Europe stretches across large areas of land with different conditions. Thus we ... which was colonized by peasants during the early Iron Age, approximately 500.
Rural Landscape between State and Local Communities in Europe Past and Present Proceedings of the 16th Session of the Standing European Conference for the Study of th^ Rural Landscape
(Torino, 12-16 September 1994)
Edited by Pa o l a S e r e n o a n d M a r i a L u i s a S t u r a n i
Separates
Edizioni d ell’Orso 1998
DESERTED M EDIEVAL FARM STEADS AND ENVIRO NM ENTAL C HANG E H a n s A n to n s o n (Central Board of National Antiquities, Stockholm)
The European high m iddle-age colonization and the causes of the stag nation and the regression that followed, which is usually called the late m edieval agrarian crisis, have been studied for several decades. D ifferent studies have presented various explanations of the crisis. Am ong others one could m ention the Black Death, change of comm erce, war, feudalism and the clim ate factors.1 Europe stretches across large areas of land with different conditions. Thus we are not likely to find a general factor regarding the cause of the crisis. For instance, it is difficult to apply a theory of a deteriorating clim ate in the central European plains as well as it is to apply a theory of feudalism in Scandinavia. It is how ever possible to find one main factor of cause in a local context. D u rin g th e 1 9 7 0 ’s th e re w as a la rg e re s e a rc h p r o je c t c a lle d “T h e Scandinavian Research Project on Deserted Farm s and Villages” .2 This project aimed at, reconstructing the total high m iddle-ages built-up areas, study the set tlem ent developm ents from 1300 to 1600 AD and to find the causes of the fluc tuations in the settlements. The project attem pted to m aintain a sim ilar way to work so as to prom ote com parable results between the countries involved. In the project there were representatives of different disciplines but there were few geographers involved, and thus the aspects of geography were given an unfair treatm ent accordingly. To investigate whether changes in the physical environm ent, for instance climate, could have been the determ ining factor to the late m edieval agrarian crisis, the choice of original sources m ust be realistic. Such a theory can not be applied to any geographic area. The area m ust be clim atologically sensitive, in other words lie on the clim ate limit to cultivation. These borderlands could be id en tified through studies o f survey m aps from p resen t tim e, show ing for
1 S. Gissel et a l, Desertion and Land Colonization in the Nordic Countries c. 1300-1600. (The Scandinavian Research Project on Deserted Farms and Villages publication vol. 11 Stockholm 1981) 54ff., 1 lOff; W. Abel, Agricultural fluctuations in Europe. From the thirteenth to the twentieth centu ries (London 1980) 3rd edn., 35ff. 2 Gissel et al., Nasjonale forskningsoversikter (Det nordiska ödegärdsprojektets publikation nr. 1 Köpenhamn 1972); Gissel et al. Desertion and Land Colonization.
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instance the length of the vegetation period, the length of the farm ing year, the num ber of frosty days, hours of sunshine observed and the duration of the cover o f snow (figures la-e). The highlands of southern Sw eden and the inland of N orthern Sw eden could be sorted out as clim atologically sensitive regions (figure If). However, also the exact location of the high m iddle-age settlem ents m ust be known to do such a study. It is possible to reconstruct the am ount of the m iddle-age settlem ents of large parts of Europe. In Scandinavia, however, the original sources are of such a character that it is difficult to locate the exact places of the settlem ents. This is related to the fact that the names m entioned in diplom as and registers of tax payers, are no longer in use. W ithout these references the research is obstructed with regard to m any different theories such as that of clim ate. In spite of this it is not unusual with research dealing with the clim ate as one factor of cause. The co u n ty o f Jäm tlan d , how ever, is an area w ithin S w eden w hich m eets the dem and for clim atological sensitivity as well as the dem and for know ledge of the settlem ents exact location. T his county is located on latitu d e 63°N and is one o f E u ro p e ’s m ost northern larger continuous rural areas. Two out of Jäm tlands 20 m iddle-age parishes are investigated in this study. The parishes R evsund and Sundsjö, are located on the border-line areas between the Jäm tland central settlem ent area, which was