LibGuides: Middle Ages: Agricultural improvements

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Resource Key

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Brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)

Provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.

Lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)

The Peasants: Advances in Agricultural Technology, 800-1000
This article describes the medieval village, the agricultural technology and the advancements as well as the results of the improvements to the life of the farmer.
Medieval tools in Agriculture
This webpage shows brief descriptions on the different types of tools that were both invented and used throughout the Middle Ages.
Medieval Farming
Many peasants in Medieval England worked the land and, as a result, farming was critically important to a peasant family in Medieval England. Most people lived in villages where there was plenty of land for farming. Medieval towns were small but still needed the food produced by surrounding villages.

The tools of agriculture
Larger plows would be equipped with wheels and would require twice as many oxen and a substantial crew. Medieval fields were characteristically very long and narrow because peasants wanted to plow the longest furrows possible before they were required to turn the plow around, a cumbersome process.
Three-field crop rotation
The three-field system of crop rotation was employed by medieval farmers, with spring as well as autumn sowings. Wheat or rye was planted in one field, and oats, barley, peas, lentils or broad beans were planted in the second field. The third field was left fallow. Each year the crops were rotated to leave one field fallow. This system also ensured that the same crop was not grown in the same field two years running.

An older video (love the 70's safari suit), but it clearly demonstrates the impact that the new improved plow had on Medieval life and population.

Edith the Farmer

What are the key features of your chosen aspect of Medieval life?
How does your aspect demonstrate the beliefs and ideas of Medieval society?
What does it reveal to us about what people thought at the time?
What are some of the ways that your aspect reflected and re-enforced medieval social structures?
Explain with reference to at least two different historians’ opinions.
How and why did your aspect change over time?
In your opinion does your topic demonstrate similarities between the medieval period and today? Explain

Agricultural Revolution in England - 1500-1850
This website provides a history of Agricultural revolution throughout the Middle Ages and further in Britain.
Medieval Farming
This webpage provides a brief look at the processes that a farmer during the Middle Ages would have to complete.
European Farming During the Middle Ages
The website briefly talks about the levels of society in Middle Ages Europe and how that effected farming. It also shows a monthly list of the common tasks that a farmer would have to undertake during the Middle Ages.