Medieval Times
People tend to view medieval times as a period where we learned tolive in towns and cities and to be comfortable with a life where technologyhad not yet become a dominant force. It is sometimes romanticized inmovies as a time when people were closer to nature and lived more simply.As a generalization this may have been true for day-to-day life, but themedieval period was also a time of invention and resourcefulness. Some ofthe new technologies continue to be used to this day while others laid thefoundation for greater technological advances to come. During the medievalperiod, from 1000 to the Renaissance, humankind actually made greattechnological advances that influence life to this day. Heavy plows were first used in Europe in the seventh century (Cipolla,1994). These plows had to be pulled by beasts of burden -- oxen or horses. Horses were stronger, easier to manage and had more endurance than oxen,but farmers and other laborers did not come close to making use of all thepower horses could offer until the harnesses used to attach them to plowsor wagons were improved. The first horse harnesses used a strap that wentaround the horse's neck. The straps to
It was used for centuries after he first developed it. These developments have Chinese roots, but Europeaningenuity refined and developed them. They knew thatthe same mills only charged 1/24 of the ground flour to free tenants whowere not bound to the lord's land. They used a narrow shaft and pounded a rod through a narrowlayer of walk. What Gutenberg did was produce standard-sized blocks of steel withletters on them. These were used to produce letter blocks made of an alloyof lead. Starting in the ninth century (Cipolla, 1994), people startedexperimenting with design modifications to eliminate breathing problems. Typically the landowner, usually alord, owned the mill. They paidfor this service by giving the lord 1/13 of the ground grain. Thus, some exploration of waterpowerdid not produce tremendous technological gains. In addition, foot-treadles automaticallyraised every other thread. Improved ability toplow created deeper furrows. The letters were inserted into standard frames and inked, andthen paper was pressed over it. This worked well for larger letters, but to use the letters over and overthey were not durable, and the letters were not uniform (Staff writers,2000). This early industrial revolution for themanufacture of fabric is reflected in the fact that we call such factories"mills" to this day.
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Acceptance Essays
