Frankish Bread and Baking Ovens in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem: Between Conservatism and Adaptation

Abstract

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES THE TOPIC OF BREAD and bread-making in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Drawing on archaeological evidence, historical sources, and medieval illuminations, we consider three features closely: the types of bread consumed by the Franks, the baking ovens’ appearance and modes of operation, and the organisation of Frankish bread production. We then set out to position Frankish baking in its proper cultural context between western Europe, whence the Franks originate, and the southern Levant, their new home. In doing so, we aim to uncover the novelties of Frankish baking, possible transfers of technology and ultimately the origin of Frankish baking ovens. By closely examining all available material, we strive to reveal peculiarities and influences that shaped bread making in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Résumé

Le pain franc et les fours à pain dans le royaume latin de Jérusalem : entre conservatisme et adaptation par Elisabeth Yehuda, Judith Bronstein et Edna J. Stern

Cet article examine le thème du pain et de sa fabrication dans le royaume latin de Jérusalem. En puisant dans les témoins archéologiques, les sources historiques et les illuminations médiévales, nous considérons de près trois caractéristiques : les types de pain consommés par les Francs, l’apparence et les modes de fonctionnement des fours à pain, et l’organisation de la production du pain franc. Nous tentons ensuite de remettre la panification latine dans son contexte culturel approprié, entre l’Europe occidentale d’où sont issus les Francs, et le Levant du sud, leur nouvelle patrie. Ce faisant, nous cherchons à dévoiler les innovations dans la fabrication de ce pain, les éventuels transferts de technologie et, enfin, l’origine de ces fours à pain. Par un examen rapproché de tous les matériaux disponibles, nous nous efforçons de révéler les particularités et les facteurs qui ont influencé la fabrication du pain dans le royaume latin de Jérusalem.

Zussamenfassung

Fränkisches Brot und Backöfen im Lateinischen Königreich Jerusalem: zwischen Konservatismus und Anpassung von Elisabeth Yehuda, Judith Bronstein und Edna J. Stern

Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit dem Thema Brot und Brotbacken im Lateinischen Königreich Jerusalem. Auf der Grundlage archäologischer Funde, historischer Quellen und mittelalterlicher Buchmalerei betrachten wir drei Merkmale näher: die von den Franken konsumierten Brotsorten, das Aussehen und die Funktionsweise der Backöfen sowie die Organisation der fränkischen Brotherstellung. Anschließend versuchen wir, das fränkische Backhandwerk in seinen kulturellen Kontext zwischen Westeuropa, dem Herkunftsgebiet der Franken, und der südlichen Levante, ihrer neuen Heimat, einzuordnen. Unser Ziel ist es, dabei Neuerungen des fränkischen Backens, mögliche Technologietransfers und letztendlich den Ursprung der fränkischen Backöfen aufzudecken. Durch eine genaue Untersuchung des gesamten verfügbaren Materials möchten wir die Besonderheiten und Einflüsse aufspüren, von denen das Brotbacken im Lateinischen Königreich von Jerusalem geprägt war.

Riassunto

Il pane dei Franchi e i forni di cottura nel Regno di Gerusalemme: tra il mantenere e l’adattare di Elisabeth Yehuda, Judith Bronstein ed Edna J. Stern

Questo articolo tratta del pane e della sua produzione nel Regno di Gerusalemme. Attingendo alle testimonianze archeologiche, alle fonti storiche e ai codici miniati medievali consideriamo molto attentamente tre aspetti: i tipi di pane consumato dai Franchi, l’aspetto dei forni per la cottura e il loro funzionamento, e l’organizzazione della produzione del pane dei Franchi. Passiamo poi a collocare la cottura al forno dei Franchi nel suo contesto culturale, tra l’Europa occidentale da cui i Franchi provenivano, e il Levante meridionale, la loro nuova patria. Nel fare questo cerchiamo di scoprire le novità nella panificazione dei Franchi, i probabili trasferimenti di tecniche e per finire l’origine dei forni di cottura dei Franchi. Esaminando molto attentamente tutto il materiale disponibile, ci impegniamo a rivelare le peculiarità e gli influssi che foggiarono la panificazione nel Regno di Gerusalemme.

Acknowledgements

This article derives from the research project ‘Food and Food Habits in the Crusader Context, 1095–1291’, led by Dr Judith Bronstein (PI), The Department of Israel Studies, University of Haifa, Israel. It is published with the financial assistance of the Israel Science Foundation (Grant Number 1327/16).

