Fish isn’t considered meat because English and Latin are slightly different languages. For hundreds of years Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Friday. But the language of the church is Latin, and what Catholics were not allowed to eat is ‘carne’ which is the flesh of creatures from the land or the sky. So fish was fine.
Also. around the mediterrainian, fish is a food staple of the poor. The point is to eliminate excess.
I’d argue that an inlander ordering fish at a fancy restaurant on a Friday during Lent is not following the spirit of the law (which can be more of a discipline than a rule, depending on the local episcopal authority), especially if it’s not a special occasion and the fish was caught hundreds of kilometers away.
Huh so apparently it’s because of Latin?
Quoting an old comment
Also. around the mediterrainian, fish is a food staple of the poor. The point is to eliminate excess.
I’d argue that an inlander ordering fish at a fancy restaurant on a Friday during Lent is not following the spirit of the law (which can be more of a discipline than a rule, depending on the local episcopal authority), especially if it’s not a special occasion and the fish was caught hundreds of kilometers away.
The inlander could eat freshwater fish like trout or carp, no fancy saltwater fish.
The point has been missed.
Sorry, I thought it was clear: there was and is also fish ‘Inland’ that is poor people’s food.