The Middle Ages was a critical and formative time for Western approaches to our natural surroundings. "An Environmental History of the Middle Ages" is a unique and unprecedented cultural survey of attitudes towards the environment during this period. Humankind's relationship with the environment shifted gradually over time from a predominantly adversarial approach to something more overtly collaborative, until a series of ecological crises in the late Middle Ages. With the advent of shattering events such as the Great Famine of 1315–22 and the Black Death of 1348–49, medieval people began to think of and relate to their natural environment in new and more nuanced ways. They now were made to be acutely aware of the consequences of human impacts upon the environment, anticipating the cyclical, "new ecology" approach of the modern world.
Exploring the entire medieval period from 500 to 1500, and ranging across the whole of Europe, from England and Spain to the Baltic and Eastern Europe, John Aberth focuses his study on three key areas: the natural elements of air, water, and earth; the forest; and wild and domestic animals. Through this multi-faceted lens, An Environmental History of the Middle Ages sheds fascinating new light on the medieval environmental mindset. It will be essential reading for students, scholars, and all those interested in the Middle Ages.
Author(s): John Aberth
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: XVI+326
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xii
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
PART I
Air, water, earth 11
In the beginning... 11
Worshipping the elements 18
The Medieval Warm Period 26
Harnessing the elements 28
Collaboration, or exploitation? 41
The Little Ice Age 49
Earth, wind, and death 51
Environmental causes of the plague 56
Man-made pollution of the environment 63
The poison thesis 69
Weather magic 73
PART II
Forest 77
Pre-Christian tree cults 78
Surviving wildwood at the start of the Middle Ages 84
The early medieval woodland 87
An era of "great clearances"? 92
A brief history of the royal forest of England 97
The evidence of the eyre rolls 105
Managing the king's woods 111
Disafforestment and the rise of private woodland 119
The management of woods elsewhere 123
Shaping the idea of wilderness 127
A renaissance in regrowth of the forest? 137
PART III
Beast 141
Animals on the farm: the Early Middle Ages 148
Animals on the farm: the High and Late Middle Ages 155
Animals as pets and companions 169
Animals of the hunt: origins of medieval hunting 176
Animals of the hunt: deer and other game 183
Animals of the hunt: romance vs. reality 195
Animals of the hunt: falconry and fishing 200
Animals and disease 206
Animals on trial 217
Animals in the bed 224
Animals and magic 228
Afterword 233
Notes 235
Bibliography 280
Index 308
