Page 214 - Kavur, Boris. Devet esejev o (skoraj) človeški podobi. Založba Univerze na Primorskem, Koper 2014.
P. 214
devet esejev o (skoraj) človeški podobi
Searching for explanation we need to move in to a broader historical context
of Middle Ages. Between the 11th and 14th century the number of inhabitants
in Europe doubled and due to different demographic trends in Mediterrane-
an and Continental part the primacy was taken over by new centers of eco-
nomic gravity located mostly in Central and Northern Europe. Reform of
agrarian production allowed the production of surpluses and a relative eco-
nomic stability for the rural population (with the exception of temporary
epidemics, Mongol and Tartar invasions…). The increase of population was
accompanied by the internal colonization and deforestation – in the Medie-
val period we have witnessed intensive changes in characteristics of the land-
scape. This expansion of cultivated areas was accompanied with the expan-
sion in to territories which were not suitable for agriculture and needed firstly
to be cultivated. Breaking through of pioneers in to uplands created deforest-
ation while the inhabitants of marshy areas had to systematically drain them
first. And since all human societies inhabit, employ and invest meaning in to
the landscape, the physical location of the human settlement and household,
although it was not intensively physically modified due to human interven-
tions, became the place for loading of symbols trough which were performed
and not only observed patterns of human beliefs, power and social structures
(Burroughs 1990, 1). The pioneers penetrated in to a world which in the con-
ceptual system of the Middle Ages represented the opposition to the ordered
and stable world from which they originated – the pioneers advanced in to
the world of the wild man.
Middle Ages were a period of profound changes caused by the develop-
ment of urban lifestyle and were in mutual relation with general demograph-
ic growth, internal colonization and widening of agrarian economy. At the
same time occurred the increase of importance of transport and trade – those
economic activities which were marked by the division of labor. With the de-
velopment of cities they became centers of arts and trade and with their func-
tioning caused the division of production between the city and the country-
side – peasants were responsible for the production of food while trades
became the domains of townsman (Rösener 1994, 49–56). Despite class divi-
sion we have to be aware of the mutual dependence of both classes and their
ideological interlacing. Consequently even in centers of production they were
well aware of activities of ordinary peasant populations. And if the primate in
discoveries of new territories, breaking through in to unknown was lead in
later periods by the social elites, the Middle Ages witnessed a different model
– the internal colonization was performed by the peasants. They were the
ones to penetrate first in to the wilderness and to cultivate the landscape;
214
Searching for explanation we need to move in to a broader historical context
of Middle Ages. Between the 11th and 14th century the number of inhabitants
in Europe doubled and due to different demographic trends in Mediterrane-
an and Continental part the primacy was taken over by new centers of eco-
nomic gravity located mostly in Central and Northern Europe. Reform of
agrarian production allowed the production of surpluses and a relative eco-
nomic stability for the rural population (with the exception of temporary
epidemics, Mongol and Tartar invasions…). The increase of population was
accompanied by the internal colonization and deforestation – in the Medie-
val period we have witnessed intensive changes in characteristics of the land-
scape. This expansion of cultivated areas was accompanied with the expan-
sion in to territories which were not suitable for agriculture and needed firstly
to be cultivated. Breaking through of pioneers in to uplands created deforest-
ation while the inhabitants of marshy areas had to systematically drain them
first. And since all human societies inhabit, employ and invest meaning in to
the landscape, the physical location of the human settlement and household,
although it was not intensively physically modified due to human interven-
tions, became the place for loading of symbols trough which were performed
and not only observed patterns of human beliefs, power and social structures
(Burroughs 1990, 1). The pioneers penetrated in to a world which in the con-
ceptual system of the Middle Ages represented the opposition to the ordered
and stable world from which they originated – the pioneers advanced in to
the world of the wild man.
Middle Ages were a period of profound changes caused by the develop-
ment of urban lifestyle and were in mutual relation with general demograph-
ic growth, internal colonization and widening of agrarian economy. At the
same time occurred the increase of importance of transport and trade – those
economic activities which were marked by the division of labor. With the de-
velopment of cities they became centers of arts and trade and with their func-
tioning caused the division of production between the city and the country-
side – peasants were responsible for the production of food while trades
became the domains of townsman (Rösener 1994, 49–56). Despite class divi-
sion we have to be aware of the mutual dependence of both classes and their
ideological interlacing. Consequently even in centers of production they were
well aware of activities of ordinary peasant populations. And if the primate in
discoveries of new territories, breaking through in to unknown was lead in
later periods by the social elites, the Middle Ages witnessed a different model
– the internal colonization was performed by the peasants. They were the
ones to penetrate first in to the wilderness and to cultivate the landscape;
214
