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Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval Eastern England: c. 1250-1400 Philip SLAVIN Economic Growth Center,Yale University New Haven 06511 (U.S.A.) [email protected] Slavin Ph. 2009. –Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval EasternEngland: c. 1250-1400. Anthropozoologica 44(2): 35-56. ABSTRACT Thepresentarticlestudiestheplaceofthechickenwithin thechanging environment of late-medieval England. First, it looks at the seigniorial sector KEYWORDS of chicken farming, in terms of size of stocks, patterns of disposal and scale of Poultry, consumption.Itthenexploresthepatchydataregardingthepeasantsector. chickens, capons, Thestudyshowsthatoverall patternsdiffered betweenthepre-andpost- eggs, Black Death periods. After the pestilence, chicken husbandry started shifting demesne, from the demesne to the peasant sector of agriculture. The post-1350 changes peasants, the Black Death, reflect larger processes, which occurred in late-medieval society, economy and food. environment. RÉSUMÉ L’élevage des poulets en Angleterre orientale durant la période médiévale tardive : ca. 1250-1400 Cetarticleétudielaplacedupouletdansl’environnementchangeantde l’Angleterremédiévaletardive.Ilexamined’abordlesecteurseigneurialde l’élevage du poulet, en termes de dimension des stocks, modèles d’écoulement MOTS CLÉS etéchelledeconsommation.Ilexploreensuitelesdonnées,inégales, Volaille, concernantlesecteurrural.L’étude montrequelesmodèlesglobaux ont poulets, chapons, différé entre les périodes pré- et post- Peste noire. Après la peste, l’élevage des œufs, poulets acommencéàs’éloignerdudomainevers lesecteurruralde domaine, l’agriculture.Après1350,leschangements sontlerefletde plusgrandes paysans, la Peste noire, transformations,quisesontproduitesdanslasociété, l’économieet nourriture. l’environnement de l’époque médiévale tardive. ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA • 2009 • 44 (2) © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. 35 Slavin Ph. INTRODUCTION The present paper explores the place and impor- tance of the chicken within the shifting context of late-medievalEnglishagriculture, societyandenvi- ronment, between c .1250 and 1400. It shows how thehistoryofchickenhusbandryreflects larger processesandphenomenaconnected tothiscontext. Duringthisperiod, Englandexperienced along seriesofprofoundchangesandshocks,which transformed its society,economyandenvironment. Perhaps the strongest shock was mass human mor- tality,knownastheBlackDeath,whichravaged England between 1348 and 1351, killing around fortypercentofits population.Besidesits profound 0 miles 25 demographicimpact,however,theBlackDeath 0 km 25 represents the line between the “pre-Black Death” periodofpopulation pressureandlowerliving standards, and the “post-Black Death” era of low F ig.1. — Demesnes Represented in Study. people-to-landratio,high realwagesandhence rising living standards. The post-pestilence period is also marked by the decline and eventual disap- thirteenthcenturyandreachtheirheightin the pearanceofdirectdemesneagricultureandthe first decade ofthefourteenthcentury,generally expansion ofpeasantfarming.Theresearchisbased considered thepeakof“high farming”in theMiddle on about3,500 manorialaccounts from some Ages (Fig. 2). 300 demesnesfrom easternEngland(Cam- Although poultryoccupied thesmallest part of bridgeshire, Essex,Huntingdonshire, Norfolk, demesnelivestock,constitutingabouttwopercent Suffolk and parts of Peterborough’s hinterland in ofit(Table1),its socialimportanceandomnipres- Northamptonshire) (Fig. 1). This region was cho- encecannotbeunderstated, despitescholarlymar- sen for two reasons. First, it was an area of particu- ginalization.Chickenmeatconstituted an larlyhigh population densityandrelativelyhigh importantpart ofeverydaydiet,anditwasafforded land values (Campbell & Bartley 2006: 165-195), by virtually every social stratum both in England wherechickenproduction mightfindaparticularly andtheContinent(Schubert 2006:120-5; viableniche.Second, therelevantsources,and Stone2006:154). Thisstoodin contrast with especially the manorial accounts, are rich for this “decorativebirds”,thatisswansandpeacocks, part ofEnglandatthetime, particularlyin Norfolk stocked forconsumption on theonehand, andthe (Campbell 2003: 33-34). reasonsofaestheticsandconspicuoussocialprestige Chronologically and geographically, the accounts on theother(Freedman2002; Albarella& aredistributed unevenly,dependingon availability Davis2002; Sykes2004). Ofall domesticbirds, ofsurvivingmaterial.Inmost cases,themore chickens (hens, cocks and capons) were the most completebodyofmaterialcomesfrom largereccle- numerous, kept on vast majority of demesnes. Just siastical estates, such as Norwich Cathedral Priory, aswithotherpoultry,chickenrearingwasnaturally Bury St Edmunds Abbey, Ely