Regulation of Butchery in Medieval Reims

Abstract

The author examines the regulation of the activities of butchers in Reims, an important political, religious and economic centre of the French kingdom, in the thirteenth–fifteenth centuries. Meat occupied an important place in the diet of medieval townspeople, and the keeping of domestic animals in towns was common practice. However, in conditions of dense development, this often caused dissatisfaction among neighbours and therefore required regulation (regarding the number of animals and the maintenance of cleanliness and order). The article presents various incidents and conflicts related to the meat trade, the arrangement of meat counters in the market, the quality of meat and the right to control it. The protest of the butchers of Reims in 1461 led to the baning of their corporation, which they had to make efforts to restore it in 1467. The city authorities of Reims took great care to regulate the activities of butchers and tripe merchants; they laid down the conditions and rules for slaughtering animals and storing meat, its quality, the rules for storing blood and waste, as well as the places where butchers could work and trade, that served to maintain cleanliness and order in the city and guaranteed the quality of the goods. The right to control butchers and the meat trade belonged to the Archbishop of Reims, the lord of this city, to other landowners within their jurisdiction, the aldermen and, from the mid-fifteenth century, after the approval of the regulations of the butchers’ guild, the control and inspection was mainly carried out by master governors (maistres gouverneurs) of this professional community. The regulation of butchers’ activities was aimed at developing rules of community life that served the common good of the city and its citizens.