gies3

Gies 3

The fall of the Roman empire marked the end of central rule, but changes in economic life came more slowly

Early middle ages (500-900)

500-600 "barbarians"--movement of tribes from the east
600-700 Muslim expansion in north Africa and the Middle East
700-800 Charlemagne establishes the first new empire in Europe (called Carolingian)
800-900 Vikings in the north and Muslim raiders on the Mediterranean disrupt settled life

Medieval climactic optimum 950-1150

caused by increased solar radiation, a change in currents in the Atlantic, and lack of serious volcanoes
warmer climate improved agricultural yields in northern Europe

Agriculture:

The heavy mouldboard plow (8th century)

required 6 to 8 oxen to pull in wet soil so led to cooperative farming

heavy plow

PEM photo: Mouldboard Plow, National Museum of American History

along with the plow came the harrow (picture below), the scythe and the pitchfork

Horsepower replaces oxen (widespread by 12th century)--horse could work for more hours a day and moved 50% faster

the horse-collar (8th-9th century)--allows a horse to pull at least triple the weight.

horse pulling a harrow

Horse-collar

iron horseshoes (common by 11th century) allowed horses to work on wet ground
horses require oats (oxen can work on grass alone)

Feudalism

Manorial System : the serfs (not a slave, but bound to the land--cannot move away but cannot be removed from the land) lived in a village and farmed the land communally, giving a share of their labor and the crop to the knight
the knight and his family lived in the castle and had responsibility to protect the serfs and to fight when called up by the king
such government as there was was provided by the knights and lords
the farmers had some opportunity to better themselves by improving farming practices

fields below a castle

waterwheel

waterwheel at 17th century ironworks Water Power

invented in Roman times but used only rarely through the 5th century
Spread of the water wheel in the 8th and 9th centuries

In 1086 the Domesday Book lists 5624 mills in 3000 English communities--an average of one mill for every 50 households

horizontal mill:
first vertical mills were floating mills or mills attached to bridges. They first had undershoot wheels (15-30% efficient) with the water directed by a canal or a wooden millrace

Textiles were often made by women in workshops, not just at home

yarn was spun with a spindle
woven on a vertical loom which might or might not have a heddle to lift up the threads (the heddle was an ancient invention but practical only for somewhat larger scale weaving so it was coming back into use)

Mounted knights become important to warfare in the 10th century

fighting effectively from horseback required stirrups, imported from the east in the 9th century
nobles could afford horses and built castles which protected the local population that gave them local control

Increased demand for iron

the blacksmith was an important craftsperson, but didn't understand the science (p.63)
iron smelting did not melt the iron, but purified it into a bloom that when hot was soft enough to beat into shape
bellows were used to raise the temperature

building and transportation technology was mostly at best on a Roman level

Lanteen sails on the Mediterranean
in northern Europe other ship types were developing

Patterns

what was the effect of the fall of the Roman empire?
what kinds of technologies advanced?