Natwerk Designs

How and why did technological changes and innovations transform Europe during the Central Middle Ages?

What were the long term repercussions of those changes and innovations?

Public Comments

1. The plow is considered to be one of the most important (and oldest) technologies developed. In fact, the history of the plow stretches back to the Neolithic (New Stone) Age that began about 8000 BC in Mesopotamia. In the Middle Ages, however, the plow was radically improved and was used with multiple-oxen teams. This innovation facilitated the clearing of the forests of fertile northwest Europe (Gies & Gies, 1994). Before this time because of the nature of the soil, it was difficult to plow these fields. And, obviously, this inability to cultivate these fields reduced the population of northwest Europe. However, the most significant difference between the clock and other machines was in its effect on society. Large mechanical clocks began to appear in the towers of several large Italian cities beginning in the 14th century. With the clock, time became divided into regulated units instead of remaining dependent on events or the day. Before the clock, people worked, ate, and slept according to the patterns of the sun and moon. After the clock, the day was presided over by a monitor from the time of rising to the hour of rest. Through the clock, "time took on the character of an enclosed space: it could be divided, it could be filled up, it could even be expanded by the invention of labor-saving instruments" (Mumford, p. 328).