Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

Written by: Paul Lacroix


In other places butchers were far from acquiring the same importance which
they did in France and Belgium (Figs. 90 and 91), where much more meat was
consumed than in Spain, Italy, or even in Germany. Nevertheless, in
almost all countries there were certain regulations, sometimes eccentric,
but almost always rigidly enforced, to ensure a supply of meat of the best
quality and in a healthy state. In England, for instance, butchers were
only allowed to kill bulls after they had been baited with dogs, no doubt
with the view of making the flesh more tender. At Mans, it was laid down
in the trade regulations, that "no butcher shall be so bold as to sell
meat unless it shall have been previously seen alive by two or three
persons, who will testify to it on oath; and, anyhow, they shall not sell
it until the persons shall have declared it wholesome," &c.

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