A useful starting point for understanding this shift in mentality about food- making simple foods appear as crude and unrefined, is the Roman Empire. When Julius Caesar expanded into Britain in 55 BC, he deemed the locals "barbarians," his journals dripping with language of disdain, often criticizing their way of life as simple and crude.
Our language carries fossils of these perceptions. The English language is a mutt of two languages, formed fairly late in the language game, still evolving heavily in the 1500’s: one part French and the other Germanic. How they intermingle from people living in Britain shows this power dynamic. The French invaded in 1066, pretended to retreat, then attacked and won. The Germanic people living there, then had French overlords for the next 200 years. And in this environment, our English language started to form.
Germanic words stuck for basic ingredients (cow, pig, sheep, apple, milk, bread), while French denotes refined dishes (beef, pork, mutton, sauté). The peasant raised the cow; the lord ate the beef. We unconsciously reinforce this bias: "refined" is superior to "simple." Yet, science affirms the wisdom of simple: less processing means more nutrients.
English continued to form heavily in the 1500's - fairly late in the language game. Middle english is hard for us to understand.
English was still evolving dramatically in the 1500s, and yes, Middle English (roughly 1150-1500) is quite difficult for modern readers.
Here's the timeline:
Old English (450-1150): Basically a foreign language to us. Think Beowulf—unintelligible without study.
Middle English (1150-1500): Still very challenging. The Canterbury Tales (late 1300s) requires glossaries for most readers. Example:
"Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote..." (When April with its sweet showers...)
Early Modern English (1500-1700): This is when things really crystallized into something recognizable. Shakespeare (late 1500s-early 1600s) is challenging but mostly understandable.
The 1500s specifically were HUGE because:
The Great Vowel Shift was completing (changed how we pronounce vowels)
The printing press (introduced to England 1476) was standardizing spelling
Renaissance borrowing of Latin/Greek words exploded
The King James Bible (1611) and Shakespeare massively influenced standard English
British colonialism was beginning, which would spread and further evolve English
The Norman Conquest & Duration
The Normans conquered England in 1066 (Battle of Hastings) and their direct political dominance lasted roughly until the mid-1200s (about 200 years of Norman rule, not 300).
However, their cultural and linguistic influence lasted much longer—arguably until the late 1400s/early 1500s, when English fully re-emerged as the dominant language of power.
Key Timeline Points:
1066-1154: Norman dynasty rules directly
1154-1399: Plantagenet dynasty (Norman-descended) rules; French remains the language of court, law, and nobility
1362: English officially used in Parliament for the first time
Late 1400s-1500s: English becomes the clear language of power again
So while Norman rule was ~200 years, French as the prestige language lasted 300-400 years.
The Effect on Germanic English
The Norman invasion created a linguistic class system that's still embedded in English:
Germanic base (peasant/common life):
Animals alive in fields: cow, pig, sheep, chicken, deer
Basic actions: eat, drink, help, work
Body parts: hand, eye, heart
Nature: water, earth, stone, tree
French overlay (aristocratic/refined):
Animals on the plate: beef (bœuf), pork (porc), mutton (mouton), poultry (poulet), venison (venaison)
Refined actions: dine, assist, labor
Medical/formal: cardiac, vision, manual
Cuisine: sauté, bouillon, blanch, cuisine itself
The power dynamic you're describing is perfect:
Germanic peasants raised and slaughtered the pig
Norman lords ate the refined pork
This linguistic fossil remains in our unconscious today
Language itself carries class prejudice baked in 1000 years ago
"Refined" became associated with superiority not because of nutrition, but because of Norman conquest
We still unconsciously value "refined" over "simple"—even though nutritionally it's backwards
Marketing exploits this (calling processed food "refined," "gourmet," "sophisticated")
The irony: What the Normans called "refined" (elaborate preparation, sauces, removing from natural state) is what's killing us now. What they dismissed as "simple" (whole foods, minimal processing) is what we need to return to.
The "Pretended Retreat" at Hastings
Yes, this is historically documented! The Norman victory involved a tactical feint:
The Battle of Hastings (October 14, 1066): William the Conqueror's Norman forces faced Harold Godwinson's Anglo-Saxon army
The Saxon shield wall was incredibly strong and holding firm
The Normans employed a "feigned retreat" (possibly multiple times)—they pretended to flee in disorder
The Saxons broke formation to pursue what they thought were routed enemies
The Normans wheeled around and slaughtered the now-vulnerable Saxons
This, combined with Harold being killed (allegedly by an arrow to the eye), broke the Saxon resistance
Roman Rule in Germany: Minimal Effect
The Romans NEVER fully conquered Germania
They controlled areas west of the Rhine (modern-day western Germany, Netherlands, Belgium) but failed to hold territory east of the Rhine
Battle of Teutoburg Forest (9 AD): Germanic tribes annihilated three Roman legions, ending Roman expansion into Germania
Result: Germanic languages (the ancestors of English, German, Dutch, etc.) remained relatively "pure" and were minimally influenced by Latin during the Roman period
Latin loanwords in Germanic were mostly:
Military terms: camp (Latin campus)
Trade goods: wine (Latin vinum), cheese (Latin caseus)
Infrastructure: street (Latin strata)
But the grammar and core vocabulary remained Germanic.
Why Norman French Had HUGE Effect (vs. Roman Latin Having Little)
Here's the key difference:
Roman occupation of Britain (43-410 AD):
Latin was the language of administration and military
But the common people continued speaking Celtic languages (Brythonic)
When Romans left, Latin largely disappeared from common speech
Then Germanic tribes invaded (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, ~450 AD onward) and their language became dominant
Old English = Germanic language with minimal Latin influence
Norman conquest (1066 onward):
The Normans stayed and intermingled
They became the ruling class but lived among the Anglo-Saxons
Intermarriage happened (especially among nobility and merchants)
Bilingualism was necessary for social mobility
Over 300+ years, the languages blended
The Norman conquest created a unique linguistic situation:
Two populations living side-by-side for centuries
Clear class division (French speakers = power, English speakers = laborers)
Necessary interaction (you can't run a farm without talking to peasants, can't sell goods without talking to lords)
Result: A language where the class hierarchy is literally embedded in vocabulary
Your Germanic cow → French beef example is the perfect illustration.
The Romans never achieved this in Germania because:
They never conquered it fully
They didn't settle and intermingle deeply
Germanic tribes maintained linguistic independence
But in post-1066 England:
Complete conquest
300+ years of Norman ruling class
Forced bilingualism for social/economic survival
Result: English became a "mutt" language with class distinctions baked into vocabulary
Unlike the Romans, who never fully conquered Germania and left minimal linguistic trace, the Normans conquered, stayed, and ruled for over 200 years—with French as the prestige language for 300 more. They didn't just occupy; they intermingled. And in that forced coexistence, our language absorbed a class system we still carry today: Germanic for the simple and common, French for the refined and elite."
This strengthens your argument: the prejudice against "simple" foods isn't nutritional—it's a 1,000-year-old power dynamic fossilized in our vocabulary.