PROVISION AND CONSUMPTION OF FISH IN A CATALAN INLAND CITY DURING THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES: THE CASE OF LLEIDA

This article explores the different supply methods of fish to an inland city in Catalonia. We have focused on Lleida, an inland city of the Crown of Aragon located at the confluence between Catalonia and Aragon. Although it is not near the sea, it is surrounded by rivers and canals which were also an important source of fish. What happened in Lleida is compared with other nearby towns such as Balaguer and La Seu d’Urgell as well as other areas like the middle part of the river Ebro. The article tackles the problem of which fish were consumed —marine and fresh water species—, the routes used to supply sea fish to the western Catalan inland cities and the principal fishing techniques practiced in rivers, lakes and canals.


Introduction 1
Not much is known about fishing and fish supply in inner cities, products like meat, bread and wine have been studied more than fish; however, recently more studies have appeared trying to fill this gap. 2 As we will see, fish was very important in medieval diet due to the Christian calendar and sea fish played an important role in that diet.Coastal cities did not have many problems as fish was very accessible but for many inland cities provision of fish and fishing were an important part of their Council debates.
This article focuses on Lleida, an inland city of the Crown of Aragon located at the confluence between Catalonia and Aragon.In the research for this article we have used municipal documents from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.It is important to note that Lleida's Municipal Council Acts have been preserved in the municipal archive since 1340 and that might be the reason why some references to fish and to the local fish market are so late.To fill this gap, we have used medieval crime prosecution records (Llibres de Crims) -a documental series which starts in 1308-the Consuetudines Ilerdenses (1228), thirteenth century wills, privileges and the ordinations of several surrounding villages, among others.

The consumption of fish in the interior of Catalonia
In Christian lands the religious calendar imposed some sacrifices related to food which were followed and well known by the people.In fact, in the lands of the Crown of Aragon there were between 140 and 160 days which had alimentary restrictions. 3During the days of abstinence fish was the principal ingredient in all the tables, however on fast days, fish and meat were prohibited and the diet was mainly governed by bread and wine accompanied with vegetables -like cabbage or broad beans-and cheese. 4A third of all the fresh fish consumed during the whole year was eaten during Lent, i.e. during one month of Lent in 1434 seven million sardines passed through the lleuda tax of Barcelona. 5Nevertheless, abstinence was not always obeyed, Flocel Sabaté advises about the diversity of situations, rules and practices carried out in Catalonia and the impossibility of generalization. 6In relation to this we have an interesting example when the City Council of Lleida, which in 1427, a few days before the beginning of Lent, complained about the scarcity of fish with the following words: kept at the same price, al fer qui•s acustume de venre en temps de carnal. 11Salted fish was a basic and cheap food consumed by poorer sectors of the population even outside the religious calendar. 12ome types of fish were considered an exquisite food and often had a place on the royal tables.Princess Mata d'Armanyac, first wife of King John I, had a very fine taste and liked mussels from Tarragona, oysters and langoustines from the coast of Girona and whale calf; while from the river she ate trout, sturgeons, salmon and lampreys among others.The majority of this fish came from the coast of Girona, the coastline controlled by Tortosa, and other points of the country, especially trout from Aragon and lampreys and sturgeons from the rivers Ebro, Llobregat and Mataró. 13In the book known as the Llibre de Sent Soví we can find some fish recipes that might help us to understand how this sophisticated food was prepared.Some examples are conger sauce, lamprey pie or stuffed octopus. 14Generally, these dishes were served like pastries or in casseroles seasoned with spices like ginger, different types of pepper, saffron and galangal. 15ome recipes used to preserve fish can be found in the Llibre de Sent Soví, like escabetx 16 or geladia; the last one was made with sweet wine (vi grec), vinegar, water and spices, all put on top of the cooked fish. 17In fact, a geladia was the sauce prepared to preserve the sturgeon from Tortosa sent to princess Mata d'Armanyac when she could not have live fish. 18hysicians like Jaume d' Agramont (d.1348) -a professor of medicine in Lleida's Studium Generale-or Lluís Alcanyís (d.1506) -a fifteenth-century physician from Valencia who probably studied in Lleida-, 19 advised against bastinal fish, that means fish without scales, like: eel, tuna, dolphin and mussola (mustelus mustelus).On the other hand, they recommend sea fish like salmon, sturgeon, moll (Mullus surmuletus), pagell (Pagellus erythrinus) and pelaia (Citharus linguatula or Solea vulgaris vulgaris) 20 .These fish should be cooked in a simple way, using only the grill and a powder -as Alcanyís said-made from: cinnamon, ginger, cloves and saffron during winter, and just vinegar in summer. 21Likewise, Jaume d'Agramont proposed two similar preparations: vinegar and sols, the last one is a receipt that appears in the Llibre de Sent Soví: 22 Si vols fer sols a què et vulles, a carn o a peix, pren de la carn o del peix frit e fets-ne trossos, e gita'ls en vinagre; e dessús gita primerament farigola.E si vols lo sols cald, hages pebre e safrà e vinagre, e del brou de la carn o del peix, e ceba tallada, e detrempa-ho tot e gita-ho dessús. 23en though many of the species mentioned are from the sea, there was not a clear opinion among physicians about which type of fish, sea or fresh water, was better. 24Also different preparations can be found in the regimina sanitatis, like, for example, the recommendations that Arnau de Vilanova gave to the king of Aragon, James II, in his work Regimen Sanitatis ad Regem Aragonum written in 1308. 25ven though there was not a clear opinion among physicians the documents show us a preference for sea fish, even in the interior lands. 26The veguer -who was the king's officer in a certain demarcation-and his assistants went across the territory administrating justice.During their travels, they ate whatever there was in the town's market and registered all the costs in their account books. 27The study about their diet shows us they ate fish when the religious calendar forced them to but outside these times, meat was the dominant ingredient in all meals. 28 fish was cooked with oil or water thus avoiding any kind of animal fat. 29Normally, the fish consumed was sea fish -salted or fresh-even in the inland territories like Roussillon and Berguedà. 30Sometimes they had problems finding fish in the inland territories, like in the Camp de Tarragona or in the Roussillon, so they carried their fish with them. 31The documented species are conger, sardine, hake, sard (Diplodus sargus) and moll, all sea fishes.Just in some places -like Vallespir-fresh water fish appears and it is always trout. 32qually the analysis of municipal ordinations from inland cities like Balaguer, La Seu d'Urgell or Lleida provides more information about sea species than fresh water ones.For example, the ordinations from Valls 33 mention sardines and bequeruts (Paralepis coregonoides) and in the ordinations from Balaguer, although the text begins: Primerament, que, tot pescador de la dita ciutat, sie tengut de vendre peix si l'ha, si és d'aygua dolç, o de mar, o d'estany, o encara tot peix salat… 34 , the seventy species taxed seem to be sea fish -even though so not all have been identified- 35 and there is no mention to fresh water fish -except sturgeon, which live in both rivers and salty waters, and a general reference to fish from ponds.Those species were not displayed daily, which is impossible due to their seasonal nature, but they were taxed as they could be sold in the inland cities fish markets.

