12-12-2018, 05:30 PM | #11 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Quote:
I also use roughly that 10% figure to figure out how much of a town or rural area is "adventuring capable," meaning "of use as a henchman or ally" in broad terms. Those two groups overlap, but not completely.
__________________
My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon |
|
12-12-2018, 07:24 PM | #12 | |
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: OK
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Quote:
After the Roman warm period ended, population levels did drop. I think the way these population figures are determined is by looking at the amount and type of arable land, and then figuring out how many people that much land can support. So it might be the case that the person who did the medieval estimate was assuming less arable land and/or farming methods that support fewer people per square mile. Spain also has comparatively poor farmland, so it might be the case that some of that land was abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire. I know that in the Eastern Roman Empire, it was common for land to fall into disuse, and then at certain times it became economical to reclaim that unused land (what they called klasmatic land). I found this paper called The Economic Consequences of the Spanish Reconquest: The Long-term Effects of Medieval Conquest and Colonization. It looks like they talk about population density in there. I have a couple of books that might provide an answer too, though most of my literature is on the Eastern Roman Empire.
__________________
"For the rays, to speak properly, are not colored. In them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color." —Isaac Newton, Optics My blog. |
|
12-12-2018, 09:35 PM | #13 | |
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Berlin, Germany
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Don't know any English sources, but the Archaeological Museum Hamburg has a reconstruction of that time period: https://youtu.be/yy2t2ZoUefo
And remember: the whole reason for that settlement was that it is a ford on an important trade route (the Ox road: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A6rvejen). I guess most adventurer jobs would be as caravan guards, and there are already wealthy traders available as patrons... Edit2: Quote:
Last edited by nondescript handle; 12-12-2018 at 10:37 PM. Reason: wiki link, question of power |
|
12-13-2018, 06:14 AM | #14 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
I have a book, _Archaeology of the Roman Economy_ by Kevin Greene that talks about the climate and topography of Italy making the farmers more productive then many places. Longer growing seasons with grain in the valley bottoms and olives and grapes on the slopes. They were harvested at different times so farmers had more days they did productive work.
Last edited by dcarson; 12-13-2018 at 08:06 AM. |
12-13-2018, 06:56 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
The figures for Spain in the 10th century do not include Islamic Iberia. The Emirate of Cordoba alone had nearly five million people and Cordoba was the largest city on Earth with a population of 400,000.
|
12-13-2018, 08:41 AM | #16 |
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: OK
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
I thought Keifeng, Chang'an, and Baghdad were pushing a million people at that time.
__________________
"For the rays, to speak properly, are not colored. In them there is nothing else than a certain power and disposition to stir up a sensation of this or that color." —Isaac Newton, Optics My blog. |
12-13-2018, 03:16 PM | #17 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Quote:
The overall realm is about the size of the United Kingdom (or Minnesota, for that matter) at roughly 100,000 square miles (MN is 87,000; UK is 93,600) with a population of about 5.5 million, so about 55 folks per square mile; 21.2 folks per square km. Up at the border, the characteristics drop to 10-15 folks per square mile, or perhaps 4-6 per square km, and a "totalitarian oppressive dictator" level of military/soldiery level. The fertile core subsidizes the food production of the hinterlands. Magic is used to get in a few growing seasons where otherwise you'd only get one bad one. That level of detail gives great color stuff.
__________________
My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon |
|
12-14-2018, 12:46 AM | #18 |
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Schleswig, Germany
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
100km north of Hamburg there still stood the viking settlement of Hedeby, adjacent to the Danevirke. Having a Wall - even one not being made from ice - stretching from seaside to seaside across the land, is an opportunity not to be missed. If there is opportunity for monster hunting in Saxony, it makes creating that wall guarding the lands of the Danes from threats coming from the south all the more sensible.
The Haithabu Museum has a couple of reconstructed viking houses in their original place. These can give you an impression how architecture looked like in that era. |
12-14-2018, 01:02 PM | #19 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Quote:
__________________
My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon |
|
12-14-2018, 02:45 PM | #20 | |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
|
Re: Need help building a realistic town in 10th Century Germany
Quote:
You could try looking up the archaeology of York, there are lots of resources in English in libraries and online and it was one of the big towns in the North Sea region. For Hamburg most of the resources will be in German and Danish. There is also an English book on Dithmarschen which has a short history of the period, and things like the South Baltic peoples who held to paganism and independence for centuries after the Franks stormed into the region. Maybe it is the one by William Urban?
__________________
"It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature |
|
|
|