Author

Phillipp R. Schofield (Professor of Medieval History, Department of History and Welsh History, Aberystwyth University)

ABSTRACT

Food security is discussed with a particular focus on the decades either side of 1300, years characterised by poor weather and significant fluctuations in food availability, evident especially in the varied performance of grain harvests. Examining access to food and the vulnerability of the food supply in a period of particular pressure on food resources allows reflection on stresses on food availability in these decades as well as the range of approaches that individuals and institutions could employ in seeking to respond to them. The article discusses relative entitlement and contemporary perceptions of the same. While its focus is upon rural society and the experience of the peasantry, there will necessarily be some reference to the urban context, which cannot be separated from the experience of the countryside, and the attempts of institutions such as government to respond to issues relevant to food security in this period.

Published on Journal of Medieval History, Volume 49, 2023 - Issue 5.

Open access and free to download

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03044181.2023.2250952