Devonshire Oct to Dec 17

The Norman Conquest & Christianity
In England following the Norman Conquest,
monasteries and priories planted many apple
orchards. They brought with them much
expertise in apple cultivation from France. In
1086, twenty years after the invasion, half of
the land in Kent was owned by the Christian
church and St Augustine’s Abbey at Canterbury,
so you can imagine the Norman/Christian
influence on apple production across England.
Two cultivars of apple became widespread in
the thirteenth century, ʻPearmain’ and ʻCostard’,
there being records of their rootstocks being
bought and sold. Cider became a popular and
safe beverage, diluted for children, and cider
became a valuable product with which to
pay workers, also a popular drink for pilgrims.
When you consider that ale required the
production of an annual crop, whereas cider
apples appeared year in, year out, perhaps
for 70 years once the tree had started to fruit,
then the value of the apple was inestimable,
particularly because they could be cold-stored,
providing they were kept frost-free. In addition,
cider had a much longer shelf-life than ale.
GARDENING
Adam and Eve
It’s a question for debate whether our Christian
forebears formed an uneasy alliance with the
apple, and although the apple is not given as
the forbidden fruit in the Old Testament’s Book
of Genesis story about Adam and Eve (nor is
any other fruit given), artistic speculation and
interpretation of this story in the mediaeval
period eventually began to include the apple.
For instance, an engraving by Albrecht Durer in
1504 shows Adam and Eve with the forbidden
fruit being an apple. Again in the 16th century,
Lucas Craach’s (1472-1553) Titian shows Adam
and Eve under an apple tree with a single apple
held jointly between them both (see image).
The apple theme was further propagated by
artists in subsequent generations. It’s interesting
to note that Malus - the Latin name for the
apple, means both ʻapple’ and ʻevil’.
The Reformation
Henry VIII played his own part in the history
of the apple in England. Following the Black
Death and the War of the Roses, apple production
had declined dramatically in England.
Henry VIII imported French gardeners and
instructed his fruiterer, Richard Harris, to identify
and produce new varieties at his orchard in
Kent. The red skinned Pippin was introduced
from France, but in Tudor times the Queene
was the most common variety.
Cider for wages
Cider was once used to pay employees, and
it’s said that employers who produced the best
ciders could attract good quality employees,
because much of their wage was paid in lieu
of cider.
The Truck Law
Of course there was a major flaw with paying
employees in goods, as it was down to the
employer to decide on the value of goods
given to employees in lieu of money. It was
very much in the interest of the employee
to value whatever goods that were given as
highly as possible, leading to much swindling,
(for want of a better word). When researching
the Truck Law, I'd found reference to it in 1464,
although no information was forthcoming,
although there were amendments listed for
1725, 1831, 1887, 1896 and 1940. It appears
that employee payment with goods was
finally made illegal in 1887 but I stand to be
corrected. Editor
To be continued...
Ireland
North
Sea
United
Kingdom
Denmark
Germany
Baltic
Sea
Poland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Belarus
THE ORIGINS OF OUR APPLE
Russia
The place where our
current day apple
originates, in the form of
malus sieversii, the mother
(or father) to all our apples
Celtic Sea
Bay of Biscay
France
Austria
Romania
Ukraine
Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Portugal
Morocco
Spain
Alboran Sea
Balearic
Sea
Tunisia
Italy
Tyrhenian
Sea
Greece
Mediterranean Sea
Black Sea
Turkey
Syria
Georgia
Armenia
Iraq
Caspian
Sea
Libya
Pakistan
Egypt India
Iran
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Afghanistan
Tajikistan
Kyrgystan
China
Map showing where our modern day apple originates from, Kazakhstan, on the
border with the Tien Shan mountains in China. It's thought that the apple spread
along the old Silk Route, then up into Europe. There's debate as to whether the
Romans introduced superior, sweeter apples to England, because the Celts were
already using grafting techniques to enhance the fruit strains.
The Silk Route
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