Medieval Demography is the study of human demography in Europe during the Middle Ages. Demography is the statistical study of all Populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population that is one that changes over It is an estimate of the number of people who were alive during the Medieval period, population trends and movements. In many ways, demography was one of the most crucial factors of historical change throughout the Middle Ages. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology

Contents 1 Demography 1.1 400-1000 1.2 1000-1250 1.3 1250-1350 1.4 1350-1500 2 Science and art of medieval demography 3 See also 4 Notes 5 Bibliography

Demography

The population levels of Europe during the Middle Ages can be roughly categorized:

• 400-1000: stable at a low level. Events By Place Western Roman Empire Italy is first invaded by Alaric (probable date
• 1000-1250: population boom and expansion.
• 1250-1350: stable at very high level.
• 1350-1420: steep decline
• 1420-1470: stable at a low level.
• 1470-onward: slow expansion gaining momentum in the early 16th century.

400-1000

As the ancient world came to an end there was a steep decline in population, reaching its lowest point around 542 with the bubonic plague (the Plague of Justinian, the last great plague in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century). Events By Place Byzantine Empire An outbreak of the plague kills at least 230000 in Constantinople (before they stopped Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as The Plague of Justinian was a Pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine Empire, including its capital Constantinople, in the years 541 – 542 The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Estimates of total population of Europe are speculative, but at the time of Charlemagne it is thought to be between 25 and 30 million, and of this 15 million are in the Carolingian Empire that included France, the Low Countries, half of Germany, Austria, and Italy. Charlemagne (ˈʃɑrlɨmeɪn Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus meaning Charles the Great) (747 – 28 January 814 was King of the Franks from 768 to his The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Unlike the frontier settler image of a lone self-sufficient farmer who moves when he sees smoke from the neighbor's chimney, medieval settlements were thickly populated, with large zones of unpopulated wilderness in between. Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid support or interaction for survival it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy. To be alone in the Middle Ages, and not part of a community, carried great risks. Crowded communities existed as islands in a sea of uncultivated wilderness.

1000-1250

In the 11th century, people began to move outward into the wilderness, in what is known as the "great clearances". During the High Middle Ages, forests and marshes were cleared and cultivated. The High Middle Ages was the period of European history in the 11th 12th and 13th centuries (AD 1000&ndash1299 At the same time, during the Ostsiedlung, Germans settled east of the Elbe and Saale rivers, regions largely inhabited by Polabian Slavs. This article covers the medieval eastward migrations of Germans The Elbe ( die Elbe Low German: de Ilv) is one of the major Rivers of Central Europe. The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale (Sächsische Saale and Thuringian Saale (Thüringische Saale is a River in Germany and a left-bank Crusaders expanded to the Crusader states, parts of the Iberian Peninsula were reconquered from the Moors, and the Normans colonized southern Italy. The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European Crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. Geography Southern Italy forms the lower "boot" of the Italian peninsula containing the ankle (Abruzzo and Molise and southern Lazio the toe (Calabria and the heel These movements and conquests are part of larger pattern of population expansion and resettlement that occurred in Europe at this time ^[1].

Reasons for this expansion and colonization include an improving climate known as the Medieval warm period allowing longer and more productive growing seasons; the end of raids by Vikings, Arabs, and Magyars resulting in greater political stability; advancements in medieval technology allowing more land to be farmed; reforms of the Church in the 11th century further increasing social stability, and thus more (geographical) mobility. The Medieval Warm Period (MWP or Medieval Climate Optimum was a time of unusually Warm Climate in the North Atlantic region lasting from about A Viking is one of the Norse ( Scandinavian Explorers Warriors Merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas The initial Arab Muslim conquests (632–732 (فتح Fatah, literally opening, also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all or large parts of the Armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory Medieval technology refers to the technology used in medieval Europe, which generally does not include the parts of Europe under Arab rule, such as Islamic Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term The bonds of serfdom that tied peasants to the land began to weaken with the rise of a money economy. Land was plentiful while labor to clear and work the land was scarce; lords who owned the land found new ways to attract and keep labor. Urban centers began to emerge, able to attract serfs with the promise of freedom. As new regions were settled, both internally and externally, population naturally increased.

1250-1350

By 1300 Europe had become overpopulated. England, which had around 1 million people in 1086, was estimated to have a population that ranges from 5 to 7 million. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland France in 1328 (which was geographically smaller than France is today) was believed to have between 18 to 20 million people, which it would not surpass again until the early modern period. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe) The region of Tuscany had 2 million people in 1300, which it would not reach again until 1850. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link Overall, the population of Europe is believed to have reached a peak of 70 to 100 million. ^[2] By comparison, the 27 member-states of the European Union in 2007 had a population of 495 million. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. This compares to grain yields that in the 14th century were between 2:1 and 7:1 (2:1 means for every seed planted, 2 are harvested). Modern grain yields are 30:1 or more, but the population is only 5-7 times higher.

