Three-Field System In Medieval England

As the year approached the seventh century, a warmer climate change allowed for higher elevation of lands to be used (Johnson 3, Mason). New techniques, tools, and more land contributed to more food production and a growing population. Agriculture was an extremely important aspect of medieval life that affected everyone from kings to even landless peasants. In fact, ninety percent of the population worked the land (Singman 75). Agriculture evolved over the centuries, and during the medieval ages, it was revolutionized. Some time after the Norman conquest of 1066, English peasants began to turn from the two-field system to the three-field system (Johnston 5-6). Both types of open-field systems were created for the purpose of crop rotation. It allowed certain parts of the land to replenish itself after harvest (Cantor 19). Farmers have long known about crop rotation, but the two-field system would leave half the land fallow. On the other hand, the three-field system allowed for spring crops in one field, autumn crops in another, and only a third of the land was left fallow (Cantor 19). Then, during the next planting season, the field would rotate. The three-field system allowed for as much as fifty percent more food production than its two-field system counterpart. (Johnston 6)

Connecting strips of unplowed land, balks, separated each furlong. Tenants would get an equal share of land in each furlong, called selions. The plot of land would usually covers one whole day worth of plowing (Singman 78-79). In addition, each piece of land was usually long and narrow for easy plowing, but also oddly shape so that everyone got both good and bad land (Johnston 4, Singman 78). Although there were some boundary markers for each tenant’s land, peasants would join forces and work the land together, the open-field system (). They would share tools and combine their oxen or horses for