liquorice

1) The root or rhizome of the plant <i>Glycyrrhiza glabra</i>, literally the sweet root, used medicinally and as a sweetmeat.

The word is on record in England by c.1200 and quantities were imported into Hull probably from Spain via the Low Countries: 1463 1 bale lycores

1467 1 balle licorice. It was available in the monasteries: 1457-8 In lycares d’no Abbati, jd, Fountains Abbey. Indeed, it is thought that the root was being used medicinally by Cluniac monks in Pontefract from a much earlier date, and its development as a confectionary item took place later in the town. Richard Cholmeley of Brandsby recorded the following purchase of the plant there: 1617 Lycorise 100 setts cost 2s 5d from Robert Layton of Pontefract.

dates 1457-1458 1463 1467 1617

Related Content Loading...

Photo by Kreuzschnabel CC BY-SA 3.0