The Environment

The environment shaped every aspect of medieval European life, and the chapter opens by grounding the three orders in this physical reality. The land itself — its climate, soil, and vegetation — determined what people could grow, how they lived, and how they organised their society. Because agriculture was the foundation of wealth and survival, the natural world directly influenced the rise of the feudal order, the power of the Church, and the daily rhythms of peasants. Understanding this setting first makes the social str …