Environment, Society and the Black Death
Page 10
Because of this difference, the pollen sites in the data set were divided into two groups – one for the southwestern parts of the uplands and one for the northeastern (Fig. 14) – and the two subsets were run separately using the LRA. The results are presented in Figure 15. The two reconstructions do not only represent a SW–NE gradient, but also different elevation since the northeastern parts of the uplands are higher. The sites in the southwestern group range 100–140 m above sea level, whereas those in the northeastern group range 180–325 m. An obvious drawback with this approach is the smaller number of sites underlying each reconstruction, 12 sites in the southeastern group and nine in the northeastern. It leads to a stronger influence of individual sites, and, therefore, a larger variation in the estimated vegetation cover. The subset reconstructions will therefore not be used here to interpret subtle details, but only the major and most apparent differences between the two.
Fig. 13. Vegetation land-cover reconstruction for selected tree taxa. Based on the same model output as in Fig. 12. The year 1350 is indicated by a red line
Fig. 14. The subdivision of upland sites into one south-western group and one north-eastern group used in Fig. 15
The different distribution of beech and spruce is evident from the reconstructions. Beech woodland had an average land cover of c. 25–30% in the southwestern parts during much of the last millennium, but never reached more than 10% in the northeast. Spruce showed a different development. It played a minor role before the eleventh century, but from then on it expanded strongly in the northeastern parts, where it reached a land cover of 25% by the sixteenth century. Spruce forest and other woodlands reached a nadir in the nineteenth century, but they increased strongly again in connection to the reforestation of the twentieth century. In the southwestern parts spruce played a much smaller role, reaching less than 5% of land cover for most of the period. Not until the twentieth century did it expand strongly to reach a land cover of almost 20%. The strong expansion of spruce all over the uplands in the twentieth century was associated with the introduction of modern forestry and spruce planting.
Fig. 15. Vegetation land-cover reconstruction for the lower south-western parts of the uplands, based on 12 sites, and for the higher north-eastern parts of the uplands, based on 9 sites. Cf. Fig. 14. For further details and legend see Fig. 12
Even though beech and spruce woodlands showed very different development and distribution in different parts of the uplands, none of them seems to have been affected by the late-medieval decline in agricultural activity. Spruce did expand, but this expansion seems to have been part of a long-term expansion that lasted from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. It may be concluded that the land cover of dense, climax woodland did not change in the wake of the population drop, regardless if the dominating tree species was beech or spruce. None of them were able to compete with birch and other early-successional species on abandoned land.
If we now turn to the degree of landscape openness in the uplands, the two diagrams reveal an interesting difference between the northeastern and southwestern parts. In the northeast, there was a very marked decrease in landscape openness after the Black Death. Total land cover of open-land vegetation decreased by one fourth. All types of open-land vegetation decreased, but heather most of all. At the same time, birch woodland expanded strongly. In contrast, the southwestern parts of the uplands show no signs of reforestation. Although some individual diagrams in the southwestern parts do reflect reforestation, the reconstruction presented here based on 12 sites does not.79 It may be concluded that woodland expansion in the wake of the Black Death was more common in the higher, northeastern parts of the uplands. In the southern and western parts, grazing and possibly mowing to a greater extent kept the landscape open. This difference may reflect the harsher climate of high altitudes, leading to more widespread abandonment and depopulation. On the other hand, land cover of cereal growing shows a smaller decrease after 1350 in the northeast than it does in the southwest. Hence, the results are contradicting. Future studies will hopefully provide a better basis for interpretations of differences within the uplands. At present, what can be said with any certainty, based on the comparison presented here, is that reforestation after the Black Death was more common and widespread in the higher parts of the uplands.
Pollen records provide the best basis for studies of medieval woodland development but interesting information may be gained also from dendrochronology. The most important underlying cause to woodland expansion in some areas in the wake of the Black Death was certainly decreased agricultural impact. However, with dwindling population numbers there was also a reduced demand for fuel, timber and other woodland products. As discussed above, compilations of dendrochronological dates from Småland as well as from other regions show that there was a marked decrease in building activities during the late-medieval crisis.80 The building of castles and fortifications continued or even increased, probably due to increased repression and riots,81 but the need for new ordinary buildings and in particular farm buildings was much reduced. Also, there was no need for new churches during the crisis and there were little resources for renovation.82 On the contrary, many churches decayed during the crisis and some were abandoned.83
Compilations of dendrochronological dates, like the one presented here for Småland, clearly reflect the decline in building activities after the Black Death, but they may also provide some insights into the woodland development. It is a routine in dendrochronological dating not only to date the last tree ring, which of course is the one of interest for trying to date the construction of the building, but also when possible to date the innermost tree ring to estimate the year of germination. The latter may provide information on woodland establishment and reforestation. Furthermore, wood dated by dendrochronology is routinely also identified to tree species.
