Hoppäzgen zum Wucherpreis? Fallbeispiel: Ernährung in Konstanz 1414-1418

Abstract

In the case of the city of Constance w e are well equiped with sources concerning food and dietary questions. Archaeological excavations of early 15th Century latrines and dumps of refuse thrown in the Lake of Constance revealed a rieh assortment of both animal bones and botanical finds. Vivid paintings of fishmonger's and butcher's stalls, Provision transports and snack bars seem to illustrate everyday life in 15th Century southwest Germany. These paintings stem from a chronicle describing the events during the Council of Constance 1414-1418, written by Ulrich Richental. Thee text gives a wide variety of informations concerning markets, merchandises, prices and wages, it describes picknicks as well as banquets, and teils sundry stories. The  municipal archive owns a vast a mount of records, many of which are published: tax rolls, city deeds, wills, Codices of all sorts and court documents. Those written sources allow us to identify owners, landlords or tenants of most houses, they give aecount of taxes, debts and rents to pay. Thus, they allow us, too, to identify the users of the latrines ... This excellent base of sources could provide us with a great a mount of information about food and its consumers in the 15th Century hitherto unexploited.