Two cases to studying consumption of fish in Lleida
Throughout the pages of the Llibre de Crims (the records from Lleida's curia which was formed by two paers, municipal councilors, and the cort i veguer, the king's representative like his vicar), 36 we find some references to fish consumption.Specifically, we want to show two cases in which fish took an important role in the story and is described with some precisions, something unusual in this kind of texts.
The first case is from 1385, when around February the notary Andreu Cardós attacked Francesca while she was preparing dough for bread.As a result, she was severely injured but -as a commission formed by a physician and three surgeons said-her life was not in danger. 37The physician was Nadal Lebri, a famous professor of the Studium Generale, who in some occasions treated kings and wrote a medical book which has been lost. 38It is not rare to find professors of medicine doing this kind of expert's report, desospitacions, 39 in Lleida.
The medical examination was carried out due to the petition of the honrat religiós frare 40 Bartomeu Cardós, the brother of the accused.It is probably the reason why the medical prognosis was so positive.Nevertheless, at the end of March, while Francesca was in the charge of the surgeon Ramon Ponç and the barber Arnau Ferrer she suddenly died.After she passed away the doctors explained to the authorities that Francesca had died because of her bad behavior, considering that the wound in her side had already healed and the wound to her head was almost closed.Ramon Ponç, the surgeon, considered her bad behavior to be due to the consumption of mussola and other types of fish and drinking wine, all things strictly prohibited to her.Arnau Morella, the barber, gave a less specific explanation, saying instead that she had eaten seasoned feet (probably mutton) with vinegar and fish from the river Segre with garlic and oil.A witness added that she saw her eating seasoned feet, mussola with sauce, cigales (Scyllarus arctus) and molls (Mullus surmuletus) and that she had drunk strong wine.Finally, Bosca, a woman who took care of the patient, agreed that she had given her some lagostineta (Penaeus kerathurus or Palinurus vulgaris) and also a little bit of mutton foot and wine with water (amerat) but all following the advice of the physician.
The doctors pointed at river fish and bastinal fish as the cause of her death as they were not recommended for a convalescent, per tal si mes-la febre e aquella la ha morta -as the surgeon Ramon Ponç confirmed. 41Surprisingly a lot of the fish mentioned in the process are marine species and it seems certain that in 1385 the citizens of Lleida could consume sea fish regularly, even though the city is 100 km away from the nearest coastline.This affirmation is confirmed by Jaume d'Agramont's already mentioned recommendations from his work to prevent the Black Death. 42n a similar manner the physician Lluís Alcanyís also recommended consuming sea fish, preferably small and with scales, and to avoid tuna, eels and fish from lakes and muddy river banks.River fish caught near the city was also considered dangerous because of the filth polluting the water in which they lived. 43he second case is from May 1395 when a man was supposedly poisoned by Caterina, an innkeeper and a procurer, in the municipal brothel. 44The victim was Guillemó Guasch and when the authorities examined him he was lying in bed e vanegave que parie fos fora de sen 45 due to the poisoning.He, a prostitute, a man from Valencia and the so-called Caterina had eaten in the brothel a pagell coked in two ways, one half fried and the other half cooked in a casserole with water, and grilled sardines. 46While they were eating a man called Pere Olivé arrived but he refused to eat as he was fasting, a clear reference to the variety of religious practices carried out during medieval times. 47Caterina did not eat the fish from the casserole, as she preferred the other, and when Guillemó tasted it he found the fish bitter and spat it out.After lunch, in the inn of Soldevila where some friends were staying, he felt sick and the people there accused him of drunkenness.He tried to explain to them that he had been poisoned but he could not say a word.Finally he lost his mind and walked through the street and entered in the brothel threatening the people there with a knife.After, he was held by the royal vicar who gave him aygua banyada en un anell de oricorn and cendra de serments de parrell a beure ab aygua. 48With these remedies he vomited green, black and bitter bile and finally had relief from the poisoning.
