Food, Religion and Communities in Early Modern Europe

Using a three-part structure focused on the major historical subjects of the Inquisition, the Reformation and witchcraft, Christopher Kissane examines the relationship between food and religion in early modern Europe.

Food, Religion and Communities in Early Modern Europe employs three key case studies in Castile, Zurich and Shetland to explore what food can reveal about the wider social and cultural history of early modern communities undergoing religious upheaval. Issues of identity, gender, cultural symbolism and community relations are analysed in a number of different contexts. The book also surveys the place of food in history and argues the need for historians not only to think more about food, but also with food in order to gain novel insights into historical issues.

This is an important study for food historians and anyone seeking to understand the significant issues and events in early modern Europe from a fresh perspective.

Christopher Kissaneis Editorial Fellow at History Workshop and an Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, UK. He is also a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker.
Beat Kümin is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of The Communal Age in Western Europe c. 1100-1800 (2013), Drinking Matters: Public Houses and Social Exchange in Early Modern Central Europe (2007) and The Shaping of a Community: The Rise & Reformation of the English Parish c. 1400-1560 (1996). He is also the editor of A Cultural History of Food in the Early Modern Age (2012), Political Space in Pre-industrial Europe (2009) and The European World 1500-1800: An Introduction to Early Modern History (2nd Ed., 2014), amongst other volumes.
Brian Cowan is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Early Modern British History at McGill University, Canada. He is the author of The Social Life of Coffee: The Emergence of the British Coffeehouse (2005), which was awarded the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize by the Canadian Historical Association in 2006, and The State Trial of Doctor Henry Sacheverell (2012).

"This book will be useful to researchers inter-ested in early modern European culture, and it is written in a style that is accessi-ble to undergraduate students, rendering it amenable for classroom use, as well." - The Historian

"[A] wide-ranging and fascinating book that succeeds in providing new perspective on familiar events in European history. One of Kissane's key achievements is demonstrating the ways in which foods and food practices are constitutive and illustrative of religious and gender boundaries. This work is also highly readable and could easily be incorporated into undergraduate teaching." - American Historical Review

"An engaging and informative book that introduces readers to the significant role of food in the social and cultural history of early modern Europe ... its greatest accomplishment is to show how food practices cast light on religion, community, and gender as they were woven into the ordinary daily activities of early modern Europeans. Its readable and engaging style will be of great value in the undergraduate classroom, while its sophistication and scope will appeal to advanced scholars." --EuropeNow Journal

"The stories in this book, with their wealth of fascinating details, illuminate, with nuance, every aspect of the societies from which they come." --Heythrop Journal

"A highly imaginative account of food, faith and society in early modern Europe. Kissane offers a refreshing comparative discussion which is never broad-brushed but richly contextualised. Students will enjoy a stimulating read which makes us think in new ways about religion and culture in the period." --Ulinka Rublack, Professor of Early Modern European History, University of Cambridge, UK

"Here is some astounding storytelling: three separate episodes from Inquisition era Castile to Reformation Zurich to a witch hunt in Shetland, all three about food and women. This book fills so many gaps in the scholarship, is so beautifully written and thought provoking that I would recommend it for any early modern history class and anyone interested in the history of food and the history of women." --Ken Albala, Professor of History, University of the Pacific, USA