Notes

4 E.g. Folda 2005, 2008; Kuehnel 1994; Ellenblum 1998: 3–38; Jotischky 2011, 16–22, 123–54; Yehuda 2010; Murray 2013, 292–309; Bronstein et al 2019.

5 Ibid 2019, 2020.

6 Pines et al 2017; Madden 2006; Bronstein et al 2019, 2020; Boas 2010, 132–8; Holt 2019, 267–337.

7 Boas 2006, 160–3, 197–9; 2010, 129–30, 157–9, 301–19; Pringle 1997, 14; Yehuda 2011; 2020; Youssef 2019, 130–1, 133–8.

8 Richard 1976.

9 Crowley 2016, 303–16.

10 Mesqui et al 2021; Mesqui 2019.

11 Amar 2000, 54–6.

12 For example, Mayer 2010, UKJ 1, 180–1, no 54, 1: 438–42, no 238; 2:516, no 287 3:1309, no 750.?

13 Ashtor 1968, 1021; Richard 1985, 258; Amar 2000, 54–72; Crowley 2016, 499–584; examples in sources Cartulaire St-Sépulcre 226–8, no 107, no 309, 158–9, no 64 in Bresc-Bautier 1984.

14 E.g. Raymond of Aguilers, 83, in Hugh and Hill 1969; Sweetenham 2017, 144.

15 Itinerarium, 128–9, 130–1, in Stubbs 1984.

16 Richard 1976, 45–8.

17 E.g. Kostick 2008, 159, 216–17; The German pilgrim Thietmar, who visited Damascus in 1217, wrote that he saw 20 and more types of bread. Although Damascus was never conquered or controlled by the Franks, the variety of bread in Damascus might be exemplary also for Frankish cities in the Levant (Pringle 2012, 101).

18 Rule of the Templars, Clauses 27, 187; Cartulaire Hospitaliers, vol 1, 494; Edgington, 2005: 29, 31.

19 Yehuda, 2011, 58; Jotischky, 2011, 53–8, 158–9; Montanari 2015, 54–60.

20 Albert of Aachen, 388–9, in Edgington 2007; Willbrand of Oldenburg 180, in Laurent 1864.

21 Rule of the Templars, Clause 27, 186–7, in Upton-Ward 1992.

22 Kedar 1998, 19–20; Edgington 2005, 28; Bronstein 2013.

23 Raymond of Aguilers, 157, in Hugh and Hill 1969.

24 Cartulaire Hospitaliers, Vol 1, 339–40, no 494, in Delaville Le Roulx 1894–1906.

25 Edgington 2005, 28.

26 Cartulaire St-Sépulcre, 214–5, no 97, in Bresc-Bautier 1984.

27 The ‘Riccardiana Psalter’ located in the Biblioteca Riccardiana (MS 323, f.75r) and the ‘Melisende Psalter” kept in the British Library (Egerton MS 1139, fol 6r).

28 Histoire Ancienne jusqu'à Cesar’ in the British Library (Add MS 15268, f.24v and f.242v) and the ‘Arsenal Bible’ in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (MS 5211, f.364v and f.261r).

29 Art historical studies have shown that Frankish manuscript illuminations show a fusion of Byzantine, western-gothic and Islamic style influences, predominantly identifiable in clothing, insignia of power, furniture and vessels (Folda 2005, 155–9; 2008, 33–6). Bread is part of the debate in the context of the Last Supper (Vroom 2007, 198). Thus, depictions of bread in table scenes other than the Last Supper can be both, artistic interpretation and true reflection of Frankish modes of life. For a thorough discussion on the uses of Crusader art, especially illuminations, for the understanding of domestic material culture and daily life, see Buckingham, 2016, 181–243.

30 Montanari 2015, 57.

31 Schmitz 1968, 121–4; Davis 2004, 481, 495–6; Ross 1956; Cohen 2005, 409–10; Travaini 2013, 187–95; Grabowski 2007, 129–30. It must be noted that the listed papers deliberately lack explicit mention of the loaves’ forms, taking the domed shape as a given.

32 Campbell et al 1993, 26; Peters Kernan 2014, 153.

33 Ben-Dov 1969; Roll et al 2000; Pers obs. E.Y. ; Pers obs. E.Y.; Johns 1997, 60; Boas 2006, 162; Pringle 1997, 59–60; Crowley 2016, 49, 304; Mesqui et al 2021, 135.

