ABSTRACT
The ‘ pepperer ’ formed an important member of the community in England during the Middle Ages, when a large proportion of the food consumed was salted meat, and pepper was in high request as a seasoner. The berry or fruit of a plant cultivated only within a limited area in India and the East Indian islands, it was first imported into this country, after the crusades, by means of the vessels of the great Italian cities, which then almost monopolised the trade of the Western world, and is mentioned in the ‘ Libel of English Policy,’ in 1436, as one of the most important articles brought to England in the galleys of Genoa.
