by Desconhecido
Thus the development of Stora Ullevi in the late Middle Ages can be comprehended as reflecting an increased integration – social, economic and cultural – between town and hinterland. The animal husbandry became more oriented to satisfy the needs of foodstuff in the nearby town. The material culture reflects a new social context in the hamlet with a non-agrarian connection.
Hence, the hamlet was in a way ‘urbanised’. The ecclesiastical character of the finds indicates a link to the expanding diocese in the town, and possibly people belonging to this institution inhabited the farmstead in the late Middle Ages.
The development of the hamlet of Stora Ullevi after the Middle Ages is somewhat more obscure. The era of Reformation meant a setback for the episcopal town of Linköping, the properties of the catholic church being withdrawn to the Swedish state, possibly affecting not only the town but also the surrounding countryside.96 However, nothing of this is archaeologically discernible at Stora Ullevi where the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were characterised by expansion.
Fig. 28. Cadastral map of Stora Ullevi from the 1760s
The farmstead at Örja in the province of Scania
The village of Örja is located in the western part of Scania some kilometres east of the town of Landskrona. The surroundings of the village are a fertile plain area where crop farming has been dominant. Örja was the church village of Örja parish, which also included the hamlet of Tullstorp. The oldest map of 1761 depicts 18 homesteads in Örja, which means a relatively large village (Fig. 31). A very scarce written source material gives no support to the assumption that this was the medieval extent of the village. All the homesteads of the village seem to have been tenant farms.
Fig. 29. Change of settlement at Stora Ullevi AD 1200-1500. Settlement dated to a. 1200–1350 and b. 1350–1500, respectively. Grey lines show the building plots from the cadastral map
Fig. 30. Finds from the late medieval house at Stora Ullevi: a. book clasp with rock crystal and strap-end mounting; b. bronze mountings (photo: G. Billeson)
Originally the farmsteads were located around a large open area where the medieval parish church was erected at the turn of the century 1200. Possibly, there was an older church and also an early-medieval manor in the eastern part of the village.97
In the year 2010 the western part of Örja was excavated. Settlement remains of prehistoric as well as of historic origin were investigated. In the eleventh century a settlement, divided in four clusters of houses, was established, which coincided with the locations of the eighteenth century farmsteads. Two of the settlement units, denominated farmsteads 1 and 12 on the maps, had continuity all through the Middle Ages. One of the other two units, denominated 20 on the maps, was abandoned around 1400. The last unit, denominated 16 on the maps, existed only during the early Middle Ages and was resettled not until in the sixteenth century. Of these four units, I will focus on farmstead 12.
The four units of the eleventh century have been interpreted as a contemporary, large-scale establishment.98 Whether they were four independent farmsteads or parts of a big manor estate is still obscure. Farmstead 12 included during this early-medieval period a big multifunctional house with three naves, probably serving both residential and economic purposes. Furthermore a long barn and three minor agricultural buildings belonged to this settlement. Outside the multifunctional building a smoke oven was found and so a cultural layer with indications of fish processing.
In the twelfth century the settlement seems to have been incorporated into to a regulated structure. A system of ditches enclosed the settlement and this system remained unchanged up to the time of the oldest maps of the eighteenth century. The farmstead now included a dwelling house in the north, a barn in the west and another two agricultural buildings in the south and in the east. Also in this phase there were strong indications of fish processing.
Small changes of the settlement happened in the thirteenth century. The agricultural buildings were the same as in the previous phase. The dwelling house in the north burned down in the beginning of the century and was replaced by a new construction. Gradually this building was used for smoking fish. A significant development of this activity seems to have happened during this period.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries some important changes of the farmstead took place. There was an obvious reduction of the settled area and the farmstead now included only three buildings. The house in the north was still present but considerably changed and adjusted to the fish processing, which developed to a specialised, large-scale activity (Fig. 32).
Apparently the residential functions disappeared in this period and from now on the farmstead seems to have been used exclusively for fish processing.99 The big barn in the west also disappeared indicating that even the animal husbandry was phased out in the late Middle Ages. In addition to the building in the north only two smaller buildings were present. Probably they served as drying houses where firewood needed for the fish smoking was dried.
The highly specialised fish processing came to an end in the later part of the fifteenth century. The smaller buildings may still have existed in the beginning of the sixteenth century but in the remainder of the century there was no settlement in the place of farmstead 12.
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No more than a reduced building area indicates decline on farmstead 12 in the late Middle Ages. Of course, this decrease of settlement was directly linked with the changes of functions in the farmstead. However, within the excavation area as a whole there are very obvious signs of partial desertion in the fifteenth century. Only farmsteads 1 and 12 survived during this period. What happened to the farmsteads of the village outside the excavation area is of course quite obscure and the very scarce written source material gives no clues.
