Cambridge University study finds Anglo-Saxon kings were mostly vegetarian

New studies show that Anglo-Saxon kings were mostly vegetarian.

Cambridge University researchers found that elites ate no more meat than other groups.

One study suggested that peasants sometimes hosted meat feasts for their rulers.

Major assumptions about early medieval English history were overturned by the findings.

Cambridge University bioarchaeologist Sam Leggett analysed the chemical signatures of diet preserved in the bones of 2,023 people buried in England from the 5th to 11th century.

She looked at the evidence for social status and found that there was no correlation between it and the high-fat diet.

Many medieval texts and historical studies suggest that Anglo-Saxon elites ate a lot of meat.

The pair worked together to decipher royal food lists and discovered similar patterns of serving, like a modest amount of bread, a huge amount of meat, a decent but not excessive amount of beer, and no mention of vegetables.

The scale and proportions of these food lists strongly suggest that they were provisions for occasional grand feasts and not general food supplies sustaining royal households on a daily basis.

I have found no evidence of people eating anything like this on a regular basis.

If they were, we would find signs of gout from the bones. We are not finding that.

The evidence shows that the diet in this period was very similar to that of other social groups.

We should imagine a wide range of people eating bread with small amounts of meat and cheese, or eating pottages of leeks and whole grains with a little meat thrown in.

The occasional feasts that have been excavated in East Anglia are thought to have been a treat for the royals.

Historians generally assume that medieval feasts were only for elites.

300 or more people must have attended even if you allow for huge appetites.

That means that a lot of ordinary farmers must have been there, and this has big political implications.

He said that they were looking at kings travelling to massive barbecues hosted by free peasants, people who owned their own farms and sometimes slaves to work on them.

It could be compared to a presidential campaign dinner in the US. This was a crucial form of political engagement.

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