Production Structures and Food Systems in the Early Middle Ages
Author(s)
Montanari, Massimo
Abstract
Though most would consider the market the center of food exchange, it was not until the 8th and 9th centuries that food was traded beyond the immediate producers in any significant quantity. Still, the dominate unit in the medieval society was the rural landscape of the landowner. Since most farms were consolidated under one landowner, more often than not the medieval unit of production was the system of families working the land for that owner and his family and retinue. This system seems to have worked to allow the peasants the security of always having enough food, thereby leading to population growth, diets rich with sufficient levels of cereals and vegetables, and created the basis for the awareness of land and animals that would later come to play such a large role in extensive agriculture and farming.