The change of farmstead 12 in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when the economic structure of the farmstead was turned upside down, appears as a rather unexpected phenomenon in its historical context. An originally secondary occupation – fish processing – expanded and became the only activity of the farmstead. However, the large-scale expansion of this activity in the fourteenth century indicates that its aim was not only to cover the needs of the village.
The fish processing was not a new additional activity in the fourteenth century but can be traced back to the early Middle Ages. From the very beginning it is visible only on one farmstead, no. 12, which indicates some sort of allocation of specialised functions on the farmsteads of the village. On the adjacent farmstead no. 1 there were no traces of fish processing, but on the other hand there were indications of another additional activity, namely beer brewing.100 Hypothetically, such a functional variation of the farmsteads of Örja reflects the structure of a large, early-medieval demesne farm comprising a multitude of activities. Each farmstead might have represented a specialised part of these activities, which were governed from a manorial farm in the village.101
It has been generally accepted that fishery was a well-integrated part of the economy of the peasants along the coasts of the strait of Öresund in the Middle Ages. Fishery was part of a common seamanship, which included all sorts of maritime work.102 The sailing peasant will be an appropriate expression to characterise this connection between land and sea in the cultural world of the coastal population. Thus the inhabitants of Örja developed their survival strategy during the harsh years of the crisis within a cultural context that was clearly defined for centuries. Probably they could expand the processing of fish without difficulty within an economy where the agricultural and maritime activities were closely intertwined.
A connection between the fish processing in the village of Örja and the great medieval herring fishery at the strait of Öresund lies close at hand. Moreover, it seems reasonable to look upon the change towards a specialised, large scale fish processing in Örja in the fourteenth century in the light of the development of the Scanian markets, being transformed to a highly specialised fish market in the late Middle Ages. Thus, the fish processing
at Örja seems to have been deliberately adjusted to trade, probably resulting in new revenues to Örja in the era of the crisis when the village was struck by a considerable decline. The absence of residential functions at farmstead 12 gives a reason to look upon the fish processing as a collective business in the late Middle Ages, inhabitants of all the farmsteads of the village taking part in the activities.
The development in Örja implies that the big herring fishery affected also this ordinary agricultural village near the coast and that the economy of the village became closer linked to a mercantile maritime context in the late Middle Ages. This conclusion is furthermore supported by the analysis of the animal bones from Örja showing a dominance of herring but also a significant presence of species like cod and flounder fish.103
The fish processing came to an end in the latter part of the fifteenth century and thereafter farmstead 12 stayed deserted until the seventeenth century. In this way the farmstead did not follow the development of the Scanian markets, which were still flourishing in the fifteenth century. Not until hundred years later, their final decline started.
Fig. 31. Cadastral map of Örja from 1759 showing the village with its 18 homesteads (red squares). Black line marks the excavation area
Maybe the closing of the fish processing at Örja can be seen in the light of a general recovery of society and the beginning of a new agrarian expansion at the end of the Middle Ages. When agriculture expanded anew in the village the need for a large scale, additional activity may have diminished.
The expansion also meant decisive structural changes of the agrarian society. In the sixteenth century fishery was organised in a new way in this part of southern Scandinavia, from now on being performed by professional fishermen living in the towns or in permanently inhabited fishing villages by the coasts.104 The old medieval diversity of the villages was replaced by a new specialised structure where fishermen and peasants were different social and cultural categories. The old village now became a more streamlined, agrarian unit.
The farmsteads in a comparative perspective – a brief summing-up
Despite regional characteristics, it is possible to discern some very significant resemblances in the development of the three farmsteads. It seems quite obvious that something decisive happened at all the places in the fourteenth century. The settlement of the farmsteads was fundamentally changed, either as an expansion of buildings, like in Vålle, or a reduction, like in Stora Ullevi and Örja. This occurred in connection with major functional changes of the farmsteads. Concerning the character of the change there are some differences between the three places. A new activity, forging, was added to the agrarian settlement of Vålle. At Örja an earlier, secondary occupation was transformed to a large-scale, proto industrial activity, being the primary function of the farmstead. Stora Ullevi was characterised by a general orientation towards the nearby town of Linköping, affecting the social as well as the economic structure of the farmstead. At all the places it was a matter of specialised activities, directed to a distribution outside the own village or hamlet.
Fig. 32. Change of settlement at Örja AD 1200–1500. Settlement dated to a. 1100–1350 and b. 1350–1500, respectively
A chronological emphasis of the mentioned activities was observable at Örja as well at Vålle, to the period 1350–1450, making a connection to the initial, most severe phase of the crisis probable. At Stora Ullevi it was not possible to pinpoint the changes more precisely than to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The changes of the farmsteads were discussed in their regional contexts respectively. In the following section they will be looked upon in a wider societal connection.
General conclusions
This concluding section will use the results of the two previous investigations in one synthesising discussion on the impact of the late-medieval crisis, connecting to the initial issues. The first issue concerned desertion and decline. Different archaeological results have indicated a rapid, negative impact on society in the middle of the fourteenth century, causing an immediate stop to activities like building of houses. It supports the idea of dramatic, profound consequences of the plagues, severely disturbing important societal functions.