As we have seen sea fish was common in Lleida even if it was not always in the best condition; in fact, the second case seems to be food poisoning due to badly preserved fish. 49There are many other references to sea fish in the Llibre de Crims, much more than to fresh water fish, which is scarcely mentioned and less varied.From fresh water we find: barbs, madrilles and eels 50 whereas from the sea we find: sardines, like the ones Pascuala had with hot bread before dying of a gastrointestinal illness; 51 mújol (Mugil cephalus), like the ones Alfonso from Seville stole from the fish market; 52 the hake that Ramon Purroy was frying the first Friday of Lent when he heard men fighting in the street; 53 the herring that two men shared, also in Lent, at a tavern after robbing a pair of shoes; 54 or the conger which the merchant Ramon de Vilamajor stole from the merchants' load left in his hostel during Lent of 1308. 55lso poor people had access to sea fish.In Lleida's Pia Almoina in 1338 conger, provably salted, was served during penitential days accompanied with wine and bread.Meat was served on 235 days, principally mutton, cow and pig (bacon). 56uring the thirteenth century in Barcelona -due to the proximity of the sea-fish had a bigger presence on the table of the Pia Almoina; however it was manly served during Lent and winter. 57ea fish was the base of an intense commercial traffic.Using salted fish in barrels, different Catalan merchant families supplied the Catalan market with fish from the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.They obtained tuna, sardines, hake and other salted and dried fish from Castile (manly from Andalucía) and Portugal. 58Anchovies from Bruges, hake, sardines and anchovies from Naples and Geneva and herrings from Sardinia. 59Much of this fish was redistributed to western Mediterranean cities, for example they sold prawns -from Tortosa-, anchovies and sardines to Geneva, Agde, Marseille, Civitavecchia (Rome), Naples and also Constantinople. 60However, we must bear in mind that salted or smoked fish was one of the many exported goods by Catalan merchants. 61llustration 1. main rivers and routes for fish supply.
map provided by the author.

Sea fish
Sea fish appears in many sources, the documented species are: congre (Conger conger), sardina (Sardina pilchardus sardine), mussola (Mustelus mustelus), cigala (Scyllarus arctus), moll (Mullus surmuletus), llagostí (Penaeus kerathurus), lluç (Merluccius merluccius), arengada (Clupea harengus), mujol (Mugil cephalus), 62 pagell (Pagellus erythrinus), corball (Umbrina cirrosa), ca marí (Galeorhinus galeus), clavell (Raja clavata), caputxo (Raia oxyrhynchus), 63 gat (Scyliorhinus canicula) and romeguera (Raia Batis). 6462.It is a marine fish, pelagic and littoral, which adapts perfectly to continental waters entering into coastal salty waters.That is probably why it has been considered a fresh water fish in Cordova's region when studying ichthyology fauna in the Guadalquivir, see Llorente, Gustavo; Lope, Sílvia.In 1523 the Municipal Council prohibited the sale of some sea fish which was considered a source of pestilence.Some of the species mentioned, like gradenyes and granyatats, could not be identified, but as the other fish mentioned in the document are bestinal species we think they are some kind of shark or ray. 65uring the fourteenth century this fish was sold fresh or salted as mentioned in many municipal ordinations.Fresh sea fish was consumed in inland cities like Lleida, Balaguer, Saragossa and even La Seu d'Urgell -which is in the middle of the Pyrenees-; in this last city, as the usanses, privilegis e inmunitats from 1470 explain, before sale the fish had to be examined by the authorities. 66In many cities, for example Mallorca, the authorities, knowing the problems that rotten fish could provoke, ordered that fresh fish could only be sold after an examination was carried out by the inspectors of the mostassaf. 67During winter, fresh sea fish was easily kept in good condition by cold weather and was transported from the sea to inland, preserved with a small layer of salt and straw, a practice prohibited in the coastal markets. 68In 1279 a canon of Lleida instituted a meal of 12 morabatins for his soul in the monastery of Poblet the day before Christmas.It consisted of fresh fish, but if fresh fish could not be found then it was substituted with salted conger. 69uring summer fish conservation presented several problems and its sale was strictly observed by municipal authorities.For example, in Balaguer (1313) during fasting days and Lent, fish had to be exposed until tercia (nine in the morning), 70 however during July and August this time was reduced until hora de miga tercia (half past seven); also, between the 29 th of September -Sant Miquel-and Easter, fish could be in the city for three days but outside this period the number of days was reduced to two. 71In 1441 Lleida's Municipal Council declared that en temps del stiu que pex de mar nos pot haver. 72During summer sea fish trade reduced, even in the coastal regions, in May it was already lower and this decrease lasted until September, then trade increased slowly during autumn and was at its highest point during winter and Lent. 73ea fish sold in Lleida came from the coast near Tarragona -Tarragona, Salou, Tamarit del Camp and Cambrils-and the coastal region controlled by Tortosa, which are 100 and 122 km away respectively. 74In 1313 Jaume de Cabestany transported a load (somada) of sardines -probably fresh- 75 from Tarragona to Lleida with mules but refused to sell it in the city.On the contrary, he waited until night and crossed Lleida towards Monzon passing through Tamarite de Litera. 76In Lleida like in other cities -for example Sant Celoni or Solsona-the authorities could compel the merchants to stop and sell their fish if there was demand.However, in Lleida we have no explicit mentions of this. 77In 1393, Alfonso de Sevilla was arrested for stealing a llisa (Mugil cephalus cephalus) from Tortosa in Lleida's fish market.He made a living from buying and selling haberdashery and arrived in Lleida the night before from Saragossa.The fishmonger Antoni Arnau, a witness, testified that he saw Alfonso robbing the fish from the basket where fishmonger Guillem Borràs kept the fish from Tortosa. 78We do not know if that llisa was salted or fresh, but for Lent of 1440, fresh fish from Tortosa could be found in Lleida's fish market as the municipal council accepted the petition to increase the price of fresh fish, excepting pex de Tortosa hi pex de bollig com semblant pex. 79ish from Tarragona came along the ancient roman road which, leading north, followed the river Francolí and crossed the mountain range of Prades beside the village of la Riba.From there the road went to Montblanc, les Borges Blanques and finally Lleida after three days of travel. 