Books

Friday Night Fish Fry

How medieval dietary needs fueled the discovery of the new world.

“It was fish, not spices, that led to the discovery of North America,” Brian Fagan writes. Late-medieval Europeans required vast quantities of fish, in part because fish could be readily preserved, but also because the church forbade eating meat on Fridays and on many other days in the church calendar. When a change in climate that spanned the period from 1300 to 1850—the subject of an excellent earlier book by Fagan, The Little Ice Age—forced fishermen in the northern waters to range more widely, they ventured as far as Newfoundland, preparing the way for the European settlement of North America.

FISH ON FRIDAY:Feasting, Fasting,and the Discovery ofthe New Worldby Brian FaganBasic Books368 pp.; $26.95

That, in a nutshell, is Fagan’s argument in Fish on Friday. But it merely provides the cooking pot, as it were, for a rich stew of history, cultural commentary, and piquant curiosities, including a number of recipes.

Fagan’s knowledge of religion, alas, is not his strong suit. Even so, his book shows that our understanding of history must ultimately be interdisciplinary, taking into account the complex interplay of factors that are often treated in isolation in separate academic fiefdoms. Church history, the history of technology, economics, geography and the history of climate, anthropology—all these perspectives and more contribute to Fagan’s narrative.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Related Elsewhere:

Fish on Friday: Feasting, Fasting, and the Discovery of the New World is available from Amazon.com and other book retailers.

More information is available from Basic Books.

More about author Brian Fagan is available from his website.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Hope in the Heart of Darkness

Do It for the Children

The Lure of Theocracy

Second-half Calling

Q+A: Michael Cromartie

Free Speech Fiasco

More than Logic

Pro-life Feminists

Cutting Deeper

Grand Illusions

Latter-day Complaints

Beyond Azusa Street

Lost Missions

What's Right About Patriotism

Hide Your Bible

Crowded Out

Belgrade Curve

Health Care, Everyone?

From Rape to Rebuilding

News

Passages

Wire Story

Sky's the Limit

Excerpt

'Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untamable God'

The Faith of Our Founders

Social Justice Surprise

Experiencing Life at the Margins

Born Again and Again

News

Go Figure

Gospel Work in Time of War

Glimpses of God in Africa

News

Quotation Marks

Summer

Editorial

Beyond Yellow Ribbons

Editorial

Sex Isn't a Spectator Sport

Reforming Wayward Reformers

View issue

Our Latest

The Bulletin

Young Republican Texts, Anglican Split, and George Santos Released

Controversial Republican texts, Anglican Communion splits, and George Santos’s sentence is commuted.

Review

Do Evangelical Political Errors Rise to the Level of Heresy?

A Lutheran pastor identifies five false teachings that threaten to corrupt the church’s public witness.

Highlights and Lowlights of 1957

In its first full year of publication, CT looked at Civil Rights, Cold War satellites, artificial insemination, and carefully planned evangelism.

News

Will There Be a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Conservatives suggest country and Christian artist alternatives for game day.

News

As Madagascar’s Government Topples, Pastors Call for Peace

Gen Z–led protests on the African island nation led to a military takeover.

News

Amid Fragile Cease-Fire, Limited Aid Reaches Gazans

Locals see the price of flour rise and fall as truce is strained and some borders remain closed.

Religious OCD and Me

Scrupulosity latches onto the thing we hold most dear—our relationship with God.

Why ‘The Screwtape Letters’ Is Uncomfortable to Watch

The two-actor play uses C. S. Lewis’s classic work to warn people—especially Christians—about the dangers of lukewarm faith.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube