Learnings: A Strict Diet

A feast illustrated in a manuscript / 11th cent.

Fasting and prayer were thought to purify the clergy and to strengthen their will against demonic temptation. Even when they were not fasting, monks and nuns would have been instructed to keep a strict diet. While not much is known about their food habits in the 9th century, scholars can make some educated guesses based on what the 10th-century clergy were eating. It is likely that monks and nuns were mostly vegetarian. Meat or fish would only be eaten on special occasions; for example, a feast like the one illustrated here. For the sake of self-denial, the clergy would have been allowed only one or two meals a day. zh:知识点：严格的饮食要求