80Another option was the road that linked the interior lands with Cambrils. 81rom Tortosa there was a main road travelled by both pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela and merchants, that lead to Saragossa.The road went up beside the river Ebro until Mequinenza where it took a secondary road following the river Segre until Lleida. 82This route was also important because of the river Ebro, which was navigable up and down between Saragossa and Tortosa, stopping in intermediate ports like Flix. 83There was a towpath that Mediterranean merchants used to reach Saragossa from the south of Catalonia.They towed the ships from Tortosa, following the left bank of the Ebro, until Mequinenza where merchants and goods crossed the river and continued following the right bank. 84The river Segre was also navigable using low draught boats but it was less used for commercial purposes.This kind of navigation is documented since Roman and Muslim times as river ports have been identified in Lleida and Balaguer. 85In 1302 king James II used the river and the towpath during his journey from Tortosa to Lleida; 86 also in 1379 -maybe due to the earthquake of 1373-87 the bridge that crossed the river Segre was severely damaged and had to be closed while repair works were carried out, Berenguer de Terrés offered his ship, which was in Mequinenza, to use as a ferry boat while the works continued; 88 finally, some of the Jews, who had to leave after their expulsion in 1492, used the river to depart with all their belongings. 89alted sea fish was the basis of an intense commercial traffic that did not necessarily have to come from the coast.In 1308 Ramon de Vilamajor had dried conger from Aragon in his hostel and, in 1393, Alfonso de Sevilla had a piece of conger that he brought all the way from Saragossa. 90Dried conger from Galicia could perfectly be sold in Cordova, salted sardines from Valencia in Daroca and salted hake from Portugal in Barcelona. 91

Fresh water fish
Even though there is not much evidences of fresh water fish it was very important during Late Middle Ages.It's fishing from rivers, lakes and canals near the villages was a common practice for self-supply related with the different periods of spawning and, obviously, fresh water fish was the most abundant in inner cities. 92 Many of the rivers ichthyologic fauna was migrant, starting a great journey from the sea to the river -like the sturgeon or the saboga-or from the river to the sea searching salty waters -like the eel.These facts are helpful in understanding the temporary nature of river fishing, much more intense during spring, coinciding with these migrations and also with Lent, when a vast amount of fish was consumed in Cristian lands. 93or this reason -contrary to what happened at the coast-94 we do not find many fishermen in Lleida and just some tangential references to the profession.Many had

Ítem al feyt que hic és posat que en Berenguer de Terrés diu que ha •I• barqua a Miquinença e que és gran e bela e que sera bona a tenir lo pas de la aygua mentre lo pont se adobe. E que si la vol la ciutat que ell la farà venir ab •I• letra que•y farà e la Ciutat que•y trametre puys que s'avinguen ab ell. Acordaren que encontinent hi sie tramés •I• hom ab la letra d'en
Terrés e que la dita Barcha vingue decontinent ("Also, for the fact proposed by Berenguer de Terrés, he says that he has one ship in Mequinenza and it is big and beautiful and it will be good for crossing the water while the bridge is being repaired.And if the city wants it he will make it come with one letter that he will do after the city comes to terms with him.They agree to send one man with the letter written by Terrés and the ship should come"): AML.fishing as an alternative source of income to their main occupation. 95For example, in 1351 there was a big argument between the fisherman Pere Joan and some men concerning the watering of their vineyards; 96 in 1389 the farmer Bernat Giner was accused of assaulting and injuring a woman.In his defence, he said he was not in Lleida as venie de cavar cuchs per a pescar ab Ramon Çabater. 97n the documents we found: barb (Barbus sp.), 98 anguila (Anguilla anguilla), llamprea (Petromyzon fluviatilis), esturió (Acipenser Sturio), saboga (alosa fallax and A. alosa) 99   There are many species of barb; the most liked are the ones living in pure waters. 101n 1339 a man called Vidal d'Algerri was murdered near a city gate.An innkeeper called Dolceta, who served him the night before, told the authorities he stood in her inn with three men, all well-armed.They gave here six pences (diners) to buy fish and she bought them four barbs and served it to them with bread.Also in 1430 the municipal council prohibited the raffle of several fresh fish including barbs. 102It was a popular fresh water specie documented in other rivers like Jiloca (Aragon). 103(See Illustration 1) The eel or anguila is a continental fish that migrates to sea waters for its reproduction.At the beginning of autumn, females travel to the mouth of the rivers where males are waiting for them.They then start a journey together to the Sargasso Sea where spawning takes place in spring.The exhausted parents die and the small larvae are transported back by the current to the shores of Europe and Africa.After three years, already near the coast, the larvae transform into elvers and go upriver during night.The ones who stay on the shore become males.The others who overcome the obstacles and get into the river become females.After nine or twelve years in fresh water females enter into their reproduction period and the cycle starts again. 104For medieval physicians anguiles did not have any of the qualities attributed to fish and due to its resemblance with snakes it aroused suspicion. 105Nevertheless, it was very much liked by the people and we can find many references to its consumption.For example, during July 1386 the fisherman Pedro de Pina put some traps in the river at night and caught many anguiles, he used madrilla as bait.He got robbed and later he saw that the farmer Antoni d'Albacar was selling anguiles, some like the ones he had fished, and denounced the robbery to the authorities.Antoni d'Albacar -as he declared-used snails as bait, so the mostassaf -the officer of the market-106 opened up two anguiles to see what was inside them and deduced that they had been robbed. 107Anguiles could also be salted, like the ones Domingo Martí from Seville sold twice, first to Francesca and later to a man called Serra.Domingo Martí also sold bitter oranges, sweet ones did not arrive to Europe until the fifteenth century after the Portuguese reached China. 