colonized by peasants during the early Iron Age, approxim ately 500 AD, and the perifical forest area, which was not colonized fully until during the 19th century (figure 2). In Sweden it has not been possible to reconstruct the late m edieval time settlem ent in any other place than in Jäm tland. On a journey in 1749 John Otto H agström wrote that there were more deserted farm s in Jäm tland than in any other county in Sw eden.3 This is due to the fact that farms were not recolonized to any degree worth m entioning after the decline. There are still traces o f farm ing to be found as fossil rural traces. However, there are also outstanding written sources such as medieval diplom as and various adm inistrative govern m ent papers from the 16th century an onward. M ost references regarding desert ed farm, however, are collected from registers of taxpayers of the 1560’s. They are m entioned as deserted farms and were used as m eadow -land. Various inves tigations mean that the main econom ic activity during the 16th century was cat tle-raising.4 If these deserted farms have not been left in the form of nam es and fossil rural traces, but, for exam ple, have been elim inated by cultivation of land, there are references to be found in the cadastral m aps of the 17th, 18th and
3 J.-O. Hagström Jemtiands oeconomiska be skri/ning eller känning, i akt tagen på en resa om sommaren 1749 (Stockholm 1751). 4 J. Myrdal & S. Söderberg Kontinuitetens dynamik. A grar ekonomi i 1500-talets Sverige (Acta universitatis Stockholmiensis. Stockholm studies in economic history 15 Stockholm 1991) 494.
Deserted medieval farmsteads and environmental change 1 7 9
19th centuries, at the time when cultivated land had not expanded to an extent worth m entioning. Archaeological investigations show that it is a question of farm s from the m edieval time. The results of tim e determ inations indicate that these farm s were established around the 11th century. The tim e of decline has not been sup plied by the archaeology, but has been approxim ately determ ined by written sources. From these the historian Helge Salvesens has shown that the desertion went on between 1350 and 1450 AD and probably right up to the 16th century.5 These settlem ents consisted of free-hold single farm steads, which was still the case, with m ost settlem ents in the 18th century. In Jäm tland the dialectal term for a deserted farm from this tim e is “ödesböle” . Up till now there is evidence of more than 400 of these ödesböle. We have a very good picture of the extent of settlem ent in the 1560’s. There is evi dence of more than 550 ham lets or single farm steads from this time. Assum ing that there was no specially forceful expansion of settlem ents betw een the crisis of the 14th century and up to the 1560’s the decline is hardly 50%. This num ber agrees well with the investigations that Helge Salvesen carried out in Jäm tland w here he arrived at 40%. The casual connection, he means, is the B lack Death and a deteriorating climate, though his sources are extrem ely vague.6 There are no references to clim ate from the m edieval time, but on the other hand there are such references from the 17th and 18th centuries. The inform ation is collected from cadastral maps, records of the so-called newly established set tlem ents, and accounts of journeys. The clim ate was said to be trying and less favourable. It appears distinctly that the problem s, above all, where related to the late thaw, and the severe frost, and sow ing could not co m m ence until April/M ay. The cadastral maps often show how the w ater-stream s were consid ered to have a cooling effect on the arable land. Historically, barley was cultiva ted in Jäm tland, which in itself is clim atological concession. In N orthern Sweden (Norrland) the local clim ate, or the m icroclim ate, has played a deciding role when choosing the settlem ent location. Several geog raphical studies from the 1950’s have studied the colonization of the vast for ested countryside, especially, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the so called new ly established settlem ents. The decisive factor was not the soils but the exposure to frost. The autumn frost was considered to be the great danger. It could appear as early as the late sum mer, in July. C om pared w ith the other counties in Northern Sweden, Jäm tland is considerably more exposed to frost, in spring as well as in the autumn according to statistics during the period 1871
5 H. Salvesen Jord i Jemtland. Bose tn in g s h is to ris ke og ökonom iske studier i grenselcind ca. 1200-1650 (Östersund 1979) 105ff. 6 Ibid. 172ff.
