Category: Everyday Life

One bad spell of weather could undo months of effort. Seed might fail, fodder could run short, and an animal lost to illness represented more than a missed meal. Cattle could provide traction, milk, hides and meat; sheep supplied wool as well as food; pigs could forage in woodland. Their value ran through the whole household economy.

Queens, landowners, household managers and abbesses exercised different forms of authority. Poetry, wills and archaeology reveal the possibilities—and limits—of women’s power in Anglo-Saxon England.

Seasonal ingredients bring the Anglo-Saxon table into a modern kitchen. Explore the evidence behind everyday food, then try a barley pottage with roast pork belly.