Question

Describe the EROEI and energy distribution of Europe’s ‘manorial system’. How might the heavy plough, urbanisation, and climate change have been connected economically?
In Europe, the collapse of Empire initially had similar economic impacts as in Asia
As the Western Roman Empire declined after 400 AD, the population of old Roman towns fell sharply, and in the surrounding hinterland the slave plantations which had supplied the towns’ food and fibre needs disappeared, and were replaced gradually by self-sufficient, fortified manorial estates 荘園 where feudal lords extracted their dues
from farmers. From around 800AD to 1400AD, a manorial system had arisen, in which landowning lords gave tracts of land to vassals in return for military support, and vassals, in turn, expropriated the farm produce of serfs i.e. peasants subsisted on leftover crops & vegetables. Life for a serf in this system was oppressive, but less harsh than for a
slave on a Roman plantation; the labour to feed a lord’s retinue of mounted warriors and
clergymen could not have been as arduous as to have to feed entire towns.
The period 800AD to 1100AD saw the uptake of the heavy iron plough (first developed in Han China ca.200BC) across NW Europe, which was better able to drain and aerate the
wet clay soils there, and convert their rich nutrients into higher crop yields. This raised demand for oxen, horses, and fodder crops, and prompted peasants to adopt a more systematic collective approach to allocating use of the plough, crop-rotation in large open fields, and care of common land resources.
Economically, medieval Europe in around 990AD was still in a similar situation to most of Africa: connected to the wider world economy only as an exporter of slaves, raw materials, and exotica (e.g. ivory, antlers, skins), and importer of Asian manufactured goods: Chinese silks and porcelain, Indian calicoes, and Arab steel. Nevertheless, by this time European
towns had begun to reemerge as centres of manufacturing and commerce, providing a chance for serfs to gain legal freedom and artisanal skills, and for
merchants to secure a political foothold of their own. Manorial lords
had persistently attempted to tax and control local markets, but as towns grew up around these markets they were increasingly immune to feudal authorities’ divided claims. Urbanisation was boosted by new technology and warmer climate
Question
Describe the EROEI and energy distribution of Europe’s ‘manorial system’. How might the heavy plough, urbanisation, and climate change have been connected economically?

Answer 1

The concept of EROEI calculates the energy returned on energy invested which basically means the whether the effort involved is commensurate with the return generated. Certain economists are of the view that the rise and fall of EROEI can be directly corelated with the rise and fall of civilizations. Cambodian and Mayan are given as examples where the fall in the indicator seemed to be percursor to the decline of the entire civilizations. Hunter gather societies are supposed to have bare minimum EROEI with large effort required to produce food.

In the case of medieval Europe the entire scenaio was different from the lifestyle of modern man. Fall of Roman empire had lead to widespread deurbanization or movement of population from urban areas to rural life. Cities had become smaller and less populous. More people engaged in primary sector which involved working in fields owned by landlords and providing food for nobility and clergy. Vast number of people were required to involve in back breaking work to earn a livelihood. Whereas small number of nobility enjoyed fruits of the labour and were non contributors to productive activity. Climate of earth was cooler due to low green house gases and lesser population.

Human beings living in world at the end of first millenium especially in Europe had to expend huge amount of effort using primitive tools like plough and using animal power. The overall effort involved was huge compared to the return generated by the same.