La viticulture médiévale – une histoire de la durabilité sociale et écologique

La viticulture médiévale – une histoire de la durabilité sociale et écologique
(avec sous-titres en français et anglais)

par Verena Weller (doctorante à la chaire d’histoire médiévale de l’université de Mannheim)

Si la notion de durabilité sociale et écologique semble aujourd’hui un concept nouveau dans la viticulture, elle est pourtant déjà omniprésente depuis le Moyen Âge.
Verena Weller met de la lumière sur un volet de notre histoire viticole, qui sous la lumière de chamboulement économiques et climatiques est étonnamment d’actualité.

Vignoble & Biodiversité #2 – La viticulture de demain commence aujourd’hui
18 & 19 janvier 2024 – Avignon (Palais des Papes)

Ce cycle de conférences, trait d’union entre la science et le terrain, offre un véritable tour d’horizon des enjeux autour de la biodiversité, tout en dépassant largement aussi bien les limites cadastrales que le cadre stricte de la viticulture en générale.
Conçu comme un dialogue ouvert, pluridisciplinaire et transversal qui s’adresse au monde viticole, le but est le partage des connaissances, la mise en valeur et la mise en commun de l’expérience pratique et scientifique, le décloisonnement des échanges et la création d’une dynamique vertueuse dans laquelle la biodiversité devient un but collectif et non pas une mission individuelle.

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#developpementdurable #viticulture #biodiversité #winehistory #middleages #transmission #openscience

