A Politics and the state

The revival of Europe around the year 1000

Climate change and food production

With these words, the French historian Georges Duby (1919–96) in a few deft strokes conveyed an image of western Europe at its darkest hour; that of an underdeveloped continent, where for most people life was confined to an open place in an immense, dark forest; of small agricultural communities, struggling to survive against the elements and the dangers of war, hunger and disease.

The turning point came during the decades before and after the year 1000. New developments took place in virtually all areas of social and cultural life, at first slow and unnoticed, then faster and clearer. At the end of the eleventh century, this revival culminated in what Haskins called the ‘Renaissance of the Twelfth Century’. This late medieval Renaissance marked the beginnings of the rise of the West. It was also with this Renaissance that the continental legal tradition and legal science took off.

Climate change triggered the revival of Europe. Experts have established that, between the ninth and twelfth centuries, average temperatures rose. This allowed more land to be cultivated, especially in the north-west and on higher ground. At the same time, agricultural innovations led to an increase in productivity. The introduction of the watermill and the windmill made it easier to work iron. Iron ploughs turned the soil better than had the former wooden appliances. The invention of the harness allowed the use of horses as draught animals, instead of only oxen. Three-field crop rotation allowed land to remain fallow only every third year instead of every second year.