In the Middle Ages only the force of wind and water was available as an alternative to the muscles of men and animals. The mill was the most powerful machine that existed and was so enthusiastically adopted that by 1250 there was one in almost every village in England. Providing rich profits for their owners, they were often a centre of conflict and controversy between peasant and landlord. This book examines the important role mills played in the medieval economy and society. Why did the number of mills steadily increase until the mid-14th century only to decline steeply? How and why did they spread across England, coming to dominate certain areas and not others? Were millers the grasping thieves depicted by writers such as Chaucer? Were all mills under the control of the lord of the manor or did independent peasant mills exist? These and many other questions are addressed in this study of milling in medieval England.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 250 mm
Breite: 160 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-631-15692-5 (9780631156925)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
The watermill; the windmill; the mill and the manor; independent mills; the profits of milling; the millers; 1086-1350 - a growing number of mills; mill technology and innovation; an industrial revolution of the Middle Ages?; end of the Golden Age. Appendices: Early windmill references; the cost of building a windmill; the watermill at Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire - annual rent and maintenance costs, 1319 - 1484.
