HISTORICAL RESEARCH PROJECT: FRANCISCAN ARCHIVES

A fig treeA fig tree grows by the “hospedería” of Santo Espíritu de Gilet, its roots buried deep below the back patio from where steps lead to the basement kitchen. The friars here are custodians of a major Franciscan archive. at Santo Espíritu de Gilet friary, near Sagunt, Valencià, its roots buried below the back patio from where steps lead to the basement kitchen. Santo Espiritu’s friars are custodians of a major Franciscan archive. © Vicky Hayward — A fig tree at Santo Espíritu de Gilet friary, near Sagunt, Valencià, its roots buried below the back patio from where steps lead to the basement kitchen. Santo Espiritu’s friars are custodians of a major Franciscan archive. © Vicky Hayward

By arrangement with the Franciscans of Santo Espíritu de Gilet, Valencia, Vicky’s research papers for her book will be available for consultation in their library. She is also compiling a wider guide to primary sources for Franciscan food history in Spain, in particular friary records.

These remained remarkably intact and were kept in the friaries themselves until the 1808-14 War of Independence, when many were destroyed. As the 19th century wore on and impoverished friaries were first abandoned, then disentailed between 1835 and 1846, so almost all their records left their original homes.

Those that survive today are preserved in a number of collections and have been catalogued, but little studied. Vicky’s aim is to reference them and outline a range of their content for food historians. Subjects covered include farming, kitchen management and furnishings, ingredients and cookery.

The documents are exceptionally valuable for two reasons. Firstly, they are very varied, including kitchen and general accounts, correspondence, handbooks to legal records, and secondly they span centuries, so allowing detailed observation of changes in diet, food production, prices and cookery over long periods of time.

Having now identified the majority of Franciscan Observant archives in the AHN – or Archivo Historico Nacional – her findings can be dovetailed with those of the friary’s slowly developing internal register of relevant documents held in private, municipal, regional and university libraries as well as in their own regional holdings.

Vicky Hayward

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Franciscan archives offer remarkable historical evidence on farming, food prices, kitchen management and ingredients.”

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