Barley in the time of the Luttrell Psalter
According to Platina, barley was considered to be the noblest grain of all because it wants to be sown in dry loose earth, because it matures quickly and because of the slenderness of its stalk, it is cut before all other grains (Milham, p121).
In the 13th and 14th centuries, from about 20 acres (the standard holding), a peasant probably obtained approximately 48 bushels of wheat, 66 bushels of barley and 39 bushels of oats. This was after the allowance for the following year’s seed had been deducted and ignoring the tithe which was taken before the crops were reaped. This compares with a yield of some 20 bushels to the acre of wheat, 32 of barley and 40 of oats and bean on better fertilized land in the 16th century (Hammond, p5-6)
Much of the grain was set aside for the following year or eaten. Some of it, particularly the barley, was used to make ale.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, from about 20 acres (the standard holding), a peasant probably obtained approximately 48 bushels of wheat, 66 bushels of barley and 39 bushels of oats. This was after the allowance for the following year’s seed had been deducted and ignoring the tithe which was taken before the crops were reaped. This compares with a yield of some 20 bushels to the acre of wheat, 32 of barley and 40 of oats and bean on better fertilized land in the 16th century (Hammond, p5-6)
Much of the grain was set aside for the following year or eaten. Some of it, particularly the barley, was used to make ale.
Bibliography: Barley
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- Bennett, J., Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England (Women's work in a Changing World, 1300--1600), 1996, Oxford University Press, New York
- Brown, J.R., Brewers' Tales: Making, retailing and regulating beer in Southampton, 1550-1700, http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/135/BrewersTales.pdf, accessed 14 April 2013
- Carlson, M., Measurement in the Middle Ages, http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/history/measure.html accessed 21 February 2013
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- Loidolt, K, Medieval Cheese Forum - http://medievalcheese.blogspot.com.au/ - accessed 25 April 2013
- Markham, G. and Best, M. (ed), The English Housewife, 1986 McGill-Queen's Press
- Milham, M.E., Platina on Right Pleasure and Good Health: A Critical Edition and Translation of De Honesta Voluptate Et Valetudine, 1998, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour
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- Pollington, S., Leechcraft: Early English charms plant lore and healing, 2000, Anglo Saxon Books
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- Prescott, J, Le Viander de Taillevent, 1989, Alfarhaugr Publishing Society, Eugene
- Rowlett, R., Dictionary of the Units of Measurement, 2005, Center for Mathematics and Science Education, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html accessed 21 Feb 13
- Scully, T., The Viander of Taillevent, 1988, University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa
- Scully, T, and Scully, D.E., Early French Cookery, 1988, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor
- Scully, T, The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages, 1995, Boydell and Brewer, Woodbridge
- Scully, T., Du Fait de Cuisine: On Cookery of Master Chiquart (1420), 2010, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Tempe
- Smith, B., Malting Barley Grain at Home, http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/12/05/malting-barley-grain-at-home/ , 2009 - accessed 16 April 2013
- Throop, P.(trans), Hildegard von Bingen's Physica, 1998, Healing Arts Press, Vermont
- Zupko, R.E., Italian Weights and Measures from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century, 1981, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia
- Unknown, 14th-15th Century Soft Cheeses, http://www.cheesemaking.com/includes/modules/jwallace/onlinenews/feedbackpics/06_11/friends/pics/meidieval.pdf - accessed 25 April 2013
- Websites of interest
- http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pwp/tofi/medieval_english_ale.html
- http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/12/05/malting-barley-grain-at-home/
- http://www.ehow.com/how_5956849_malt-barley.html
- http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Malting101/History_of_Malting.htm