to the air sector - such as fowl and other flying creatures - were thought to be those that were closest to God and so were believed to be essential for the nobility and those of higher social standing to consume. In contrast, those things that were grown in the ground - like most root vegetables - were thought to be suitable and beneficial for the lower classes. It was believed that "society had a "natural" order whereas nature had a kind of "social" order" [7]. Nature had divided the world into different categories so it was only right that society follow suit.

The social importance of food came to a head when books on courtly etiquette began to lay out instructions and social norms for how to have a successful and proper social dinner. These books layed out the proper dinnerware that was to be used along with its placement on the table. As well, proper tablecloths and table settings that were appropriate for the season were included. These books also layed out the different rules for how to regulate the seating of guests based on their social class and their relation to the host. [8]. The preparation and presentation of food became an important practice to maintain or strengthen the reputation of a household.

Page 72 of the Thyrde Boke of the Book of Secretes which gives recipes for "To confite Gourdes" and "To confite cheries"

Piemont's Food Secretes

 The author of our book outlines various ways to take different foods and enhance or change them. He gives recipies for confitures out of fruits and vegetables, treating sugar and honey to make them usable in the confitures, and ways to treat the same fruits and vegetables in fashions from abroad [10]. Much of this section is devoted to the preservation of these foods. These methods allowed people to partake in more fruits and vegetables without having to worry as much about them becoming rotten quickly. 

A recipe from page 72 of the book gives a recipe for "To confite Gourdes". It follows with: "Take the necke of the Gourde, and cutte it in longe pieces as you thynke good, and powre upon them boylynge water, and dooe fo nyne mornynges, but you muste haue pylled theym fynelye, and taken a waye the inner parte that serueth for nothynge. This doone, seeth them in a kettle untill they be neyther to muche nor to lyttle boyled, but euen hole and massyue not broken: than drye theim uppon a table in the shadow the space of twoo dayes, and after wype theym clane piece by piece, wyth a linnen cloth, and do with theym as with the Orenges." [11] Most of the recipies follow this fairly simple practice of boiling and drying in order to preserve the foods. This was a method that many people would have been able to replicate and it didn't require many tools that would not have been found in the standard kitchen of the day.