Mining and Metallurgy in Medieval Europe - High Middle Ages, 11th To 13th Centuries

High Middle Ages, 11th To 13th Centuries

The period right after the 10th century, mark the widespread application of several innovations in the field of mining strategies and ore treatment and, consequently, the shift to large scale and better quality production. Medieval miners and metallurgists had to find solutions for the practical problems that limited former metal production, in order to correspond sufficiently to the calls of those times. The increased demand for metal was an expression of the remarkable population growth from the 11th to the 13th centuries and its impact on agriculture, trade, building construction, including the great gothic churches.

The main concern had to do with inefficient means for draining water out of shafts and adits when operating underground mining, which resulted in flooding of mines and limited extraction activities only in depths close to the surface. Once ores extracted, more problems concerning the difficulty of their transportation and thus the high cost of undertaking such attempts, as well as the profitable separation of metals from gangue or secondary separation of metals, came up. The need for solutions to these problems was the power that generated the development of achievements with critical impact over medieval metal output. The use of water power and wheels for water-driven draining engines, bellows, hammers and the introduction of advanced types of furnaces were the craftsmen's response to this problem. However, the introduction of these innovations did not mean that they were adopted at once or applied to all mines and smelting sites. Throughout the medieval period technical innovations and traditional techniques coexisted and their application depended on the time period and geographical region. Water power in medieval mining and metallurgy was introduced even before the 11th century, but it was only until then that it was widely applied. In addition, the introduction of the blast furnace, mostly for iron smelting, and the Stückofen(fr) furnace in all the established centres of metallurgy contributed to quantitative and qualitative improvement of the metal output, available in lower price. In addition, cupellation, already known from the 8th century, was more often applied for the refinement of lead-silver ores and the obtainment of the precious metal (Bayley 2008).

Underground work in shafts, although limited in certain depths, was accomplished either by fire-setting, for massive ore bodies, or with iron tools, for smaller scale extraction of limited veins. The sorting of base and precious metal ores was completed underground and they were transferred separately (Martinon-Torres & Rehren in press, b). Parallel production with more than one technical methods and different treatment of ores can be present in one site (Rehren et al. 1999).

The intensified progress and the unprecedented interest in metal production were also reflected in the multiplication of active mines and smelting sites (Nef 1987). In relation to sites of the early Middle Ages, these smelting sites need not be near the mines. The presence of streams and thick forests and the access to water for generating the wheels and to wood for fuel and building were more critical than ever. Rich silver-bearing ores of Freiberg in Saxony, discovered by accident in the 12th century, rivaled the Rammelsberg production. While until the 11th and 12th centuries, mining took place mainly in the Eastern Alps, during the following period it was also spread to regions of Central Europe. Base metals such as copper, lead, zinc, tin and iron, precious metals (silver and gold) and alloys, such as brass, bronze and pewter were produced in Central Europe. The most famous regions for their metal production are Bohemia, Silesia, Hungary, Upper Harz, the Black Forest, Styria, Saxony, England, France and Spain. While abundant wood resources were provided by the thick woodlands of the Carpathians, the Erzgebirge and the Sudeten Mountains.