Medieval Technology and Social Change

A detailed Summary of Medieval Technology and Social Change

White, Lynn. Medieval Technology and Social Change. New York: Oxford ___University Press, 1964.

In his book, Medieval Technology and Social Change, Lynn White considers the effects of technological breakthroughs on the different societies of Europe during the medieval period. He begins with the collapse of feudalism with the development of machines and tools that introduced factories in place of small cottage industries. The development of the manorial system with the introduction of new kinds of plows and new methods of crop rotation, is one of his strongest points. One invention of particular importance, writes White, was the stirrup, which in turn introduced heavy, long-range cavalry to the medieval battlefield.

I find that White's assumption that the stirrup was the key invention that lead us out of the medieval period and is the cornerstone of modern life, is very vague and requires much fantasy. White makes a statement and then proceeds to after much supportive material, will disprove his theories and second-guess them. Almost so that he is always right, he says, "this is true, but it is also false." I find that very disturbing and a bit difficult to understand. However, I do realize that White has little to work with, and that much of history is simply taking the pieces that we have and trying to see the picture the best we can. Unfortunately, I think that White, in this case made some very grand imaginative insights, into what this particular pictu

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Approximate Word count = 510
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Technology

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Medieval Technology and Social Change

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