Three-field system
Also called: Three-field rotation · Topic: Medieval Europe: Feudalism and the Three Orders · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "The Three Orders"
Meaning
The three-field system was a way of rotating crops that spread in Europe from the eleventh century. A village's land was split into three fields:
- one field grew wheat or rye in autumn, as food for people
- the second grew peas, beans and lentils for people, and oats and barley for horses, in spring
- the third lay fallow, which means it was left empty to rest
Each field was used two years out of three, instead of one year out of two under the older two-field system.
Example
In medieval Europe this change roughly doubled the food available. Beans and lentils gave more vegetable protein. By the thirteenth century the average peasant holding shrank from about 100 acres to 20–30 acres, because less land could now feed a family. This freed up the peasants' labour time.
Don't confuse with
- Two-field system: the older method. Half the land was sown and half left fallow, and it wore out the soil.