Regarding desertion of settlement, evidence was found everywhere, indicating a devastating movement that did not spare any remote corner of the country. Apparently, desertion was a prolonged process, as in Örja, where it occurred not until in the fifteenth century.
Of course, it will not be possible to quantify the extent of the desertion or to find out whether some regions were hit harder than others. However, the problems of partial desertion must be highlighted, being evident in Örja and probably typical of fertile areas like the plains of western Scania. As mentioned in the previous section, this kind of desertion may have been considerable in such areas, still being obscured in the source materials, the written as well as the archaeological. Challenging a general conclusion made by earlier research that such areas remained relatively unaffected by the crisis, the question must be raised as to whether that desertion was as extensive here as anywhere else.105
The second issue concerned the human response to the crisis. How did people act in the societal situation of the late fourteenth century and further on? We have seen the dysfunctional reaction of the nobility being materialised in an abundance of new castles in the decades following the year 1350, thus confirming Myrdal’s model of development.
However, this was not the only reaction. Our investigation of the three farmsteads has shown us responses on a local level in different parts of the country, reflecting significant economic changes. Surrounded by desertion, the farmsteads seem to have responded rapidly to the crisis in the later part of the fourteenth century, developing additional, specialised activities. The changes at Stora Ullevi implied an increased orientation of social as well as economic character towards the nearby town, being a sort of specialisation, too.
What was the meaning of these changes? Apparently, parts of the production of the farmsteads became oriented towards a market to a greater extent than before. We have identified this market as the nearby town, regarding Stora Ullevi in Östergötland, or, regarding Örja, the urban, mercantile network of the Scanian markets. Thus, this meant a greater interaction between town and countryside but probably also a greater degree of collaboration between the farmsteads of the village or hamlet. At Örja, for example, the fish processing being a matter of a single farm in the High Middle Ages, it became a collective business of the entire village in the later part of the fourteenth century. The agrarian production being severely disturbed by a dramatic decrease of population, the development of an already established, additional activity like fish processing might have been a profitable enterprise for the village in a time of increasing demand for preserved foodstuff.
The traces of restructuring and expansion, discernible in some towns in the later part of the fourteenth century, are most likely to be seen in the light of such a an interacting between town and countryside, creating the basis of a new, urban development and a social emancipation of the towns.106
Also collaboration of farmsteads, being a consequence of the response to the crisis, is to be found at other places, for example in the mining districts north of the Lake Mälaren. Here, peasants dealt with iron working using the blast furnace technique at least since the end of the twelfth century. In the later part of the fourteenth century the activity was transformed into a new, specialised structure of collaborating farmsteads, the village of the peasant miners, replacing the old manorial system. Thus, it seems to have been a close connection between the development of specialised activities and the rise of new modes of social interaction.
How shall we look upon these creative responses to the crisis in the later part of the fourteenth century, when society was at its absolute nadir in a time of profound social and economic imbalance? Apparently, the archaeological evidence does not harmonise perfectly with Myrdal’s model of the development of the c
risis. The results reflect flexibility and creative change in the initial traumatic decades of the crisis rather than decline, stagnation and suppression. Is it possible to interpret this fragmented picture of the crisis in a satisfactory manner?
Probably we are dealing with reactions to the crisis on different levels of society. The “dysfunctional” acting of the nobility reflects a general survival strategy of a social class, which obviously had a paralysing effect on a socio-political level. But this may not have hampered creative solutions on a local level, where the single farm in the context of a village or a hamlet was able to form its own survival strategy.
However, the changes of the farmsteads may also be discussed in relation to the general social process transforming the agrarian society in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The manorial system of the High Middle Ages, characterised by manors surrounded by subordinated crofters providing workforce to the manor, began to dissolve and was replaced by a system of larger manors functioning as fiscal centres for a number of tenant farms.107 This process started most likely in the thirteenth century but was not completed at the time of the plagues in the middle of the fourteenth century. However, it may be assumed that the societal crisis and the demographic decline hastened the process, contributing to its completion in the later part of the fourteenth century.
The new situation around 1350 – the old manorial system being in dissolution and old social bonds between landowners and peasants breaking up – may have provided the latter a greater freedom to act on the local level. Probably we should look upon the rapid development of survival strategies at the farmsteads in the light of this new freedom. Thus the essential, societal conditions for an independent acting of the peasants were already in place in the middle of the fourteenth century. Developing their strategies, they could respond immediately to the crisis, which further hastened the social process. Of course, this development must not be looked at as being totally separated from a wider social structure, even if the initiatives to the new strategies were taken in the villages and hamlets. The peasants of our farmsteads being tenants, they most likely must have acted in a state of consensus with their landowners when developing their strategies.