Bees in the Medieval Mediterranean: Economic, environmental and cultural perspectives
Lecture by Alexandra Sapoznik and Lluís Sales i Favà
Held online by the Woolf Institute on May 22, 2022
Overview: Bees and bee products were of tremendous cultural significance in the Later Middle Ages. Wax was necessary for many aspects of Christian religious devotion, while honey held a particular importance in medieval Islam. In this session we will examine how these cultural preferences drove a lucrative and far-reaching trade in beeswax, combining the products of domestic apiculture and large-scale imports to support increasingly costly and spectacular forms of Christian devotion, demonstrating interconnections of economy, environment and culture in the pre-modern world.
Alexandra Sapoznik is Senior Lecturer in Late Medieval History at King’s College London. Her research specializes in the economic and social history of the Later Middle Ages. Lluís Sales i Favà obtained his PhD on Medieval History at the Universitat de Girona. He has specialized on the study of private credit and nonpayment in rural contexts during the medieval period.