Western Civilization

Because the carruca was so heavy, six or eight oxen

were needed to pull it, but oxen were slow. Two new

inventions for the horse made it possible to plow

faster. A new horse collar, which appeared in the tenth

century, distributed the weight around the shoulders

and chest, rather than along the throat, and could be

used to hitch up a series of horses, enabling them to

pull the heavy new plow faster and cultivate more land.

The use of horseshoes, iron shoes nailed to a horse’s

hooves, provided better traction and more protection

against the rocky and heavy clay soils of northern

Europe.

The use of the heavy, wheeled plow also led to

cooperative agricultural villages. Because iron was ex-

pensive, the plow had to be purchased by the entire

community. Similarly, an individual family could not

afford a team of animals, so villagers shared their

beasts. Moreover, the plow’s size and weight made it

hard to maneuver, so land was cultivated in long

strips to minimize the amount of turning that would

have to be done.

People in the High Middle Ages also learned to har-

ness the power of water and wind to do jobs formerly

done by humans or animals. Mills, located along

streams and powered by the rushing water, were used

to grind grain and produce flour. Dams were built to

increase the force of the water. The development of

the cam enabled millwrights to mechanize entire indus-

tries; waterpower was used in certain phases of cloth

production and to run trip-hammers for the working

of metals. The Chinese had made use of the cam in

operating trip-hammers for hulling rice by the third

centuryC.E. but apparently had not extended its use to

other industries.

Europeans also developed windmills to capture the

power of the wind. Historians are uncertain whether

windmills were imported into Europe (they were

invented in Persia) or designed independently by Euro-

peans. In either case, by the end of the twelfth century,

they were beginning to dot the European landscape.

The watermill and windmill were the most important

devices for harnessing power before the invention of

the steam engine in the eighteenth century, and their

spread had revolutionary consequences for increasing

the food supply.

THE THREE-FIELD SYSTEM The shift from a two-field to a

three-field system of crop rotation also contributed to

the increase in agricultural production. In the early

Middle Ages, farmers commonly planted one field while

allowing another of equal size to lie fallow to regain its

fertility. Now estates were divided into three parts.

One field was planted in the fall with winter grains

such as rye and wheat, while spring grains such as oats

and barley and vegetables such as peas, beans, or lentils

were planted in the second field. The third was allowed

to lie fallow. When fields were thus rotated, only one-

third, rather than one-half, of the land lay fallow at

any time. The rotation of crops also prevented the soil

from being exhausted so quickly, and more crops could

now be grown.

By the thirteenth century, the growing demand for

agricultural produce in the towns and cities led to

higher food prices. This price rise encouraged lords to

try to grow more food for profit. One way to do so was

to lease their demesne land to their serfs. Labor serv-

ices were then transformed into money payments or

fixed rents, thereby converting many unfree serfs into

free peasants. Although many peasants still remained

economically dependent on their lords, they were no

longer legally bound to the land. Lords, in turn, became

collectors of rents rather than operators of manors

The Heavy, Wheeled Plow.The heavy, wheeled plow was

an important invention that enabled peasants to turn over the

heavy clay soils of northern Europe. This sixteenth-century

illustration shows a heavy, wheeled plow pulled by draft

horses with collars.

Victoria & Albert Museum, London/The Bridgeman Art Library

Land and People in the High Middle Ages 201

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