International audience ; Traditionally, from a global point of view, the European ancient, medieval andearly modern iron-production has been considered backwards by comparison to the more efficient Chinese industry, where the smiths controlled the cast-iron technology from the fourth century AC onwards. Recent publications on Chinese and European cases give the opportunity to reappraise the question. Cast-iron was produced in both areas in the modern times, but not with the same purpose, and in very different productive contexts. A closer analysis of iron consumption in both cases shows that Chinese farmers used cast-irontools, which were produced in large furnaces controlled by the imperial bureaucracy. Such tools did not need any specific craft in the peasant community; animal power was not generally used in agriculture. European ploughmen instead used steel tools locally produced in small iron-works, which needed the skills of a smith to be fixed. Such steel ploughs could support animal traction (by oxen or horses) which made them highly productive, and caused important losses of metal. From a more general point of view, the use of cast-iron or steel has therefore to be considered as a clue for the description of the agrarian system: the human work-intensive Chinese tradition, with its high yields, was either a technologic, economic and social choice, as was the energy intensive European system. For Europe, the change from direct production of steel towards indirect production of cast-iron was a path towards higher productivity of work and technology. Cast-iron was the same chemical material but not the same produce in the Eastern and Western part of Eurasia.
This study was devoted to the development of the transhumance in Spain, Italy, Southern France, and the Balkan countries. It elaborated an idealtype of evolution of transhumance within the context of medieval European economies. The ideal-type modes of organization range from the integration of sheep raising, in the business cycles of rural communities to the regulations for extensive migratory sheep raising by public institutions. The degrees of spatial interrelatedness, the separation of pastoral production and reproduction from the rural production and living units, and the disposition of the yields from transhumant sheep raising are used as criteria for characterizing each stage. Spatial relations between the places of rural and pastoral productions allege the labelling of the various stages: intra-local sheep raising (use of the common land; no supplementary pastures; division of labour between the members of the rural production unity; the head of the household is authorized to dispose of the surplus); inter-local migratory pastoral economy (supplementary pastures in different village lands; division of labour between shepherd and rural production unity; the shepherd's participation in surplus and income from sales); intra-regional migratory pastoral industry (supplementary pastures beyond the village, but within the same physiographic region; division of labour between shepherd and rural production unity or larger production unities; aside from them, owners of pasture grounds and landowners in regions through which flocks pass during their migrations participate in surplus and income from sales); inter-regional migratory pastoral industry (supplementary pastures in different physiographic regions, division of labour between shepherd and rural or larger economic unities or flock owners; also division of labour within the pastoral production unity; aside from shepherds, peasants, flock owners, owners of pasture grounds, and landowners in regions through which flocks pass during their migrations, the government or similar organizers of transhumance participate in surplus and income from sales).
The Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica maintains a biodiverse ecosystem and it is a world-wide important carbon sink. It grows for millennia, accumulating organic-rich soils (mats) beneath the meadows. This marine habitat is protected by the European Union; however, it is declining rapidly due to coastal development. Understanding its response to disturbances could inform habitat restoration, but many environmental impacts predate monitoring programs (years). This research explores the palaeoecological potential of Posidonia mats to reconstruct six thousand years of environmental change that could have affected Posidonia meadows and, in turn, left an imprint on the mats. Palynological, microcharcoal, magnetic susceptibility and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) analyses on Posidonia mats enabled us to detect climate- and human-induced environmental processes impacting on the seagrass during the Late Holocene. The pollen and microcharcoal records reconstructed anthropogenic disturbances attributed to agriculture. The record of GRSP shows that agrarian activities affected continental soil quality. Changes in magnetic susceptibility reveal that enhanced soil erosion was caused by both climate (major flooding events in the NW Mediterranean) and humans (cultivation) which impacted on the Posidonia mat. Finally, increased human impact is linked to eutrophication of coastal waters since Roman-Medieval times. Synthesis. This study shows that climate and land-use changes in the western Mediterranean resulted in enhanced loadings of terrigenous material to the coastal zone since the Late Holocene, likely disturbing the Posidonia meadows and their mat carbon accumulation dynamics. Under the current global change scenario in which CO2 emissions are projected to increase, restoring carbon sinks is a priority. Seagrass habitat restoration should consider not only the coastal perturbations, but also the continental ones at a catchment scale to preserve the socio-economic ecosystem services provided by seagrasses.
