How did agriculture affect social organization in latin western/feudal europe

The climate and soils and, perhaps, the social organization compelled different arrangements of land division and the use of more-complex tools as more and more farmland was converted from forest, marsh, and heath to meet the needs of a rising population. Open-field system

Full
Answer

How was the agricultural population organized under feudalism?

The agricultural population under feudalism in Northern Europe was typically organized into manors consisting of several hundred or more acres of land presided over by a Lord of the manor, with a Roman Catholic church and priest.

What were the effects of Agriculture on social organization in Europe?

Explain the effects of agriculture on social organization in Europe from c. 1200 to c. 1450 CE. – europe made money off of it’s agriculture, relied on slaves or serf to work their lands whether it be free or coerced labor.

What factors determined the work organization of medieval agriculture?

Four interrelated factors determined the work organization of medieval agriculture: the economic self-sufficiency of the manor, the development of mixed agriculture based on crops and livestock, such technological improvements as the heavy wheeled plow and rigid horse collar, and the system of land tenure and division of holdings.

How did the feudal system work in northern Italy?

In northern Italy, the wealth of leading towns such as Venice, Genoa, Milan and Florence made them amongst some of the most powerful states in Europe. It can be seen from this description of the feudal system that at heart of it was a system of relationships between lords and their vassals, with rights and duties on both sides.

How did agriculture impact social organization in Europe?

The growth of agriculture resulted in intensification, which had important consequences for social organization. Larger groups gave rise to new challenges and required more sophisticated systems of social administration.

How did agriculture impact society in Europe during the Middle Ages?

These technological innovations and the additional agricultural production they stimulated resulted in Europe experiencing a large increase in population from 1000 (or earlier) to 1300, an increase that was reversed by the Great Famine and the Black Death of the 14th century.

What major impact did agriculture have on Europe?

The Agricultural Revolution gave Britain at the time the most productive agriculture in Europe, with 19th-century yields as much as 80% higher than the Continental average. Even as late as 1900, British yields were rivaled only by Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

What effect did the agricultural revolution have on the Middle Ages in Western Europe?

Europe’s Medieval Agricultural Revolution Between the years 1050 and 1300, Europe underwent an agricultural revolution. Crop yields multiplied by at least threefold. Europe’s population followed suit, tripling in less than three centuries. The average European lifespan increased by as much as two decades.

How did changes in agricultural production affect medieval Europe?

How did changes in agricultural production affect medieval Europe? Fields became more productive, spurring population growth.

How did agricultural technology change medieval society?

The agricultural technology that was invented during the medieval ages resulted in social and economic developments which affected the lives of those living in that period. The new machinery allowed the townspeople to grow a surplus of food and in result learn new specialties and trades.

How did the development of agriculture bring change to human society?

When early humans began farming, they were able to produce enough food that they no longer had to migrate to their food source. This meant they could build permanent structures, and develop villages, towns, and eventually even cities. Closely connected to the rise of settled societies was an increase in population.

What did the Agricultural Revolution lead to the need for organized?

Explanation: The Agricultural Revolution led to the need for more organized civilizations and societies i,e government. The Agricultural Revolution was a period of technological improvement and increased crop productivity that occurred during the 18th and early 19th centuries in Europe.

What are the effects of the Agricultural Revolution?

The agricultural revolution had a variety of consequences for humans. It has been linked to everything from societal inequality—a result of humans’ increased dependence on the land and fears of scarcity—to a decline in nutrition and a rise in infectious diseases contracted from domesticated animals.

What were two effects of the Agricultural Revolution that took place during the Middle Ages?

Two effects of the agricultural revolution of the Middle Ages were technology improving farming and production and population growth. Peasants started using iron plows that carved deep into the heavy soil. A new type of harness for horses was also invented.

What were the important outcomes of the medieval Agricultural Revolution and their effects on society?

Timeline of the Agricultural Revolution New patterns of crop rotation and livestock utilization paved the way for better crop yields, a greater diversity of wheat and vegetables and the ability to support more livestock. These changes impacted society as the population became better nourished and healthier.

How did the Agricultural Revolution affect the lives of peasants in the Middle Ages?

The medieval agricultural revolution had tremendous long-term consequences for peasants and, ultimately, for all of European society Thanks to the increase in animal power and the effects of crop rotation, existing fields became far more productive.

How did greater agricultural prosperity impact European society in the Middle Ages?

– Population growth and agricultural prosperity lead to urban growth because the agricultural surplus encouraged the growth of towns and of markets that were able to operate more frequently than just on holidays. The need for more labor on the manors gave serfs more bargaining power with lords as well.

How did new farming methods benefit Europe in the Middle Ages?