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to 1900.7 The frost could make great dam age to the farm ing so bad that the farm ers had to move due to repeated failure of the crops. R elocation’s of the farms, from colonization to desertion, could at least take between 12 and 51 years for the newly established settlem ents of the 18th century.8 The frost appears in depressions and low stretches of valleys under special conditions. On an average a valley, during night-tim e, may thereby be de scribed as having a relatively cold clim ate on the top, whilst the slope can have a zone of a m ilder climate, and down at the bottom a cold and frost exposed cli mate. However, there is an exception, should there be a large lake in the valley, the w ater tem perature may hinder frost developm ent. M any new settlem ents had to move their cultivations from good soil lying low in a valley to a poorer soil higher up in the valley terrain.9 This picture of the colonization of new ly established settlem ents may be com pared to the localisation of the settlem ents during the 1560’s in the follow ing study. Certainly there is no know ledge of how farm steads, arable and pasture land were located in the terrain from this time. However, the knowledge may be obtained from the early cadastral m aps 150 years later. Generally seen, farm steads from this time where situated a bit up in the terrain, with m eadow -land towards the valley. A bove the farm steads and arable land there is the forest. The British scholar, M artin Parry, shows in his study from 1978 that the clim ate continually grew colder during the m edieval time. B etw een the years 1300 and 1600 AD the average annual tem perature fell by m ore than 1°C.10 Sim ultaneously the precipitation increased. The trends in accum ulated tem pera ture that Parry shows in his study, is not supported by the new tree-ring data collected from Tornetrask in Northern Sw eden.11 These investigation shows that there have been great fluctuations in the mean sum m er (A pril-A ugust) tem pera ture. However, the Tom erask-study shows that there has been longer periods of cool conditions. One of this periods stretches from 1330-1400 with interm edi ate warm and cold fluctuations between c. 1360-1385, and corresponds with the presum ed start of the late m edieval agrarian crisis round the 1350’s. Between the years 1400 and 1440 the clim ate turned into a w arm er phase but was again followed by a drop in tem perature in the second half of the 15th century. Parry m eans that when a depreciation occurs in the general clim ate by a tem perature
7 P. Hellström, Norrlands Jordbruk (Norrländskt handbibliotek VI Uppsala, Stockholm 1917) 3 Off. 8 E. Bylund & Å. Sundborg, Lokalklimatets inverkan på bebyggelsens läge i Arvidsjaurs socken. Ymer Sjuttioandra årgången (Stockholm 1952) 2ff. 9 Ib id. 10 M. L. Parry, Climatic change, agriculture and settlement (Kent 1978) 97. 11 K. R. Briffa et al. A 1,400-year tree-ring record of sum m er tem perature in Fennoscandia Nature 346(1990) 437f.
Deserted medieval farmsteads and environmental change 181
decrease, there is a decrease in the limit in the terrain, for possible cultivation. A change in the general clim ate could even change the local clim ate conditions. Parry has carried out a study o f the d evelopm ent o f the settlem en t in Trpndelag in Norway, which is on the border to Jäm tland.12 He found that the cultivation limit had decreased by approxim ately 150 m etres betw een the years 1300 and 1600. The problem related to his study is that it was based on second hand material, so that the effects on the local clim ate on the settlem ent have not been investigated. If his assum ptions are correct for Jäm tland, deserted farms should be found higher up in the terrain than the settlem ent sites of the 1560’s. W ithin the two investigated parishes the earliest colonization with agricul ture is m entioned by names with a special suffix (-sta) which may be referred to the late Iron-Age, a few decades before the year 1050 AD. The farm steads were all situated along the large lakes. 