ODG Margot was a partner of the first edition of this conference. We are a partner of this second edition to find new ideas for biodiversity to develop in the vineyards. So today I’m going to talk about medieval viticulture. You certainly know viticulture better than I do. However, I would like to present a few aspects of the Middle Ages and early modern times, that illustrate the long tradition of your profession. First, I’m going to bore you a bit with the figures and facts about viticulture and the medieval wine trade. Then I’ll talk about wine consumption in the Middle Ages. Wine has always been important. The Bible clearly shows this, notably with the miracle of water turned into wine at the Wedding feast in Cana. By turning water into wine, Jesus Christ confirmed that drinking wine was part of the celebrations. The expansion of viticulture was inevitably linked to the Christianization of Europe. For without wine, there could be no mass. Mass wine had to be pure, which probably explains why religious institutions preferred to grow their own wine. I’ll continue with another image of the Middle Ages. I think that image is very clear. Wine was always part of a royal celebration in the Middle Ages. You can clearly see the prince, who is sitting alone, and someone bringing artistically layered hot dishes, and another who is cutting them up. A brass player makes music and creates a festive atmosphere. The wine is downstairs waiting to be served in jugs and bottles. So wine was a way of showing social status and wealth. There were various rituals, tastings for example. Each person was given a pointed cup. It was passed from hand to hand and could only be put down empty. Participating in his rituals was a way of showing belonging, respect and sympathy for the other person, whether clergy or laity, powerful or insignificant, poor or rich – everyone drank wine in the Middle Ages. Wine was a staple food, a source of pleasure and a means of payment. Often, wages were paid in wine, people paid their debts in wine and they drank a glass together to give legal validity to a deal. Also, they invested in vineyards to increase their wealth. I am going to show you an example from Montpellier. It’s an entry in the notarial register. What is a notarial register? Well, they are the notary’s notes, which people consulted in the Middle Ages to formalize and to make their transaction legally binding. For example, notaries recorded marriages, the terms of commercial agreements, the distribution of property in the event of death, loans and real estate purchases. In Montpellier, this very often involved vineyards, because vineyards were a promising investment. They generally belonged to townspeople in Montpellier, who had them worked by the farmers. Grapes were valuable and renting out the land brought in money, as these entries show. So here we have two entries in the notarial register. These are the oldest from the city of Montpellier. They date back to 1293 and 1294. These two entries are from the end of October 1293. Maria, widow of Petrus Humbert, received a rent of sixteen sols melgorian – melgorians was the currency used in Montpellier in the 13th and early 14th century – for a vineyard in Moras, near Montpellier, and regularly four melgorian dinars for rent in these large vineyards. So wine was important, especially for health. Arnauld de Vilanova, from Catalonia, talked about the health benefits of spiced and flavored wines. In particular, his talk on rosemary wine was eloquent. He claimed that it prevented hair loss, preserved youth, cured lung and mental illnesses, and even solved skin problems. Listening to all this makes you really want to buy a bottle of this great rosemary wine, because it seems that it can solve all our problems. To conclude, wine was much more than a noble drop you drink at the end of the day, in the Middle Ages. However, the land available for viticulture was limited. Space was also needed to grow cereals. Cereals were the main staple food in the Middle Ages, and cereals were necessary for the entire population. Therefore, regions where cereals were grown, were not converted to viticulture. I’m now going to tell you about the long tradition of viticulture and its expansion, mainly in what is now France. From the year 1000 onwards, climatic and social changes encouraged the spread of viticulture and wine production in France. Climate change from the 11th to the 13th centuries led to drier summers and milder winters in Europe. During this period, the population doubled. The demand for food therefore increased considerably too. In regions where grape growing was not common before, grapes began to be cultivated. In areas where it was already being done, viticulture was intensified. However, there were numerous disappointing harvests during this period. In 1314, recurring complaints emerged about the insufficient quality and quantity of grape harvests. In 1315, the grapes did not ripen properly. And in 1316, there might have even been no wine in France at all, although that is an exaggeration. Around Paris, for example, the yield would have been 80% lower than usual. We’ll move on to the Black Death, because from the middle of the 14th century onwards the Black Death hit Europe, causing a major demographic decline. It decimated more than a third of the French population, in only four years. Naturally, the Black Death led to a lower demand for food. But at the same time, the demand forease labor and wages increased. As a result, vineyards were abandoned or used differently. However, the end of the Middle Ages was a period of growth for viticulture. It became institutionalized. Guilds regulated production, trade routes were established and viticulture and the wine trade were controlled and taxed. To ensure consistent harvests, a precise period was set for the harvest, which generally took place in the middle of September. This ensured that no-one could make greater profits from an early harvest. In 1395 the Duke of Burgundy, Philippe le Hardi, banned the cultivation of a certain grape variety, Gamay. He claimed that winegrowers were adding water to wine to sweeten it, claiming that wine was unhealthy. This led to a drop in wine sales in Burgundy. Although this was officially done to control sales and consumption, the reasons were actually more complex. Wine sales in Burgundy had already fallen before 1395, and the practices he was denouncing were not new. The elites in Burgundy, who were claiming their freedom and making a lot of money from the sale of wine, he wanted to defend himself against them. And that was why he announced that Gamay was not very good for the health. By banning Gamay, he economically weakened these elites and thus stabilized his position as duke. In addition, new wine-growing regions emerged on several occasions, usually in connection with political events. The Great Occidental Schism, from the beginning of the 14th century, led to the creation of a new wine region around Avignon, where we are today, and where Pope Clement V settled in 1309. This