I have discussed medieval environmental history as a discipline and my own work in the field in two podcasts: 2013, Umeå Group for Premodern Studies and 2009, Environmental History Resources (scroll down to podcast #28).
Rather than historical ecology, which is the study of what the environment was at a particular moment in time, this chapter presents an environmental history, which is the study of the interactive relationship between humans and non-human nature in the past. This chapter does not attempt to reconstruct the quantity, …
This paper examines the great building phase of the Anglo-Normans in England from an environmental rather than the more common architectural standpoint. THe construction of massive cathedrals, modern monasteries, and ubiquitous parish churches resulted in environmental consequences for medieval England after the conquest. Extracting construction resources sculpted enduring marks on …
Swine as agricultural products were extremely common in the medieval townscape, but pigs are also notoriously damaging if allowed to run amuck. This article explores how local governments tried to regulate pig rearing as an integrated element in the urban space, arguing that the authorities attempted to control the movement, …
English wood pastures have become a target for ecological restoration, including the restoration of pollarded trees and grazing animals, although pigs have not been frequently incorporated into wood pasture restoration schemes. Because wood pastures are cultural landscapes, created through the interaction of natural processes and human practices, a historical perspective …
in Anglo-Norman Studies 32: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2009, ed. Chris Lewis, 114-128 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2010) This paper challenges scholarship on the English forest that focuses on royal hunting. Through an analysis of pre- and post-Conquest Continental charters, the paper first identifies characteristics of areas called forest. It then contrasts …
Masters thesis, University of Houston, 2004, directed by Sally Vaughn. Contrary to the view that the Middle Ages was simply a time of rapid environmental exploitation and degradation, legal documents of the Anglo-Norman kings who reigned England and Normandy 1066-1135 reveal that medieval landholders practiced conscious management of their resources. …
Journal of the Oxford University History Society, 1.1 (2004). Contrary to the common view that the Middle Ages was a time of rapid environmental exploitation and degradation, legal documents of the first three Anglo-Norman kings, who reigned over England and Normandy from 1066 to 1135, reveal that medieval landholders in …
In Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World, vol. 2, ed. Pam Crabtree (New York: Facts on File, 2008), 473-475. Find out more about the 4-volume encyclopedia set here.
Review of Linda Clark and Carole Rawcliffe, eds. Society in an Age of Plague (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2013), Speculum 90, 526–528. Available from journal “Decoupling Water and Sanitation,” a review of Maggie Black and Ben Fawcett, The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis (London: Earthscan, 2008). Available on H-Net …
