The economy in the Middle Ages had agriculture as its main activity. This was organized under the feudal system, with vassals and serfs who had to work for the lords who owned the land. Although over the centuries that this stage lasted, production improved a lot, in the beginning the harvests were scarce and the techniques relatively primitive.
It was precisely this improvement in agricultural techniques that allowed the crops to become more abundant. The resulting surplus allowed trade to gain strength, something to which the increase in population and increased production of handicrafts also contributed.
Medieval economy
The artisans resided mainly in the cities and were grouped in guilds. This type of workers' associations of the same branch, together with the merchants, were the germ of the appearance of a new social class: the bourgeoisie. Likewise, the first banks were born.
This evolution from an almost exclusively rural economy to the emergence of independent urban workers also meant a great social change. The bourgeoisie, over time, were able to contest power from the feudal lords. Just before the Renaissance began, the riches of the new social class were making it a major political actor.
Main economic activities in the Middle Ages
The main economic activities during the Middle Ages were agriculture, crafts and commerce. Beyond the specific aspects of each activity, there was a factor without which the social and economic organization of the time could not be understood: feudalism.
In contrast to the old model of slavery production, in the Middle Ages a new system appeared marked by the relations between vassals and serfs, on the one hand, and feudal lords, nobles for the most part.
Feudalism established an obligation of obedience on the part of the vassals towards the feudal lords. Thus, they had to work the farmland, always in the hands of the nobility, in exchange for protection against any attack.
Most of the production was given to the feudal lord. The vassals and serfs lived in very precarious conditions and, in many cases, were tied to the land they worked.
farming
As noted above, agriculture was the main economic activity in the Middle Ages. The vassals worked the fields owned, in almost all cases, by the feudal lords and gave them most of the poverty.
In the first phase of the Middle Ages, cultivation techniques were quite rudimentary, so the harvests were not abundant. At that time, agriculture was intended to cover only subsistence needs.
Slowly, new techniques and tools appeared. Production, therefore, was increasing and the surpluses could be used for trade.
On the other hand, the population increase also contributed to the improvement in production, in addition to supplying a growth in demand. The rise of the cities made them a very profitable destination for the products that were grown.
Among the technical advances that appeared in the Middle Ages to improve crops were the water mills, the improvement of the methods of hitching animals and the evolution of tools such as the plow or iron hoes.
To this must be added the use of a new fallow system that increased the productivity of the land, as well as the construction of water pipes.
Cattle raising
To a large extent, livestock activity was closely linked to agriculture. Improved plowing systems meant that the villains had to raise more pack animals. In addition, the use of wool and leather for the manufacture of textiles, many for trade, was also popularized.
Commerce
The production of agricultural surpluses, the increase in population and the rise of the cities were three of the factors that ended up causing the trade to recover.
Mercantile activity occurred on two different scales. On the one hand, short-distance trade, which covered the localities close to the places of production. On the other, the long distance, which became one of the main engines of the economy.
Among the most popular products were salt, from the German mines or the salt flats of the Atlantic coast, the valuable spices from the Far East or wine, which was produced in much of Europe. Similarly, it was also common for Spanish wool or flanders to be traded.
Most of the products mentioned were intended for long-distance trade. They were very valuable articles, only available to the nobility and, later, the incipient bourgeoisie.
The expansion of trade caused the appearance of large fairs. These were huge temporary markets in which every imaginable product was bought and sold.
Crafts
Although crafts had always been important, during the Middle Ages several factors made it a fundamental economic activity. In the first place, the explorations to various parts of the planet allowed the artisans to have new materials, many of them of great value.
On the other hand, the boom in trade made the elaborations of artisans become very important. Along with agricultural products, handicrafts were sold and bought in all markets. The feudal lords, in their search for luxury items, became his best customers.
On many occasions, it was the artisans themselves who were in charge of selling their creations. The increase in value caused workshops to appear in which the older craftsman educated apprentices.
Guilds
In the ever-growing medieval cities the workers of each branch began to meet in a kind of associations: the guilds. The objective was to help each other when faced with difficulties, to establish reference prices or to control how the work was carried out.
According to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, a guild was a "corporation formed by teachers, officers and apprentices of the same profession or trade, governed by ordinances or special statutes."
Among the activities that had their guilds or brotherhoods were most of the artisan trades. Although they were not the same in each city, those formed by tanners, dyers, blacksmiths, bakers, potters or carpenters, among many others, were very common.
Over time, the guilds began to acquire economic and, therefore, political power. So much so that, especially in central Europe, they took it upon themselves to provide military defenses in their cities, occupying the traditional position of feudal lords.
References
- Universal history. Trade in the Middle Ages. Obtained from mihistoriauniversal.com
- Social did. Economy in the Middle Ages. Obtained from socialhizo.com
- Arthistory. Economy of the medieval community. Obtained from artehistoria.com
- Newman, Simon. Economy in the Middle Ages. Retrieved from thefinertimes.com
- Encyclopedia.com. Economy And Trade. Retrieved from encyclopedia.com
- Cartwright, Mark. Trade in Medieval Europe. Retrieved from ancient.eu
- Axelrod, Lauren. Agriculture During the High Middle Ages. Retrieved from ancientdigger.com