move led to a strong demand for wine, as the pope did not come alone, but was accompanied by his bureaucratic apparatus and retinue, all of whom wanted to drink wine. The region became known as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which lies north of the city. It was particularly crucial to be close to the rivers. Of course, because transporting the heavy wine barrels was much cheaper by water than by land. Wine was generally stored in casks. In ancient times, wine was kept in leather wineskins or amphorae. It was not until 1500 that wine began to be bottled, albeit sporadically. This practice did not become widespread until around 1800. So wine was rarely drunk from glasses, but rather from wooden bottles in the Middle Ages. The first casks were made from palm trees, whose insides were soft and easy to remove. Later, skins were attached to the ends, as for drums for example. The barrels we know today, were invented by the Celts. They are a form of basketry. It’s probably the oldest packaging method and also a source of inspiration for barrels, as they wanted to create watertight baskets. Unlike amphorae, barrels were stable, as clay broke more easily. Clay was also more difficult to transport, and heavier. Wooden barrels were first held together by wooden hoops. It was not until 1700 that metal hoops began to be used. We can only get an idea of medieval barrels through written sources or images, because the barrels themselves are often in a used state, and later only metal hoops are documented. Initially, they came in different sizes, but were standardized as trade intensified. The barrels were generally made of oak and had a lifespan of about 40 years. That’s funny, because in the Middle Ages oak was considered a remedy against alcohol. So the wine was practically wrapped in its antidote. The advantage of the barrels was that they were very watertight and easy to stack. To make the barrels, a lot of wood was needed. The large amount of wood consumed in wine production will be briefly discussed at the end of my presentation. On the barrels, there are little markings that provide us with various information, such as the quality of the wine, the content in general, the owner for example, or the origin of the barrels. And for the latter, I’ll show you an example. You can see that there is a small “b” marked on the barrel. The “b” stands for Bruges, so the barrel comes from Bruges. Thus, the wine was exported in these barrels. In Nantes, for example, in the 1550s, around 18,000 barrels of wine were traded every year. As we already know, the most appropriate means of transport was by water. This led to the planting of vineyards along the waterways. Not only did this simplify transport, but it was also beneficial for winegrowing. Wide rivers, such as the Seine, the Loire or the Yonne, were preferred. On their banks, the winter cold was not as intense and the growing seasons were extended due to the generally milder temperatures. Wine that had to be transported over short distances was also cheaper. This is why the region around Paris – where demand for wine was particularly high due to the high number of inhabitants – was attractive for viticulture, even if the quality of the wine was not exceptional. And so, it hurts me a little bit, as a German, to say this, but: In 1471, an Italian traveller said about German wine: “With every sip I drink, tears come to me." The traveller, named Campanos, found German wine very acidic. So it is obvious that wine was not only a staple food, but also a product of pleasure. Fouquet pointed out that the urban population of cities across the Rhine would never have bothered to drink mixed wine, or large quantities of it. They stored expensive Southern wines, and enjoyed spicy wines. Wine was therefore a symbol of luxury and wealth. Wine recipes were handed down as far back as antiquity. For example, the “Historia Naturalis” by Gaius Plinius Secundus was very well known in the Middle Ages. He wrote about the influence of the moon on viticulture and plant protection. Some of his instructions verged on the superstitious. For example, he recommended that winegrowers clean their tools with beaver skin if they wanted to protect their plants from caterpillars. In the 14th century, Gottfried von Franken wrote the “Pelzbuch”, in which he taught viticulture. A “Pelzbuch” is a manual on fruit, wine and flower horticulture. He referred to ancient authors, but also recorded his own experiences. Among other things, it provides information on the tricks of the wine merchants and gives advice on viticulture. I’ll give you a few examples that give an insight into the wine trade. Firstly, Gottfried mentioned that wine merchants often offered nuts or cheese to customers. After eating them, all the wines tasted sweet. Secondly, winemakers would suspend sachets of herbs, such as pepper or ginger, in the wine for a few days to give a cheap wine a noble taste. And finally, what if you asked for red wine but there was only white wine in the cellar? Wine was simply colored with cherry juice, for example, or left to age in barrels that had previously contained red wine. So now a few words about viticulture. Vineyards as a whole were very small, generally only one to five hectares. The vines were often planted in disorder rather then rows. Viticulture was always very hard work and there were hardly any periods of low activity, as there usually is in agriculture for example. First, the soil had to be prepared, as can be seen in the following image. Some men are breaking up a field where several vines have already been planted. We know that some training methods, which are still used today, date back as far as 2000 BC. Vines grew under trees, for example, without support, or on wooden stakes planted in the ground. In the following image, we can see the installation of wooden trellises. Afterwards, the vines had to be maintained continuously. It was necessary to remove large leaves that prevented the sun from reaching the grapes, to remove snails and slugs, to prune the shoots. These difficult tasks, which dit not require any particular technique, were generally reserved for women and children. Finally, the grape harvest was a dynamic time, because for the German-speaking region we know that women from poor regions, Eiffel or Hunsrück for example, migrated to the Palatinate to work there. And a final word on the dangers for winegrowers in the Middle Ages: bad weather and damage caused by birds in particular, but also by wars which were almost as fatal as pests, because the vines needed a lot of care over a long period, before they could produce good yields. Under enemy rule, damage to vineyards prevented winegrowers from being able to pay their taxes, which weakened the enemy economically. Severe drought was also a problem, making it impossible to transport barrels by water. We already know that in some regions, the demand for wine was greater than elsewhere, for example in big cities like Paris, or Avignon where the pope’s court required large quantities of