Frankish Viticulture, Wine Presses, and wine production in the Levant: New Evidence from Castellum Regis (Miʿilyā)

As the Christian population increased in the Frankish Kingdom following 1100, there was also a much-increased demand for wine. This led to a revolution in agriculture and industry related to wine production. The high number of texts mentioning vineyards is indicative of these activities. To date onl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Khamisy, Rabei G. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group 2021
In: Palestine exploration quarterly
Year: 2021, Volume: 153, Issue: 3, Pages: 191-221
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Crusader / Levan / Wine press / Wine making / Wine / Wine consumption / Franconia (Germanic peoples)
IxTheo Classification:HH Archaeology
KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages
KBA Western Europe
ZB Sociology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:As the Christian population increased in the Frankish Kingdom following 1100, there was also a much-increased demand for wine. This led to a revolution in agriculture and industry related to wine production. The high number of texts mentioning vineyards is indicative of these activities. To date only 26 wine-presses identified as belonging to the Frankish period have been discovered, but they provide considerable information about the building technology, and the nature of wine production. The new discovery in Miʿilyā provides critical information about this industry; it points to a kind of monopoly on wine production during the Frankish period, but it also provided great deal of information about the production technology. The fermentation in the local Levantine technology took place under the sun, with low proportion of CO2, in a non-controlled environment, while the Franks brought with them a different technology, in which the fermentation took place inside buildings, in a quite controlled environment with high levels of CO2. In addition, it seems likely that in Miʿilyā’s factory, the fermentation place and storage were in an underground large room. This style, which is suitable to rainy regions, seems to have been introduced to the Levant during the Frankish period.
ISSN:1743-1301
Contains:Enthalten in: Palestine exploration quarterly
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/00310328.2020.1766218