Did soil fertility decline in medieval english farms? Evidence from Cuxham, Oxfordshire, 1320-1340

Agricultural History Review

Volumn 45, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 119-136

  Newman, E I ^a   Harvey, P D A ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0003246130     PISSN: 00021490     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (60)

1. Meanings of words, as used in this paper. Village: a nucleated settlement; vill: a settlement, nucleated or dispersed, with all attached lands; demesne = manorial demesne: the home farm, the lands tilled for the lord himself, as against those in the hands of permanent local tenants; manor: a single administrative unit of a landed estate, that usually, as at Cuxham, contained the manorial demesne and also lands held by local tenants.
2. C Dyer, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, 1989; R M Smith, 'Demographic developments in rural England, 1300-48: a survey', in B M S Campbell, ed, Before the Black Death. Manchester, 1991 pp 25-77; P J Fowler, The Farming of Prehistoric Britain, 1981.
3. C Dyer, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, 1989; R M Smith, 'Demographic developments in rural England, 1300-48: a survey', in B M S Campbell, ed, Before the Black Death. Manchester, 1991 pp 25-77; P J Fowler, The Farming of Prehistoric Britain, 1981.
4. C Dyer, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, 1989; R M Smith, 'Demographic developments in rural England, 1300-48: a survey', in B M S Campbell, ed, Before the Black Death. Manchester, 1991 pp 25-77; P J Fowler, The Farming of Prehistoric Britain, 1981.
5. M M Postan, Essays in Medieval Agriculture and General Problems of the Medieval Economy, 1973, pp 3-27 and 150-85, and The Medieval Economy and Society, 1972.
6. M M Postan, Essays in Medieval Agriculture and General Problems of the Medieval Economy, 1973, pp 3-27 and 150-85, and The Medieval Economy and Society, 1972.
7. Dyer, Standards of Living; B F Harvey, 'Introduction: the "crisis" of the early fourteenth century', in Campbell, Black Death, pp 1-24; Smith, 'Demographic developments', pp 25-74: K Biddick, 'Agrarian productivity on the estates of the Bishopric of Winchester in the early thirteenth century: a managerial perspective', in B M S Campbell and M Overton, eds, Land, Labour and Livestock, Manchester, 1991, pp 95-123.
8. Dyer, Standards of Living; B F Harvey, 'Introduction: the "crisis" of the early fourteenth century', in Campbell, Black Death, pp 1-24; Smith, 'Demographic developments', pp 25-74: K Biddick, 'Agrarian productivity on the estates of the Bishopric of Winchester in the early thirteenth century: a managerial perspective', in B M S Campbell and M Overton, eds, Land, Labour and Livestock, Manchester, 1991, pp 95-123.
9. Dyer, Standards of Living; B F Harvey, 'Introduction: the "crisis" of the early fourteenth century', in Campbell, Black Death, pp 1-24; Smith, 'Demographic developments', pp 25-74: K Biddick, 'Agrarian productivity on the estates of the Bishopric of Winchester in the early thirteenth century: a managerial perspective', in B M S Campbell and M Overton, eds, Land, Labour and Livestock, Manchester, 1991, pp 95-123.
10. Dyer, Standards of Living; B F Harvey, 'Introduction: the "crisis" of the early fourteenth century', in Campbell, Black Death, pp 1-24; Smith, 'Demographic developments', pp 25-74: K Biddick, 'Agrarian productivity on the estates of the Bishopric of Winchester in the early thirteenth century: a managerial perspective', in B M S Campbell and M Overton, eds, Land, Labour and Livestock, Manchester, 1991, pp 95-123.
11. H H Lamb, Climate, History and the Modern World, 2nd ed, 1995, ch 11; D Postles, 'Cleaning the medieval arable'. AHR, 37, 1989, pp 130-43; BMS Campbell, 'Land, labour, livestock and productivity trends in English seignorial agriculture, 1208-1450', in Campbell and Overton, Land, Labour and Livestock, pp 144-82.
12. H H Lamb, Climate, History and the Modern World, 2nd ed, 1995, ch 11; D Postles, 'Cleaning the medieval arable'. AHR, 37, 1989, pp 130-43; BMS Campbell, 'Land, labour, livestock and productivity trends in English seignorial agriculture, 1208-1450', in Campbell and Overton, Land, Labour and Livestock, pp 144-82.
13. H H Lamb, Climate, History and the Modern World, 2nd ed, 1995, ch 11; D Postles, 'Cleaning the medieval arable'. AHR, 37, 1989, pp 130-43; BMS Campbell, 'Land, labour, livestock and productivity trends in English seignorial agriculture, 1208-1450', in Campbell and Overton, Land, Labour and Livestock, pp 144-82.
