Wine, women & song : viticulture economy of the Order

Abstract

Like every monastic community, the Ordre de Saint Lazare during the Medieval Period was dependent on its resourcesf or its economic survival. Many of the establishments of the Order were therefore dependent on the careful and efficient management of the agricultural land benefices associated with the establishments. The agricultural land was used as pastureland and as arable land growing cash crops. An important crop, in the traditional wine drinking regions of Southern Europe, was the cultivation od vines and production of wine. In the northern European regions where ale drinking was preferred, the Order resorted to ale production and distribution. The process of distillation may have also produced stronger alcohol drinks.