The Long-Term Impact of the Black Death on the Medieval Agriculture
The Long-term Impact of the Black Death on the Medieval Agriculture
As one of the most severe plagues in human history, the Black Death was unprecedented in two ways: on one hand, it was undoubtedly a terrible nightmare, which swept the entire Europe and killed so many people; however, on the other hand, it was also a unique event that accelerated the process of European agricultural history. In years before the Black Death, the European agriculture was already in trouble. Agriculture has long been the foundation of economy and society, especially during the time as early as in the Middle Ages. As the foundation of agriculture, corn production was the most important agricultural activity at the time. However, corn production faced several problems, which severely cumbered the development of agriculture. The shortage of livestock was one of the obstacles, which led to both a lack of manure and low efficiency in culturing. Other reasons such as over-cultivation and lack of water conservancy facilities also encumbered the development of agriculture. At the same time, population was growing rapidly. Although the estimations of the growth rate were not exactly the same, there was a consensus among historians that the gross population in Europe almost doubled between 11th and 14th century. In year 1000 and year 1300, the population in France was 5 million and 15 million
respectively; it was 3 million and 12 million in Germany respectively; in Italy the population was 5 million and 10 million respectively; and in the British Isles, it was 2 and 5 million. (1) A problem with a rapid population growth is that the population may gradually outgrow agriculture production. The poor balance between the rapid growing population and relatively slow growing agriculture once collapses, there would certainly be a severe disaster. As some historians pointed out, “output continued to rise but not as quickly as populations. High famine- and disease-related
As one of the most severe plagues in human history, the Black Death was unprecedented in two ways: on one hand, it was undoubtedly a terrible nightmare, which swept the entire Europe and killed so many people; however, on the other hand, it was also a unique event that accelerated the process of European agricultural history. In years before the Black Death, the European agriculture was already in trouble. Agriculture has long been the foundation of economy and society, especially during the time as early as in the Middle Ages. As the foundation of agriculture, corn production was the most important agricultural activity at the time. However, corn production faced several problems, which severely cumbered the development of agriculture. The shortage of livestock was one of the obstacles, which led to both a lack of manure and low efficiency in culturing. Other reasons such as over-cultivation and lack of water conservancy facilities also encumbered the development of agriculture. At the same time, population was growing rapidly. Although the estimations of the growth rate were not exactly the same, there was a consensus among historians that the gross population in Europe almost doubled between 11th and 14th century. In year 1000 and year 1300, the population in France was 5 million and 15 million
respectively; it was 3 million and 12 million in Germany respectively; in Italy the population was 5 million and 10 million respectively; and in the British Isles, it was 2 and 5 million. (1) A problem with a rapid population growth is that the population may gradually outgrow agriculture production. The poor balance between the rapid growing population and relatively slow growing agriculture once collapses, there would certainly be a severe disaster. As some historians pointed out, “output continued to rise but not as quickly as populations. High famine- and disease-related
References: (1) Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000-1700 p.4 (2) Ben Dodds and Richard Britnell, Agriculture and Rural Society after the Black Death p.73 (3) Edited by Kenneth F .Kipe, The Cambridge Historical Diction of Disease，Cambridge University Press, 2003,p.50 (4)Ben Dodds and Richard Britnell, Agriculture and Rural Society after the Black Death p.73 (16) P. Boissonnade, Life and Work in Medieval Europe (Fifth to Fifteenth Centuries), London: Routledge & Kegan, 1937. pp.249, 250 (17) Ben Dodds and Richard Britnell, Agriculture and Rural Society after the Black Death p.76 (18) P. Boissonnade, Life and Work in Medieval Europe (Fifth to Fifteenth Centuries), London: Routledge & Kegan, 1937. p.317