14. The biological functions of individual elements are described in text-books of plant physiology, for example, L Taiz and E Zeiger, Plant Physiology, Benjamin Cummings, Redwood City, 1991.
15. The other three are sulphur, calcium and magnesium.
16. For more information on nutrients in soils and their availability to plants see A Wild, Soil Conditions and Plant Growth, Harlow, 1988.
17. W S Cooter, 'Ecological dimensions of medieval agrarian systems', AH, 52, 1978, pp 458-77.
18. R S Loomis, 'Ecological dimensions of medieval agrarian systems: an ecologist responds', AH, 52, 1978, pp 478-83.
19. R S Shiel, 'Improving soil productivity in the pre-fertiliser era', in Campbell and Overton, Land, Labour and Livestock, pp 51-77.
20. B H Slicher van Bath, The Agrarian History of Western Europe, AD 500-1850, 1959; G E Fussell, Farming Techniques from Prehistoric to Modern Times, 1966; Postan, Medieval Economy; Shiel, 'Improving soil productivity'.
21. B H Slicher van Bath, The Agrarian History of Western Europe, AD 500-1850, 1959; G E Fussell, Farming Techniques from Prehistoric to Modern Times, 1966; Postan, Medieval Economy; Shiel, 'Improving soil productivity'.
22. B H Slicher van Bath, The Agrarian History of Western Europe, AD 500-1850, 1959; G E Fussell, Farming Techniques from Prehistoric to Modern Times, 1966; Postan, Medieval Economy; Shiel, 'Improving soil productivity'.
23. B H Slicher van Bath, The Agrarian History of Western Europe, AD 500-1850, 1959; G E Fussell, Farming Techniques from Prehistoric to Modern Times, 1966; Postan, Medieval Economy; Shiel, 'Improving soil productivity'.
24. Walter of Henley, Le Dite de Hosebondrie, c 1230; PDA Harvey, A Medieval Oxfordshire Village, Cuxham 1240 to 1400, 1965.
25. Walter of Henley, Le Dite de Hosebondrie, c 1230; P D A Harvey, A Medieval Oxfordshire Village, Cuxham 1240 to 1400, 1965.
26. D R Lockyer and D C Whitehead, 'Volatilization of ammonia from cattle urine', Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 22, 1990, pp 1137-42; J C Ryden, P R Ball and E A Garwood, 'Nitrate leaching from grassland', Nature, 311, 1984, pp 50-53.
27. D R Lockyer and D C Whitehead, 'Volatilization of ammonia from cattle urine', Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 22, 1990, pp 1137-42; J C Ryden, P R Ball and E A Garwood, 'Nitrate leaching from grassland', Nature, 311, 1984, pp 50-53.
28. A C I Warner, 'Rate of passage of digesta through the gut of mammals and birds', Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews Series B, 51, 1981, pp 789-820.
29. D C Church, The Ruminant Animal, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1988; M E Castle, A S Foot and R J Halley, 'Some observations on the behaviour of dairy cattle with particular reference to grazing', J Dairy Research, 17, 1950, pp 215-30; W A Hardison, H L Fisher, G C Graf and N R Thompson, 'Some observations on the behaviour of grazing lactating cows', J Dairy Science, 39, 1956, pp 1735-41.
30. D C Church, The Ruminant Animal, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1988; M E Castle, A S Foot and R J Halley, 'Some observations on the behaviour of dairy cattle with particular reference to grazing', J Dairy Research, 17, 1950, pp 215-30; W A Hardison, H L Fisher, G C Graf and N R Thompson, 'Some observations on the behaviour of grazing lactating cows', J Dairy Science, 39, 1956, pp 1735-41.
31. D C Church, The Ruminant Animal, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1988; M E Castle, A S Foot and R J Halley, 'Some observations on the behaviour of dairy cattle with particular reference to grazing', J Dairy Research, 17, 1950, pp 215-30; W A Hardison, H L Fisher, G C Graf and N R Thompson, 'Some observations on the behaviour of grazing lactating cows', J Dairy Science, 39, 1956, pp 1735-41.
