Defamation
As cerealization is called the one-sided orientation in agriculture in the grain production . This form of agriculture was practiced in Europe from around the 12th to the 14th century. The cultivation of grains dominated the field economy and thus largely prevented that other crops were grown on a large scale in addition to grain. The focus on the use of grain is not justified by the feudal influence, but lies in the cooperative organization in the villages and settlement areas. A decisive obstacle to expanding a diverse land use was the constraint on the land . The farmers were bound by the agreed agreements, such as the type of cultivation and the time of harvest, for a long time. One way out of this situation should Dreifelderwirtschaft offer, but also often limited to crops.
The arable land available for agricultural use was expanded. Soils were also worked that produced low yields per unit area. These so-called border soils therefore have a low productivity rate. Such areas can be found, for example, from an altitude above 600 meters. This type of land use was exhausting and mostly not very productive due to the difficult working conditions at high altitude. The expansion of arable farming, for example, reduced the amount of grazing land for livestock farming. However, pasture farming still had a regional focus, as in the marshland along the North Sea coast. From there, cattle, butter and cheese were exported as animal products in the 13th century. Special stockyards were built for this purpose.
Selection of the types of grain to be grown
When choosing the grain to be grown, consideration was given to the nature of the soil and climatic factors. Rye was harvested from the ash soils of northwest Germany, while spelled was preferred to be grown in southwest Germany and wheat mainly in regions west of the Rhine. Rye and oats were increasingly produced on soils at high altitudes, and barley and wheat in particular in lower regions.
As part of the three-field farming, plowing was carried out in autumn and 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.
Deviation from grain-oriented land use
The cultivation of already known crops such as legumes, lentils, flax, cabbage, beets, vines and fruit did not allow the cultivation of crops. These special or special crops found their place in the so-called gardens. At that time, this did not only refer to the house gardens, but also fields with a size of 2 to 3 hectares. These fields were intended for the cultivation of vegetables and commercial crops and were detached from the cooperative usage regulations for crop rotation . For example, herb gardens are reported in the Würzburg police regulations from 1451, 1470 and 1479. On the Hohenloher level, these parcels were called countries outside of the field cultivation . These growing areas were in close proximity to the settlements.
Special case of viticulture
The viticulture was also on the grain-oriented agreement and the flurzwang excluded. These areas were subject to wine or vine garden law, which, among other things, enabled the walling and secondary use of these areas for viticulture. From the Rhine to the Moselle and across the Danube region, viticulture finally spread to the northern landscapes. Viticulture in the Mark Brandenburg can be proven by a document from 1173. Bishop Otto von Bamberg is said to have brought a wagon loaded with vines to Pomerania in 1128.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Henning, Friedrich-Wilhelm, pp. 216-223.
- ↑ Rösener, Werner, p. 21.
- ↑ Henning, Friedrich-Wilhelm, p. 223.
- ↑ Rösener, Werner, p. 21.
- ↑ Henning, Friedrich-Wilhelm, p. 223.
- ^ Wilhelm Volkert : Nobility to guild. A lexicon of the Middle Ages . CH Beck, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-406-35499-8 , p. 49.
- ↑ Three-field farming. In: fh-rottenburg.de. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on January 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Abel, Wilhelm, pp. 89-91.
References
- Hennig, Friedrich-Wilhelm (1994): German agricultural history of the Middle Ages. 9th to 15th centuries. Stuttgart. ISBN 3-8001-3092-0
- Rösener, Werner (1992): Agriculture, the agricultural constitution and rural society in the Middle Ages. Encyclopedia of German History; Vol. 13, Munich. ISBN 3-486-55024-1
- Abel, Wilhelm (1962): History of German agriculture. From the early Middle Ages to the 19th century. German Agricultural History Vol. 2, Stuttgart.