“Und gras vor spise zeren”

Abstract

My chapter examines three anecdotes about western European perceptions of eastern European cuisine and culture in order to explore how western Europeans tried to link eastern Europe to the larger “East” in Asia and Africa, as well as how eastern Europeans responded to such characterizations. These anecdotes were written by western Europeans in the context of the crusades, and both deal with the issue of what happens when you transplant peoples to different regions and as a result alter their natural diets. The first anecdote comes from Pope Honorius III in response to Duke Leszek the White of Poland allegedly petitioning the pope to allow him to fulfil his crusading vows in Prussia rather than in the Holy Land because the diet he would have to endure there would be deleterious to his health, for in those “remote parts,” he would be unable to drink his native beer and mead and would instead be forced to drink wine or water. The second anecdote was written by the Teutonic Knights, who, although largely German, portrayed themselves as heirs to the Maccabees in the Holy Land. Because of this heritage, the Teutonic Knights supposedly were able to thrive in the wilderness of the Baltic littoral, while the native inhabitants, the Prussians and Lithuanians, perished in their own lands because the diet of the wilderness was unsuitable for them. These two anecdotes have traditionally been interpreted as jokes by modern scholars. And, while they do indeed appear humourous to a modern audience – and might also have been viewed as such by medieval audiences – they also reveal a great deal about how people in the Middle Ages viewed their own and others’ places in the world. The deadly serious third anecdote makes the centrality of food in medieval views of health, culture, and identity even clearer.