The ingredients were expensive, and you needed special tools to work with them, and that couldn’t always be trusted to servants. It’s interesting to note that it’s generally the women of the household who manage the confectionary directly. They would use the sugar in sauces, or sprinkled on meats directly. Hampton Court even had its own bakery just for sweets, and recipes began appearing that used a great amount of sugar. Henry VIII had his own confectioner expert, who was in charge of cooking with sugar, and any kind of sweet dessert foods. The Earl of Northumberland, for example, ordered more than 2000 pounds of sugar in one year in the late 16th century. But suddenly in the 16th century teeth start decaying. Medieval skulls show little in the way of tooth decay. And we see tooth decay on a scale never before seen. In the 16th century we see the emergence of candy makers, and those who were experts in molding, and making specialist confectionary treats from sugar were in most major towns. Add to that more understanding of how sugar could be used not just in foods, but also as a medicine, and even as an art form with a confectionary, and the sugar market began to take off. Soon there was competition and newer players in the sugar market. Devon also imported it, and by the end of the 14th century a London grocery shop was selling sugar.īut what really made sugar take off was the Portuguese broke the Italian monopoly on sugar as they began to cultivate it in the Azores. Further north, it was a popular import in Boston, Lincolnshire from Amsterdam and Calais. In the 14th century more sugar was imported into Sandwich, in Kent. In 1319 an Italian trader carried 100,000 pounds of sugar into England, for example. But this was extraordinary, and most ordinary people would not have had the ability to purchase sugar like this.īy the 14th century, sugar was becoming popular and normal in the wealthy houses. One of the household accounts of Edward I show a purchase of over 2000 pounds of various kinds of sugars in one year alone, including that used for medicine. But it was costly, mostly due to the lack of technology with processing the sugar. The first major interaction between Western Europe and sugarcane, though, was during the Crusades when people discovered that they had a taste for it. Look at the promises in the Bible about the land of milk and honey. Since ancient times, sugar has been seen as a medicine, good food, and even something holy. We’re about three months away from the world’s first ever Tudorcon, and I can’t wait to hang out with you, and 100 of our new best Tudor friends, in Lancaster PA on a gorgeous weekend in October to learn from Tudor experts, see a musical, hang out and dance to period music, and more. Remember, /sugar.Īnd before we get started, I want to remind you about Tudorcon.
So what is the history of this oh-so-addictive sweet white powder, which we seem to want to put everywhere? Did our Tudor friends use sugar? Most people have heard the stories about Elizabeth I’s rotten teeth because of her sweet tooth, but what about our other Tudor friends? Also, I’ve done a number of other episodes about food and sumptuary laws, which you might find interesting, and I’ll link to them at /sugar. In the past decade, more and more research has come out about how addictive sugar is, and dentists have found that kids in England have the same rate of tooth decay now as in the 17th century. If you’re like me, you’re one of the millions of people who are trying to watch their sugar intake. This is Episode 126, and it’s about sugar in Tudor England. I’m your host, Heather Teysko, and I’m a storyteller who makes history accessible because I believe it’s a pathway to understanding who we are, our place in the universe, and being more deeply in touch with our own humanity. Hello and welcome to the Renaissance English History Podcast, a part of the Agora Podcast Network. Episode 126 of the Renaissance English History Podcast was all about Sugar in Tudor England.
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