How did farmers make money in the middle ages

The population of England rose from around one and a half million in to around four or five million in , stimulating increased agricultural outputs and the export of raw materials to Europe. Danes invaded England and settled in the northeast of the country. They began to invest significantly less in agriculture and land was increasingly taken out of production altogether. Revenues from demesne lands were diminishing as demand remained low and wage costs increased; nobles were also finding it more difficult to raise revenue from their local courts, fines and privileges in the years after the Peasants Revolt of But just as a sustainable agriculture had been achieved, the development of chemical fertilisers and other external inputs undermined this sustainability.

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Despite economic dislocation in urban and extraction economies, including shifts in the holders of wealth and the location of these economies, the economic output of towns and mines developed and intensified over the period. The 12th and 13th centuries saw a huge development of the English economy. Economic growth began to falter by the end of the 13th century, owing to a combination of over-population, land shortages and depleted soils. This campaign was followed by fierce military operations known as the Harrying of the North in —70, extending Norman authority across the north of England. William’s system of government was broadly feudal in that the right to possess land was linked to service to the king, but in many other ways the invasion did little to alter the nature of the English economy. Agriculture formed the bulk of the English economy at the time of the Norman invasion. In the century prior to the Norman invasion, England’s great estates, owned by the king, bishops, monasteries and thegnshad been slowly broken up as a consequence of inheritance, wills, marriage settlements or church how did farmers make money in the middle ages.

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Around most medieval villages there were three large arable fields. Two of these fields grew crops while the third was left fallow. The village would also have hay meadows and common land where the peasants had the right to graze their animals. The three arable fields were divided into strips, each one being separated from the next by balks of unploughed land. To ensure that everybody had a fair share of the good land, each family was given strips in all three fields. These strips were long and narrow because the peasants wanted to reduce to a minimum the number of times the plough-team had to turn round. On light soils a pair of oxen could successfully pull a plough.

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Around most medieval villages there were three large arable fields. Two of these fields grew crops while the third was left fallow. The village would also have hay meadows and common land where the peasants had the right to graze their animals. The three arable fields were divided into strips, each one being separated from the next by balks of unploughed land.

To ensure that everybody had a fair share of the good land, each family was given strips in all three fields. These strips were long and narrow because the peasants wanted to reduce to a minimum the number of times the plough-team had to turn round.

On light soils a pair of oxen could successfully pull a plough. However, heavy clay soils needed a team of eight oxen. As most peasants only owned about two oxen they would have to join with others in order to have their land ploughed. Medieval farmers preferred oxen to horses because they were less expensive to feed, stronger on heavy land and could be eaten when they died.

The plough they used had an iron-tipped coulter in front to make the initial cut and a mould board to turn the soil over in a furrow. The fields were ploughed three times: the first turned the stubble over, the second removed the thistles and weeds and the third prepared the ground for sowing. 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 how did farmers make money in the middle ages field two years running.

Medieval farmers did what they could to increase the fertility of the land. They were aware that the soil would only give back as much as was put into it. Marl a mixture of clay and carbonate of lime and seaweed were used as fertilisers. Farmers knew that the best fertiliser was animal dung. However, small farmers could not afford the cost of feeding large numbers of animals and so manure was often in short supply.

The timing of the harvest in the Middle Ages was vitally important. If the wheat was too dry the grain would fall off. If it was too wet the grain would rot. To ensure that his own crops did not go to waste, the lord of the manor could demand extra labour services called boon-work during harvest time. Boon-work was hated by the villeins as it delayed their own harvesting and could cause their own crops to be ruined. Despite the efforts of medieval farmers, their crop yields per acre amounted to only about a fifth of those achieved by farmers today.

As villeins had to give about half their crop away as rent and taxes, they needed to farm a large area of land to provide an adequate diet for themselves. People dying of starvation was not unusual in the Middle Ages. This was especially true when bad weather led to a poor harvest.

To find money for the king I sold my seed. Wherefore my land lies fallow and learns to sleep. There was a great shortage of everything because of the floods of the previous year, and corn, which was very scarce, cost from 15 shillings to as much as 20 shillings a quarter.

Famine resulted so that the poor had to eat horse-meat, the bark of trees and even more unpleasant things. Many died of hunger. The Reeve, elected by the village to that office as the best manager Let him therefore not be slothful or sleepy, but let him unceasingly strive for his lord’s profit When the dung is to be carried to the fields, let the Reeve stay with the carters, that they may labour and finish their day’s work without trickery Let the threshers and winnowing-women be closely spied upon, lest they steal corn in their shoes, gloves, bags or satchels hidden near the barn.

In You could have seen villages extremely well-known standing lonely and almost empty because the peasants of both sexes and all ages were dead. The sadness of the women who live in these hovels is too sad to speak of or say in rhyme. Women and Medieval Farming Answer Commentary. Disease in the 14th Century Answer Commentary. The Battle of Hastings Answer Commentary. William the Conqueror Answer Commentary. The Feudal System Answer Commentary. The Domesday Survey Answer Commentary.

Why was Thomas Becket Murdered? Answer Commentary. Yalding: Medieval Village Project Differentiation. Life in a Medieval Village. Medieval England.

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Carpenters were highly skilled and considered to be elite tradesmen. Serfs were the poorest of the peasant class, and were a type of slave. For marling, farmers spread clay containing lime carbonate onto their soil. Civilizations of The Middle Ages The Roman Empire was in decline and being invaded by many tribes in the third, fourth and fifth centuries. Farmers used a crop rotation system which is still used today. Some farmers did have methods for fertilizing their soil. But too much sun and not enough moisture in the soil could result in the crop not reaching its full potential. Common crops produced in the Middle Ages included wheat, beans, barley, peas and oats. How did farmers make money in the middle ages fallow land was about 20 per cent of the arable area in England inand steadily declined to reach only 4 per cent in The next year, the farmers plant beans in that field, because beans use up different nutrients in the soil. This process restored the nutrients needed to grow crops. Lords owned the serfs who lived on their lands. For instance, one year the farmers may plant oats and the next year they decide to plant beans. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.