Is Jacques Le Goff's statement about medieval labor mechanization not leading to qualitative progress true?
Upvote:1
As James's answer said, there were innovations during the Middle Age as during other periods, even if the Middle Ages, considering their length, are not the period at which Europe showed its fatest innovation.
The political fragmentation as well as natural diseases and foreign invasions did not help to theoretical innovation: people only accepted innovations that could be fastly used to survive: For example, a better collar for labour horses, or the yoke for military cavalrymen. The lack of knowledge for writing and not-yet invented printing press also triggered less written, theoretical treaties compared to the Modern Age.
But it should be considered, in a broader vision, that:
- Innovation was still there in Europe, especially in trading cities
- The Middle Ages work on "practical" innovations that increased the life-level and (anachronic) HDI, thus allowing people of the Modern Ages to be focused on other subjects
- There was different periods inside the Middle Age, more or less active
- Other geographical regions at this period saw innovation as well, especially the Muslim world
Upvote:9
In general, modern historians emphasize continuity in history. They know that the tripartite division (Ancient, Middle, Modern) is artificial and biased since it was coined: it is somehow implied that the "Classical World" was better than Medieval, but we know this is not true. Modern historias are very wary of this "backward medieval view". The true answer is continuous improvement, yet a different velocity: Only modern innovation is exponential. Medieval innovation was not (neither was ancient innovation, although it might seem more remarkable than the medieval period).
Also, in Europe in the Middle Ages they emphasize the "political fragmentation", which is not "technological backwardness" or "technological stagnation", but affects both. In a fragmented space, such as Medieval Europe, tech innovation was smaller and the spread was slower. But there were innovations indeed.
On the three citations:
- There was not "horror of novelties" as a major factor, the major factors were simple lack of communications to get novelties, and also lack of resources to innovate. For example, the growth in the 14th & 15th centuries came after the Black Death increased the resources per capita.
- In the middle ages there are plenty of technical treatises. From Boethius in the 6th century to "Liber Abaci" of Fibonacci in 1202. Plenty of architecture, botany, literature, math, navigation, astronomy, war and diplomacy, etc.
- Many examples to show the contrary: shipbuilding, architecture, music instruments, clocks, even the basic farmer tools and war weapons evolve and pretty much so during the middle ages.
Also, on the Ancient technologies Le Goff cites, some of them are Neolithic, so not a "classical" invention! The true answer is that there was innovation but not an exponential one as we are used to since the Modern Age started.
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