34 Pringle 1998, 18; we would like to thank Jean Mesqui for bringing this oven to our attention; de Vaux and Steve 1950, 99, fig 28; Pringle 1993, 17.

35 Bagatti 1993, 94–5; Saller 1957, 149, fig 27.

36 Damati 2011, 144, figs 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11

37 Johns 1997, 88–9, Room 10 on fig 31; Prag 2016, 101–2, fig 3.4.

38 According to Boas (2006, 159) in the faubourg of Atlit and in the castle of Saranda Kolones in Cyprus the bakery was located next to the bathhouse, with both facilities sharing a common heat source, thus saving fuel. The idea of bakery and bathhouse forming a functionally linked entity was picked up and developed by Kedar (2018, 180–1) who attested the same principle of heat sharing to the bakery and bathhouse at the castle of Margat and in Acre’s Montmusard quarter.

39 In other instances, for example in pottery kilns and furnaces, a flue was needed to create an updraft, sucking oxygen into the fire chamber, thus nourishing the fire.

40 Mesqui et al 2021.

41 Pers obs. E.Y.

42 Although outside the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, the most complete example of a double-chambered oven was documented in Crac des Chevaliers, featuring two superimposed chambers and two flues (Deschamps 1934, pl CIV; Biller et al 2006, 344–6; Zimmer et al 2011, 73–7).

43 Yehuda 2011, 55; 2020, 156; Mesqui et al 2021, 133.

44 This is contrary to Mesqui et al 2021, 132, who claims that the baking process started with lighting a fire in the upper chamber. Yet, due to the lower level of the surface of the baking chamber in relation to the threshold of the chamber’s opening, it would have been very difficult to rake out the ashes once the wood had burned down and the baking process could start.

45 Grabowski 2005, 287.

46 Weber nd.

47 Boas 2010, 158–9; Kedar 2003, 82. For bread markets in Jerusalem in the Crusader Period see e.g. Boas 2001, 150; Boas 2010, 159, mentions a baking oven excavated in Jaffa, but provides no further details; Crowley 2016, 49.

48 Johns 1997, 88–9, Room 10 on fig 31.

49 Kedar 1998, 10; Riley-Smith 2012, 72.

50 Cartulaire Hospitaliers vol I, no 70, cl 6, no 627, no 2213, cl 66; Michel le Syrien, 202–3, in Chabot 1905; Trial of the Templars, 155, 163, 167, 196, in Gilmour-Bryson 1998.

51 Edgington 2005, 28; Kedar 1998, 19–20.

52 Diplomata Regum, Vol 1, 98–9, no 3, in Mayer 2010.

53 Revised Regesta Regni 756; Riley-Smith 1973, 85.

54 Prag 2016, 101–2.

55 E.g. RRR 2437; Diplomata Regum 1, 183–5, no 56, in Mayer 2010; see also Riley-Smith 1973, 44–5, 84–5; 2002, 127; Prawer 1980, 132–4; Richard 1985, 255, 257; Ellenblum 1998, 194–8, 281–7; Crowley 2016, 49, 275–323.

56 Diplomata Regum, 419–22, no 228, in Mayer 2010; Prawer 1980, 140–2; Ellenblum 1998, 67; Crowley 2016, 308–10; Bronstein et al 2019, 11.

57 Bagatti 1993, 94–5; Saller 1957, 149, fig 27.

58 Jotischky 2011, 11, 14, 53–6; Hirschfeld 1996, 147–8; Montanari 2015, 58–9.

59 Jotischky 2011, 53–4; Hirschfeld 1996, 146–7.

60 We would like to thank Jean Mesqui for discussing the oven in Nebi Samuel with us.

61 Pers obs. E.Y.

62 Boas 2006, 35–6, 162.

63 De constructione, 384 in Huygens 1981.

64 Willbrand of Oldenburg, 180, in Laurent 1864.

65 Youssef 2019, 128–46.

66 Ellenblum 1996, 2007; Boas 2006, 95–164.

67 Manhiça et al 2012, 66–7; Galloway et al 1996, 456, 469–70.

68 Mesqui et al 2021, 135–9.

69 Grabowski 2007, 135.

70 The term ‘elaborate Roman baking ovens’ (ERBOs) refers to a subset of Roman ovens with additional features. As well as a square base and a domed baking chamber, they also have a diaphragm wall behind which upper part a flue was inserted (Monteix 2016, 166–7).