A lo largo de los siglos medievales, en las ciudades y villas de La Rioja Alta se desarrollan toda una serie de actividades económicas que son el soporte y el sustento vital de sus habitantes. Entre estas actividades económicas, las relacionadas con el trabajo de la tierra tienen un papel preponderante, mientras la ganadería y la explotación de los recursos forestales y fluviales adquieren un importante papel complementario para un buen número de familias en los siglos XIV y xv. Pero, además, en estas ciudades y villas también se desarrollan los sectores económicos más característicos del medio urbano: el artesanado y el comercio. En efecto, los gobiernos urbanos bajomedievales potencian estos sectores, desarrollándose de esta manera en el mundo urbano de La Rioja Alta una producción artesanal y un sector comercial capaces de abastecer al mercado local de aquellos productos alimenticios y artesanales demandados por la sociedad.All througt the Middie Ages a series of different economical activities develop in the cities and towns of Rioja Alta. These activities are the support and sustenance of the citizens and, among them, agriculture has a special importance. Cattie raising and the exploitation of fluvial and forest resources become more and more significant as complementary activities for many families in the xivth and xvth century. Besides, the most specific economical activities of the urban worid, that is to say craftmanship and commerce, also develop in these cities and tovi/ns. In fact, the urban governments in Rioja Alta support these sectors and so, help to develop the craft production and commerce necesaries to provide the local markets with the food and producís required by the population.
The Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica maintains a biodiverse ecosystem and it is a world-wide important carbon sink. It grows for millennia, accumulating organic-rich soils (mats) beneath the meadows. This marine habitat is protected by the European Union; however, it is declining rapidly due to coastal development. Understanding its response to disturbances could inform habitat restoration, but many environmental impacts predate monitoring programs (<50 years). This research explores the palaeoecological potential of Posidonia mats to reconstruct six thousand years of environmental change that could have affected Posidonia meadows and, in turn, left an imprint on the mats. Palynological, microcharcoal, magnetic susceptibility and glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) analyses on Posidonia mats enabled us to detect climate- and human-induced environmental processes impacting on the seagrass during the Late Holocene. The pollen and microcharcoal records reconstructed anthropogenic disturbances attributed to agriculture. The record of GRSP shows that agrarian activities affected continental soil quality. Changes in magnetic susceptibility reveal that enhanced soil erosion was caused by both climate (major flooding events in the NW Mediterranean) and humans (cultivation) which impacted on the Posidonia mat. Finally, increased human impact is linked to eutrophication of coastal waters since Roman-Medieval times. Synthesis. This study shows that climate and land-use changes in the western Mediterranean resulted in enhanced loadings of terrigenous material to the coastal zone since the Late Holocene, likely disturbing the Posidonia meadows and their mat carbon accumulation dynamics. Under the current global change scenario in which CO2 emissions are projected to increase, restoring carbon sinks is a priority. Seagrass habitat restoration should consider not only the coastal perturbations, but also the continental ones at a catchment scale to preserve the socio-economic ecosystem services provided by ...
The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights HospitallersIn research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators ("Pfleger"), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis. ; The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights Hospitallers In research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators (Pfleger), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis. ; The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights Hospitallers In research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators (Pfleger), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis.
The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights HospitallersIn research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators ("Pfleger"), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis. ; The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights Hospitallers In research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators (Pfleger), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis. ; The role of urban churches in the medieval Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Knights Hospitallers In research the Knighs Hospitallers' Bailiwick of Brandenburg so far mostly has been considered as a regional unit that consisted of commanderies, whose economy mainly based on the agriculture in their estates. The Possession of urban churches, however, ‒ we mean here not only urban parish churches, but also hospital churches and chapels in the urban space in possession of the order ‒ hardly did play a role in historical accounts. The bailiwick, which ranged up to 1370 from the Weser to the Vistula, in the 14th and 15th century included 26 commanderies, but also 20 urban churches, of which 17 lied in immediate towns. In the rectories of the urban churches the Knights put their own priests, which were responsible for the organisation of the entire local church life. Nine of them were subordinated under no commander but only the General Preceptor of the bailwick which could empower them as needed on other churches. As curators (Pfleger), the nine priests participated regularly in the chapters of the bailiwick and had the right to vote in all questions and to participate in the elections of the general preceptors. They represented the members of their mostly small priest convents which has been builded at the nine churches. So far we have still little knowlege about these convents. Apparently some of their brethren similar like mendicants moved around as terminarians in the region to raise funds for the order. Foundations of chapels, altars and masses for these churches were of such high importance for the Knights that they discussed about it and decided on their permission on the chapters of the bailiwick. Overall, therefore the urban churches have probably played an important role in the bailiwick and the whole order. Apparently the Knights in raising their ownership of urban churches besides their commanderies created a second economic pillar, which put their response money payment to the total order on a more solid material basis.