108lamprea can be found in the sea and in the river.It is an anadromous species.The young live in the sea until they are, at least one year old.Then during autumn they go up river for spawning.It was a species documented in Spanish rivers like the Tajo and Guadarrama but nowadays it is extinct. 109In 1430 the Municipal Council prohibited the raffle of fresh water fish like lampres, savogues, barps, anguiles, ni alguna natura de pex fresch in an attempt to fight tax evasion. 110he esturions, also anadromous, are born in rivers but spend most part of their lives in the sea close to the shore.In spring when they reach sexual maturity, between eleven and fifteen years old, they travel to the river where they were born to spawn.They repeat the same routine every two years until males are twenty and females thirty.Esturions were fished from the river Ebro until 1935 when it was considered extinct. 111On the 18 th of July 1344 the City Council discussed the price of sturgeon and they agreed that a pound should be sold at 9 pences (diners), bearing in mind that every pound was divided into 24 ounces and that 8 ounces were sold at 3 pences (diners). 112Sturgeon was considered a notable fish as Jaume d'Agramont explains.In the city of Tortosa it was used as a gift to show gratitude to noblemen. 113he saboga can be identified as Alosa fallax nilotica (Catalan and Spanish saboga) or Alosa alosa (Catalan alosa, Spanish sábalo).The first is similar to a sardine but bigger.It is a marine species which goes to the mouth of the river for spawning.It is very abundant in Ebro delta. 114The Alosa alosa goes up river over a great distance for spawning but avoids small tributaries as it prefers slow moving waters.However, there are cases of isolated communities adapted exclusively to fresh water.The best time to consume is during spring which coincides with the spawning season.Medieval Cordovan authorities considered that if it weighed over seven hundred grams then it was called sábalo, but if it weighed less it was called saboga. 115he madrilla is a small silver fish.Documents show it was used as bait for fishing so they refer to madrilleta roja (Achondrostoma arcasii); 116 the adults can be between 4 to 10 centimeters long and its name is also related to a fishing device called madrillera. 117It is similar but smaller to the fish called Madrilla (Chondrostoma miegii) which can reach thirty centimeters long and lives in strong currents.It can adapt to slow waters and goes up river for spawning between April and June. 118There is another similar fish called boga de río (Chondrostoma polylepis) in Castilian, it can reach fifty centimeters long and lives in the middle part of rivers.During spring it goes up river and to the small tributaries for spawning until it finds places with strong current and gravel soil.That is why it was caught in the Guadalquivir and in other tributaries throughout the whole year. 119here were different places where this fresh water fish could be caught.The main water courses near Lleida were the rivers: Segre, Noguera Pallaresa, Noguera Ribagorzana, Cinca and Noguerola. 120These rivers were used especially during spring and summer when to spawn, many fish went up river and fresh sea fish could not be bought.Near big cities, the rivers were very polluted due to the industrial and domestic waste generated by tanneries, fulling mills, etc. that is why sometimes it was forbidden to fish in them. 121Medical practitioners, such as Lluís Alcanyís, warned about this fact. 122In June 1441 the City Council lifted a ban on fishing in the river because ara vegen ésser pus útil per servey de la ciutat e refrescament e plaher de les gents, maiorment ara en temps del stiu que pex de mar nos pot haver. 123This also meant that fishing in the city river was forbidden during cold months and therefore river fish was supplied from other places.Some went up the river for more clean waters, like Antoni d'Albacar who, in July 1386, went to Alcoletge (8.6 km from Lleida, and close to the confluence between the rivers Segre and Noguera Ribagorçana) to fish.He made a large catch of thirty-tree eels.He caught them using ams ab bagnes (a hook with barbs). 124In October 1345 someone robed a pontó (small low draught boat) which was tied on the left bank of the Segre.The owner had used it the day before in the afternoon to remove the bertrols he had used that morning. 125A bertrol is a fresh water fishing devise composed of wooden circles and a net forming a funnel closed at the end.It is set against the current and mainly used for eel fishing. 126ther devises used were nanses and vergats which were different types of traps (similar to baskets) made with rush and left in the river for some time or used from a boat; fishing rods (canya), harpoons (traire) and different types of nets, called filats (i.e.rall), were also used. 127We can not dismiss more archaic practices, documented in some Castilian villages, like fishing with the hands or throwing stones. 128

(see Illustration 6)
There were also many lakes, mills and canals where people used to fish for their own.We can find many toponyms related to certain fishing zones, like carratals de la peixera; meaning a path passable with a wagon and which was near a fishing point.The assuts or peixeres were walls constructed in rivers or canals to alter part of the water course and direct it to mills, field irrigation, etc.The main canals around Lleida were the canal of Segrià or of Pinyana, constructed during the second half of the twelfth century, and the canal of Fontanet, built during Muslim times. 129The first one took the water out of the river Noguera Ribagorçana in the Andaní area illustration 3. detail of two types of fish: eels and, probably, a ray.from the altarpiece of sant cristòfol, by the mestre de santa liestra, from the church of l'assumpció de santa liestra (santaliestra, spain), last quarter of the fifteenth century.museu de lleida, diocesà i comarcal.
and irrigated forty kilometers of land as far as the area of Alcarràs.The second one irrigated the left riverbank of the Segre over twenty-two kilometers. 130These canals had been controlled by Lleida since 1213 when the owner, Pere Ramon Sassala, sold his rights over the watering of the Segrià (the region of Lleida) to the city for onethousand morabatins. 131Since then the city had managed the canals and promoted some ecological measures to protect the quality of the water.For example, in 1308 they prohibited the use of water for anything that was not irrigating wheat, flax, vegetables and legumes.The ordinations from 1403 also prohibited the use of the canals for watering animals, transporting wood and fishing, among others. 132This indicates that fishing was practiced by some illegal fishermen; unfortunately, we have very little information about this group.illustration 4. map of the PeiXera that was going to be constructed in alfés in 1619.acl, p_0292, without folio.
