Technology and Resource Use in Medieval Europe: Cathedrals, Mills and Mines

by Wolfe,Michael

• ISBN13: 9780860786702
• ISBN10: 0860786706
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-12-28
• Publisher: Variorum

Summary

The 10 essays here are the result of a conference devoted to the study of medieval technology in April 1995. Taken together, they aim to help dispel the common misconception that medieval people somehow had to toil in a world bereft of technical innovation and ingenuity. The authors of the papers, all experts in their fields, show the Middle Ages not only to be a time of considerable technological development, but also the ways in which the technologies of building construction, manufacture and metallurgy were shaped by broader forces of culture, social identity, political ambition and the local environment.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	vi	(1)
List of Illustrations	vii
Introduction: New Perspectives on Medieval Technology and Resource Use	1	(10)
Elizabeth Bradford Smith
Michael Wolfe
Part I Stone and Wood	11	(98)
1 Technological Innovation in High Gothic Architecture	11	(16)
Robert Mark
2 The Rayonnant Gothic Buttresses at Metz Cathedral	27	(15)
Sergio Sanabria
Kristina Luce
3 Scale and Scantling: Technological Issues in Large-Scale Timberwork of the High Middle Ages	42	(34)
Lynn T. Courtenay
4 The Gothic Barn of England: Icon of Prestige and Authority	76	(33)
Niall Brady
Part II Water, Wind, and Muscle	109	(64)
5 The Archaeology of Water Power in Britain before the Industrial Revolution	109	(16)
David Crossley
6 `Advent and Conquests' of the Water Mill in Italy	125	(14)
Paolo Squatriti
7 Mechanization and the Medieval English Economy	139	(19)
Richard Holt
8 Agricultural Progress and Agricultural Technology in Medieval Germany: An Alternative Model	158	(15)
Michael Toch
Part III Iron and Steel	173	(36)
9 Wood, Iron, and Water in the Othe Forest in the Late Middle Ages: New Findings and Perspectives	173	(12)
Patrice Beck
Philippe Braunstein
Michel Philippe
10 Weapons of War and Late Medieval Cities: Technological Innovation and Tactical Changes	185	(24)
Bert Hall
Index	209