32. Harvey, Medieval Village; P D A Harvey, Manorial Records of Cuxham, Oxfordshire, HMSO, 1976.
33. Harvey, Medieval Village; P D A Harvey, Manorial Records of Cuxham, Oxfordshire, HMSO, 1976.
34. Lamb, Climate, p 195.
35. Harvey, Medieval Village.
36. Details of the numbers of animals are given in appendix vi of Harvey, Manorial Records.
37. R D Connor, The Weights and Measures of England, HMSO, 1987.
38. B M S Campbell, J A Galloway, D Keene and M Murphy, A Medieval Capital and its Grain Supply, Historical Geography Research Series no 30, 1993, p 41; I Moore, ed, Primrose McConnell's Agricultural Notebook, 16th ed, 1976; J A Watson and J A More, Agriculture, Edinburgh, 1949.
39. B M S Campbell, J A Galloway, D Keene and M Murphy, A Medieval Capital and its Grain Supply, Historical Geography Research Series no 30, 1993, p 41; I Moore, ed, Primrose McConnell's Agricultural Notebook, 16th ed, 1976; J A Watson and J A More, Agriculture, Edinburgh, 1949.
40. B M S Campbell, J A Galloway, D Keene and M Murphy, A Medieval Capital and its Grain Supply, Historical Geography Research Series no 30, 1993, p 41; I Moore, ed, Primrose McConnell's Agricultural Notebook, 16th ed, 1976; J A Watson and J A More, Agriculture, Edinburgh, 1949.
41. J E T Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, vol I, 1866, p 404.
42. Rogers, Agriculture and Prices; Connor, Weights and Measures.
43. Rogers, Agriculture and Prices; Connor, Weights and Measures.
44. 15N fertilizer dilution in field experiments'. Plant and Soil, 92, 1986, pp 3-13; R J Rennie and S Dubetz, 'Nitrogen-15-determined nitrogen fixation in field-grown chickpea, lentil, fababean and field pea', Agronomy Jnl, 78, 1986, pp 654-60.
45. 15N fertilizer dilution in field experiments'. Plant and Soil, 92, 1986, pp 3-13; R J Rennie and S Dubetz, 'Nitrogen-15-determined nitrogen fixation in field-grown chickpea, lentil, fababean and field pea', Agronomy Jnl, 78, 1986, pp 654-60.
46. K Paustian et al, 'Carbon and nitrogen budgets of four agroecosystems', J Applied Ecol, 27, 1990, pp 60-84; D S Jenlcinson, 'The nitrogen economy of the Broadbalk Experiments', Rothamsted Annual Report for 1976, pt 2, 1977, pp 103-109.
47. K Paustian et al, 'Carbon and nitrogen budgets of four agroecosystems', J Applied Ecol, 27, 1990, pp 60-84; D S Jenlcinson, 'The nitrogen economy of the Broadbalk Experiments', Rothamsted Annual Report for 1976, pt 2, 1977, pp 103-109.
48. E K Berner and R A Berner, The Global Water Cycle, Prentice-Hail, Englewood Cliffs, 1987; E I Newman, 'Phosphorus inputs to terrestrial ecosystems', J Ecol, 83, 1995, pp 713-26.
49. E K Berner and R A Berner, The Global Water Cycle, Prentice-Hail, Englewood Cliffs, 1987; E I Newman, 'Phosphorus inputs to terrestrial ecosystems', J Ecol, 83, 1995, pp 713-26.
50. Newman, 'Phosphorus inputs'; T E Crews et al, 'Changes in soil phosphorus fractions and ecosystem dynamics across a long chronosequence in Hawaii', Ecology, 76, 1995, pp 1407-24.
51. Newman, 'Phosphorus inputs'; T E Crews et al, 'Changes in soil phosphorus fractions and ecosystem dynamics across a long chronosequence in Hawaii', Ecology, 76, 1995, pp 1407-24.
52. H Tiessen, ed, Phosphorus in the Global Environment, Chichester, 1995, pp 186-88.
53. Forest Products Yearbook, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, 1987, p xlvii.
54. About 110 people just before the Black Death: Harvey, Medieval Village.
55. Lamb, Climate, p 195.
56. Linear regression was calculated using the Minitab statistical computer package. Linear regression is explained in most standard statistical text-books, for example, R C Campbell, Statistics for Biologists, 3rd ed, 1989.
57. A E Johnston and P R Poulton, 'Fields on the Exhaustion Land, 1852-1975', Rothamsted Annual Report for 1976, pt 2, 1977, pp 53-83.
58. H S A Fox, 'Some ecological dimensions of medieval field systems', in K Biddick, ed, Archaeological Approaches to Medieval Europe, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, 1984, pp 119-58.
59. Campbell et al, A Medieval Capital.
60. Campbell, 'Land, labour, livestock and productivity trends'.