International audience ; This study takes for its object the establishment of a benchmark for the long run development of the central Maghreb, beginning from medieval Arabic sources and drawing on modern European texts such as the examination of military archives and agricultural extension service reports from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeological fieldwork conducted over recent years in the Tlemcen region has shed new light on the descriptions and contributed to enriching our understanding of agricultural development. Two themes stand out in the various texts examined: Water resources and their use, and the distribution of agriculture and animal husbandry practices across the territory. Discussion of the rural economy as divided between cultivated and mountainous zones completes our understanding of the western wealth of the central Maghreb. The cartography that results from such analyses highlights the continuities and breaks arising from the application of this wealth throughout the period studied. ; Cette étude a pris pour objet de dresser un état du développement du Maghreb central, saisi en longue durée, à partir des sources arabes médiévales, des textes européens d'époque moderne comme du dépouillement des archives militaires et des enquêtes du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Les prospections archéologiques, menées ces dernières années dans la région de Tlemcen, éclairent parfois les descriptions et contribuent à enrichir la perception de la mise en valeur des terres. Deux thématiques sont présentes dans les différents textes étudiés : les ressources en eau et leur utilisation, les productions agricoles et l'élevage et leur répartition dans le territoire. Des mentions d'économie rurale comme de cultures et des zones montagneuses complètent notre perception des richesses de l'ouest du Maghreb central. La cartographie réalisée à partir de ces analyses met en lumière les permanences comme des ruptures de l'utilisation de ces richesses tout au long de la période visée.
International audience ; This study takes for its object the establishment of a benchmark for the long run development of the central Maghreb, beginning from medieval Arabic sources and drawing on modern European texts such as the examination of military archives and agricultural extension service reports from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeological fieldwork conducted over recent years in the Tlemcen region has shed new light on the descriptions and contributed to enriching our understanding of agricultural development. Two themes stand out in the various texts examined: Water resources and their use, and the distribution of agriculture and animal husbandry practices across the territory. Discussion of the rural economy as divided between cultivated and mountainous zones completes our understanding of the western wealth of the central Maghreb. The cartography that results from such analyses highlights the continuities and breaks arising from the application of this wealth throughout the period studied. ; Cette étude a pris pour objet de dresser un état du développement du Maghreb central, saisi en longue durée, à partir des sources arabes médiévales, des textes européens d'époque moderne comme du dépouillement des archives militaires et des enquêtes du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Les prospections archéologiques, menées ces dernières années dans la région de Tlemcen, éclairent parfois les descriptions et contribuent à enrichir la perception de la mise en valeur des terres. Deux thématiques sont présentes dans les différents textes étudiés : les ressources en eau et leur utilisation, les productions agricoles et l'élevage et leur répartition dans le territoire. Des mentions d'économie rurale comme de cultures et des zones montagneuses complètent notre perception des richesses de l'ouest du Maghreb central. La cartographie réalisée à partir de ces analyses met en lumière les permanences comme des ruptures de l'utilisation de ces richesses tout au long de la période visée.
International audience ; This study takes for its object the establishment of a benchmark for the long run development of the central Maghreb, beginning from medieval Arabic sources and drawing on modern European texts such as the examination of military archives and agricultural extension service reports from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeological fieldwork conducted over recent years in the Tlemcen region has shed new light on the descriptions and contributed to enriching our understanding of agricultural development. Two themes stand out in the various texts examined: Water resources and their use, and the distribution of agriculture and animal husbandry practices across the territory. Discussion of the rural economy as divided between cultivated and mountainous zones completes our understanding of the western wealth of the central Maghreb. The cartography that results from such analyses highlights the continuities and breaks arising from the application of this wealth throughout the period studied. ; Cette étude a pris pour objet de dresser un état du développement du Maghreb central, saisi en longue durée, à partir des sources arabes médiévales, des textes européens d'époque moderne comme du dépouillement des archives militaires et des enquêtes du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Les prospections archéologiques, menées ces dernières années dans la région de Tlemcen, éclairent parfois les descriptions et contribuent à enrichir la perception de la mise en valeur des terres. Deux thématiques sont présentes dans les différents textes étudiés : les ressources en eau et leur utilisation, les productions agricoles et l'élevage et leur répartition dans le territoire. Des mentions d'économie rurale comme de cultures et des zones montagneuses complètent notre perception des richesses de l'ouest du Maghreb central. La cartographie réalisée à partir de ces analyses met en lumière les permanences comme des ruptures de l'utilisation de ces richesses tout au long de la période visée.
