Milling Technology in the Middle Ages: The Direction of Recent Research

Abstract

The medieval mill has been the subject of recent research, which has shown many previously-held ideas about it to be incorrect. The watermill was already well-established during the Roman period, and so its spread throughout Europe was not a feature of the early Middle Ages. The windmill was medieval man's great contribution to milling technology, though its impact was significant only where waterpower was inadequate; its success contrasts with the limited use of tide mills (probably not a medieval invention), and of industrial mills, the importance of which has been overrated. Of these, only the fulling mill was built in any numbers, and it failed to have the economic impact that many have claimed for it. Industrial mills that were technically feasible were not widely used because large-scale production was inappropriate to a medieval economy that was agrarian, poor, had poor transport and was geared to local production of commodities.