There is an old myth that Catholics eat fish on Fridays because a medieval pope made a secret pact to increase fish sales. That's just a fish tale. The real story behind fish Fridays is way better.
The real economic story behind fish on Fridays turns out to be much better.
Alas, Christendom never really developed a hankering for snake. But fish — well, they'd been associated with sacred holidays even in pre-Christian times. And as the number of meatless days piled up on the medieval Christian calendar — not just Fridays but Wednesdays and Saturdays, Advent and Lent, and other holy days — the hunger for fish grew. Indeed, fish fasting days became central to the growth of the global fishing industry. But not because of a pope and his secret pact.
It's possible that others may have followed the cod trail to Canada before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Clues suggest that Englishmay have made the voyage by around 1480 but kept mum on the location lest the competition rush in. By some accounts, both Columbus and John Cabot had heard of these adventures when they set off on their own epic journeys west.
By the time Henry ascended the throne in 1509, fish dominated the menu for a good part of the year. As one 15th century English schoolboy lamented in his notebook:"Though wyll not beleve how werey I am off fysshe, and how moch I desir to that flesch were cum in ageyn."You see, Henry— but Anne wanted a wedding ring. The problem was, Henry already had a wife, Catherine of Aragon, and the pope refused to annul that decades' long marriage.
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