Pre-industrial era inventions that could have been invented in the middle ages

I think it might have been possible for radio to be invented earlier than OTL, though without better equipment I'm not sure it would have been very useful.
 
The stirrup hoe seems like something that could have been invented a lot earlier (I'm pretty sure it's a 20th C. thing, though I'm not positive). I can attest from experience that it makes weeding much faster and easier.
 

Driftless

Donor
Wasn't much of the lag in devleopment a by-product of the generally reactionary nature of feudal & top church hierarchies? "Don't you dare rock my boat" kind of view.
 

Insider

Banned
Wasn't much of the lag in devleopment a by-product of the generally reactionary nature of feudal & top church hierarchies? "Don't you dare rock my boat" kind of view.

And how much of progress was created by those feudals & church officials trying to earn bragging rights over fellow priests and lords. :p
 
I don't see how they are - both support the idea that you can make a thing which uses steam to move things but not have it result in a practical steam engine UNTIL all the subsidiary inventions are in place, and once they are the idea comes out of the woodwork everywhere.

I feel that this often gets forgotten in a lot of the more Reddit-y, "Christianity never rises and a surviving Rome has relativistic spaceships by 1200" threads one sees crop up regularly. A whole lot of things need to be in place for a technology or social advance to occur, and its seldom a heroic tail of "those I like, succeeding in the face of those I don't like."
 
As title says.

I'm writing an alternate history (with some fantasy) book and i need some ideas to have the late middle ages look more modern. I need a list of advancements that could have been made without resorting to an industrial revolution.

So, what are some pre-1750 inventions that could have been developed in the high middle ages? I'm thinking about the 1000-1300 period, the so called little Renaissance, in Italy or the Low Countries.

I already have a list of inventions from 1400 to 1700, but i need to know which are feasible with the technology of the high middle ages.


Wow, a rare new and interesting idea.

OK, I was thinking on a different post of a mass introduction of Quinine for malaria treatment. It had been theoretically around for centuries in Peru (I think). But it had never been really mass marketed by inept Spanish authorities, as I suspect it would have had the vaccine been available in a French, British or Dutch colony. There may have been vast plantations of quanine producing trees.

This would have a major, major effect on the American south, the West Indies and parts of Latin America.

Granted other diseases like Yellow Fever would still be around but a severe reduction in Malaria would lead to significant population growth (survivability rates = higher reproduction).

Slavery might last longer, be expanded and be more profitable as owners lose fever slaves to fevers.

One fewer disease might also lead to higher European immigration to these areas.
 

RavenMM

Banned
Wow, a rare new and interesting idea.

OK, I was thinking on a different post of a mass introduction of Quinine for malaria treatment. It had been theoretically around for centuries in Peru (I think). But it had never been really mass marketed by inept Spanish authorities, as I suspect it would have had the vaccine been available in a French, British or Dutch colony. There may have been vast plantations of quanine producing trees.

This would have a major, major effect on the American south, the West Indies and parts of Latin America.

Granted other diseases like Yellow Fever would still be around but a severe reduction in Malaria would lead to significant population growth (survivability rates = higher reproduction).

Slavery might last longer, be expanded and be more profitable as owners lose fever slaves to fevers.

One fewer disease might also lead to higher European immigration to these areas.

not only quinine, but Artemisinin is availible from annual wormwood, a plant that today even grows in south east europe, up to austria. I have no idea if it ever grew there in the middle ages, but if it did, it could help the fight against malaria.
 

Puzzle

Donor
You could have concrete construction not be lost, that always seems like an easy butterfly.
 
the macadam road, is a easy and cheap way to build roads.
thousands miles of roads will do wonders to any kingdom
 
I feel that this often gets forgotten in a lot of the more Reddit-y, "Christianity never rises and a surviving Rome has relativistic spaceships by 1200" threads one sees crop up regularly. A whole lot of things need to be in place for a technology or social advance to occur, and its seldom a heroic tail of "those I like, succeeding in the face of those I don't like."

exactly this, the total of technical & scientific development is pretty much a pyramid on its tip. you need to develop a lot of interacting things .
 

The Sandman

Banned
I think the other question here is why this state hasn't gone into some version of industrial revolution despite major advances elsewhere. To my mind, the key aspect of an industrial revolution isn't the technologies such as steam engines or power looms or whatnot; it's the shift from artisans to mass production.

I'm honestly not quite sure how you can stop the latter from happening. If labor is sufficiently cheap and abundant, you can probably discourage the invention of labor-saving devices, but then you start having assembly lines pop up to provide sufficient food, clothes, shelter and sundries to your labor pool.
 
otl was a perfect storm i think, the industrial revolution was preceded by the agricultural revolution, producing more food with less people. freeing up people, which moved to urban areas, providing this labour surplus.
you cannot have a industrial revolution without a agricultural revolution.
 
I'm afraid 'medieval' and innovation are pretty much oppoaites. It took to get the Renaissance to even get all what was lost.

Only the smallest slow happened, with almost as much back and wrong and wrong as forward. The problem was mostly feudalism.

My suggestions are to either use our real late medieval inventions, or have a renaissance going. The biggest was probably rediscovery of Viking intercontinental travel. Also cannon, or it could be fireworks, depending on your world, unless gunpowder doesn't work. And the violin and piano and bassoon starts.

It's a great question, which doesn't get asked enough.
 
I'm afraid 'medieval' and innovation are pretty much oppoaites. It took to get the Renaissance to even get all what was lost.

Only the smallest slow happened, with almost as much back and wrong and wrong as forward. The problem was mostly feudalism.

My suggestions are to either use our real late medieval inventions, or have a renaissance going. The biggest was probably rediscovery of Viking intercontinental travel. Also cannon, or it could be fireworks, depending on your world, unless gunpowder doesn't work. And the violin and piano and bassoon starts.

It's a great question, which doesn't get asked enough.

The renaissance isn't really distinct from the middle ages and really wasn't a technical bonanza anyway.
 

Saphroneth

Banned
It's necessary to be clear what one means by "medieval". It's a tricky term - the "middle ages" lasts for over a thousand years, from early to late, and is so long it's hard to quantify.
I think the best way to put it is -
There was definitely and provably a regression in some kinds of technology after the Fall of Rome.
There were definitely inventions going on for most of the Early, High and Late Middle Ages - things like the progression of the crossbow from hand ballista to arbalest, or the pavise shield, the longbow, the many developments of castles...

Basically history's not a matter of distinct ages.
 
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