Oysters in the Middle Ages
John McCabe

The period between the fall of the West Roman Empire (5th century) and the Renaissance is commonly referred to as the "Middle Ages" for most of Europe. Italy kicked off the exciting Renaissance in the 15th century, in large part due to the collapse of the East-Roman Empire (a.k.a. Byzantine Empire) and subsequent exodus of many of its intellectuals and artisans. Most of Northern Europe caught up to the Renaissance as late as sometime the 16th century.

These many centuries between the demise of the West-Roman Empire and the beginning of the Renaissance saw many important changes all over Europe and undoubtedly furnished an enormous wealth of history. However, much of it was not recorded, historical records were often poor, inaccurate, sometimes deliberately falsified, or simply got lost or destroyed in one way or another. Thus the term "Dark Ages", a term graciously bestowed upon only to the beginning of the Middle Ages by some historians, is more unflatteringly used by some other historians as a fitting synonym for essentially all of the Middle Ages in Western Europe, at least up until the time when Christian crusaders raided the grand Christian city of Constantinople, burned down libraries containing priceless works, some dating back the ancient Greeks, and stole just about everything a simple and greedy mind could possibly interpret as valuable. Even a brass plated Christian church door, thought to be made of gold, was ripped off.

Subsequently, very little is available historically on the fate of the oysters during the Middle Ages. It is highly likely, however, that after the fall of the West Roman Empire, oysters continued to be a prized delicacy among the rich and famous, particularly in Western Europe. The only exception to this continued trend of "oyster mania" may have been the Vikings. Between the 8th and 11th century, their Scandinavian fleets of "dragon ships" attacked and plundered many coastal cities and cloisters along the coasts of Europe. They were known to be fearless warriors and outstanding navigators. Evidence exists that they traded for wares even in such far away places as the East Roman (Byzantine) port city of Constantinople (today's Istanbul in Turkey).

Although the Vikings (and certainly many other peoples in the Scandinavian region) surely ate lots of oysters, their consumption may not necessarily have been considered a very "manly thing to do". A Viking legend tells the story of a mythological warrior called Starkad. He must have been quite a guy. Supposedly, he had eight arms and could swing four big swords simultaneously. Starkad apparently took issue with the fact that the Danish King Ingjald was "eating fried and cooked foods, even going so far as consuming oysters, which is unbefitting of the ways of the Vikings."

As far as oysters are concerned, their history finally started to get a little more interesting right about the time the late Middle Ages rolled around (~1270 until the start of the Reformation in 1517) . The English king Henry IV (1367-1413) supposedly downed 400 oysters in one sitting - only as an appetizer mind you. When we hear stupendous numbers like that, we might consider two things:

1. In the Middle Ages, accounts like this were passed on from person to person. There was more than ample room for a storyteller to embellish the account a tad (or more) to capture the imagination of a gullible audience. Sensational stories could result in a free flask of beer or wine for the storyteller, financed by an entertained person or crowd.
2. When we think of oysters, we usually think in terms of the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) or the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Since we are familiar with the average size of the meat portion of these oysters, "400 oysters", as an appetizer to boot, appears inconceivable. However, we are dealing with the delicate European oyster (Ostrea edulis), which generally offers a comparatively small meat portion. If we therefore allow for the popular medieval "embellishment factor" as described in #1 and cut the number in half, we're probably a lot closer to the truth. Although "200 oysters" still seems like an absurd amount, I'd like to point out, that a Mr. Mike Chadkowski gulped down 168 Eastern Oysters in a contest at the oyster festival in Oyster Bay, NY, in the year 2003. So, if ol' Mike was able to slam down 168 plump Eastern Oysters, then I personally wouldn't necessarily put it past ol' King Henry to have been be able to slam down 200 rather petite European oysters.

The best vantage point in terms of history and judging the popularity of oysters during those days is likely a closer look at the history of the towns and regions, which have been prominently associated with oysters since Roman times.

One such prominent oyster place is the French coastal town Cancale in northern Brittany. The coastal waters around Cancale have been famous for their outstanding oysters since Roman times. The proud folks of Cancale are called the Cancalaise and, to this very day, still produce what many consider to be the finest oysters in Europe. It wasn't any different during the Middle Ages. The Cancalaise had always worked long and hard hours to satisfy the seemingly insatiable appetite for oysters among the rich and famous. Although powerful French monarchies started to emerge, the fate of these people hardly changed from the days when their ancestors were sent out by the Romans to gather and haul tremendous amounts of oysters for next to nothing in wages. Boatloads of oysters regularly left the Port of Cancale in the direction of the city Rouen. From there the oysters were then transported to Paris.

A contemporary of the French king Louis IX (1214-1270) by the name of Etienne Boileau describes in his "Livre des Métiers" the common practice of ripping off the Cancalaise with exorbitant port fees in Rouen. The deplorable circumstances of the Cancalaise would continue for another couple of hundred years. A French king by the name of Francis I (1494-1547) finally came along. He loved oysters, particularly those originating from Cancale. He was very impressed by (and grateful for) the steady and punctual deliveries of the hard working Cancalaise. In the year 1545, he granted Cancale the high privilege of being considered an "official city". Later, kings such as Louis XIII and Louis XIV also honored and endorsed Cancale as such. To this day, the historically significant city of Cancale and the picturesque surrounding area are favorite destinations of oyster lovers the world over.