Cleaning and repairing the canals was a common headache for the Municipal Council who demanded help from the administrators, millers and users when it was necessary. 134In Lleida it was common to clean the canals (scombrar) during March 135 to avoid any possible blockage of the water that could provoke illness, as the ordinations from Tortosa (1340) explain. 136hese canals and ditches had peixeres for the use of mills. 137The best places for fishing were the canals where water passed freely when the mill was not working.There, fish dragged by the current could be easily caught with some nets laid in the low part of the mill. 138Millers took advantage of the fish caught in them.Its sale was regulated by municipal councils, for example the ordinations from Balaguer (1313) stated that no one could help the millers to sell fish and that no one could buy fresh fish from a miller to resell it. 139These peixeres (as documented in the village of Alfés in 1619) were important constructions supervised by experienced workers and constructed following instructions regarding depth, width, foundations… The director was called mestre de peixeres and the fabrication of mortar (argamassa) was supervised by the master builder of Lleida's cathedral. 140

(Illustration 3)
Other peixeres (not related to mills) were constructed with sand, stones, wooden stakes and branches and their function was very simple.The stakes were placed in a part of the river making a cone shape.At the vertex, a net structure was placed in which fish were trapped. 141In Lleida, in 1372, in front of the town hall there was a peixera demarked with stakes which was the property of the Knights Hospitallers.The monks did not preserve the wooden structure and açò és gran interès de la ciutat e d'an e peryll que sen porà seguir a aquells qui han alberchs davant aquella pexera. 142In this case, the structure called peixera was a retaining wall built near the banks of a river to slow the current and prevent flooding.We do not know if it also had a fishing purpose but its construction and preservation was common in Catalonia and it is also seen in Tortosa's ordinations. 143There is a similarity with Castilian judria which can have the same two meanings. 144imilar structures were used to block the water exit in ponds so the fish could not escape. 145There was one of these ponds in Sidamon, it was for servei comú del dit loch de Cidamon, 146 and in 1331 one night, when everybody slept, some men came with their nets and stole the fish que•y pescaren molts peix: anguilles e barbs. 147In many cases -like in Tortosa-these communal spaces were preserved by the neighbours. 148eixeres were among the favorites for donations in wills: i.e. on the 16 th of December, 1240, Pere de Sigena, a canon of the cathedral, left two shillings (sous) to the Paxerie pontis Ilerdensis with some more money given to different charitable initiatives. 149The donations continued throughout the fourteenth century.After the Black Death the City Council complained about all the money from wills given to the peixera and to the Town Hall that were lost because of the great disorganization. 150shing in the river Segre required less complicated techniques than the ones practiced in deeper rivers like the Ebro.Here bigger boats and devices were needed.Similar to the ones used in the sea.There was no clear difference between the ships used to transport goods and those used for fishing. 151In the Ebro River some ports were used for fishing as well as commercial uses.They were managed by brotherhoods as in 1368 the arraez (captain) Domingo de Utebo, of the fishermen brotherhood of Saint Nicolas of Saragossa, designated the arraez García Esteban as an agent to visit and repair the ports of the Ebro. 152Their influence is visible in the ports of Flix (a village property of Barcelona) and Tortosa where in 1446 and 1447 some repairs were needed as it is mentioned in a petition of an arraez from Saragossa. 153hese boats used big nets to catch the fish (small ones were between twenty to forty meters in length and the largest ones were eighty to one hundred meters), the practice of which was regulated by the municipal councils. 154One of the most used techniques was bolig, also used in the sea. 155It consisted of setting a net of hemp against the current, this net was composed of different pieces of mesh with different thicknesses and floated between two waters.The ends of the net where then rowed to shore where a group of men pulled them to the surface. 156Fish caught with this technique were consumed in Lleida and it appears in the Municipal Council acts with no other specification than peix de bollig. 157This technique was not used in the river Segre but it is on record as being used to catch fish that is on sale next to fish from Tortosa.This fish, which was caught some distance from the city was transported mixed with salt and humid straw to preserve it, as it was done with sea fish.However, as it has been proved in England, fresh water fish could be kept alive in water barrels over a period of time; as long as the water was changed several times at roadside inns along the way. 158

The evolution of Lleida's fish market
Unlike other cities nearer the sea (like Tortosa, where some direct references to fishing can be found in early times) with Lleida we have to wait until the fourteenth century to find a few mentions of fishing and the sale of fish.It is then in the fifteenth century that more extensive regulations on the sale of fish appear.In Tortosa the first reference appeared in the municipal charter (carta de poblament) in 1149, when king Ramon Berenguer IV gave to the city the nearby rivers and canals and the sea for fishing and sailing -for Lleida (1150) the municipal charter just mentions the donation of waters and fountains. 159There were other inland villages with important rivers to which the monarchs secured communal fishing rights: Zaragoza (1127) and Tauste (1138). 160In Tortosa the references increased during the fourteenth century and we find several ordinances regulating the buying and selling of fish, the first ones in 1342 and later in 1369, 1370 and 1393.In Valencia these regulations were even earlier in 1324. 161leida's legislative delay shows us the limited entity of this office, only five fishmongers are documented in 1429. 