Bishopric, Ramsey labour-intense enterprise, commanding high unit Abbey and Peterborough Abbey. “Lay” demesnes costs,butnotnecessarilyhigh prices.Unliketoday, constitute about forty per cent of the sampled loci late-medievalchickenswerefree-range.Asavailable and their accounts tend to be far less consecutive evidence suggests, chickens were tended by dairy- thantheirreligiouscounterparts.Theaccounts maidsandoccasionallybychildren(Langdon et become especially prolific towards the end of the al. 2008: 51). Their duties included walking and 36 ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA • 2009 • 44 (2) Chicken Husbandry in Late-Medieval Eastern England: c. 1250-1400 F ig.2. — Chronological Distribution of Demesne Accounts Used in the Study. T able 1. — Total Livestock Distribution in Norfolk, 1251-1400. Decade EquidsBovidsOvidsSuidsPoultry Total 1251-1260 19% 69% 6% 5% 1% 100% 1261-1270 17% 67% 6% 7% 4% 100% 1271-1280 20% 63% 8% 5% 4% 100% 1281-1290 28% 62% 5% 2% 3% 100% 1291-1300 18% 65% 10% 3% 3% 100% 1301-1310 19% 55% 18% 5% 4% 100% 1311-1320 20% 53% 14% 6% 7% 100% 1321-1330 25% 52% 14% 6% 3% 100% 1331-1340 17% 58% 19% 4% 2% 100% 1341-1350 17% 60% 14% 5% 4% 100% 1351-1360 16% 57% 21% 3% 2% 100% 1361-1370 15% 60% 14% 5% 6% 100% 1371-1380 17% 52% 15% 10% 6% 100% 1381-1390 18% 60% 16% 4% 2% 100% 1391-1400 15% 52% 28% 3% 2% 100% Average 19% 59% 14% 5% 4% 100% Source: Accounts Database. Note: The distribution is calculated, following and extending upon Campbell (2000), p. 104-5, in livestock units rather than total ani- mal heads. Each animal group is weighted according to its relative financial value. Livestock units =[horses × 1.0] +[(oxen +adult cattle) × 1.2] +[immature cattle × 0.8] +[(sheep +swine) × 0.1] +[swans x 0.27] +[cygnets × 0.11] +[peacocks × 0.22] +[peachicks × 0.06] +[pheasants × 0.13] +[geese × 0.02] +[goslings × 0.01] +[(ducks +hens +roosters +chicks) × 0.01] +[capons × 0.02] +[pigeons x 0.002]. supervisingthebirds; watchingforpredators; feed- otherbirds.Unlikegeese, theydonotgrazeon ing them with barley; walking them back to hen- pastureandaretoo small andweaktodestroycrops. houses; anddrivingthemtolocalmarkets.Interms Chickensare omnivores feedingon seeds,grass, of maintenance costs, chickens were cheaper than leaves, soil, insects, smaller animals and mollusks, ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA • 2009 • 44 (2) 37 Slavin Ph. F ig.3. — Chicken Prices in Eastern England, 1256-1400 (in pence per bird). Sources: Rogers 1866; Rogers 1882. includingsnailsandslugs.Bykeepingthelatter the most expensive bird within domestic poultry, down, chickens contribute a great deal to organic as the guideline, we arrive at the following figures: farming,especiallyin rainyseasons.Henslaymore geese × 1.0; goslings × 0.63; ducks × 0.48; capons eggsthangeeseorducks.Caponsrequireabout × 0.84; hens and cocks × 0.50; pullets × 0.29. halfthecaloriesless thangeesetobefattened Overtheentireperiod, chickensconstituted about (Stephenson 1977-1978: 22). Finally,chicken 56percentofthepoultrysector.Thefigures, manure can be used as fertilizing agent, in contrast naturally, varied from place to place and from year withthatofwater-fowls(Stratton &Rechcigl1998: toyear.Inthe1260s,anaveragedemesneexpected 67; Smil 2000: 67-8). to have stocked about 15 chicken units (Table 2). TheBritishvarietyofchicken,knownastheDork- In the following decade, however, the figures fell, ing,seemstohavebeenintroduced bytheRomans. partially because of managerial decision to expand The breed is described by Columella in his De re thegoosestocks.Thechickensectorexpanded rustica, as fowls having square frame, broad breast considerably in the 1290s, and between the 1300s andshort legswithfiveclaws(Stephenson 1977-8: and 1390s, the figures remained, to a large degree, 18). Chicken husbandry was prolific in both the stable, with each demesne rearing between 10 and RomanandAnglo-Saxon periods,asvarioussources, 13chickenunits.AftertheBlackDeath,thechicken textualandarchaeologicalalike, indicate(Broth- sectoraccounted foraround60percentofall well 1997; Maltby 1997). It is not until c. 1250, demesne birds. This went hand in hand with the however, that the historical data become quantita- declineofgeeseanddairyfarming,whichby c. 1400 tiveenough tobesubjected torobust statistical faded from thedemesneandpassed tothepeasantry. analysis, which can establish regional and chrono- This development will be discussed further. In the logical patterns of chicken husbandry in England. last decade of the fourteenth century, there was a Before we establish the place and contribution of further decline in chicken stocks, when an average chickens to the poultry sector, it is necessarily to demesne, ifstill keptin hand, reared somesevenfowls. convert theirrawnumbers into“poultryunit” Evidencefrom manorialaccounts closelyagrees equivalents,on