Food and Community in early modern England: how the production, consumption and selling of food were central to seventeenth century communities

现代早期英格兰的食物与社区：食物的生产、消费和销售如何成为 17 世纪社区的核心

• 批准号: 2872764
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2872764
• 关键词: Food; Community; early; modern; England

The study of both food and community are familiar subjects in seventeenth century history. However, no historian has studied the two in conjunction to investigate how food built links within and between groups of people. This thesis will combine the study of community with that of agriculture, rural life and food to argue that food was integral to early modern society, not only for sustenance but in the way it created social bonds. It will demonstrate how food created social links between the wealthy and less-wealthy and how women were important agents in forming and maintaining these connections. There is a gap in the literature concerning the role of food and society that this research will fill. It will encompass different areas of sociability: work, commerce and family whilst illustrating that food was not only needed to physically sustain but was inextricably woven into all aspects of early modern life and that women took a primary role in its provision. To achieve this, household accounts from seventeenth century England will be analysed, primarily the previously unstudied and unpublished manuscript accounts of John and Marie Coke of Hall Court, Herefordshire (1607-1622). Although gentry (John Coke served as a royal administrator), when the accounts were kept the family was not especially well-off and supplemented their income by selling produce to the local community. John and Marie Coke kept the accounts themselves (instead of employing a steward), increasing their contact with workers on their farm and others in the community. The accounts are particularly revealing as they comprise more than payments and receipts. They also include weekly consumption accounts, and annual summaries, as well as details about who foodstuffs were bought from and sold to, illuminating a network of contacts. Additional sets of household accounts have been identified for analysis. These include those of John Everenden, a wealthy yeoman from Sussex (accounts from 1619-1678) and those of gentry households such as the Spencers of Althorp (1599-1605) and the Le Stranges of Hunstanton (1613-1653).The research involves both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A database to analyse and cross-reference account entries will be created: tables of items and quantities of farm produce and whether it was used or sold will be compiled as will lists of what the household purchased and consumed. In this way, trends and patterns will be identified. Names will be noted and cross-referenced to determine who the Cokes employed in the production of food and to whom it was sold. Findings about employees and purchasers will then be cross-referenced with other records such as probate records, parish registers, wills, inventories and poor law records to allow the analysis of networks of social contacts, creating a fuller picture of links within the community and of the individuals themselves. Although such methods can be time-consuming, they are necessary to allow a structure of social interactions to be assembled, revealing lines of connection between individuals and examples of reciprocity and exchange, the backbone of community. This is of particular importance as, because the main source of data is accounts of wealthy households, this will inevitably illuminate more links between landlord and labourer rather than between fellow labourers. Analysis of probate records will go some way to remedy this by revealing links between peers.The term 'community' is notoriously difficult to define. In this study it will be taken to mean social relationships and communal ties between groups of people involved in the processes surrounding food. This project will explore community and social relationships through the acts and artefacts of food production and consumption considering all six of these components.

对食物和社区的研究是十七世纪历史上常见的课题。然而，没有历史学家将两者结合起来研究食物如何在人群内部和人群之间建立联系。本文将联合收割机与农业、农村生活和食物的研究结合起来，论证食物是早期现代社会不可或缺的一部分，不仅是为了维持生计，而且是在它创造社会纽带的方式上。它将展示食物如何在富人和穷人之间建立社会联系，以及女性如何在形成和维持这些联系方面发挥重要作用。这项研究将填补有关食物和社会作用的文献中的空白。它将涵盖社会的不同领域：工作、商业和家庭，同时说明食物不仅是维持身体所需，而且与早期现代生活的各个方面密不可分，妇女在提供食物方面发挥了主要作用。为了实现这一点，从17世纪英格兰的家庭帐户将进行分析，主要是以前未研究和未发表的手稿帐户约翰和玛丽科克霍尔法院，赫里福德郡（1607年至1622年）。虽然是贵族（约翰·科克曾担任皇家行政官），但在记账时，这个家庭并不特别富裕，他们通过向当地社区出售农产品来补充收入。约翰和玛丽·科克自己记账（而不是雇佣管家），增加了他们与农场工人和社区其他人的联系。这些账目特别能说明问题，因为它们不仅包括付款和收款。它们还包括每周的消费账户、年度总结，以及食品的购买者和销售者的详细信息，从而揭示了一个联系网络。另外还确定了几套家庭账户供分析。其中包括苏塞克斯郡的一位富裕自耕农约翰·埃弗伦登（John Everenden）（1619-1678年的记录），以及贵族家庭的记录，如奥尔索普的斯宾塞（Spencers of Althorp，1599-1605年）和亨斯坦顿的勒·斯特朗日（Le Stranges of Hunstanton，1613-1653年）。将建立一个数据库来分析和相互参照账户条目：将编制农产品的项目和数量表，以及使用或出售农产品的情况，并编制家庭购买和消费物品清单。通过这种方式，将确定趋势和模式。名字将被记录和交叉引用，以确定谁的可口可乐雇用在生产食品和谁被出售。关于雇员和购买者的调查结果将与遗嘱认证记录、教区登记簿、遗嘱、库存和穷人法律记录等其他记录交叉引用，以便分析社会联系网络，更全面地了解社区内的联系和个人本身。虽然这些方法可能很耗时，但它们是必要的，可以组装社会互动结构，揭示个人之间的联系线以及互惠和交换的例子，社区的支柱。这一点特别重要，因为数据的主要来源是富裕家庭的账户，这将不可避免地揭示更多的地主和工人之间的联系，而不是工人之间的联系。对遗嘱认证记录的分析将通过揭示同龄人之间的联系在某种程度上弥补这一点。在这项研究中，它将被用来指参与食物加工过程的人群之间的社会关系和社区联系。该项目将通过考虑所有六个组成部分的食品生产和消费的行为和人工制品来探索社区和社会关系。