#oldinventions

[bygonely]

The Most Bizarre Inventions From The Past

[georgesteger-blog]

Were the Early Middle Ages really “The Dark Ages”?

Many people believe that the first one thousand years of the Middle Ages were a barbaric age that History might just as well skip over. “1000 Years without a bath,’ as some wag described it. Others said that in those years “Life was ugly, brutal, and short.” Nevertheless, the truth might be far from such disparaging remarks. The Early Middle Ages were also an era of slow but amazing invention, most of it created by the lowly peasant. If you don’t believe it, just cast your eyes on the following list:  1. The wheeled plow that plowed deep and turned the soil at the same time. 2. The ‘Three-field” system, by which a third less land had to lie fallow each year. 3. The harrow for breaking up the clods. 4. The toothed sickle for faster harvesting. 5. The tandem harness, which made it possible to harness together as many as eight or even twelve oxen for plowing. 6. The horse collar, which made it possible to use horses for pulling and plowing. Because horses were much faster than oxen, work could get done more quickly. 7. The water mill which produced power for grinding grain, dying clothes and s multitude of other things. 8. Stirrups 9. Tubs 10. Barrels 11. The crank 12. The wheelbarrow 13. Felt 14. Soap 15. Trousers All these amazing labor-saving tools not only paved the way for the creation of surplus instead of subsistence but they also significantly diminished the use of slaves in Northern Europe. (It helped that the Christian Church condemned the practice as well.) So make your own judgment! Read the full article