The author considers the peculiarities of formation and development of the education system in Sweden. The author also shows the main factors which had a great importance in the promotion of democratic education and ways to improve it. At the same time the author analyzes peculiarities of modern development strategy of the Swedish education system, taking into account today's democratization. Also this country has a medieval history not only of its establishment or development of their culture, but also education, which has come a long way of the recovery. It should be noted that the structure of the Swedish system more rapidly developed as a pluralistic, complex and fragmented, with its own dynamics and mechanisms that ensure homogenization / divergence and cooperation / competition. The system includes a remarkable number of institutions of varying size, profile and traditions that are now competing. All Swedish universities are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. The exception is the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. Thus, universities and university colleges are in direct contact with the relevant ministry. Of course, this led to the fact that Sweden is called as one of educated countries and this country has the best educational model. For the reason that the higher education system has undergone fundamental changes over the past thirty years. The emphasis has shifted from national planning for greater independence and self-responsibility for the institutions. Former collegiate structure in the organs of decision makers in higher education have been transformed into a managerial structure. ; У статті автор розглядає особливості формування і розвитку системи освіти у Швеції. Також автор показує основні чинники, що мали вагоме значення при сприянні розвитку демократичної освіти та шляхи її вдосконалення. При цьому аналізується особливості сучасної стратегії розвитку швецької системи освіти з ...
International audience ; This study takes for its object the establishment of a benchmark for the long run development of the central Maghreb, beginning from medieval Arabic sources and drawing on modern European texts such as the examination of military archives and agricultural extension service reports from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeological fieldwork conducted over recent years in the Tlemcen region has shed new light on the descriptions and contributed to enriching our understanding of agricultural development. Two themes stand out in the various texts examined: Water resources and their use, and the distribution of agriculture and animal husbandry practices across the territory. Discussion of the rural economy as divided between cultivated and mountainous zones completes our understanding of the western wealth of the central Maghreb. The cartography that results from such analyses highlights the continuities and breaks arising from the application of this wealth throughout the period studied. ; Cette étude a pris pour objet de dresser un état du développement du Maghreb central, saisi en longue durée, à partir des sources arabes médiévales, des textes européens d'époque moderne comme du dépouillement des archives militaires et des enquêtes du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Les prospections archéologiques, menées ces dernières années dans la région de Tlemcen, éclairent parfois les descriptions et contribuent à enrichir la perception de la mise en valeur des terres. Deux thématiques sont présentes dans les différents textes étudiés : les ressources en eau et leur utilisation, les productions agricoles et l'élevage et leur répartition dans le territoire. Des mentions d'économie rurale comme de cultures et des zones montagneuses complètent notre perception des richesses de l'ouest du Maghreb central. La cartographie réalisée à partir de ces analyses met en lumière les permanences comme des ruptures de l'utilisation de ces richesses tout au long de la période visée.
International audience ; This study takes for its object the establishment of a benchmark for the long run development of the central Maghreb, beginning from medieval Arabic sources and drawing on modern European texts such as the examination of military archives and agricultural extension service reports from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Archaeological fieldwork conducted over recent years in the Tlemcen region has shed new light on the descriptions and contributed to enriching our understanding of agricultural development. Two themes stand out in the various texts examined: Water resources and their use, and the distribution of agriculture and animal husbandry practices across the territory. Discussion of the rural economy as divided between cultivated and mountainous zones completes our understanding of the western wealth of the central Maghreb. The cartography that results from such analyses highlights the continuities and breaks arising from the application of this wealth throughout the period studied. ; Cette étude a pris pour objet de dresser un état du développement du Maghreb central, saisi en longue durée, à partir des sources arabes médiévales, des textes européens d'époque moderne comme du dépouillement des archives militaires et des enquêtes du XIXe et du début du XXe siècle. Les prospections archéologiques, menées ces dernières années dans la région de Tlemcen, éclairent parfois les descriptions et contribuent à enrichir la perception de la mise en valeur des terres. Deux thématiques sont présentes dans les différents textes étudiés : les ressources en eau et leur utilisation, les productions agricoles et l'élevage et leur répartition dans le territoire. Des mentions d'économie rurale comme de cultures et des zones montagneuses complètent notre perception des richesses de l'ouest du Maghreb central. La cartographie réalisée à partir de ces analyses met en lumière les permanences comme des ruptures de l'utilisation de ces richesses tout au long de la période visée.
