Three-field economy
The three-field economy was the form of agriculture that had been widespread in Europe since the Middle Ages around 1100 AD . The Romans were already familiar with the Doubt derwirtschaft (“Landwechsel”) and also used it north of the Alps. In the High Middle Ages , starting from Carolingian monasteries , after the introduction of the new equipment of the 11th century, the three-field system was introduced across the board. These innovations created the basis for a strong population growth in Europe, which was only ended by the plague wave in the middle of the 14th century.
method
In three-field farming, which was the dominant cultivation form in the European Middle Ages , the entire cultivation area was divided into three parts. Each of these parts lay fallow for a year , which means that it was not worked and natural growth was used as pasture. As a rule, plowing was carried out in autumn and a winter grain was sown. This survived the winter and was harvested the following late summer. After further plowing and regular tillage until spring (for weed control ), a summer grain was sown, which in turn was harvested in late summer. Until the next autumn, the area was left to its own devices and greened itself.
However, there was also the "fallow land", where the soil was regularly worked (plow, harrow, etc.) in order to keep the area largely weed-free in the long term, which in turn had a positive effect on the grain yield. However, some nutrients could be washed out over the winter (especially nitrogen). This limited the achievable income to a certain extent.
In connection with the development of the heavy iron plow , the crop yields were significantly increased by the three-field farming compared to the doubt farming . Instead of half, only a third of the area was fallow every year. In addition, the three-field farming enabled the increased cultivation of summer cereals such as oats , which in turn made horse keeping easier. With the help of the newly invented yokes broke horses in the High Middle Ages the oxen as draft animals from because they can pull heavier plows and work faster was increased so that the yield in agriculture. Through these innovations (three instead of doubts, horse instead of ox as a draft animal, iron wheel instead of wooden hook plow) the yield was increased significantly, which resulted in a strong increase in the population. Overall, social prosperity increased; the early Middle Ages passed into the High Middle Ages.
Dreizelgenwirtschaft
While three-field farming was initially carried out as a crop rotation individually on one's own property, in the High Middle Ages the so-called three- field farming (von Zelge ) or three-field farming , in which the entire arable land of a village community was divided into three large fields, which were cultivated in the same rhythm ( Flurzwang ). As a result, crossing rights and access routes as well as turning areas for the plow could be omitted, the land could be used better.
The turn to the Zelgenwirtschaft was also conditioned by inheritance law . The parcels had become smaller and smaller through the division of the estate. In the particularly intensively used corridors , many plots were no longer connected to paths. Since there were no or few farm roads, those who cultivated the individual parcels had to coordinate the sequence of use. Each Zelge formed a management unit from several parcels, within which all owners not only had to adhere to the agreed crop but also to jointly determined sowing, processing and harvesting times. This collective form of cultivation, known as Flurzwang, was not only practiced in three-field farming.
Further development
After the general spread of the potato in Europe, the fallow land was replaced by arable land (mainly red clover , potatoes or beets ). This system is also known as improved three-field management.
In the middle of the 18th century, during the so-called agricultural revolution, a further year of cultivation of forage plants to feed the livestock was added to the crop rotation ( four-field farming ).
Footnotes
- ^ A b Wilhelm Volkert : Nobility to guild. A lexicon of the Middle Ages . CH Beck, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-406-35499-8 , p. 49.
Web links
- Three-field economy. In: fh-rottenburg.de. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on November 13, 2015 .