So, I'm reading this book, "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky. (You never know what book will call my name from its library shelf.) And it says that, when England was still Catholic, it was a crime to eat meat on "lean" days -- back then, that meant every Friday and every day of Lent. How big a crime? You could be hanged for it.
Well. And when they wanted to generate more support for the fisheries, they even talked about forbidding the eating of meat on Wednesdays, too, but never did pass that law. Later, they relented a little, and didn't kill you for eating meat on "lean" days -- they simply threw you in jail.
Now, of course, this didn't necessarily apply to everyone. People could buy exemptions from the Church that would allow them to eat meat on those days. As a matter of fact, it was one of the bigger revenue-raisers back then.
I guess they didn't have Bingo yet.
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