Through a study of its natural environment and irrigation system, this dissertation investigates the evolution of the landscape of Egypt's Fayyum depression across sixteen centuries, from the third century BCE to the thirteenth century CE. From the evidence of Greek papyri, Arabic fiscal documentation, early modern travel literature, archaeology, and contemporary scientific work, I chart the changes in human relationships with earth and water over time, changes which constantly altered the inhabited and cultivated regions of the Fayyum. My main argument throughout is that it was local agency and not state governments that continuously remade the landscape.The history of the Fayyum after the fourth century CE has long been viewed by ancient historians as one of decline from its ancient heights due to the failure of the late Roman and Muslim successor states to properly manage its irrigation system. I locate the genesis of this narrative within nineteenth century perceptions of the docility of nature and the belief that ancient governments had achieved centralized control over the Nile and the Egyptian environment. This anachronistic retrojection of the characteristics of the modern irrigation system has had a considerable afterlife in historical scholarship on Egyptian irrigation. Eschewing a narrow focus on the state, this dissertation argues that that nature is a potent agent in its own right. Ancient farmers could not control nature so they adapted to it, creating four distinct irrigated sub-regions in the Graeco-Roman Fayyum, each tailored to the particulars of the local environment. Our papyri stem from only one of these sub-regions, the water-scarce margins, which lay at the tail end of the irrigation system. Here, inadequate irrigation and fertilization progressively led to soil salinization and degradation, which helped to spur the eventual abandonment of these areas. By the medieval period, only the central floodplain remained inhabited. Only here was sustainable agriculture under the regime of premodern technology possible. Although the Roman state coordinated local labor on the canals, nothing could bind Fayyum villagers to the degrading margins in perpetuity. Fourth century papyri hint that some cultivators had moved to other nomes and were prospering. Still later documents of the sixth to eighth centuries CE reveal greatly increased settlement density in the central Fayyum. Thus, it was local cultivators who made and remade the landscape of the Fayyum over the centuries according to their own needs. Government could both guide and benefit from this local labor but it could never fully control it.
Horses were of the greatest importance through out the Medieval Ages in Europe and Asia. Ever since their domestication by Indo-European tribes in approximately 4 thousand years BC, until the 19th c. technical achievements, the whole communication and thus – administration of countries, warfare, large scale constructions, agriculture and other activities were heavily dependent and based on the horse power. Especially technical achievements of Middle Ages, increased the importance of the cavalry. It became the basis of the knight culture, the only possible way for noblemen to participate in wars. Thus in order to be able to judge about every country's economical, military and technical state and potentials, the knowledge of its horse economy becomes inevitable. The Baltic Rim has old traditions of horse farming. The area where the Baltic tribes used to live is all covered by various ingravements with horses. They show, that here, like elsewhere, horse breeding was mostly encouraged by military needs. Riders played the central role in early military fellowship of the 9-12 c. although horses were used not for fighting, but for communication and transportation. Only formation of a state and better tax system enabled a real cavalry to appear. It aquired new horse breeds and special training of both - horses and riders. Other social field where horses played a vital role was communication system. Its maintenance and administration also aquired special services and duties of the subjects of the Grand Duke. There was a special group of road servants, who played a role of road guards, postmen and couriers. Finally, the horses also needed to be administrated and thus a whole range of special servants (grooms, horse feeders etc.) and craftmen were involved. At the top of them there were also special state officers. The goal of my work was to show the functioning of this multi-stage, miscellaneous system of maintenance and administration of the sovereign's horses and stables, to examine how far the horse farming in the 14-16 c. Grand Duchy of Lithuania was developed and what significance it had. The research demonstrated, that horse farming did not lose its' importance and value after the formation of the state. It expierienced different impacts both from the West (the German knight Order, later the kingdom of Poland) and from the East (the Golden Horde, tartars, Turkey and Arab tribes), but also continued to develope local breed of small steppe type horses - one of the oldest in the world.
