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„Wir könnten uns zwar importiertes Olivenöl leisten, aber …“. Import, Konsum und Ablehnung von Olivenöl in Mitteleuropa im 15. Jahrhundert
Abstract Vegetable fats played an important role in the church’s rules for fasting because, unlike animal fats, their consumption was also allowed while fasting. Within the olivegrowing area this was not a problem, but outside it was. The numerous requests for a relaxation of the fasting rules (on the grounds that the petitioner is old or sick or has a weak stomach) often have the further argument, when north of the Alps, that our region is too cold for growing olives, imported oil is difficult to obtain (or: too expensive, usually already rancid, etc.), and above all: it does not taste good and disagrees with us, makes us nauseous and ill, just as the local vegetable oils do (nut, poppy, linseed); we want the normal butter. Whole cities (such as Munich), entire regions request and receive this privilege. The article aims to show what this source, which is not at all economically oriented, can contribute to the question of imports from the South. Until the Reformation made this problem obsolete for much of Europe.
