Technology
From Medieval Wiki
By: Lincoln
Contents |
Introduction to Medieval Technology
The Medieval times was a great part of history for new thriving technology. The medieval inventors mostly invented on other communitie's technology from past history, like the Roman, the Chinese, the Greek, and many others. The Middle Age technology mostly produced for the military, like in weaponry and other military-needed supplies, they invented some daily life inventions and maybe some inventions that you might see an old-fashioned person using. The Middle Age seemed as a step back in advancing technology to some, but to others it seemed all the new inventions were just repeats of other's old inventions that have advanced in the same way the medieval inventors did. The medieval technology advancements wasn't as great as other communities, because they mostly adopted inventions coming from Asia, and they would always improve on Roman and Greek inventions like the catapult and crossbow, by making it of a diffrent material and making it more efficient and easier to use. Out of all the years of the Middle Ages there were alot of amazing inventions...so please enjoy the Middle Age Technology! Note that there were alot more inventions in the Middle Ages, and these were just some that were most common in my resources and I would also want to include that the Printing Press was another technology break through, but I'm not going to go into that because there is already a whole page about it.
Technology ... the knack of so arranging the world that we don’t have to experience it.- Max Frisch
Eyeglasses
In 1289 Sandra di Popozo wrote in a manuscript that he couldn't either read or write if it wasn't for his eyeglasses, years earlier in 1268 Friar Roger Bacon wrote a description of lenses that make letters bigger to read. So it is sure that the first eyeglasses were made between 1268 and 1289, but the inventor is still unknown and is still being disputed to today. But it is sure that the first wearable eyeglasses were made by Salvino D'Armate, an Italian common man. The early spectacles were made with convex lenses that corrected farsightedness and aging blindness, later Nicholas of Cusa made glasses with concave lenses that corrected nearsightedness. As you've probably noticed glasses are a huge part of daily life and if it wasn't for whoever invented glasses, we would be walking around as blind as a bat.
The Spinning Wheel
The spinning wheel evolved from ancient times when spinning was done on a spindle, which is basically a stick with a weight attached. Around 500 to 1000 AD somewhere in China, Persia, or India, someone turned a spindle onto it's side, added a chain type thing and connected it to a driving wheel, and there the spinning wheel was born. The spinning wheel later hit Western Europe, where there was Medieval spinners already using a distaff, which is related to a spindle but has a fork at the top to keep the fibers together during spinning. But the distaff was very awkward like the spindle and was very time consuming. The spinning wheel was more economical and much easier, and the medieval spinners adopted the spinning wheel. The spinning wheel would later add a pedal, but we don't have any evidence that is was real except pictures and scripts. All spinning wheels unfortunately did not survive through th Middle Ages.
The Clock
The Egyptians were fascinated with sundials , the Chinese prefered water clocks, and the early Middle Ages worked with hourglasses for their time management. In 966 Brother Gerbert and soon to become Pope Sylvester II created a simple mechanism that rang bells at regular intervals in the day to call his brethern to prayer', it was the beginning of mechanical clocks as we know it'. Soon many cathedral towers started to bear proper (and not always accurate) mechanical clocks. The earliest of these mechanical clocks was made by Jacopo de Dondi, who designed an astronomical clock for the cathedral tower in Padua in 1344. Strasburg cathedral's mechanical clock appeared next in 1354, then the third and most elaborate mechanical clock, built in Prague's Town Hall in 1410. The Prague clock showed earth at the center of the universe,with the sun, moon, and stars revolving around it. It had blue and red halves to divide night and day. Throught the Middle Ages there were many more advancements in mechanical clocks like how to adjust the time of the clock and add-ons to the clock's face. Clocks are a big part of daily life and are still being worked on today, thanks to Pope Sylvester II
The Wheelbarrow
In 100 CE the Chinese created the first wheelbarrow which was basically a box with a wheel underneath, it was very clunky and hard to maneuver over rough terrain. A better design of the wheelbarrow showed it's self in Europe in the 13th century. By this time the wheelbarrow had become more long, acquired long handles for easier control, and the wheel was at the end of the wheelbarrow giving the operator a good center of gravity and a smoother ride. Before there were wheelbarrows in Europe the used stretchers to carry large and heavy objects, the stretcher needed two people to use, with one on each side to carry the weight. The wheelbarrow only needed one person to operate which made construction faster and easier. They both used the wheelbarrow and the stretcher until about mid 15th century, when became more advancements on the wheelbarrow. The inventor of the European wheelbarrow is unknown, but all evidence is pointing to a bone-weary construction worker.
