page_title: History of breakfast
section_title: Europe
hierarchical_section_title: History of breakfast / Middle Ages (500–1500) / Europe
context_page_description: Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work. It was not until the 15th century that "breakfast" came into use in written English to describe a morning meal, which literally means to break the fasting period of the prior night; in Old English the term was morgenmete meaning "morning meal."
context_section_description: In the European Middle Ages, breakfast was not usually considered a necessary and important meal, and was practically nonexistent during the earlier medieval period. Monarchs and their entourages would spend lots of time around a table for meals. Only two formal meals were eaten per day—one at mid-day and one in the evening. The exact times varied by period and region, but this two-meal system remained consistent throughout the Middle Ages.
  The literal definition of breakfast is ‘breaking the fast’ of nighttime slumber, and many written accounts in the medieval period seem to reprimand eating in the morning.
  Breakfast was under Catholic theological criticism. The influential 13th-century Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica (1265–1274) that breakfast committed "praepropere," or the sin of eating too soon, which was associated with gluttony. Overindulgences and gluttony were frowned upon and were considered boorish by the Catholic Church, as they presumed that if one ate breakfast, it was because one had other lusty appetites as well, such as ale or wine.
  Breakfast in some times and places was solely granted to children, the elderly, the sick, and to working men. Anyone else did not speak of or partake in eating in the morning. Eating breakfast meant that one was poor, was a low-status farmer or laborer who truly needed the energy to sustain his morning's labor, or was too weak to make it to the large, midday dinner. Because medieval people saw gluttony as a sin and a sign of weakness, men were often ashamed of eating breakfast.
  Noble travelers were an exception, as they were also permitted to eat breakfast while they were away from home. For instance, in March 1255 about 1512 gallons of wine were delivered to the English King Henry III at the abbey church at St. Albans for his breakfast throughout his trip. If a king were on religious pilgrimage, the ban on breakfast was completely lifted and enough supplies were compensated for the erratic quality of meals at the local cook shops during the trip.
  In the 13th century, breakfast when eaten sometimes consisted of a piece of rye bread and a bit of cheese. Morning meals would not include any meat, and would likely include ¼ gallon (1.1 L; 0.30 US gal) of low alcohol-content beers. Uncertain quantities of bread and ale could have been consumed in between meals.
  By the 15th century breakfast in western Europe often included meat. By this time, noble men were seen to indulge in breakfast, making it more of a common practice, and by the early 16th century, recorded expenses for breakfast became customary. 
  By the other way breakfast in eastern Europe remained mostly the same as we know it today: a "continental breakfast". The 16th-century introduction of caffeinated beverages into the European diet was part of the consideration to allow breakfast. It was believed that coffee and tea aid the body in "evacuation of superfluities," and was consumed in the morning.
caption: A medieval baker with his apprentice. As seen in the illustration, round loaves were among the most common.
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