Medieval Woodlands, Forests, and Landscapes

In this episode, Chris Mielke has an exciting conversation about medieval forests and the woodcutting economy with the researcher Péter Szabó. The doctor explains how to study medieval landscapes, shows the difference between forests and woodlands, and talks about woodcutting's technologies and economic benefits in the Middle Ages and Early Modern times. He also tells where to find medieval forests in Central Europe and how to compare the source descriptions with the landscapes that we see now. Péter Szabó's research is a good example of interdisciplinarity, which involves specialists from various fields and contributes to substantial European environmental projects. During the episode, you will also discover whether the movies about Robin Hood show the proper medieval forests, what to do with a medieval tree for prolonging its life, and why the small forests are more interesting for historians than the big ones. Past Perfect! is CEU Medieval Radio’s show on medieval and early modern history and culture, where Christopher Mielke casually discusses with his guests various issues from the crusades to archeo-zoology to medieval urine sampling. The discussions are made with the aim to popularize medieval and early modern studies with the help of experts such as early musicians, historians, philologists and archeologists.This episode was first recorded and broadcast in 2013.