David Deming leads us on a tour of technology, much of which was introduced by the barbarians of northern Europe — it is interesting that this humdrum world of technology was largely not the product of the great southern European societies, the classical Greeks and the Roman Empire. AT:

From the sixth through the ninth centuries AD, Europeans adopted new agricultural technologies that dramatically increased productivity. One of these innovations was a heavy wheeled plow that broke up the soil more efficiently than the Roman “scratch” plow. Formerly unproductive lands were transformed into arable cropland.

The Greeks and Romans had harnessed horses with a throat-and-girth harness that consisted of a strap placed across the animal’s neck. As soon as the horse began to pull, he would choke himself. In the ninth century, Europeans began to use a padded horse collar that transferred the load of a draught animal to its shoulders. Horses harnessed with collars were able to pull four to five times more weight than those with throat-and-girth harnesses.

Horse power was also facilitated by the introduction of the iron shoe. With fast-moving horses harnessed efficiently, it became possible to transport goods up to 35 kilometers in one day if a sufficiently good road was available. There was now a way to dispose of agricultural surpluses and create wealth that could be used for investment in technology and infrastructure. Thus the introduction of the lowly horse shoe and collar fostered commerce, civilization, and the growth of towns.

Under the Roman system of two-field crop rotation, half the land was left fallow and unproductive at any given time. In the eighth century, Europeans began to practice three-field crop rotation. Fields lay fallow for only a third of the year, and grains were alternated with legumes that enriched the soil with nitrogen. The cultivation of legumes such as peas and beans added valuable protein to European diets.

In the tenth century, the climate began to warm and Europe entered the High Middle Ages. By the thirteenth century, the new agricultural technologies had doubled per acre yields. Population surged; architecture and commerce flourished. Europeans began a program of aggressive territorial expansion. They reclaimed Sicily in 1090 and systematically drove Muslims out of Spain. The First Crusade was launched in 1095, and Jerusalem was captured from the Seljukian Turks in 1099.

The prosperity created by the new agricultural technologies subsidized education and the growth of knowledge. In the late eighth century, Charlemagne had revived education in Europe by setting up a general system of schools. For the first time, not just monks but the general public was educated. As the European economy prospered, students multiplied and traveled, seeking the best education they could find. Christian Cathedral Schools evolved into the first universities. The Universities of Paris and Oxford were founded c. 1170, Cambridge in 1209 AD.

The harnessing of water power began around 200 BC with the invention of the quern, a primitive grain mill consisting of two rotating stones. The Romans had been aware of water power, but made little use of water wheels and mills. In contrast, by the tenth century, Europeans had begun a wholesale conversion of their civilization from human and animal-power to water power. The water-mill came to be viewed not just as a grain mill, but as a generalized source of power that could be adopted for many uses. This new approach was to fundamentally alter the fabric of human civilization.

By the thirteenth century, water power was being utilized in sawmills, tanning mills, and iron forges. Mechanical power derived from moving water was used to process beer mash, to turn wood lathes and grinding stones, to power bellows, to drive forge hammers, and to manufacture paper.

Because water power was only available where streams were located, Europeans developed other sources of mechanical power. Tidal power was used in Dover and Venice in the eleventh century. The first windmill in Europe appeared in 1085 AD. Over the next hundred years, windmill technology spread rapidly over the plains of northern Europe.

We read some E. J. Dijksterhuis a long time ago (at least we were assigned the reading), but Deming’s concise overview is certainly easier to follow. And for those who say that going back is impossible, we offer the following: (a) once again the windmill is seen by some as a leap forward; and (b) the art of two-point perspective, developed in 5th century BC Greece, was apparently forgotten and absent from medieval art until it was rediscovered centuries later around the time of Giotto in Trecento Florence.

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