On Heath and Fields. The transformation of the rural landscape of the Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period (ca. 1200-1550)

Johan Petrus Wilhelmus VERSPAY, M.A.

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

Archaeological research of the past decades testify of the profound transformation the coversand area between the rivers Meuse, Demer and Scheldt, which extends across Northern Belgium and the Southern Netherlands, underwent during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. These development would shape the landscape and largely determine its present-day appearance. Focusing on the Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch region and using a landscape archaeological approach, this study takes a closer look at this late-medieval transformation through five themes: 1. The large-scale relocation of rural settlements; 2. The changing structure of the rural landscape; 3. Developments in agricultural land use and the emergence of plaggen manuring; 4. Developments in the agricultural practice and the emergence of the deep litter byre; 5. The developments in the construction of vernacular farmhouses; Each subject was first explored separately to determine its precise nature and chronology. Subsequently, the correlation between these events and their relationship with other major social developments of this period was examined. The results were integrated in a regional synthesis. This was then compared with contemporaneous developments in other parts of Europe. Two overarching themes, the rise of open field agriculture (a) and the formation of villages (b), were studies in further detail for the MDS-area. This yielded a hypothesis, but also revealed the limits of our current insights and data. Because these are related to the way in which archaeology is organised in the Netherlands and Belgium, this study concluded with the formulation of a solution for currently inhabited historical village research in the present heritage system. The late medieval transformation of settlement, landscape and agriculture was found to be not so much the direct result of a specific factor or event, but rather the outcome of a context in which a set of conditions were met that made certain developments in the rural landscape possible or expedient. Although the themes were certainly interlinked, their correlation was not always direct. In its essence the late medieval transformation is the shift from a late feudal society, mainly organised according to manorial structures to a proto-capitalist society with an early market economy with more elaborate administrative and economic structures which led to the development of villages and market towns under a centralized authority. In the MDS-area this development was an intricate interplay between social, political, legal and economic factors within the specific geographical and environmental context of the coversand area. This accounts for the regional scope of the developments on the one hand with distinctly local features on the other. The transformations in the rural society of the Meierij therefore did not occur in isolation, but rather were part of a wider range of socio-economic and political developments that took place in large parts of Europe. In nearly all of the regions studied in the survey an extensive expansion of the arable land was observed around this period resulting in the growth and often reorganisation of settlements and the emergence of market towns. Yet it should not be concluded that these developments were universal. There are marked differences between these regions in the nature and course of these developments, their timing and pace as well as the major driving forces behind them. The agricultural landscape itself has proven to be an indispensable source for the research of late medieval rural communities. The study of ordinary arable fields and parcel boundaries not only led to a new understanding of developments in agriculture, land use and spatial planning, but also provided insights into the underlying property relationships and social organisation of these communities.

Abstract:

Archaeological research of the past decades testify of the profound transformation the coversand area between the rivers Meuse, Demer and Scheldt, which extends across Northern Belgium and the Southern Netherlands, underwent during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. These development would shape the landscape and largely determine its present-day appearance. Focusing on the Bailiwick of 's-Hertogenbosch region and using a landscape archaeological approach, this study takes a closer look at this late-medieval transformation through five themes: 1. The large-scale relocation of rural settlements; 2. The changing structure of the rural landscape; 3. Developments in agricultural land use and the emergence of plaggen manuring; 4. Developments in the agricultural practice and the emergence of the deep litter byre; 5. The developments in the construction of vernacular farmhouses; Each subject was first explored separately to determine its precise nature and chronology. Subsequently, the correlation between these events and their relationship with other major social developments of this period was examined. The results were integrated in a regional synthesis. This was then compared with contemporaneous developments in other parts of Europe. Two overarching themes, the rise of open field agriculture (a) and the formation of villages (b), were studies in further detail for the MDS-area. This yielded a hypothesis, but also revealed the limits of our current insights and data. Because these are related to the way in which archaeology is organised in the Netherlands and Belgium, this study concluded with the formulation of a solution for currently inhabited historical village research in the present heritage system. The late medieval transformation of settlement, landscape and agriculture was found to be not so much the direct result of a specific factor or event, but rather the outcome of a context in which a set of conditions were met that made certain developments in the rural landscape possible or expedient. Although the themes were certainly interlinked, their correlation was not always direct. In its essence the late medieval transformation is the shift from a late feudal society, mainly organised according to manorial structures to a proto-capitalist society with an early market economy with more elaborate administrative and economic structures which led to the development of villages and market towns under a centralized authority. In the MDS-area this development was an intricate interplay between social, political, legal and economic factors within the specific geographical and environmental context of the coversand area. This accounts for the regional scope of the developments on the one hand with distinctly local features on the other. The transformations in the rural society of the Meierij therefore did not occur in isolation, but rather were part of a wider range of socio-economic and political developments that took place in large parts of Europe. In nearly all of the regions studied in the survey an extensive expansion of the arable land was observed around this period resulting in the growth and often reorganisation of settlements and the emergence of market towns. Yet it should not be concluded that these developments were universal. There are marked differences between these regions in the nature and course of these developments, their timing and pace as well as the major driving forces behind them. The agricultural landscape itself has proven to be an indispensable source for the research of late medieval rural communities. The study of ordinary arable fields and parcel boundaries not only led to a new understanding of developments in agriculture, land use and spatial planning, but also provided insights into the underlying property relationships and social organisation of these communities.

Keywords

landscape archaeology, settlement archaeology, medieval archaeology, medieval agriculture, open-field agriculture, settlement relocation, village formation, plaggen manuring, man-made soil, plaggen soil, deep litter byre, late medieval transformation, vernacular farmhouse, medieval farmhouse, low countries

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 20. 4. 2019

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 8. 4. 2021
• Supervisor: Doc. PhDr. Pavel Vařeka, Ph.D.

University of West Bohemia

Faculty of Arts

Doctoral programme / field:
Archaeology / Archaelogy