Europe was affected by many things, such as climate changes, technological innovation, agriculture, and society. This resulted in depressed temperatures which caused disrupted weather patterns. Also a reduction in biological productivity and food crops resulted in extreme scarcity of food and social disruption. When technology started to increase, it played an important role in agriculture. The consequence of these improvements was a major increase in agricultural productivity. These things affected the European society as a whole for a long period of time.
During the High Middle Ages in Europe experienced a climate slightly warmer than in the period before and the period following it. “The summer temperatures were between 1 and 1.4 degrees higher than the average temperature of the 20th century”. (Larsen 35) The winters were even warmer with an average temperature in England of 6 degrees, which is slightly warmer than for most of the 20th century. “The warmer conditions were caused by the fact that the air circulation above the Atlantic changed position, as did the warm sea currents, transporting warmer water to the arctic”. (Goldsmith 450) In Europe the warm conditions also had positive effects. Summer after summer the harvests were good and the population increased rapidly. “As a result thousands of hectares were cleared of woodland and farmers expanded their fields high into the hills and on mountain slopes”. (Anderson 186) It was even possible to grow successfully grapes as far north as Yorkshire.
In the early middle Ages three items or inventions came to Western Europe, and had a major impact on many aspects of life. The first of these was the Watermill, which had been used since Roman Times but is thought to have been lost after the collapse of the Empire. “The Domesday Book mentions many thousands of these in use in Eleventh century England”. (Collins 11)
Secondly there were stirrups, which seem to have come to Europe from China in around the...