Dated wood from Småland and the rest of Sweden is almost entirely of oak and pine. These two tree species were by far the most important timber trees for building and they are also the ones for which there are long reference tree-ring series.84 The diagram in Figure 16 shows the temporal distribution of the dates (estimated felling years) from Småland. It is the same data as in Figure 10 but now with oak, pine and spruce separated. The diagram shows that oak was an important building timber during the Middle Ages before the crisis. It was particularly important for large buildings, and much of the dated oak is from churches, but it was also frequently used for profane buildings in towns. No oak has been dated to the period between 1360 and 1464. Some oak timber was used in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, but after that almost none was used until the eighteenth century. Also pine was used in churches as well as in profane buildings in towns during the Middle Ages (very few profane buildings in the countryside have been dated). Both pine and oak were important as building timber before the crisis. Later, in connection to the very strong expansion of several towns (Jönköping, Kalmar, Eksjö, etc.) in the sixteenth century, only pine timber was used. The regular use of spruce timber started very late, in the eighteenth century.
The shift from oak and pine to a strong dominance of pine may to some degree reflect a change in the composition of woodlands – from the sixteenth century onwards the land cover of oak woodland had decreased whereas pine woodland had increased (Fig. 13). However, the change in woodland composition appears to have been very slow and gradual. More important was probably the fact that all oaks in Sweden were declared royal property (regale) in the mid-sixteenth century. Because of their value as mast trees and timber trees for royal shipbuilding, no oak trees wherever they grew were allowed to be felled or cut in any way by peasants.85
We may now look not only at the years of tree felling, but also at woodland regeneration as reflected in the dating of the innermost tree ring of each tree. In Figure 17 the temporal distribution of all the estimated germination years is presented. The diagram shows several peaks but one of the strongest is at 1350–1360. It indicates that several of t
he trees that were later cut and used for building had germinated around the time of the Black Death. Later and stronger peaks are found at 1480–1500 (possibly associated with the plague years 1484 and 1495)86 and 1670–1690.
More details are revealed by the presentation in Figure 18. In this diagram all the individual dates from Småland are presented. For each of the identified tree species – pine, spruce and oak – the dates are in chronological order based on their estimated felling years (blue dots). In the cases where also the germination year has been possible to estimate (usually with an error of within ±20 years), the life span of the tree is indicated by a black line. Most interesting for the discussion here are the germination years of trees that were cut during and after the late-medieval crisis. Of pine very few were cut during the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and most of them had germinated before the crisis. In the mid-sixteenth century some pines that had germinated soon after the Black Death of 1350 were cut, probably in connection to clearings of secondary woodland on abandoned land. However, not all pines that germinated in association with the Black Death were cut during the sixteenth century – several survived much longer. Still throughout the seventeenth century, pine trees that germinated soon after 1350 were occasionally cut and used for building timber. The last ‘Black Death-pines’ according to the diagram were actually cut down as late as in the early eighteenth century. In 1704, a pine tree was cut that had germinated approx. 1355. It was by then 350 years old. A little later, in 1712, a few pines were cut that had germinated approx. 1380 (Fig. 19). They were the last reminders of the woodland regeneration of the late fourteenth century.87 Later on, all trees used for building were much younger.
Oak tells a somewhat different story than pine. Due to the regale, very few oak trees were cut and used for building constructions during the seventeenth century. There may very well have been old oak trees growing in the landscape, of which some had their roots in the Black Death, but since they were not cut and used for building constructions, they do not show up in the data presented here. However, a number of oaks were cut down in 1464–1509, before the regale, in connection to the building of two churches.88 As shown by the diagram the majority of these oaks germinated in connection to 1350. A plausible interpretation is that secondary oak woodland that once got established on abandoned land in connection to the Black Death, now a century and a half later was cut down. The timber was obviously used for construction but a purpose of the clearing may at the same time have been to re-establish agricultural land. The dendrochronological data thus supports the interpretation of the pollen based land-cover reconstructions, according to which there was a slight expansion of oak woodland in the uplands after the Black Death.
Fig. 16. The same dendrochronological dates (felling years) from Småland as in Fig. 10, but here with tree species distinguished
Fig. 17. A compilation of all the dated germination years in the dendrochronological record from Småland. Bars show the number of dates per 10-year time slices
Spruce was not used regularly as building timber until the eighteenth century, and there are only two older samples in the data set. Interestingly, one of them was a very old tree that was cut in 1624 to be used in a house foundation in the town of Jönköping. It had germinated almost 300 years earlier, in approximately 1355.
