Technology

The Renaissance period witnessed many advances in the "mechanical arts," a broad field that covered activities ranging from craft production to the design and operation of machines. However, most new developments built on earlier advances that had taken place during the Middle Ages. Traditional methods in such areas as farming, cloth making, and carpentry remained common throughout the Renaissance, and changes in these fields usually came about gradually.

Agriculture and Water Use. In most regions, agricultural practices changed little during the Renaissance. One of the most important problems in farming was controlling the water supply to irrigate dry fields or drain marshy ground. Medieval* techniques involving irrigation canals, wells, and dams remained in use, but some new methods emerged as well. English farmers, for example, flooded entire fields periodically to produce "floating meadows." This technique protected the fields from frost and deposited fresh layers of silt (river mud).

In the Netherlands, elaborate techniques existed for draining marshlands. Since the 1000s farmers had built dikes to protect land from the sea. Construction methods varied from place to place, but the basic dike had an earth core covered by clay and straw, seaweed, or bundles of reeds. By the 1500s, engineers in the Netherlands were draining small lakes to make more land available for farming. The process involved building an earthen bank around the lake, then cutting a channel around the bank and pumping the lake water into it. These large projects led to the invention of many new types of pumps and other drainage devices such as the drainage mill, which operated by wind power.

In Italy, large-scale projects focused on controlling river flooding, digging canals for transportation, and draining swamps. Engineers built stone walls, dikes, and various other structures to hold back the flood-prone rivers. The canals designed to carry away floodwaters also became useful for transportation. The ruling Sforza family in Milan built the first navigable canals in Italy in the late 1400s. Around the same time, engineers explored ways to drain the huge, malaria-ridden Pontine Marshes near Rome. A solution came from artist and scientist LEONARDO DA VINCI, who suggested reopening an ancient Roman canal and building another canal at a right angle to it to carry away water flowing down the nearby Lepini Mountains. However, work on this project did not begin until many years after Leonardo's death. Major drainage projects also took place in France and England.

Construction. Building techniques in the Renaissance remained much the same as they had been during the Middle Ages. Building styles, by contrast, changed substantially as classical* designs became popular. Renaissance Europe experienced a building boom as the upper classes demanded spacious, comfortable homes that displayed their wealth. Construction projects fueled a demand for brick, stone, timber, gravel, and lime (used in mortar).

Bridge construction required advanced techniques to lay foundations in riverbeds. One method involved sinking large wicker containers of rubble in the river to create an island on which stone piers could be built. Another way to create these islands involved driving columns, known as piles, into the riverbed to form an underwater enclosure and filling the enclosure with rubble. In other cases, engineers would sink the foundations directly into the ground below the riverbed. This method required diverting or draining the river temporarily, often by building a watertight enclosure in one area of the river and pumping out the water.

Crafts. The manufacture of cloth was a basic part of the Renaissance economy, employing people in a wide range of skilled and unskilled occupations. Techniques varied based on the kind of fiber used. Making woolen cloth involved at least ten separate processes, from shearing the sheep and cleaning the wool to dyeing, stretching, and finishing the fabric.

Spinning was often hired out to peasant women in what was known as the putting-out system. During the Renaissance, the use of spinning wheels replaced hand spinning. The spinning wheel had appeared in Europe in the 1200s, but early models required two separate actions to spin the fibers and wind the yarn. A device called the flyer, invented around 1480, combined these two processes. Another improvement, the treadle, appeared in the early 1500s. This was a foot pedal that allowed a seated spinner to turn the wheel with her feet while using her hands to work the yarn.

Other tasks associated with textile manufacture occurred on a larger scale. Master weavers and their assistants, working in central locations, wove the yarn on looms. The fulling process—beating woolen cloth with a mixture of water and other substances to thicken and strengthen it—usually took place in mills located near fast-flowing rivers. Waterwheels powered the hammers that beat the cloth.

Aside from cloth, most craft goods in the Renaissance were still produced by hand in the shops of artisans*. Carpenters and smiths made farm implements, as well as the tools used by more specialized craft workers, such as wheelwrights (wheel makers) and coopers (barrel makers). Potters created plates and bowls, while glassmakers produced vases, windows, drinking glasses, and many other glass items. Glassmaking was a complex industry, involving many specialized processes that varied from one place to another. The most famous and sought-after glassware came from Venice, and the city's glassmakers guarded their trade secrets closely.

Tools and Machines. Instrument making became a specialized craft during the 1400s. Instrument makers produced various devices to aid in navigation, such as the quadrant and the cross staff, which helped sailors establish their position at sea by measuring the location of heavenly objects. Versions of these tools were useful to surveyors and astronomers as well. Instrument makers also constructed timekeepers, such as sundials and clocks, as well as tools for military purposes. Optical instruments, such as the telescope, became important near the end of the Renaissance period.

The Renaissance brought significant improvements to various types of machines, including mills, pumps, and cranes. Mills served a variety of purposes, including grinding grain, making paper, and fulling cloth. Many of these machines were human- or animal-powered, using either a horse turning a mill or a human walking on a treadmill. Mills could also be powered by waterwheels or by wind. The expansion of the mining industry led to improvements in suction pumps, which drew water out of deep mine shafts. Other inventions in the field of mining included the blast furnace, which used waterwheels to power the huge bellows that supplied air for the fire, and wheeled vehicles on rails to carry ore.

Some improvements to machines centered on specific parts, such as gears and screws. Machines that used the screw, such as the lathe (a cutting device), improved significantly during the Renaissance. An old technology called the screw press found new functions during this period in stamping coins and, even more importantly, in printing books.

Writings on Mechanical Arts. Starting in the early 1400s, books on crafts and mechanical arts spread throughout Europe. Their subjects included machines, engineering, architecture, military technology, painting, sculpture, and navigation. Most of these texts were not primarily how-to manuals on mechanical arts. Instead, they served to feed the popular interest in skilled craftwork and how it was produced. They also represented the power and glory of the princes who sponsored the works. The texts reflected a pride in fine craftsmanship and helped to raise the status of the mechanical arts in the eyes of the public.

Some scholars have suggested that the artisans of the Renaissance made a significant contribution to the development of modern science. At the outset of the Renaissance, a sharp distinction existed between the mechanical arts and natural science, a form of philosophy. By the 1600s, however, scientists were relying heavily on physical instruments to test their theories about the natural world. As a result, an alliance between science and technology emerged that has lasted for centuries.

Technology

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