Medieval Foundations


A number of topics in early medieval technology have been treated on the Web; the two sites below are good places to start:

Medieval Technology is a focused site put together by a chemistry professor(!) Most of the materials are quite reliable, and the illustrations are useful. Use the "Subject Index" link on the home page to find the topics covered.

Medieval Archaeology is one of the topics treated in the large and very well designed "NetSerf" site compiled down the road at Catholic University.

Go to one of these sites and select two topics of interest -- agriculture, warfare, power, building, transport, or the like. Select the most useful pages for your site and print them out to refer to them in section. Alternatively -- you may choose a single topic and explore the different ways the two medieval technology sites examine it.

One of the key technologies of the Middle Ages was that of milling, largely by means of water. On the course ELMS site in the Course Reserves section, you will find an article reviewing the evidence about medieval mills written by a young Australian scholar, Adam Lucas.. Read this article carefully, and take particular note of what constitutes good evidence for this historical period.

 


*When you come to section, you should be prepared to discuss (1) the Lucas article on medieval milling -- write a paragraph commenting on the most important kinds of evidence that he uses and (2) a print-out from your additional medieval explorations from one of the two sites referred to above, or a comparison of how each site deals with the same topic. Explain in a short paragraph why you found this particular exploration interesting or significant.



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