Hi everyone!
**** Remember that the test will take place during this week's lecture time (March 21). The test will take place during the second hour of lecture (11am). It will be multiple choice. All material from the lectures and tutorial readings is the focus of the test. There will be some questions related to a map, however, there will be no other images. You are expected to attend the first hour of lecture as normal and then once you have completed the test you will be free to go. You may take as much time to complete the test as you need. ****
This week we will be focusing on the chapter from A History of Medieval Europe by R.H.C. Davis on the economic situation of the early Middle Ages (with a focus on trade and the agrarian economy). For your first assignment you will be asked to summarize the arguments Davis makes in this chapter so it is very important you look over this reading in detail.
The goal of the assignment is to help students develop their reading and note-taking skills, as well as their ability to synthesize material and summarize arguments.
With that in mind I thought I would ask a few different types of questions here to help get you started.
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What is Davis' argument in this chapter? Can you summarize it in one or two sentences?
In your opinion, what are the key points to Davis' argument?
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To help you zero in on some of the key points in the article have a look over the tutorial discussion questions for this week. They will help you examine the first part of the article (focusing on trade in the Mediterranean). For help examining the second part of the article (on the agrarian economy) have a think about the following questions.
1) What is a polyptych? Why are they useful historical sources?
2) What is the demesne? What is tributary land?
3) Why might a peasant proprietor surrender his land to his lord?
4) What is a serf? Are they different in the early medieval period from a colonus?
5) What is a manse?
6) How and why was ninth-century agrarian society in a state of transition?
7) What is meant by the term 'manorial system'?
8) What is the difference between the 'open-field' and 'enclosure' field systems?
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Finally, what aspects of this assignment do you feel confident about? What aspects are you a little worried or nervous about?
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Remember, your comments can address the points above or be the result of any of your thoughts, reflections or questions about the reading for this week. Happy posting everyone!
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Here are some images to help spark our imaginations!
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| Serfs reaping the harvest overseen by a reeve |
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| The three-field system |
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| An impression of a medieval plow team |
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| An early Byzantine besant |
And just for fun.......I think we could all do with a laugh at this point in term! The first link here is to the video we watched in lecture on the 'Codex IT' sketch, and the second is a fun clip from Monty Python's 'The Holy Grail'. Enjoy!
I must admit I found the recent reading somewhat dry compared to the usual reading. However, I was fascinated to see how it is that Medievel farming had changed so dramatically from that of the Roman's. Particularly the part about the serfs, having too many rights to be slaves, but not enough to be free. Likewise, the concept of sharing land under one estate in order to produce the appropriate amount of produce for tax intrigued me. Finally, Davis rebuttle of Pirenne's arguements were both convincing enough and interesting enough for me to truly question the nature of medievil Europe's economy at the end of the 9th century. Although I struggled to find a main contention, I believe that initially Davis was arguing against the assumptions Pirenne had made before moving on to argue as to how the economic climate had created the medievel system of farming. Will Hill.
ReplyDeleteThe 'open field' strategy is very clever and highly sophisticated. By sharing the working and devising a highly organised system of farming communally, they ensured that everyone who contributed reaped equal benefits. Very reminiscent of communism, which may well have been influenced by this medieval system.?
ReplyDeleteThe reading was at times a bit of a struggle to get through but still somewhat interesting. I find the agrarian economy quite intriguing in the way that it didn't so much use coin specifically but created a system where the benefits of land and crops paid a certain tax.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the 'open field' strategy is most definitely an interesting strategy in the way it allowed a certain feel of freedom, as though they were doing things for themselves, this can fall into a psychological ideal in which if the person believes that what they are doing is their own idea they're more likely to do it, perhaps this is where it started?
Stacey-Lea.
I found the readings this week to be really interesting especially in the great divide between the East and West. I really enjoyed learning about how successful the islamic empires were especially through trade and commerce. What really caught my eye was their sophisticated banking system which if you compare it to today's system is pretty amazing in terms of them being able to do it without any computers or technology. Furthermore I found the Agrarian system and strip farming interesting in terms of how societies on the land went about their daily life. The idea that someone can live, pay taxes and hopefully have some produce left over on roughly 30 acres to be ludicrous especially since families were generally quite larger. Finally I learned that the road system in the Middle Ages was not just an effective tool to connect towns and cities but was pivotal in trade and it's prosperity. This is shown when the roads were not safe people tended not to trade as much due to the fear of losing their life and their produce which evidently resulted in local economies suffering due to a lack of produce and buyers.
ReplyDeleteOllie S
I have to admit, I was a little confused with this weeks readings; it was a lot to take in. I think that Davis was to an extent arguing against Henri Pirenne regarding the breakdown of the Western economy. Pirenne argued that in the 18th and 19th century, the economy was dependent upon the Mediterranean as a source of trade. Once this passage was blocked up or, even worse, believed to be unsafe (being infested by pirates) the trade system would be detrimentally affected and thus course a 'domino effect'. Agricultural lifestyles would be at risk as well as consumerism. Therefore, the economy would fall and money would cease to have any importance. However, Davis explains that Pirenne's arguments are not plausible as they do not follow the evidence provided. I am confused with the terms used within this weeks readings and am a bit nervous to complete the assignment.
ReplyDeleteEmily.S
This weeks readings were quite loaded and sometimes dry and hard to read. Learning about the Islamic empires was very interesting, especially since they played a vital role. To learn about the banking system was new to me. It is more sophisticated and advanced then what I thought it would be. The Agrarian economy also pulled my interest by the fact that they disregarded money and coin for land and crops to pay tax. I sort of knew this somewhat but to read about the systems in which this worked was intriguing. The terms in the readings were confusing and I struggled with some of them. So I hope this weeks tutorial will help clear that up.
ReplyDeleteAsira
I didn't mind this week's readings - I am really interested in the common everyday goings on as opposed to the big events (like Charlemagne's wars) that happened in the Middle Ages. I enjoyed reading about the way the economy started to fall apart - but just when you think it is going right down the drain, the people compensate by getting rid of the coin and starting their own ways of trading, holding lands and getting on with life. I found it really interesting that the peasants sort of 'leased' their land from the lords as a way of 'paying' their dues - I wonder who was the first one to think to do that? I agree with Emily that the author is arguing against Pirenne's position that the economy suddenly disintegrated - the evidence Davis provides certainly lends credibility to the argument. I am not too sure about the assignment or what we are actually required to do so will be very interested to find out in the tute.
ReplyDeletePhew posting this just in time!
Jess W :)
What I found most interesting about the readings was that Pirenne's descriptions were widely accepted to be most accurate, yet could so easily be refuted and proven inaccurate by Davis, who clearly had just undertaken a little more research.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteDiana here - Claire had troubles posting on the blog this week so here is her post:
'I thought the differing perspectives of Davis and Pirenne were very interesting. How Pirenne made the economy appear as if it had shut down. While Davis argues the opposite, saying although there was a decline in commerce the economy did not shut down completely. As well, how Pirenne blamed the stoppage of Mediterranean trade on the Muslims despite the fact there was no evidence to suggest that conclusion. Though none the less, even though Pirenne idea of a sudden cessation of commerce in Latin West is an obvious exaggeration, it does show that commercial dealings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were pitifully small when compared earlier centuries.'