How did new farming methods benefit Europe in the Middle Ages? Introduction of new innovations like the carruca made farming more efficient. Three-field crop rotation increased food production and kept soil fertile.

What were two effects of the agricultural revolution that took place during the Middle Ages?

Two effects of the agricultural revolution of the Middle Ages were technology improving farming and production and population growth. Peasants started using iron plows that carved deep into the heavy soil. A new type of harness for horses was also invented.

What was the agricultural revolution in the Middle Ages?

Introduction: As of the 9th century to the end of the 13th century, the medieval European economy underwent unprecedented productivity growth. The period has been referred to as the most significant agricultural expansion since the Neolithic revolution .

What was the agricultural history of the Eastern Roman Empire?

The 5th and 6th centuries saw an expansion of market-oriented and industrial farming, especially of olive oil and wine, and the adoption of new technology such as oil and wine presses.

What was agriculture in the Middle Ages?

Agriculture in the Middle Ages. Agriculture in the Middle Ages describes the farming practices, crops, technology, and agricultural society and economy of Europe from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to approximately 1500. The Middle Ages are sometimes called the Medieval Age or Period.

What was the land of the medieval manor?

The Manor. Agricultural land in the Middle Ages under feudalism was usually organized in manors. The medieval manor consisted of several hundred (or sometimes thousand) acres of land. A large manor house served as the home or part-time home of the lord of the manor. Some manors were under the authority of bishops or abbots of the Catholic church. Some lords owned more than one manor, and the church controlled large areas. Within the lands of a manor, a parish church and a nucleated village housing the farmers was usually near the manor house. The manor house, church, and village were surrounded by cultivated and fallow land, woods, and pasture. Some of the land was the demesne of the lord; some was allocated to individual farmers, and some to the parish priest. Some of the woods and pasture were held in common and used for grazing and wood-gathering. Most manors had a mill for grinding grain into flour and an oven to bake bread.

What was the most widespread famine in the Middle Ages?

The best known and most extensive famine of the Middle Ages was the Great Famine of 1315–1317 (which actually persisted to 1322) that affected 30 million people in northern Europe, of whom five to ten percent died. The famine came near the end of three centuries of growth in population and prosperity. The causes were “severe winters and rainy springs, summers and falls.” Yields of crops fell by one-third or one-fourth and draft animals died in large numbers. The Black Death of 1347–1352 was more lethal, but the Great Famine was the worst natural catastrophe of the later Middle Ages.

What were the crops that were introduced by the Arabs?

The crops introduced by the Arabs included sugar cane, rice, hard wheat (durum), citrus, cotton, and figs. Many of these crops required sophisticated methods of irrigation, water management, and “agricultural technologies such as crop rotation, management of pests, and fertilizing crops by natural means.” Some scholars have questioned how much of the Arab (or Muslim) Agricultural Revolution was unique, and how much was a revival and expansion of technology developed in the Middle East during the centuries of Roman rule. Whether credit of invention belongs mostly to the people of the Middle East during the Roman Empire or to the arrival of the Arabs, “the Iberian landscape changed profoundly” beginning in the 8th century.

What happened in Europe in 476?

First was the fall of the western Roman Empire which began to lose territory to barbarian invaders about 400. The last western Roman emperor abdicated in 476.

What is the Middle Ages called?

The Middle Ages are sometimes called the Medieval Age or Period . The Middle Ages are also divided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. The early modern period followed the Middle Ages. Epidemics and climatic cooling caused a large decrease in the European population in the 6th century.

Where was agriculture practiced?

Agriculture had, of course, been practiced regularly in Gaul and Britain and sporadically elsewhere in Europe both before and during the Roman epoch. The climate and soils and, perhaps, the social organization compelled different arrangements of land division and the use of more-complex tools as more and more farmland was converted from forest, …

Where did the most agricultural advances take place?

Agricultural advances. The most important agricultural advances took place in the countries north of the Alps, in spite of the large population changes and warfare that accompanied the great migrations and the later onslaughts of Northmen and Saracens. Agriculture had, of course, been practiced regularly in Gaul and Britain …

What was the most important invention in agriculture?

The horse collar, which replaced the old harness band that pressed upon the animal’s windpipe, severely restricting its tractive power, was one of the most important inventions in the history of agriculture. Apparently invented in China, the rigid, padded horse collar allowed the animal to exert its full strength, enabling it to do heavier work, plowing as well as haulage. Many peasants continued to use oxen, however, because horses were more expensive to buy and to keep. Some plowing was done by two oxen as in former times; four, eight, or more were occasionally necessary in very difficult land.

Why did peasants use oxen?

Many peasants continued to use oxen, however, because horses were more expensive to buy and to keep. Some plowing was done by two oxen as in former times; four, eight, or more were occasionally necessary in very difficult land.

