Post by Lady Mage on Feb 17, 2007 14:09:31 GMT -5
Hi All, I'm going to post a series I did on the High Middle Ages. This is based on a lecture series given by Professor Phillip Daileader, titled "The High Middle Ages". Here is the first part.
Demography and the Commercial Revolution
Demography separates the High Middle Ages from the Early Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages, because from 1000-1300, the population doubled. This, believe it or not, has a huge impact, and was quite unusual- during the Early and Later Middle Ages the population was stagnant at best, and decreasing rapidly at the worst. Even then, 25% of children died before the age of one, and 25% died before the age of twelve. Life expectancy was 25-35 years. Towards 1000, the life expectancy was nearer to 25, and towards 1300, it was closer to 35. Old age was anywhere from 55-60 years of age.
Well, why did it double? The causes and consequences led to the revival of urban life and the Commercial Revolution (increase of sophistication and trade). There had been several brakes that had been keeping levels low that had been suddenly removed, and several things that propelled population levels upward like an engine. This combined effect made population levels rocket.
The first of the brakes was removed in 800, when the Bubonic Plague disappeared completely, not to be seen again until the 1340’s. Outside Invaders (Vikings, Arabs, Hungarians, and Magyars) who had been raiding Europe found that there was little left to take of interest to them. They had taken it all. The last brake to be removed was slavery. By the year 1000, slavery as the Romans had practiced it had petered out, leaving serfdom in its wake. Serfdom allowed men and women to marry and have children, whereas with slavery, more slaves died than were born.
The ‘engine’ came in two parts: technological change and climatic change. A new and better plow was introduced that was able to make use of the fertile ground in Europe. Grain yields changed from 2:1 to 4:1 (2:1 means that for every grain you plant, you get back two. So if the yield was only this much, half of the crop would have to be planted again the next year.) A yield of 4:1 allowed the farmers to keep back a little in case the next year was a famine. This yield changed because of a new plow that was better suited to the rich and deep soil of Europe. Also, the Romans had used oxen with a yoke. Oxen, admittedly, were slow, but a yoke couldn’t be fitted to horses because the horse choked and died. When the padded horse collar was introduced, horses could be used, and production was much quicker. From roughly 800 to about 1200, temperatures heated up; Greenland was really green, and grapes were growing further north than they are now. This too helped increase agricultural production.
With more food, urban life began to stabilize. The big cities in Northern Italy, and eventually in Europe, were repopulated, sometimes with anywhere from 40,000 to 200,000 inhabitants! This set of a chain reaction, because with more cities, merchants began to trade with Europe again. Gold and bronze money was reintroduced, and people, like Marco Polo, began to travel.
Demography and the Commercial Revolution
Demography separates the High Middle Ages from the Early Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages, because from 1000-1300, the population doubled. This, believe it or not, has a huge impact, and was quite unusual- during the Early and Later Middle Ages the population was stagnant at best, and decreasing rapidly at the worst. Even then, 25% of children died before the age of one, and 25% died before the age of twelve. Life expectancy was 25-35 years. Towards 1000, the life expectancy was nearer to 25, and towards 1300, it was closer to 35. Old age was anywhere from 55-60 years of age.
Well, why did it double? The causes and consequences led to the revival of urban life and the Commercial Revolution (increase of sophistication and trade). There had been several brakes that had been keeping levels low that had been suddenly removed, and several things that propelled population levels upward like an engine. This combined effect made population levels rocket.
The first of the brakes was removed in 800, when the Bubonic Plague disappeared completely, not to be seen again until the 1340’s. Outside Invaders (Vikings, Arabs, Hungarians, and Magyars) who had been raiding Europe found that there was little left to take of interest to them. They had taken it all. The last brake to be removed was slavery. By the year 1000, slavery as the Romans had practiced it had petered out, leaving serfdom in its wake. Serfdom allowed men and women to marry and have children, whereas with slavery, more slaves died than were born.
The ‘engine’ came in two parts: technological change and climatic change. A new and better plow was introduced that was able to make use of the fertile ground in Europe. Grain yields changed from 2:1 to 4:1 (2:1 means that for every grain you plant, you get back two. So if the yield was only this much, half of the crop would have to be planted again the next year.) A yield of 4:1 allowed the farmers to keep back a little in case the next year was a famine. This yield changed because of a new plow that was better suited to the rich and deep soil of Europe. Also, the Romans had used oxen with a yoke. Oxen, admittedly, were slow, but a yoke couldn’t be fitted to horses because the horse choked and died. When the padded horse collar was introduced, horses could be used, and production was much quicker. From roughly 800 to about 1200, temperatures heated up; Greenland was really green, and grapes were growing further north than they are now. This too helped increase agricultural production.
With more food, urban life began to stabilize. The big cities in Northern Italy, and eventually in Europe, were repopulated, sometimes with anywhere from 40,000 to 200,000 inhabitants! This set of a chain reaction, because with more cities, merchants began to trade with Europe again. Gold and bronze money was reintroduced, and people, like Marco Polo, began to travel.