162Even though this information is unlikely to reflect reality it helps us imagine Lleida lagging behind the coastal towns in this sense; for example in Tortosa's Consuetudines (1272) the rights and duties of fishermen and fishmongers were already established while in Lleida's Consuetudines (1228) we only find a brief reference to the sale of fish inside the regulations for chicken, ducks, fruit, vegetables and fish. 163The only explicit reference to fishmongers in Lleida during the fourteenth century is in the Municipal Council acts for the year 1350.Some fishmongers asked the Municipal Council if the prohibition of selling fish was still valid and the Council agreed that anyone could sell fish. 164he earliest mention is from 1206 and it gives us some clues as to why no references are found before 1350.In this document the butchers agree that they will have the butchers' shops supplied secundum temporum distinccionem completam carnibus et piscibus. 165This is the first mention of the control exercised over the fish market by butchers and the relationship between fish and butchers' shops continued throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 166In 1328 the butcher Ramon Beçó accused one of his workers of stealing a book from him in which he detailed the debts for fish and meat that people owed him. 167In July 1402 the fishmonger Francesc Fet complained to the City Council that the butchers' guild had asked him to pay money for the fish he sold in the fish market, even though he had already paid them a rent for a table there. 168Until the middle of the fifteenth century the city's fish market shared the space with the butcher's shop and it had probably been like this since the thirteenth century.Similarly, in some Castilian villages the sale of fish was entrusted to specific persons named corredores or obligados -with some differences between them-who enjoyed approval from municipality. 169he market place was a place of games and illegal activities.It was here that people, while playing cards or dice, blasphemed or started fights as well as other serious incidents.That is why we find some descriptions of the market area in medieval crime prosecution records which help us locate the market place.In 1353 Guerau Avarca was murdered by a man who lived in the transverse street between Madrona Street and Fishermen Street.In 1378 the convert Bertomeu d'Aguilar went to buy fish in a place near the Polls Square and got involved in a fight with a butcher.The fight was witnessed by other butchers who had their stalls nearby. 170ased on cases like these we know that the fish market was located in the centre of the city, in Saint John's parish (the most populated area) 171 and in a street called carrera mitjana de la pescateria e carniceria (middle street of the fish market and butchers shop, which is precisely identified in fifteenth century documents. 172n effect, the fish market existed but was regulated since the beginning of the fifteenth century, but it was still linked to the butcher's shop.The carrera mitjana is identified as the alley between two small streets called Madrona and Corretgeria. 173n 1428 the carpenter Guerau de Recasens bought a yard in the same street called carrera migana, apelada carniceria o pescateria. 174In 1434 it is said that it was forbidden to play in the Paeria square and in the street called Carrera migana de la pescateria e carniceria. 175We can therefore deduce that the fish market must have been located near the main butcher's shop and the slaughter house called Triperia. 176This was obviously not an immovable place because during the sixteenth century the fish market was located in the Magdalena quarter. 177t was precisely during the fifteenth century when some regulations were introduced, however we should suppose that the previous regulations about cleaning up the butcher shops also affected fishmongers.In 1414 the noblemen approved the salted meat and fish regulations, specifically those concerning conger and hake. 178rom this moment there is an increase in the number of ordinations, a sign that there was a major interest in the control of fish sales.During the decade 1430-1440, the Council started to regulate the sale of fish and the organization of the fish market.In 1430 there was an ordinance forbidding the gambling or raffling of fresh fish, and it specifies anguiles and sabogues. 179In 1438 the sale of salted fish in the fish market and the butcher's shop square was regulated by ordaining that salted fish might only be sold in the houses, stalls and other places where it was usually sold. 180Salted and dried fish had less restrictions and could be sold in both the fish marked and private houses. 181This idea also reinforces the affirmation that many neighbours practiced fishing, or at least the sale of salted fish, as a complement to their domestic income.
The centralization and control of the market is justified by the authorities as a measure for the correct supply of the city with products at a reasonable price.It is a common practice in many towns like Barcelona, Tortosa, Balaguer, Valls, El Perello, Solsona, Empuries, Saragossa, etc. 182 For example, the ordinations of Balaguer, to prevent the speculation during Lent, forced all the fishmongers to display all their fresh water fish in San Salvador square. 183Nevertheless, we must bear in mind that the fish sold outside the city limits or raffled escaped municipal taxes.The mostassaf was in charge of seeing that nobody avoided those taxes. 184The resellers were regular participants of the market and its purpose attacked the attempts of control carried out by the municipal council.Their business was simple, they bought fish outside the municipal territory or inside but free from municipal taxes, in this way they avoided municipal control.Later, the product was sold at a price higher than that allowed by the town hall obtaining a good profit.Nevertheless, their activity was accepted and regulated by the municipal council trying to assimilate it into the local trade. 185The resale had time, spatial and weight restrictions that increased when it came to fresh sea fish. 186In fact, salted fish had less tax, its resale was less regulated and even in some villages escaped from municipal or lord's taxation. 187lthough, as we have seen, there had been a designated fish market connected to the butcher's shop since the end of the fourteenth century, the space started to be regulated in the period 1430-1440.One of the main worries of the municipal council was to avoid the mixing of good and bad fish in the same market stalls.Sea fish was on display in the market stalls for days, sometimes more than three.We can imagine the awful smell of the fish which, in addition, had endured the slow journey from Tarragona or Tortosa.For this purpose, in 1431, it was decided to build two stalls called Boqueria, where the fresh fish that had already been displayed for one day in the fish market would be sold.

