...Technology
in the Middle Ages
12/17/2002
Harnesses
The development of the harness for horses and oxen cushioned
the load they pulled and allowed them to pull twice as hard as before.
Water Wheels and Mills
The Romans had occasionally used water wheels and even mills,
but the Europeans brought this to a higher art, damming the streams of Europe.
The Three-Crop Rotation System
An important agricultural development, attributed to
Charlemagne, was the institution of the three-crop rotation scheme. Prior to 800
A. D., peasants would leave half their fields fallow and would plant the other
half. The three-crop rotation scheme left one-third of the fields fallow,
planted another third in leguminous crops such as peas or beans, and then
planted the remaining third with conventional crops. Not only did this increase
the usable land from one-half to two-thirds but in addition, the legumes
fertilized the soil, rendering the land more productive. This innovation
translated directly into a higher population density.
The Heavy Moldboard Plow
Another crucial innovation was the heavy moldboard plow,
appearing around 1000 A. D. The heavy plow was able to turn the dense clay of
northern Europe, opening new land to cultivation.
Linen, and the Foot-Powered Loom
The 12th
century saw the invention of a loom
with foot pedals which enabled weavers
to create cloth more quickly and inexpensively. Conventional weavers opposed the
new loom, which they recognized as a threat to their labor market. The
subsequent invention of the spinning wheel, which made thread faster than
before, led to skyrocketing in the production of cloth. The speed of production
led to increased popularity of linen.
Sheep
farmers rioted because the cloth that was being made was not wool.
The linen cloth wore out quickly, but was so cheap
that people simply threw it away as casually as we do paper
towels. Piles of discarded linen were used to make rag paper, in turn
causing the price of paper to drop precipitously. More riots
ensued, again by the sheep
farmers, because linen paper supplanted sheepskin parchment.
Paper Reaches the European Market
Paper was introduced into Europe from Moorish Spain around
1250. Italy became the major European paper-producing country. This occurred at
the beginning of the Renaissance, when Genghis Khan's conquest of China and of
Islam opened the floodgates to East-West trade. (This was the century when Marco
Polo visited Cathay, and brought East and West together.)
Increased availability of paper
led to increased demand for scribes,
especially in the wake of the radical population reduction during the Black
Death. Scribes went on strike
for higher wages, driving up costs. In 1450, Johann
Gutenberg eliminated the debate by creating the printing
press, which the Church fought because it would encourage free
thinking.
Gunpowder Reaches the European Market
This was the era of the Crusades, when Europe became familiar
with the then-higher Islamic culture, and developed an appetite for Chinese
imports. There is some indication that the Muslim world had harnessed gunpowder
for use in warfare as early as, possibly, the 11th century. The first documented
manufacture of cannon and bullets in Europe was in 1326, and was directed by the
Council of Florence, although there are earlier, debatable references to it as
far back as 1284. After that, guns and gunpowder enter the armamentaria of both
Christian and Muslim military entourages.
Mechanical Clocks Appear
In the period between 1300 and 1350, the first mechanical
clocks began to appear in Italian cities, although it would be another 300 years
before Christian Huyghens invented the pendulum clock.
14th-Century Robotics
Michael Crichton, in his novel "Timeline", has the
14th-century French water-wheel at Castelgard driving a set of
"robotic" hammers for working iron.