Military Technology
The Middle Age technology mostly thrived in Military weaponry, as you might already know there was alot of violence in the medieval times and everyone needed to protect their own kingdom. So they built walls or a castle to protect their city, but even that wasn't enough for armie's heavy weaponry. Actually not all technology for the military were weaponry like spurs, stirrups, ,plate armour and arched saddles that I will not mention. Here is some weaponry that the military used:
The Cannon: A cannon is a large hollow tube designed to use gunpowder(which I will get to) to hurl an object at a target. There is no certain year the cannon was invented, but there is an undoubtful reference to their use in the siege of Metz in 1324. Slightly later there is another refrence in a document of 1326 referring to a bronze cannon firing iron balls. Another reference occurs the same year in a manuscript of Walter de Milemete's that has an illustrtation of a cannon on it. Another mention of a cannon was on a parchment written by Petrarch. The primary use of early cannons were as bombards to knock down walls of besieged towns and castles. The earliest success of these sieges came in 1377 at the siege of Odruik when cannon blasts of 200 pounds breached the walls of the castle. Through history cannons became advanced and grew bigger as well as smaller, with better accuracy and power, and eventually turning into hand weapons.
Counterweight Trebuchet:
One of the medieval siege weapons used during the Middle Ages was the trebuchet. The trebuchet was an invaluable siege weapon that was very similar to the catapult, which is used for hurling heavy stones to smash castles and city walls. Medieval engineers worked hard on the design of the trebuchet to ensure the weapon’s aim, accuracy, and effect had the greatest effect. The force of the trebuchet was so great that it was capable of turning castle and city
Gunpowder: Gunpowder is most commonly called 'black powder,' it is a combination of saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon in the form of charcoal. Gunpowder didn't reach Europe until about late 13th century, but there were uses of gunpowder during the 13th century by the French. Gunpowder was first invented in China at least as early as the 9th century, the Chinese used gunpowder for making fireworks because they did not yet know the potential. There is evidence that gunpowder reached the rest of Europe by the Arab's trade. Roger Bacon was long credited with inventing it because a formula for gunpowder was attributed by him in one of his work pieces, it was also credited to Berthold Schwartz. Though it is agreed that gunpowder was introduced to Europe and not invented in Europe. Gunpowder was the only explosive in wide use until in the middle of the 19th century, when it was surpassed by nitroglycerine-based explosives. Gunpowder is a humongous part of historic warfare, and is an important part of domination of countries that are around today.
Steel Crossbow:
Crossbows have the same C shape as the longbow, held by a string, but are held horizontal from the ground. It is attached to a wooden body, which holds the arrow and has a catch for the string, the catch is attached to the trigger which triggers to fire the arrow. The crossbow was about 24-38 inches in width with the stock about 18 inches, it weighted around 18 pounds. The trigger would snap a hook that would release the string firing the arrow, a belt would pull back the string again. A steel crossbow could shoot up to 380-500 yards. Crossbows started in China around 1200 BCE, then it got to the Roman and the Greek, they made small hand crossbows. Then the crossbows were first introduced to Europe around the 10th century by the Normans, the steel crossbows first came into fashion after the first crusade (The Crusades)
Longbow: The Longbow was very long, about as long as the archer using it. It was a wooden shaft with slight curve to each end, the it also had horns on the tips to hold the string. It would work the same as a regular bow and arrow, you would put the arrow on the string pointing away from you, pull back the string with the arrow, release the string firing the arrow. It could fire up to 350 yards. The bow of the longbow was made with tough elastic yew wood, sapwood that provided tension for the arms, and heartwood for the center; the string was either made of sinew, flax, hemp, silk, or rawhide. The first record of the longbow being used was in south Wales in the late 12th century, then it expanded through the rest of England. The Welsh thought that longness of the bow and the string would give it more power and accuracy. In 1188 William de Braose, an English knight (Knights) fighting the Welsh, reported that an arrow fired by a longbow penetrated his chainmail and clothing, passed through his thigh, and finally entered his horse. This showed the people of England how powerful the longbow was. The longbow was also made by fletchers and bowyers(of course, that was they’re job).
Technology … is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. -C P Snow
Vocabulary
Norman= Scandinavian raiders who settled in Normandy
Chainmail= A piece of armor clothing
Saltpeter= The form of potassium nitrate
Sulfur= A pale yellow nonmetallic element occurring widely in nature
Carbon= A naturally abundant nonmetallic element that occurs in many inorganic and in all organic compounds
Stretcher= A canvas stretched over a frame, used to transport heavy objects
Metz= A French city
Castle of Dover= A Norman castle on the coast of South England
Concave= Rounded inward like the inside of a bowl
Convex= Rounded outward like the exterior of a sphere
Fiber= A thread, or a object resembling a thread
Strasburg= A French city
Prague= A city in the Czech Republic
Sources/Bibliography
Websites:
Eyeglasses, Spinning Wheels, Clocks, and Wheelbarrows history
Books:
Platt, Richard. Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections Castle. New York: Dorling Kindesley Publishing, Inc., 1994
Townsend White, Lynn. Medieval Technology and Social Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964.
Articles:
"Gunpowder". The Coloumbia Encyclopedia 6th edition. Detroit: Columbia University press, 2000
