Alcohol and the Accounts of the Domain: the Czech Lands until the Hussite Revolution

Abstract

The paper focuses on the relationship of Czech and Moravian nobility to alcohol according to financial sources until the beginning of the Hussite Revolution. More attention is paid to the production of alcohol (mainly beer, less wine) on aristocratic domains. For the High Middle Ages, it seems that a noble estate was not even self-sufficient in the production of alcoholic beverages. The situation in the early modern period, where efficient farming generates surpluses for the market, and the nobles force their subjects to consume beer from the estate breweries, is still a long way off. This is partly confirmed by the sources showing the consumption of alcohol (beer, wine and occasionally mead).

Keywords

• alcohol
• beer
• taverns
• breweries
• domain
• medieval economy