12 farm steads from this tim e have been local ised (figure 3a). The next picture of a settlem ent represent the m iddle ages be fore the desertion that began in the 1350’s. The num ber of deserted farm steads is 42. Counting in addition those farm steads which are m entioned in the diplom as between the year 1400 and 1450 and in the registers of taxpayers of the 1560’s the total settlem ent before the desertion, should am ount to c. 66-79 farm steads. By this phase in the colonization in the central areas along the large lakes new territories w ere added and taken into use. The farm steads w ere established further into the parishes seen from the large lakes (figure 3b). The last picture of colonization is referred to in the registers of taxpayers from the 1560’s, and is considered to be alm ost com plete. The num ber of farm steads was 37. Here it can be seen that a majority of the farm steads are again to be found along the large lakes (figure 3c). It looks as if there has not been any larger new establish ment of farmsteads after the desertion up to the 1560’s. The num ber of 37 farm steads in the register of taxpayers may be com pared to the num ber of 24 farm steads which were docum ented in the diplomas between the year 1400 and 1450. A ccording to the m odel by Parry a m ajority of the deserted farm steads should be situated higher up in the terrain than the settlem ents rem aining after the crisis. The main part or 78% of the farm steads of the 1560’s was situated between 295 and 329 m etres above the sea level. The corresponding num ber regarding the deserted farm steads is 65.6%. A com parison betw een the deserted settlem ents and the settlem ents of the 1560’s shows that 15.5% of the deserted settlem ents had been situated higher up than 360 metres above sea level, com pared to 5.4% of the settlem ents of the 1560’s and 4% of the settlem ents m en tioned in the diplomas between the year 1400 and 1450. This shows that there is a m arked higher location in the terrain for deserted farm steads than for the rem aining settlem ents after the crisis.
12 Parry, op. cit. 106f and 128ff.
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A nother im portant factor in a cultivation sensitive area which this investi gation includes is the possibility of the farm stead to receive m axim um solar radiation. This can be observed by studying what quarter the cultivations of the settlem ent were exposed. It could be expected that the main part of the settle m ent was exposed in Southern situations (between ESE and W ). It turned out though that com paratively many deserted farm steads were located in less suita ble terrain locations. In all 45.2% of the deserted farm steads were situated in the less suitable N orthern quarters (betw een W N W and E), which may be com pared to the settlem ents of 1560’s were the com parable num bers are 13.5% and 8,3% o f the settlem ents m entioned in the diplom as between the year 1400 and 1450. No m ajor differences in the soil of the fields can be noted for the deserted farms com pared to the farms of the 1560’s. R egarding the two parishes in Jäm tland the picture of the localisation of the farm steads only corresponds partly with the Parry model. There are desert ed farm steads situated on a com parable height to the farm steads of the 1560’s. However, in such case, when the farm steads was not localised close to a large lake, the clim ate could still be the factor which can explain this. In addition to the change in the general clim ate and the periodically decrease in average tem perature, even the local clim ate should have changed. Areas which earlier were not sensitive to frost could be transform ed in that direction due to a change in tem perature. Already poor settlem ent sites, at the clim ate lim it to cultivation would becom e im possible to cultivate. The settlem ent was situated either too high or too low (figure 4). The research on deserted farm steads in Jäm tland has contributed som e dif ferent explanations to the dramatic decline in the num ber of farm steads after the 14th century. T here is no reason to doubt that the B lack D eath reached Jäm tland. To my knowledge the nearest docum entation derives from the county of H älsingland, in 1395, only 200 kilom etres aw ay.13 There are also opinions about desertions o f farm steads in connection with a change in the aim and direction of the cultivation. The production of the deserted farm stead transfer red into producing hay, i.e. w inter forage. That the deserted farm s, however, prim arily should depend on a transition from grain crop cultivation to anim al production seems unlikely. This cause m ust be seen as secondary in relation to a deteriorating climate. One can adduce weighty arguments for that it was the clim ate, regionally as well as locally, which contributed to the fact that such a large num ber of fa rm ste ad s w ere d ese rted d u rin g the 14th and 15th ce n tu rie s in Jäm tlan d . Salvessen allege that the desertion went on between the year 1350 and 1450 AD, and m ost likely up to the 16th century. This conclusion agrees relatively
13 S. Brink Den senmedeltida agrarkrisen i H älsingland (Bebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift. Uppsatser och studier, nr. 20 Stockholm 1990) 42.
