Final Exam - Ivan Branov

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Dec 6, 2023

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Western Civilization 101-041A.SP21 Assigned Video and Assigned Question Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcfnNrpJLs 1. Explain the historical background of your video. James Burke, who is the commentator on the “Medieval Innovations: The Three Crop Rotation System” video, introduces us with the three-crop system that came around in the medieval times. He explains how they left one field fallow for the animals to nibble on the stubble and fertilize as well. The second field was planted in the autumn with cereals such as oats, this was used as feed for the horses. The last field was sown in the spring with legumes such as peas and beans. This was used in their daily diet as a carbohydrate and vegetable protein. In the three-crop system they developed, they were able to maximize their utilization of the available field for production of food for them as well as for the animals. The increased productivity enabled the farmer to produce enough crop sell for cash. Once the farmer started selling for cash, he was able to go into business. Going into business usually meant that they would open taverns and played games. By using this system, it further developed the economy in the medieval ages. 2. What were the most important facts/information that you have learned from your assigned video? The most important fact that I learned from the video I was assigned was the development of the Three Field System. This was an important development in the medieval ages that not only benefited the small economy that existed, but also had a large impact on the landowner. They were able to plant and harvest more crop than from the previous two field system. This enabled the farmer to produce more than he needed which led to them going into business. Going into business for the farmer was hard before the new advancement in the agricultural system unless he owned a larger land that allowed him to yield more food. With the new system, not only they maximized the usage of the field for production of edible harvest, but also gave the opportunity to the average landowner to be able to go into business as well. The new system also allowed the landowner a faster turnaround and less work on the field for the next crop to be planted. 3. How does this video pertain to your historical learning?

This video allows me to learn about the medieval times and their agricultural advancements. Although it may seem like a small advancement at first glance, the three-crop system had big impact in the agricultural field. With the new system, they were able to maximize the field for planting seeds in both fall and spring and a faster turnaround from the three sections. They managed at times, to plant seeds for the fall while harvest the seeds from the spring and fertilize the third land all at the same time. This just shows that with better planning you can get more from the same. Question: What new technologies drove the Agricultural Revolution of the middle Ages? With the adjustment of the usage of the crops from a two-field system to a three-field system, there were also needs in advancement in the tools they used to work on the farm. This new system allowed for a greater crop production which led to increased food production. To keep up with the crops they needed to further advance and develop their tools and ways of working the lang. From this we can see the improvement in the windmills, horse collar, and the heavy plough. 1 The horse collar, a device of leather, or leather and metal, encircling a horse’s neck, to which traces are attached, used to hitch the animal to a wagon or plow. This allowed the farmer to use horses instead of an ox which made plowing faster and more efficient. 2 In the Middle Ages most windmills were used as mills proper – for grinding corn into flour, the inhabitants of the manor usually having to take their corn to the lord’s mill. Before windmills, grinding the corn was done by a water powered or horse powered machine. The invention of the heavy plough had a greater impact on the agricultural industry than the previous two. 3 The plough, in contrast to the ard, not only turns the soil and buries the weed, but it also brings the lower soil, where the nutrients have been trapped, to the surface. This created a sort of a domino effect of needs. It created a greater need for horses or oxen for plowing, which created a need for more fallow fields for the animals, which created the transition from infield to outfield farming. Going to outfield farming created a need for peasant for work on the farm and to take care of the animals. In conclusion this small adjustment and invention of the heavy plough created a stream of needs that opened up more ways for a peasant to make a living. What did the organization of labor on Manors sometimes led to Serfdom? Many of the farmers in northern Europe lived on their own individual lands and they were the ones who took care of the land and their families.4 However in the ninth century, many of these individual holdings were merged into larger, common fields that could be farmed

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