{{Short description|Type of medieval bread}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use British English|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox food | name = Horsebread | image = | caption = | alternate_name = | country = Medieval Europe | region = | type = Bread | main_ingredient = Legumes, grains, nuts, roots | other = }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Statute of Victuallers and Hostellers 1389 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = The rates of labourers wages shall be assessed and proclaimed by the justices of peace, and they shall assess the gains of victuallers. Who shall make horsebread, and the weight and price thereof. | year = 1389 | citation = 13 Ric. 2. Stat. 1. c. 8 | territorial_extent = {{ubli|England and Wales|Ireland}} | royal_assent = 1389 | commencement = 17 January 1390{{efn|name=StartOfSession|Start of session.}} | repeal_date = 4 July 1844 | amendments = {{ubli|4 Hen. 4. c. 24|Horsebread Act 1623|Continuance, etc. of Laws Act 1623}} | repealing_legislation = Forestalling, Regrating, etc. Act 1844 | related_legislation = Labourers Act 1425 | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915526&seq=85 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Horsebread Act 1540 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act concerning baking of Horse-bread. | year = 1540 | citation = 32 Hen. 8. c. 41 | territorial_extent = England and Wales | royal_assent = 24 July 1540 | commencement = 12 April 1540{{efn|name=StartOfSession}} | repeal_date = 29 May 1624 | repealing_legislation = Horsebread Act 1623 | related_legislation = {{ubli|Statute of Victuallers and Hostellers 1389|4 Hen. 4. c. 25}} | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915533&seq=858 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} {{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = Horsebread Act 1623 | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of England | long_title = An Act concerning Hostlers and Inn-holders. | year = 1623 | citation = 21 Jas. 1. c. 21 | territorial_extent = England and Wales | royal_assent = 29 May 1624 | commencement = 12 February 1624{{efn|name=StartOfSession}} | repeal_date = 21 July 1856 | amends = {{ubli|Statute of Victuallers and Hostellers 1389|4 Hen. 4. c. 25}} | replaces = {{ubli|37 Edw. 3. c. 3|Horsebread Act 1540}} | repealing_legislation = Repeal of Obsolete Statutes Act 1856 | status = Repealed | original_text = https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000017915502&seq=482 | use_new_UK-LEG = no | collapsed = yes }} '''Horsebread''' was a type of bread produced and consumed in medieval Europe. At the time, it was considered to be of low quality, made from a seasonal mix of legumes, such as dry split peas, and bran<ref>{{cite book|title=Ceremony and Civility: Civic Culture in Late Medieval London|first=Barbara|last=Hanawalt|author-link=Barbara Hanawalt|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=26 June 2017|page=95|isbn=978-0-19-049039-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSkmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|access-date=3 August 2022|via=Google Books}}</ref> along with other non-wheat cereal grains such as oats and rye, and acorns. It was one of the cheapest breads available.
As the name suggests, it was primarily used as a feed supplement for horses, being more compact and easier to digest than bulkier feed like hay.<ref name="Rubel 2006">{{cite journal|journal=Gastronomica|title=English Horse-bread, 1590–1800|first=William|last=Rubel|volume=6|issue=3|year=2006|pages=40–51|issn=1529-3262|doi=10.1525/gfc.2006.6.3.40}}</ref> Horsebread was given to work horses to help them recover, and special horsebread recipes were developed for race horses as part of their training.<ref name="Rubel 2006" />
During times of siege or famine, the less-expensive horsebread could sustain the population, and was consumed by the very poor "even in times of plenty".<ref name="Rubel 2006" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-horse-bread|work=Atlas Obscura|title=For Centuries, English Bakers' Biggest Customers Were Horses|first=Sam|last=Lin-Sommer|date=22 July 2022|access-date=3 August 2022}}</ref> It was associated with poverty, since those who could afford white bread, which was the most labour-intensive, and therefore expensive bread, considered horse bread and other breads like rye or barley breads unfit for their position in society.<ref name="Davis2004">{{cite journal|journal=The Economic History Review|title=Baking for the common good: a reassessment of the assize of bread in Medieval England|first=James|last=Davis|volume=57|issue=3|date=22 November 2005|pages=465–502|issn=0013-0117|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.2004.00285.x|s2cid=154643188 }}</ref>
The making and selling of horse bread was controlled by law. In 1389 an act of Parliament of England, the '''{{visible anchor|Statute of Victuallers and Hostellers}}''' (13 Ric. 2. c. 8) specified that hostelers and inn keepers were not permitted to make horse bread for sale, but that it could only be made by certified bakers, and that the weight and price of loaves should be, "Reasonable after the price of Corn in the Market."<ref name="statutevol283">[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statutes_of_the_Realm] Statutes of the Realm Vol 2 (1377-1509) p. 83.</ref> No punishment was specified for offenders. In 1402, under King Henry IV (4 Hen. 4. c. 25) the fine was set at three times the value of the bread sold.<ref name="statutevol2160">[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statutes_of_the_Realm] Statutes of the Realm Vol 2 (1377-1509) p. 160.</ref>
In 1540 under King Henry VIII, the '''{{visible anchor|Horsebread Act 1540}}''' (32 Hen. 8. c. 41) amended these terms so that any hosteller or inn keeper in a town where there had been no baker for seven years was permitted to make horsebread for sale as long as the price was reasonable, "according as the price of the graynes of corn that now is."<ref name="statutevol3856">[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statutes_of_the_Realm] Statutes of the Realm Vol 3 (1509-47) p. 856</ref> This was confirmed in 1623 by a further act under King James I, the '''{{visible anchor|Horsebread Act 1623}}''' (21 Jas. 1. c. 21) where justices of the peace were given authority to set the fine as they saw fit.<ref name="statutevolv2476"> [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Statutes_of_the_Realm] Statutes of the Realm Vol 4 part 2 (1586-1625) p. 476.</ref>
White breads were generally eaten by the middle class and wealthy, because of the labour involved in refining flour. This is in contrast with modern whole-grain breads, which are typically seen as premium-priced health foods or gourmet foods. This is partly because modern flour has a higher gluten content than flour produced in medieval Europe, so bread made from less-refined flour is more palatable than it would have been during the Middle Ages.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Tudor Housewife|first=Alison|last=Sim|author-link=Alison Sim|publisher=Sutton Publishing Limited|location=Gloucestershire |page=11|year=1996|isbn=978-0-7735-2233-6}}</ref>
== See also == {{portal|Food}} *Brown bread – another European bread that was originally considered undesirable *Polenta – as a staple food of the poor in early modern northern Italy *Sprouted bread *Whole wheat bread
== Notes== {{Notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-horse-bread/ For Centuries, English Bakers' Biggest Customers Were Horses]. Atlas Obscura.
{{Bread}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Whole wheat breads Category:Medieval cuisine Category:Acorns as food