Book Description

This volume brings together the proceedings of the two-day academic conference held in Mystras on November 24–25, 2023, and examines aspects of urban diet and the social practice of banquets during the Palaeologan period. It includes 16 studies that explore perceptions and attitudes regarding diet in the Despotate of Morea, as well as practices of food production, distribution, and consumption, through historical and literary sources, manuscripts, iconography, and archaeological data. Emphasis is placed on the factors that shaped dietary patterns, such as population mobility, trade, and socioeconomic developments. At the same time, it highlights preservation and processing techniques, as well as the development of high-quality products and sophisticated gastronomic practices. The volume offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of everyday life and material culture in late Byzantium.

This publication was produced as part of the Project “…and they set the table with its furnishings… Banquets and Urban Diet in Palaeologan Mystras,” funded under the 2014–2020 Rural Development Program (Measure 19, Sub-measure 19.2, CLLD/LEADER).

The volume is available in electronic format, with free access, via the following links:

EPHALAC: facebook/ Ephorate of Antiquities of Laconia

IHR/NHRF: https://hdl.handle.net/10442/19803

For more information, interested parties may contact the publishers.