Food, Femininity and Freedom

Eucharistic Devotion in Medieval Europe: With special reference to the ”Holy Feast and Holy Fast”

Abstract

Caroline Bynum is an eminent American socio-cultural historian. Her magnum opus"Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious significance of Food to Medieval Women" sets paradigms of relationships between religion and gender in medieval Christianity. From the history writing perspective, the text reflects the concept of New historicism with emphasis on the reliance on literature. In this paper, we will try to understand that, how does the food habit in the family, society or culture strengthen or challenge contemporaneous socio-economic facets in different chronological periods? How was the structure of beliefs, behaviour and connections fabricated around bread which shaped social relations? How did women see control over food about their identity and autonomy? How food, social norms, sexuality, and gender are interrelated in any culture?