Technology of the Medieval and Early Modern Worlds
Technology of the Medieval and Early Modern Worlds many ideas from Asia including the produc tion and working of silk the use of gunpowder and the making of paper and porcelain These advances led to reduced dependence on agri cultural and production labor thus freeing people for other things such as the building of the great Gothic cathedrals If any single tech nological event marks the end of the Middle Ages it was the invention of the movable-type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century This eventually spread the written word beyond scholars and opened edu cation to the emerging middle class While the technological history of the Middle Ages was one of slow but substantial development during the succeeding early modern period 1500 1750 the tempo of change increased markedly and was associ ated with profound social political religious and intellectual upheavals in western Europe The emergence of the nation-state the cleav age of the Christian church by the Protestant Reformation the Renaissance and its accom panying scientific revolution and the overseas expansion of European states all had inter actions with developing technology This expansion became possible after the advance in naval technology opened up the ocean routes to Western navigators The conversion of voyages of discovery into imperialism and colonization 10
INTRODUCTION was made possible by the new firepower The combination of light maneuverable ships with the firepower of iron cannon gave European adventurers a decisive advantage enhanced by other technological assets Exploration and colonialism also had economic implications becoming one of several factors including changes in the agricultural system and increas ing reshape economies throughout Europe urbanization that helped 11
1 r e t p a h C POWER SOURCES W hile classical civilizations had relied upon a large slave labor force medi eval Europe experienced a labor shortage that stimulated a search for alternative sources of power and the introduction of labor-saving machinery The first instrument of this power revolution was the horse Even more signifi cant was the success of medieval technology in harnessing water and wind power Water and wind power continued to improve in the early modern period while coal became increasingly important too Coal mining even spurred the invention of the steam engine which itself helped usher in the Industrial Revolution THE HORSE The invention of the horseshoe the padded rigid horse collar and the stirrup all of which first appeared in the West in the centuries of 12
13 Medieval horses were bred for various uses Draft horses pulled carts and plows chargers were warhorses and fine riding horses were called palfreys POWER SOURCES the Dark Ages as the early Middle Ages are known transformed the horse from a beast of burden useful only for light duties into a highly versatile source of energy in peace and war Once the horse could be harnessed to the heavy plow by means of the horse collar it became a more efficient draft animal than the ox The introduction of the stirrup made