Where was the wheeled plow used?

Though Pliny the Elder claimed a wheeled plow was used in Cisalpine Gaul about the time of Christ, there is a good deal of doubt about that. A wheeled asymmetrical plow was certainly in use in some parts of western Europe by the late 10th century.

What were the crops that the Moors introduced to Spain?

In Spain the Moors introduced new crops and a new breed of sheep, the Merino, that was to make Spanish wool famous throughout Europe. New crops included sugarcane, rice, cotton, and some subtropical fruits, especially citrus. Grapevines and olive groves flourished in the south, as did the vines the Romans had introduced to the valleys of the Moselle and Rhine rivers. In the 12th century Venice became a major cotton-manufacturing city, processing cotton from the Mediterranean area into cloth for sale in central Europe. Germany also became a cotton-manufacturing centre in the Middle Ages.

What were the changes in the design of hand tools?

Modifications, slight but important, had been introduced into the design of hand tools. A more effective ax made forest clearance easier and faster. The jointed flail supplanted the straight stick. The scythe was more frequently in use for mowing grass, reaping barley, and performing similar tasks. Wind power was applied to the grinding of grain by the earliest windmills. All these changes and adaptations helped expand the cultivated area and supply food for the growing population.

How did the new ways of thinking needed for both the two kinds of agriculture (plants and animals) influence the social?

The new ways of thinking needed for both the two kinds of agriculture (plants and animals) were influential in changing social organization. The idea of putting aside (to increase future production) instead of immediately consuming a harvest gave way to notions of sacrifice, saving and investment.

Why does domestication require controlling animals?

The domestication of animals requires controlling animals so they could be harvested when needed, are not dangerous to humans, and that their reproduction and offspring might be controlled also (equally leading to concepts of sacrifice and investment).

What is the mode of production of plants and animals called?

AGRICULTURE. The mode of production called agriculture means the human domestication of plants and animals. The domesticationof plants requires some saving instead of consuming all of the harvest, fruit and seeds, for the following growing season (leading to economic and religious ideas of sacrifice and investment).

Why is it important to produce surplus food?

An important part of that is it produced a food surplus which allowed some members of society to produce the food and other members to concentrate on other things. Perhaps more importantly, it required changes in our ways of thinking about the world around us, and those changes affected how we arranged ourselves

What is raising plants called?

Raising plants is called horticulture or tilling, while raising animals is called herding. True agriculture means the combination of both, even though, historically, these two modes were often incompatible; groups specializing in one were often in conflict with other groups specializing in the other. ( Cain and Abel story).

What was the most powerful change in human history?

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION. Perhaps the single most powerful and influential change in human history was the conversion from gathering and hunting to agriculture (herding and tilling). Like almost all social change it tended to be cumulative rather than the new immediately replacing the old.

Does agriculture replace hunting?

Agriculture continues to replace gathering and hunting, which do not call for human intervention in ensuring the supply of the product.

What are the factors that determine the work organization of medieval agriculture?

Four interrelated factors determined the work organization of medieval agriculture: the economic self-sufficiency of the manor, the development of mixed agriculture based on crops and livestock, such technological improvements as the heavy wheeled plow and rigid horse collar, and the system of land tenure and division of holdings.

Where did livestock farming occur?

While stock raising and crop production had been separate enterprises in antiquity, the two were combined during the Middle Ages in northwestern Europe. Livestock was raised for use as draft animals and for food, and, because the yield of the grainfields did not greatly exceed human requirements, stock was pastured on poor land or harvested fields. Thus, a certain amount of land was reserved for pasturage, and some villager, usually an older member of the community, became a herdsman.

What did the wheeled plow do?

The wheeled plow, gradually introduced over several centuries, further reinforced communal work organization. Earlier plows had merely scratched the surface of the soil.

How many oxen were needed to plow the manor?

Yet because the new plow required a team of eight oxen—more than any single peasant owned—plowing (and indeed all heavy work on the manor) was pooled.

What were the people of the Manor?

A few inhabitants of the manor were tenant farmers, or sharecroppers, who rented land in return for payments of a share of the produce. Fewer still were free farm labourers who worked for wages. Slavery had all but disappeared. Because the manor was practically self-sufficient, peasants of whatever status performed a variety of tasks connected with their agricultural occupation.

Why was communal organization important?

Communal organization was favoured by the land-tenure arrangements and by the way in which arable land was divided among villagers. In order to assure an equitable apportionment, the land was divided into large fields. Each peasant held strips in each field, meaning that the work of plowing, planting, and harvesting had to be done in common and at the same time.

What was the decline of the Roman Empire?

The organization of work and division of labour, which might be said to have reached a peak during the Roman Empire, declined as the empire disintegrated. The social and political fragmentation and economic decay of the late empire reduced most of western Europe to small-scale, self-sufficient economic units.

