Des vertus de l’eau-de-vie à l’« excès de l’alcool » (Allemagne/Alsace, xiiie-xvie siècles)

Around the year 1500 brandy was still appreciated by scholars as a powerful medicine under the name of « water of life ». By then this effective substance became available for the first time to everybody through the activities of professional distillers. This medicine, formerly only accessible to the rich, was now considered as a cheap but also tasty remedy for the poor. Brandy became a popular beverage as a common part of diet. It was often used as a substitute for beer, also in the rituals of social drinking in the taverns. City councils such as the Rat of Nurnberg had to deal with an additional problem when artisans, journeymen, and peasants started to drink brandy in the streets. Governments tried to regulate its production, trade, and use