The Medieval Pig
RHN 75/2024 | Publication
https://www.ruralhistory.eu/newsletter/2024/rhn-2024-075
https://www.ruralhistory.eu/newsletter/2024/rhn-2024-075/@@download/image/Cover-Jorgensen-Pig.jpg
RHN 75/2024 | Publication
Dolly Jørgensen, The Medieval Pig (Nature and Environment in the Middle Ages 9, Boydell Press) Woodbridge 2024.
The pig was a common sight in the Middle Ages. They might be eating under an oak tree, or out in a field. They might be in the street, with the swineherd close behind at their heels. They might be dismembered, for sale by a butcher. They might be represented on misericords, in a church or cathedral, dancing, playing the bagpipes, or suckling people. Pigs were in all these places. But what was the pig's place?
This book considers pigs in medieval Europe from a number of angles: whether part of the countryside, the cityscape, on the plate or in the mind. Drawing on a rich wealth of sources, both textual and material, it examines in particular the paradoxes that the pig presented: both good and bad, fecund/fornicator, noble/filthy. It uncovers the pig's numerous roles in medieval society, how pigs shaped human life, and how humans shaped theirs.
Source: https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781837651689/the-medieval-pig/