Auf wikipedia.de steht nicht viel. Aber auf wikipedia.org einiges mehr, ich zitiere diese Quelle:
Middle Ages In the cooler climates of northern Europe, people could store butter longer before it spoiled.
Scandinavia has the oldest tradition in Europe of butter export trade, dating at least to the 12th century.[sup]
[20][/sup] After the fall of Rome and through much of the
Middle Ages, butter was a common food across most of Europe—but had a low reputation, and so was consumed principally by
peasants. Butter slowly became more accepted by the upper class, notably when the early 16th century
Roman Catholic Church allowed its consumption during
Lent. Bread and butter became common fare among the
middle class, and the English, in particular, gained a reputation for their liberal use of melted butter as a sauce with meat and vegetables.[sup]
[11][/sup][sup](p33)[/sup] In antiquity, butter was used for fuel in lamps as a substitute for oil. The
Butter Tower of
Rouen Cathedral was erected in the early 16th century when Archbishop
Georges d'Amboise authorized the burning of butter instead of oil, which was scarce at the time, during Lent.[sup]
[21][/sup] Across northern Europe, butter was sometimes treated in a manner unheard-of today: it was packed into barrels (
firkins) and buried in
peat bogs, perhaps for years. Such "
bog butter" would develop a strong flavor as it aged, but remain edible, in large part because of the unique cool, airless,
antiseptic and
acidic environment of a peat bog. Firkins of such buried butter are a common archaeological find in Ireland; the
National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology has some containing "a grayish cheese-like substance, partially hardened, not much like butter, and quite free from putrefaction." The practice was most common in Ireland in the 11th–14th centuries; it ended entirely before the 19th century.[sup]
[20] [/sup] Anbei folgendes Bild (Quelle wikipedia.org, aus Compost et Kalendrier des Bergeres, Paris 1499), neben dem Butterfass ein Löffel und eine kleinere Form. Zwar nicht gerade HoMi, aber immerhin...

[sup][/sup]