In early modern society, diet offered nutrition; expressed national, regional and class identity; and was used to maintain and restore health. Between 1500 and 1700 cultures of consumption and attitudes to diet were in transition due to changing medical attitudes, new commercial empires and an increasingly wide range of available comestibles (notably sugar, tomatoes, tobacco, potatoes). The influx, adoption and new accessibility of these products had profound and lasting impact on how Europeans consumed and they thought about consumption, use and dependency. At the same time, ideas about diet – informed by Galenic principles of classical medicine – were popularised, adapted and affected by new knowledge, which often originated in Italy, where many European physicians trained.
This network interrogates the temporal, geographic and social dimensions of cultural translation: the transmission, interpretation and transformation of texts, ideas, beliefs and practices between geographical locations, cultural contexts and historical moments, from the ancient world to the Renaissance; between England, Iberia, Italy and the ‘new worlds’; and amongst diverse social groups. The network will examine the role of intermediaries who performed the work of cultural translation (merchants, writers, professional and amateur practitioners), and the vehicles (texts, artefacts, rituals) through which they did so. It fulfils the AHRC’s intention of promoting opportunities for researchers to work across language areas, disciplines and national boundaries, and also aligns with strategic aims of the ‘Science in Culture’ theme, through its connection with the health humanities
Academic Lead – Prof Cathy Shrank – University of Sheffield
Studentship research area title : Cultural encounters from the
ambassador’s court to the English kitchen: Anglo-Iberian networks and the exchange of medical and culinary knowledge
Principal Supervisor – Dr Helen Smith  – University of York
Co Supervisor – Dr Iona McCleery – University of Leeds
 
Studentship research area title Diet, health, and identity in early modern England and Italy: A comparative study of the application and understanding of Galenic principles
Principal Supervisor – Dr Alexandra Bamji – University of Leeds
Co Supervisor – Prof Cathy Shrank – Sheffield
Studentship research area title: The invention of addiction in early modern England
Principal Supervisor – Prof Phil Withington – University of Sheffield
Co Supervisor – Dr Tania Demetriou  – University of York