Als quals prohomens fon proposat per los dits honrats pahers que huy dia damunt dit per lo Consell General que ses celebrat en la casa de la paheria és stat donat càrrech a ells que ensemps ab •IIII• prohomens per ells elegidos vessen en quin loch se porie fer una taula o dues per a la boqueria a vendre los peix que mes avant de •I• dia hauria stat en la pescateria. Com los pescaters qui venen aquell ne abusen fort mal com venen lo peix que haurà dos o tres dies o pus, que ja és <ací hi és> molt pudent ab certes moltesties que•y fan dins la dita pescateria al fer de aquel que ve bé e ffresch de la mar. Perquè•ls placie acordar-hi. 188
This "non-fresh" fish, which had arrived at the city two or three days before (so the Council explained) was fetid and caused damage to the other fresh sea fish displayed in the fish market.These two stalls were separated and situated away from the fish market; one was near the low part of the arch of Bernat d'Olzinelles's house, and the other was near the small gate between the Main Street and Francesc Marçal's house.
In 1438 there were some complaints about pex pudós e podrit que•s diu que•s vent en la pescateria. 189The Boqueria was still not functioning correctly and the Council authorized the control of the stalls and the eradication of the harmful fish.Soon, however, the Boqueria was moved inside the fish market because the fishmongers continued mixing fresh and non-fresh fish.In 1441 it was located in the upper part of the fish market, near Pere dels Pontes's house. 190Three years later the same problem arose again: when the fishmongers did not have enough fresh fish to complete an order they made up the difference by using non-fresh fish. 191he use of the word boqueria for a fish market is not fortuitous and it is, as far as we know, unique in the Crown of Aragon.It reflects the importance that the during those years, see: ACL.Pergamins.L_2505; Pujol, Marcel."La Pesca a l'Empordà…": 140, 150.188."To those great men was proposed by the honourable paers that today, by the General Council that it has been celebrated in the Paeria house, it has been commanded to them and to four great men, selected by them, the election of a place where a table or two for boqueria could be done to sell the fish that has been exposed in the fish market for more than one day.Due to the fact that fishmongers who sell it commit a great and a badly abuse because they sell the fish which it has been here for two, three or more days -very smelly and provoking bothers inside the fish market-like if it was fresh from the sea.So they ask for their approval."AML.Fons municipal.Llibre de Consells Particulars, 1430-1435, reg.365, f. 17v.189."Smelly and rotten fish which is said that it is sold in the fish market".AML.butchers still had over the fish market during the fifteenth century.The boqueria was where the boc (billy-goat) meat was sold, one of the animals considered to be of low quality.That is why many boqueries were located outside the city and there the sale of low quality animals, like sick and injured ones, was permitted. 192hese years also saw the appearance of the lessees of the tributes taxing fresh fish, and presumably salted fish too. 193At the same time that the seasonal market was regulated it was established that fish should be more expensive during Lent (excepting fish from Tortosa and bolig) increasing the profits of the merchants and ensuring a good supply during those religious dates.
In June 1441 a great number of stalls in the Carrera mitjana had disappeared due to the construction work to remodel the central square of the city, Sant Joan square.At that time the fish market was moved away and provably lost the bond that had connected it with the butcher shop since 1206. 194

Conclusions
Throughout this article we have tried to explain and discuss fish consumption, supply and fishing techniques in inland cities, focusing on Lleida.Although there are not as many studies about fish as there are about meat, wheat or wine, fish played a very important role in the medieval diet.This is obvious because its consumption was determined by the religious calendar and (as Antoni Riera pointed out) it was mainly during religious festivities when fish was eaten and it was relegated into a second place during carnal days. 195he study of documents shows us the preference for sea fish which adds a new problem to inland territories that needed to control its transport and final quality; this also created different models of consumption in the interior lands and in the coastal regions.Municipal council deliberations revolve around fish quality, its price and its supply knowing that it was essential for Lent and its fast deterioration could provoke health problems.This entailed an improvement of the traditional conservation systems: dried, smoked, salted, with olive oil and marinated with vinegar. 196o ensure a correct supply during periods of great consumption, especially during Lent, municipal authorities controlled the fresh fish trade, centering it in the fish market where the mostassaf controlled its sale with strict hygienic regulations.This was also because food safety became the basis of an increasing indirect taxation which turned out to be a great source of income for municipal councils. 197lthough sea fish was preferred to fresh water fish and it is much more visible in the documents, we must not forget the consumption of fresh water fish.In inland cities, fishing was a seasonal activity due to the nature of the different species and it was mainly practiced during spring and summer when heat spoiled sea fish.It was carried out frequently as a complement for self-supply or like a pecuniary aid in times of economic crisis; adding complexity to fishermen's socio-labor category because they were often listed as having other occupations. 198The existence of communal ponds, canals and specific areas in rivers dedicated to fishing tells us that these spots were exploited in a way that has left very little documentary evidence.We have documented the use of non-professional techniques 199 (fishing rods, harpoons or nets handled from the riverbanks) and also more sophisticated tools like big nets used from a boat or traps.However, we still have to study how the progressive privatization of the communal areas (like pastures, forest and also rivers) affected the activity of self-supply, probably centering it in conserved communal zones. 200

illustration 2 .
representation of a BarB (BarBus sP.) in a constitutions book of lleida's cathedral, when describing the tradition of giving each canon a bread of one pound and a half, well cooked and white.the scribe, probably thinking about the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, drew a fish that was clearly consumed.acl, lc_0065, f. 23v.