Working the land

The threat of famine was always present in the Middle Ages. Farming was done almost entirely by hand -- the only major labour-saving device was the water-(and later the wind-)mill to grind corn -- and the slow harvesting of crops could be disastrously interrupted by bad weather.

Crops included cereals like wheat, barley and oats and vegetables such as peas, beans, leeks and onions. But yields were abysmally low compared to today: a figure of three to four bushels of wheat harvested to one sown was normal. Agricultural technology was basic. Ploughshares were tipped with iron to turn heavy soil and ploughs were guided by hand. A large plough was often attached to a wheeled carriage and pulled by as many as eight oxen or horses, although small ones could be pulled by just one animal -- a donkey perhaps. Scattering seed by hand was wasteful, and reaping, which relied on scythes and sickles, was exceptionally labour-intensive. Manure, the main fertilizer, was generally in short supply. Pasturing animals on land left fallow for a season could help to increase the soil's productivity, but peasants' flocks were usually too small to supply enough dung.

Throughout the 12th century, therefore, poorer and poorer land was brought into cultivation to feed western Europe's growing population. Inevitably, the margin of risk narrowed and agriculture teetered constantly on the brink of catastrophe.