Paolo Squatriti (University of Michigan), “A Tale of Two Breads: Eucharistic and Everyday Loaves in early Medieval Europe” (History)

In his Summation of All Theology (published in the 1260s) Thomas Aquinas stated categorically that God was not present in eucharistic breads made from any grains other than wheat. Aquinas further advised that the wheaten host should be made as small, flat, white discs without any leavening, completely unlike the bread people ate at home. Yet a thousand years earlier Christians had celebrated Jesus’ Last Supper using whatever breads they had at hand. This presentation investigates how medieval Christians came to think that the divine presence would occur in specific types of flour, and doughs shaped in specific ways. It presents the early medieval period, prior to the year 1000 CE, as the most exciting time in eucharistic history, when Europeans experimented with ingredients, recipes, and techniques for manufacturing the sacred food consumed weekly in Christian liturgies. It suggests that medieval European environments both shaped and were shaped by theologians’ choices and tastes.

 

April 25, 2024 4pm

320 York Street, Room 107