wine. How much wine did people drink in the Middle Ages? From the founder of the printing press, Johannes Gutenberg, we know that in 1439 he stored 2,000 liters of wine. According to Fouquier, an adult in northern German cities consumed 1.3 liters of wine per day. In Languedoc, in the 15th century, valets were entitled from 300 to 700 liters of wine per year. An adult, in what is now Germany, at the end of the Middle Ages drank 356 liters of wine per year. If we include children, we reach 250 liters of wine per year and per person. And yes, you heard right, the children drank wine too, because we’re talking about ordinary wine that is not comparable to our wine today. So the alcohol content of wine in the Middle Ages was between 8% to 10% vol. alc., which is lower than it is today. In addition, people were active, and the work they did was more “active” than it is today. Today, in 2022, a French person consumed 47 liters per year. I’m going to stop with the numbers and continue with stuff that’s a bit more fun, with a song: “Ein schädlich Ding ist’s um den Wein, bei dem kann niemand weise sein. Unkeuschheit kommt aus Trunkenheit, viel Übles auch daraus entspringt. Wein machet, dass ein Weiser Mann, die Narrenkapp aufsetzen kann.” And that means, that wine makes a wise man behave like a fool. People in the Middle Ages already knew that increased alcohol consumption was not very good. So what did they do: they established rules for the consumption of wine. First of all, the wine contained less alcohol than it is today. Also wine, like beer, was considered to be a healthier option compared to unboiled water for example. However, drunkenness was a problem among the French clergy: “The priest in Saint Rémy was notorious for drunkenness and for frequenting the local tavern, where he had got into fights on several occasions; the priest at Gilemerville had occasionally lost his clothes in taverns, possibly by gambling or perhaps in other circumstances; the priest in Pierrepont was habitually drunk; the priest in Grandcourt was notorious for his excessive drinking; the priest in Panliu was not only well known as a drunk, but also sold wine and often got his parishioners inebriated”. In the Middle Ages it was already known that there were many problems with alcohol consumption, and here with wine. In Paris in 1350, drinking hours were established, because apparently the laity drank too much and this had to be regulated. It was decreed that when the bells of Notre Dame rang in the evening, no new customers were allowed into the bars. In Würzburg, in the 14th century, drinking games were banned and after the ringing of the wine bell, no one was allowed to wander the dark streets. In Speyer, the bishop prohibited more than 10 women gathering to celebrate a baptism. Indeed, he had already noticed the link between alcohol consumption and group size. Now, this is the last part of my presentation. So we can rapidly move on to the coffee break. Viticulture in the Middle Ages did give rise to environmental problems. The history of wine is simultaneously a history of forests. Wooden posts were needed to support the vine. These wood was expensive and therefore had to be extracted from the ground in the fall, otherwise they would rot. They had to be replaced every 30 years. Wood was also needed for wine barrels. Here again some wooden barrels. So the excessive consumption of wood in the Middle Ages is a well-known problem. In Picardy, for example, 30,000 hectares of forest were cleared in the 12th and 13th centuries. There were several reasons for the increased consumption of wood in the Middle Ages. On the one hand, a lot of firewood was required, for example for iron, leather or salt production. Here, seawater was heated to produce salt. And leather production required large quantities of bark. Due to population growth, timber was also needed. And the consequence of all this was that already in the 11th century, regulations concerning the use of wood were put in place. For example, as early as 1037, the French king authorized a monastery in the Vincennes forest to use only one load of firewood for cooking (per day). In 1140, Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis spoke of a “miracle” when he found twelve logs in the Yvelines forest that he could use to build a basilica. The expansion of viticulture has also had serious ecological consequences for the soil, as wooded and wild areas that were previously unused, were captured, locally reduced or completely cleared. You’ve already talked about this: terraced farming has made this possible, because now the slopes could also be used for viticulture. Their climatic conditions were favorable. The consequences were, for example, changes in the microclimate, in the water cycle and increased soil erosion. This last point has not yet been fully studied for the Middle Ages, but the serious consequences are conceivable. The soil was washed away on steep slopes. The terraces were permanently transformed by viticulture, by managing vineyards without a protective green cover, while being intensively worked. That is why, already in the 13th and 14th centuries, particular attention was paid to the collection and regular drainage of rain and melt water, through gutters. In this way, it was hoped to be able to prevent dangers and not to lose the precious soil. The soil that was washed away, was returned to the plots during wintertime. In the 14th and especially the 15th century, there is growing evidence that vineyards, especially in areas where the climate would not allow the production of quality wine, were brought back into polyculture, because people preferred to use vineyards for other purposes. In 1404, for example, it was ordered that if someone had up to half of his land planted with vines, he could still use all of his land for grapegrowing. But if he only had a small portion planted with vines, he had to grow something else. This applied especially to unfavorable locations, where the wine became acidic. Regarding the increased abandonment of vineyards : the reformation and also the abandonment of monasteries, especially in northern Germany, were also responsible for this. In addition, quality standards had increased, so that wine produced in the North could no longer compete. But you have to bear in mind that people worked the soil differently, that the machines were lighter, and that soils were not as much fertilised. Yields were much lower. It wasn’t an efficiency culture in the modern sense. In Kaiserstuhl in Germany, for example, the yield was around 14 hectolitres per hectare, about half of the current yield. In conclusion, wine was a fundamental element of the pre-modern era. It was both, a staple food and a luxury product, that accompanied important moments and the entire daily life of a person in the Middle Ages. It played a central role in celebrations, social rituals, the economy, and even health. The winemaking tradition has survived through the centuries, evolving over time to become the thriving industry we know today. Thank you.