When anyone who has read classical
literature thinks about ideas of chivalry, images of the armored Don Quixote come
to mind. This post-medieval literary work brings back notions of heroic knights
riding to battle to save damsels from distress. Anyone who has read the book or
has any knowledge about the storyline, knows that the main protagonist Don
Quixote in his senility proceeds to joust against 30 or 40 windmills. Although
this seems to be a humorous adaptation on the ideals of chivalry, it does
mention a curious detail that relates to the medieval period. The windmills
that Don Quixote went up against may not have been the immense “giants” that he
thought they were, but they were in fact another sort of towering economic
giant in the real medieval Europe.
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| Flemish Manuscript, Fourteenth Century |
Windmills were developed prior to the
year 700 C.E. in the area of modern day Iran and Afghanistan. It wouldn’t be
for another four centuries until the technology would make its way to Europe.
The first surviving mention of a European windmill comes from Yorkshire, England
in 1185. Even though it was only ten years later that the first surviving
record of a European windmill, by 1195 due to the prevalence of the windmills
throughout Europe, the pope levied a tithe on them.
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| A Scene from the Luttrell Psalter: Psalms 87, the miller receives grain (notice the windmill on the right) |
The benefit that windmills brought to
medieval people was two-fold. As Bennett mentioned the rise in the process of
land reclamation along the coastlines, windmills provided the power needed to
drain wetlands. That same power, as Bennett discussed, could also be utilized
and harnessed via metal shafts and hammers that could then be used in various
other ways. These included finishing cloth, milling corn or grains, or any
other device that the owner desired to power with his mill’s drive shaft.
The three most common types of
windmills during the medieval period were the post mill, the hollow-post mill,
and the tower mill. The mill in Yorkshire was of the post mill type, which
remained as the most common type of mill in Europe until long after the
medieval period. Seeking something more sturdier and long-lasting, people began
building tower mills towards the end of the thirteenth century. These mason
structures although a great deal more expensive, were much sturdier and more
economical than the post mills. From the fourteenth century onwards came the
hollow-post mill. Slightly different than the post type and commonly used in
the Netherlands for the draining of wetlands and marshes.
For more reading on windmills:
http://www.moulins-a-vent.net/ (This is a French website about the windmills
in France. NOTE: Some of the windmills are not from the medieval period, but it
does allow the viewer to see some great pictures of medieval French windmills.)
Addition sources:
Judith Bennett, Medieval Europe: A
Short History
If anyone would be interested... I found that the British Library has recently digitized the Lutrell Psalter, an early fourteenth century illuminated manuscript. Among its pages are many images, especially several that relate to this week's discussion about agricultural revolution. If anyone would like to view this fascinating piece of history just copy and paste this url: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_ms_42130_fs001ar
ReplyDeleteDo you think it is a coincidence that Europe began using windmill technology a short time after the Crusades began, or is it likely the Crusades exposed Europe to this technology developed centuries previously in the Middle East?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question. In my research I found that it is most likely that Europeans brought back the Eastern technology with them following the Crusades. The windmill is just another example of how ideas and technology get transferred from culture to culture and region to region.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the most likely case. It would be interesting to see what the Arabians primarily used windmills for, as they certainly did not have the massive grain industry that Europe did.
ReplyDeleteI was able to see the Luttrell psalter in London three years ago. One of the interesting things about that illuminated manuscript is the shading on the peasant's faces. Thanks, Dylan and Steven, for the conversation about the exchange of technology during and after the crusades.
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