Deserted medieval farmsteads and environmental change 1 8 3
w e ll w ith th e c o o l p e rio d th a t s tre tc h e s fro m th e y e a r 1330 to 1400. Furtherm ore, during the same period the two investigated parishes would have been in a exposed position to the frost in analogy with the conditions during the second half of the 19th century. We know for certain that the second half o f 19th century was extrem ely frosty in Northern Sw eden.14 It is also know n that the same period was a period of cool conditions, sim ilar to the conditions o f the second half of the 14th century15. O f course, this does not exclude the Black Death from having had an influence on the agrarian crisis.
A c k n o w le d g e m e n ts
I should like to express my thanks to the Carl M annerfelts fond for the generous financial contributions that made my journey to Turin possible. I also wish to thank Mrs Joyce Larsson and miss Åsa Forseby for the help with trans lations into English.
14 Hellström, op. cit. 30. 15 See the Torneträsk tree-ring study mentioned above.
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R EFEREN CES W. A bel A gricultural fluctuations in Europe. From the thirteenth to the tw entieth cen turies (London 1980) 3rd edn. H. W .son A hlm ann (ed.) N orden i text och kartor (Stockholm 1976) A tlas över Sverige (Stockholm 1952) E. Bylund & A. Sundborg Lokalklim atets inverkan p å bebyggelsens läge i A rvidsjaurs socken. Ymer Sjuttioandra årgången (Stockholm 1952) K. R. B r if f a e t al. A 1 ,4 0 0 -y e a r tr e e - r in g r e c o rd o f s u m m e r te m p e r a tu r e in Fennoscandia. N ature 346 (1990) S. Brink D en senm edeltida agrarkrisen i H älsingland (B ebyggelsehistorisk tidskrift. U ppsatser och studier, nr. 20. Stockholm 1990) S. G issel et al. N a sjo n a le fo rs k n in g sö v e rs ik te r. (D et n o rd isk a ö d e g å rd sp ro je k te ts publikation nr. 1. K öpenham n 1972) S. G issel et al. D esertion and L and C olonization in the N ordic C ountries c. 1300-1600 (The Scandinavian Research Project on D eserted Farm s and V illages publication vol. 11. Stockholm 1981). J.-O . H agström Jem tlands oeconom iska beskrifning eller känning, i a kt tagen p å en resa om som m aren 1749 (Stockholm 1751). P. H ellström N orrlands Jordbruk (N orrländskt handbibliotek VI. U ppsala, Stockholm 1917) J. M yrdal & S. Söderberg Kontinuitetens dynamik. A g ra r ekonom i i 1500-talets Sverige (A cta universitatis S tockholm iensis. Stockholm studies in econom ic history 15. Stockholm 1991) M. L. Parry Clim atic change, agriculture and settlem ent (K ent 1978) H. Salvesen Jord i Jemtland. B osetningshistoriske og ökonom iske studier i g renseland ca. 1200-1650 (Ö stersund 1979)
Fig. la . Number of frosty days during the time between sowing and harvest. From 1 July to time when average day temperature has sunk to +8°C. From Atlas över Sverige map, 34:12. -b) Length of farming year. Number of days between commencement of spring tillage and termi nation winter ploughing. From Atlas över Sverige, map 71:8. -c) The duration of the cover of snow. From Ahlmann p.27. -d) Hours of sunshine observed in June. From Atlas över Sverig, map 34:19. -e) The number of days during the vegetation period. From Atlas över Sverige, map 28:28. -f) Climatologically sensitive regions, identified from the figures la-e.
Fig. 2. The province of Jämtland and the parishes Revsund (1) and Sundsjö (2).
Fig. 3. Colonization phases in the parishes of Revsund and Sundsjo. -a) Settlements of the late Iron-Age period, -b) Odesbole i.e. deserted high middle-age settlements -c) Settlements men tioned in the 1560’s.
Fig. 4. Explanatory sketch of the settlements before and after the environmental change.
