c. 500–1500
Agriculture in the Middle Ages
Field systems, shared rules and new rotations that organised rural life in medieval Europe and beyond. 16 topics from c. 500–1500.
- Topics
- 16
- Time span
- 540 CE – 1450 CE
- Regions
- 5
- Sources cited
- 192
In brief
16 topics from 540 CE to 1450 CE. Most of them come from Europe (6), Asia (5), Americas (3). The main subjects are land & water (6), trade & exchange (3), science & experiments (2). The earliest is Qimin Yaoshu: agricultural knowledge in northern China (c. 533–544 CE, Northern China); the most recent is Coffee between Ethiopia and Yemen (15th–17th centuries, Ethiopia and Yemen).
Prehistorybefore c. 3000 BCE13 topicsAntiquityc. 3000 BCE – 500 CE10 topicsMiddle Agesc. 500–150016 topicsEarly modernc. 1500–18007 topicsIndustrial erafrom c. 180054 topics
Topics in chronological order
No topic matches your search.
- c. 533–544 CEMiddle AgesQimin Yaoshu: agricultural knowledge in northern ChinaSoil management, seed selection, livestock and processing in a major source for the history of Chinese farming.
- Seventh century CEMiddle AgesTerra Preta: How Amazonian Communities Changed Their SoilsSettlement deposits, charcoal and organic inputs reveal how Amazonian communities created and used enduring fertile soils.
- 8th–9th centuriesMiddle AgesTea in Tang China: From Cultivated Shrubs to a Taxed CommodityLeaf processing, monasteries, merchants and state taxation connected tea-growing households with urban culture in Tang China.
- 9th–11th centuriesMiddle AgesThree-field farming in medieval EuropeWinter crops, spring crops and fallow form a rotation that reshapes field organisation and the working year.
- Ninth–fifteenth centuriesMiddle AgesAngkor: Khmer Water Management and Agricultural LandscapesReservoirs and canals connected fields, settlements and temples. Their history encompasses labour, monsoon variability and gradual regional transformation.
- c. 900–1521Middle AgesChinampas in the Basin of Mexico: farming between fields and canalsThe history of fixed raised fields linking food production with water transport and the transformation of wetlands.
- c. AD 985–15th centuryMiddle AgesNorse farms in GreenlandHusbandry and hunting formed an integrated provisioning system; settlement decline reflects overlapping pressures rather than a simple failure to adapt.
- 1012Middle AgesChampa rice and Song agricultural changeDisseminating planting material widened farmers’ options; outcomes depended on water, labour and local cropping calendars.
- 9th–11th centuriesMiddle AgesBali’s Subak: A Millennium of Cooperation over Water and RiceCanals, temples and farmers’ agreements formed a system in which water allocation depended on cooperation extending beyond a single field.
- 11th–12th centuriesMiddle AgesAgronomy in al-Andalus: Ibn al-Awwam and agricultural knowledgeTreatises, gardens and canals: medieval agricultural knowledge and the limits of historical reconstruction.
- 12th–13th centuriesMiddle AgesCistercian Granges: How Monasteries Organised Farming EstatesCistercian houses linked fields, pastures, mills and resource rights into networks of farms. Organisation, diverse labour and market connections underpinned their economy.
- 1273–1836Middle AgesThe Mesta: Castilian flocks, roads and privilegesA livestock corporation connecting seasonal grazing grounds, protected drove roads and international wool markets.
- Twelfth–fourteenth centuriesMiddle AgesMedieval English Wool: Sheep, Monasteries and TradeSheep farming connected rural work with textile markets, merchant credit and royal revenue. The year 1275 marks an important stage in export taxation.
- From the thirteenth centuryMiddle AgesKūmara in Aotearoa: Māori Gardens and Winter ReservesMāori adapted Polynesian crops to a seasonal climate through soil modification, storage and detailed knowledge of local environments.
- 1315–1317Middle AgesThe Great Famine of 1315–1317: Rain, Grain and Vulnerable FarmsHarvest failures exposed the dependence of farms on weather, reserves, prices and access to land. Warfare and a subsequent cattle epidemic deepened several regional crises.
- 15th–17th centuriesMiddle AgesCoffee between Ethiopia and YemenArabica’s African origins, Yemen’s mountain farms and commerce through Red Sea ports together shaped the early coffee economy.
Where it happened
24Northern China25Amazonia · Brazil26Southern China26Southern China27Medieval Europe28Angkor · Cambodia29Xochimilco · Basin of Mexico30Southern Greenland31Fujian · China32Bali · Indonesia33Toledo and Seville · al-Andalus33Toledo and Seville · al-Andalus34Yorkshire · England35Castile · Spain36Yorkshire · England37Aotearoa · New Zealand38Northern Europe38Northern Europe39Ethiopia and Yemen39Ethiopia and Yemen
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Questions and answers
Which is the earliest topic in this era?
Qimin Yaoshu: agricultural knowledge in northern China: c. 533–544 CE · conventionally c. 540, Northern China · the Yellow River plains.
Which is the most recent?
Coffee between Ethiopia and Yemen: 15th–17th centuries · cultivation, drinking and trade, Ethiopia and Yemen · Red Sea trading routes.
Which regions are covered?
Europe (6), Asia (5), Americas (3), Oceania (1), Intercontinental (1).
Which subjects are covered?
Land & water (6), Trade & exchange (3), Science & experiments (2), Environment & crises (2), Technology & breeding (1), Society & land (1), Crop exchange (1).
Agriculture today on Husfarm
From history to the present: prices, shows and the companies that shape farming now.