Bread made with barley, oats, or millet was always ranked as coarse food,
to which the poor only had recourse in years of want (Fig. 78). Barley
bread was, besides, used as a kind of punishment, and monks who had
committed any serious offence against discipline were condemned to live on
it for a certain period.
Rye bread was held of very little value, although in certain provinces,
such as Lyonnais, Forez, and Auvergne, it was very generally used among
the country people, and contributed, says Bruyerin Champier in his
treatise "De re Cibaria," to "preserve beauty and freshness amongst
women." At a later period, the doctors of Paris frequently ordered the use
of bread made half of wheat and half of rye as a means "of preserving the
health." Black wheat, or buck wheat, which was introduced into Europe by
the Moors and Saracens when they conquered Spain, quickly spread to the
northern provinces, especially to Flanders, where, by its easy culture and
almost certain yield, it averted much suffering from the inhabitants, who
were continually being threatened with famine.
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