By the 14th century the frontiers had ceased to expand and internal colonization was coming to an end, but population levels remained high. Then in the 14th century a number of calamities struck that devastated millions. Starting with the Great Famine in 1315, then the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death of 1348-1350, the population of Europe plummeted. The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315-1322 was the first of a series of large scale crises that struck Europe early in the 14th century, causing The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia

1350-1500

The period between 1348 and 1420 witnessed the heaviest loss. In Germany, about 40% of the named inhabitants disappeared. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The population of Provence was reduced by 50% and in some regions in Tuscany 70% were lost during this period. Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3

Historians have struggled to explain how so many could have died. There are problems with the long-standing theory that it was just caused by a medical illness (see further discussions at Black Death) and so social factors are looked at. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia A classic Malthusian argument has been put forward that says Europe was overcrowded with people; even in good times it was barely able to feed its population. Thomas Robert Malthus FRS (13 February 1766 – 23 December 1834 was an English political economist and demographer who expressed views Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. A gradual malnutrition developed over decades lowering resistance to disease, and competition for resources meant more warfare. In short, the catastrophes were Malthusian checks on a population too large for its available resources. However, critics say that if this were true, the sudden fall in population would have endowed the survivors with abundant resources that would enable them to recover quickly. This was not the case; populations continued to fall and remained low almost to the 16th century. Thus, classic Malthusian theory does not offer a fully satisfactory explanation.

The most recent, although still tentative, explanation goes like this: by 1250, the population peaked and competition for resources meant that there was a great imbalance between property owners and workers. Rents went up, and wages sank; the unequal distribution of wealth increased between rich and poor. The conditions of the poor became so bad that they achieved net zero population growth. The economic conditions of the poor also aggravated the calamities of the plague because they had no recourse, such as fleeing to a villa in the country in the manner of the nobles in the Decameron. The Decameron (subtitle Prencipe Galeotto) is a collection of 100 Novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in The poor lived in crowded conditions and could not isolate the sick, and had weaker immunities from a lacking diet and difficult subsistence lifestyle. After the plague and other exogenous causes of population decline, this caused wage increases because of a lower labor supply, and a redistribution of wealth; however, this did not happen right away because property owners resisted change through wage freezes and price controls. The wage freezes and price controls were partly responsible for popular uprisings, such as the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and not until the later 15th century did the lower classes start to gain benefits. Popular revolts in late medieval Europe were uprisings and Rebellions by (typically Peasants in the countryside or the Bourgeois in towns against By 1500 the total population of Europe was substantially below that of 200 years earlier, but all classes overall had a higher standard of living.

Science and art of medieval demography

The science of medieval demography is a fairly new one, but one that has received considerable attention lately, in particular with interest in the social issues of the Middle Ages in the later part of the 20th century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Most modern scholarly works today contain a section or chapter on the demographics of a particular town, region or kingdom. Because the sources traditionally used for demographics, such as marriage, birth and death records are generally not available for this period, scholars rely on other sources, which can roughly be broken down into two categories: field data (archaeological) and written records.

Examples of field data include the physical size of a settlement, and how it grows over time. The appearance, or disappearance, of settlements, for example after the Black Death the archaeological record shows the abandonment of upwards of 25% of all villages in Spain. An abandoned village is a Village which has for some reason been deserted The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. However there are problems that limit the use of archaeological data. It is often difficult to assign a precise age to discoveries. As well, some of the largest and most important sites are still occupied and can not be investigated, thus limiting the archaeological record to the more peripheral regions, for example early Middle Ages Anglo-Saxon burials at Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia in England, for which otherwise no records exist. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries

Because of the limitations of field data, most of what is known about Medieval demographics comes from written records, which can be categorized into descriptive accounts, and administrative accounts. Descriptive accounts include those left by chroniclers when they wrote of the size of armies, victims of war or famine, participants in an oath. This is a listing of lists of Wars, sorted by country date region and type of conflict A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation However, many of these accounts were embellishments, and thus act as supporting evidence and never taken factually on their own.

The most important written accounts are those taken from administrative records. These accounts are more objective and accurate because the motivations for writing them were not to influence others. These records can be divided into two categories: surveys and serial documents. Surveys cover an estate or region on a particular date, rather like a modern inventory. Manorial surveys were very common throughout the Middle Ages, in particular in France and England, but faded as serfdom gave way to a money economy. This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here Fiscal surveys came with the rise of the money economy, the most famous and earliest being the Domesday Book in 1086. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey The Book of Hearths from Italy in 1244 is another example. The largest fiscal survey was of France in 1328. As kings continued to look for new ways to raise money, these fiscal surveys increased in number and scope over time. Surveys have limitations, because they cover only a snapshot in time they do not give long term trends, and they tend to exclude elements of society.

Serial records come in different forms. The earliest are from the 8th century and are land conveyances such as sales, exchanges, donations, and leases. The 8th century is the period from 701 to 800 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Other types of serial records include death records from religious institutions and baptism registrations. Other helpful records include heriots, court records, food prices and rent prices, from which inferences can be made. for the town see Heriot Scotland Heriot was the right of a lord in feudal Europe to seize a Serf 's best horse

See also

• Classical demography
• Crisis of the Late Middle Ages
• Dark Ages
• Life expectancy
• List of famines
• List of disasters
• Little Ice Age
• Medieval household
• Migration Period
• Mongol Empire
• Slavery in medieval Europe

Notes

Bibliography

• Peter Biller, The Measure of Multitude: Population in Medieval Thought, 2001, ISBN 0-19-820632-1
• David Herlihy, "Demography", Dictionary of the Middle Ages, vol. The Dictionary of the Middle Ages is a 13-volume Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages published by the American Council of Learned Societies between 4, 1989 ISBN 0-684-17024-8
• Thomas Hollingsworth, Historical Demography, 1969, ISBN 0-8014-0497-5
• Josiah Russell,Medieval Demography: Essays (Ams Studies in the Middle Ages No 12), 1987, ISBN 0-404-61442-6

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