Food culture and diet of the Basilian monks of the Lithuanian province in the second half of the eighteenth century

Abstract

This article aims to provide insight into the eating customs and diet of the Basilian monks of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Vilnius in the second half of the eighteenth century. It
discusses the rules that shaped their eating customs and the extent to which the monks, who belonged to the Lithuanian province of the order, followed these rules. The article considers foodstuffs of the community’s menu and examines the sources of these products. A comparison with the Lviv Basilian Monastery, representing the Polish (Ruthenian) province of the order, allows a better understanding of the specificity of the Basilian monks’ food culture. Notably, the Basilian monks abandoned the ancient monastic tradition of not eating meat. Other features of their food culture were determined by post-Tridentine monasticism and the socio-economic factors of the time.