Why did feudalism arise?

Knights. It can be seen from the above that feudalism arose as a response to circumstances in which endemic warfare was the order of the day. The feudal society was one organized for war; a central reason for its coming into being was the need for kings and great lords to call forth armies of mounted warriors.

What is the Feudal System?

The term “feudal system” is used by historians to describe a social-political structure which was a key feature of medieval Europe. Its significance goes far beyond its role in a few centuries in the European Middle Ages, however. It helped shape world history as a whole, by giving rise to early forms of representative government.

What is a fief in medieval Europe?

In the agrarian society of medieval Europe, a fief was usually a specified parcel of land. The services the vassal owed the lord commonly entailed military service for a set amount of time each year (40 days was normal). This would depend on the amount of land involved, which was calculated in multiples of knight’s fees.

What was the effect of the Black Death on the Middle Ages?

The Black Death of the mid-14th century, along with subsequent local outbreaks of plague which kept the population of western Europe in check, caused a shortage of labor, which naturally increased its value. The labor services which serfs owed thus became less profitable to the lords, who came therefore to prefer money rents instead. Manors were increasingly divided up into individual private farms, each under its own tenant farmer. In these areas, serfdom had more or less vanished by the end of the Middle Ages.

When did feudalism end?

In these ways, while elements of feudalism continued in many parts of western Europe right up to the 18th and 19th centuries, the feudal system as a whole, with its hierarchy of fiefs and lords and vassals, had died out by the end of the 16th century.

What was the balance between demesne, dependent and free land?

The balance between demesne, dependent and free land varied from manor to manor, and more so from region to region (for example, there tended to be many more free peasants in southern Europe, whereas it has been estimated that serfs made up 90% of the peasants in 12th century England and northern France ).

What was the central figure of medieval warfare?

From the 10th century at the latest the central figure of medieval warfare was the mounted warrior. This figure is known by various names in different parts of Europe – chevalier in France, cavalier in Italy, caballero in Spain, ritter in Germany and knight in England.

What were the major changes in medieval society?

SETTING THE STAGEWhile Church reform, cathedral building, and the Crusades were taking place, other important changes were occurring in medieval society. Between 1000 and 1300, agriculture, trade, and finance made significant advances. Towns and cities grew. This was in part due to the growing population and to territorial expansion of western Europe. Cultural interaction with the Muslim and Byzantine worlds sparked the growth of learning and the birth of an institution new to Europe—the university.

How did trade and towns grow together?

Trade and Towns Grow TogetherBy the later Middle Ages, trade was the very lifeblood of the new towns, which sprung up at ports and crossroads, on hilltops, and along rivers. As trade grew, towns all over Europe swelled with people. The excitement and bustle of towns drew many people. But there were some drawbacks to living in a medieval town. Streets were narrow, filled with animals and their waste. With no sewers, most people dumped household and human waste into the The Commercial Revolution

What were guilds in medieval times?

Craft guilds formed an important part of town life during the medieval period. They trained young people in a skilled job, regulated the quality of goods sold, and were major forces in community life.

What was the second change in the European economy?

second change in the European economy was the devel-opment of the guild. A guildwas an organization of indi-viduals in the same business or occupation working toimprove the economic and social conditions of its members.The first guilds were merchant guilds. Merchants bandedtogether to control the number of goods being traded and tokeep prices up. They also provided security in trading andreduced losses.

How did the commercial revolution affect society?

As you can see in the diagram, increased trade brought many changes to aspects of society. Two of the most important changes involved what people did to earn a living and where they lived. As towns attracted workers, the towns grew into cities. Life in the cities was different from life in the sleepy villages or on manors.

What was the result of the Three Field System?

800, some villages began to organize their lands into three fields instead of two. Two of the fields were planted and the other lay fallow (resting) for a year. Under this new three-field system, farm- ers could grow crops on two-thirds of their land each year, not just on half of it. As a result, food production increased. Villagers had more to eat. Well-fed peo- ple, especially children, could better resist disease and live longer, and as a result the European population grew dramatically.

Why did people move to towns?

Because houses were built of wood with thatched roofs, they were a constant fire hazard. Nonetheless, many people chose to move to towns to pursue the economic and social opportunities they offered. People were no longer content with their old feudal existence on manors or in tiny villages. Even though legally bound to their lord’s manor, many serfs ran away. According to custom, a serf could now become free by living within a town for a year and a day. A saying of the time went, “Town air makes you free.” Many of these run- away serfs, now free people, made better lives for themselves in towns.

Overview

Setting the stage

The Early Middle Ages

Agriculture in Iberia

Feudalism

Fields

Farmers’ holdings

Crops