Hence, the dendrochronological record indicates that there was woodland regeneration during the late-medieval crisis. Furthermore, it shows that this reforestation started already in close connection with the Black Death of 1350. This result is in line with earlier studies from middle and northern Sweden and from Norway.89 Whereas the pollen record indicates particularly birch but also oak regeneration, dendrochronology gives examples of oak and pine regeneration. The total absence of birch in the dendrochronological record is due to the fact that birch was not used for building timber. However, it is more difficult to explain why an expansion of pine after 1350 stands out stronger in dendrochronological data than in the pollen record. Probably, large pine trees were valuable for building timber and particularly sought for, leading to over-representation in the dendrochronological record. Even though the dendrochronological record does not allow for any quantification of woodland regeneration, it indicates that there was increased germination of both oak and pine immediately after the Black Death. Much of the secondary woodland of birch, oak and pine was cleared in connection to the recovery and agricultural expansion that followed upon the crisis, but still after three centuries there were old pine trees growing in the woods that originated in the Black Death.
Fig. 18. All the 702 dendrochronological dates from Småland separated into tree species and presented in chronological order based on felling years (blue dots). In those 386 cases where also the germination year has been determined, the life-span of the individual tree is marked by a black line. The year 1350 is indicated by a red line
Fig. 19. Uranäsboden on display at the Kulturen Museum in Lund. It was originally situated in Älghult Parish, Småland, in the eastern part of the uplands. According to dendrochronological dating of the timber, parts of the building originate from the early sixteenth century but it was re-built and enlarged in the early eighteenth century. Some of the timber that was cut and used in the early eighteenth century was from very old pine trees that had once germinated on abandoned land in the wake of the Black Death (photo: Per Lagerås)
Summary of conclusions
The pollen and dendrochronological records presented in this chapter have provided new insights into the late-medieval crisis. The most important conclusion, which is also fundamental for a broader discussion, is that societal changes in connection to the crisis resulted in environmental changes. These changes were distinct and far-reaching enough to show up in the palaeoecological records on a regional scale. The conclusion is not surprising, because in a cultural landscape there is always interdependence between vegetation and human activities. Still, high-resolution palaeoecological records with good chronologies are needed to detect these changes. The uplands are suitable in this respect because of the numerous lakes and well-preserved peatlands and the large number of high-quality pollen diagrams available. Furthermore, the half-open landscape of the South-Swedish Uplands – characterised by a mosaic of open agricultural land and woodland – may be particularly suitable for this type of study. Trees and woodland were never far away and reforestation after abandonment was less delayed than it would have been in a more tree-less landscape. Also the mixed agriculture with a large element of pastures and hay meadows enabled swift changes, for instance from arable to pastures.
The aim of this chapter has been not only to interpret vegetation changes as such, but to discuss how these changes may reflect several important aspects of the late-medieval crisis, like population drop and settlement abandonment, agricultural strategies developed during the crisis, and also the recovery afterwards. These are the major conclusions:
During the fourteenth century there was a halving of arable in the uplands, which indicates extensive farm abandonment and population drop. From the lowlands, sites are too few to allow any certain conclusions, but two lowland sites, which are also the most southernmost sites in the data set, deviate from all the upland sites by indicating an increase in cereal growing in the late-fourteenth century.
The decline in arable in the uplands during the fourteenth century started already in 1350 or soon afterwards. The conclusion is based on both the pollen record and the compilation of dendrochronological dates. Hence the first struck of the plague – the Black Death sensu stricto – had an immediate effect on upland societies. If this was a direct effect of the plague or an indirect effect through migration, is not possible to tell from the palaeoecological records.
Abandonment of agricultural land resulted in woodland expansion, but to some extent the landscape was still kept open by grazing. The decrease in pastures and meadows appears to have been proportionally smaller than the decrease in arable, which indicates that animal husbandry
in relation to crop growing gained in relative importance during the crisis.
Land left for reforestation was in particular poor, heath-like pastures characterised by heather vegetation. At the same time, abandoned arable was in many cases transferred to pastures and meadows with herbs and grasses. The reforestation of poor pastures and the establishment of new, probably more productive ones on abandoned arable, suggest that the average productivity of land used for animal husbandry increased during the crisis.
Reforestation by natural succession on abandoned pastures was more common in the higher, northeastern parts of the uplands. In the southern and western parts, grazing was more successful in holding the forest back. Where reforestation occurred, particularly birch but also oak, pine and spruce colonised the abandoned land. Dendrochronological dates show that such woodland regeneration in some cases started immediately after the Black Death of 1350. Due to different ecological preferences and life spans of the different tree species, a fast and strong expansion of birch woodland was followed by a slower and subtler expansion of oak and pine.
In association with societal recovery and agricultural expansion after the crisis, abandoned arable fields were put under the plough again. The landscape reconstruction indicates that there was a slight time lag between the reestablishment of arable and the clearing of secondary woodland. The expansion of arable started in the late fifteenth century and the deforestation in the early sixteenth century. This was the beginning of a strong agricultural expansion and deforestation that continued more or less to the nineteenth century, when landscape openness in the uplands peaked. Today, after substantial reforestation during the twentieth century, forest cover is back at the same level as before the medieval expansion.