Life / Agriculture & Food

Three-field rotation

Rotating winter grain, spring grain and fallow over three fields raised yields and spread the workload across the year in medieval Europe.

From about the 8th-9th century northern Europe combined the heavy wheeled plough with three-field rotation, so only a third of the land lay fallow instead of half. Spring crops such as oats, peas and beans added animal feed and nitrogen-rich pulses. The surplus helped feed the growth of medieval towns.