12: Western Europe and Byzantium circa 1000-1500 CE
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- 12.7: Growth in Agriculture
- Eleventh-century Europe’s economy was primarily agricultural. The eleventh and twelfth centuries saw a massive expansion of agricultural output in the northern regions of Europe, which led to a corresponding growth in the economy and population. The same improvement in iron technology that allowed the equipping of armored knights led to more iron tools: axes allowed farmers to clear forests and cultivate more land, and the iron share of a heavy plow allowed farmers to plow deep into thick soil.
Thumbnail: Baldwin of Boulogne entering Edessa in 1098 (history painting, Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury 1840). (Public Domain).