Livestock

Scotland's rural landscape is the result of six thousand years of farming, and many physical traces survive of past land-use, particularly since medieval times. Includes a rough timeline of the history of Scottish agriculture.

Describes food-gathering, food preparation, and dining in the Middle Ages, accompanied by illustrations from medieval (mostly 15th century) illuminated manuscripts.

Animals were present everywhere in the everyday life of the Middle Ages: wild animals, like bears, wolves, wild boars, and deer; fish; poultry and farm animals; and the companions of the warrior, the peasant, and the hunter, like horses, falcons, and dogs.

This group is for all who wish to study and discuss any and every aspect of farming in medieval Europe. Any topic, from apiculture to viticulture, animal care and housing to field systems is welcome.

The fauna of Anglo-Saxon England was plentiful and varied, and included some animals that have since been made extinct in this country. The vast areas of uninhabited forests, heaths and fells were home to many creatures, in addition to the other wild creatures that inhabited the towns and villages including the domestic animals.

Period agriculture. References.

Medieval livestock. Pigs, cattle, sheep. Modern efforts to preserve older breeds. Differences between period and modern livestock.

This study returns to the traditional genre of medieval-estate studies to explore such missing links, emphasizing, in particular, the study of pastoral resources. The rich literature on seigneurial agriculture notwithstanding, historians know little about the local use of resources by agrarian institutions.