Discovery

New Study: Medieval Farmers Worked With Nature, Not Against It

Medieval farmers practiced techniques that balanced productivity with ecological health.
New Study: Medieval Farmers Worked With Nature, Not Against It
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Walker Larson
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Throughout history, especially since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has struggled to live in harmony with nature while still supplying for its needs. How do we use nature without destroying it? Is human presence always antithetical to the health of the natural environment?

New answers to these age-old questions have emerged from an unexpected source: a recently published study on the biodiversity of the region around Lake Constance in southwestern Germany during the medieval era. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the building and farming practices used by the Monastery of St. Gall near Lake Constance led to an increase in the biodiversity of the local ecosystem.
Walker Larson
Walker Larson
Author
Before becoming a freelance journalist and culture writer, Walker Larson taught literature and history at a private academy in Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife and daughter. He holds a master’s in English literature and language, and his writing has appeared in The Hemingway Review, Intellectual Takeout, and his Substack, The Hazelnut. He is also the author of two novels, “Hologram” and “Song of Spheres.”