71 Bakker 1999; Monteix et al 2010; Monteix 2016; Ibid, 165–6.

72 E.g. Zimmer 2000, 147–8; Montanari 2015, 55–7; Chabran 2002, 129.

73 Crowley 2016, 317, 320, 323, 787, 790; Boas 2010, 157–8.

74 Roeber 2002, 15–16.

75 Roth-Kaufmann 1997, 472; Galioto 2002, 97; Feld and Orosz 2007, 66.

76 Roeber 2002, 13–17; Tauber 1980, 375–6; Brears 2008, 120–4; Grabowski 2007, 131–4; Zimmer 2000, 147–51; Küng 2009, 8–9.

77 Büttner and Meissner 1983, 26; Cook 1984, 31; Barthelemy 1987, 419; Roth-Kaufmann 1997, 473; Quiney 2003, 176, 180.

78 Brears 2008, 121–2; Zanetti 2012, 9–10; 2018, 21–2.

79 British Library Egerton MS 2781, fol 88v; British Library MS Additional 27210, f 6v; Austrian National Library Cod Ser Nova 2644, fol 56.

80 One possible explanation is that, in Roman Europe, elaborate baking ovens were limited to castellae, villae, and civitates, and that they disappeared with the collapse of the Roman Empire. Thus, the time following the Roman rule saw a development of baking ovens anchored in indigenous traditions and customs.

81 McQuitty 1993; Dalman 1964, 39–73; Hirschfeld 1995, 109–211; Frankel 2011, 82–92; Mulder-Heymans 2002; Ebeling and Rogel 2015; Yehuda 2011, 55, fig 10; Nol 2020, 37–41.

82 Dalman 1964, 74–9, 83; McQuitty 1993–4, 56; Frankel 2011, 97–8; Nol 2020, 39.

83 E.g. Getzov 2000; Sion 2006; Kletter and Stern 2006.

84 Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq, 40–1, 404, 429; 2018, 196, 198, 214, 578–9, in Nasrallah 2007; Lewicka 2011, 109, 115–17, 157–8; Cohen 2005, 409–12; Hassan and Hill 1986, 212–19.

85 Crowley 2016, 321–2; Lewicka 2011, 115, Trépanier 2014, 66–7; Cohen 2005, 411.

86 The word ‘furn’ derives from the Latin ‘furnum’ — oven, thus implying a visual similarity between the Arab furns and Roman baking ovens.

87 Relevant historical sources include the 10th-century ‘Baghdadi cookbook’ (Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq, 255, 402, 404, in Nasrallah 2007), the 13th-century Syrian cookbook (Syrian Cookbook, 191, 193, in Perry 2017), the 13th-century Iraqi ‘Book of Dishes’ (Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Karīm, 102–3, in Perry 2005), and the 14th-century Egyptian ‘Kanz al-Fawa'id fi Tanwi' al-Mawa'id’ (Egyptian cookbook, 80, 162, in Nasrallah 2018).

88 Ben-Ami 2020, 319–23.

89 Shor 2019; Weksler-Bdolah et al 2009.

90 Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq, 40, 564, 565, in Nasrallah 2007; Lewicka 2011, 157.

91 Talmon-Heller, 2002, 145–6.

92 See Frankel 2011, 100–2.

93 Ibid, 101; Hirschfeld 1996, 148; Goren and Fabian 2008; Stiebel 2011, 288–93.

94 Hirschfeld 1996, 147–8; Jotischky 2011, 53.

95 Hirschfeld 1996, 148–9, figs 3–5.

96 During the excavation of a Byzantine monastery next to the Qidron river, a room was discovered featuring, on its eastern side, a circular slab floor interpreted as the base of a large baking oven (Zelinger and Barbe 2017, 55).

97 Pers obs. EY; Forsyth and Weitzmann 1970, pls 22 A, B; Pers obs. EY.

98 Suchowa 2007.

99 McQuitty 1984, 163; Dalman 1964/IV fig 17:1, 27, 27a.

100 ‘Ad 2012, 22–3; Weksler-Bdolah 2016; Heege and Erlacher 2002; Tonezzer 2002.

101 Brears 2008, 87–101.

102 The same could be observed with Frankish winepresses which were installed indoors (Bronstein et al 2020, 63).

103 On matters of security in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem see Ellenblum 1996, 520–4; 2007, 151–64; Boas 2007, 77–92.

104 Bronstein et al 2019, 2020.