La
Licorne
RURAL SETTLEMENT
As from the arrival of the Romans in
about 50 BC, military posts were established along the river Maas and the major
roads. This offered the necessary stability for settlement in the southern
Limburg’s countryside.
Apart from the river deposits, the
undulating terrain in this region is covered with clay loam of aeolian origin,
locally referred to as löss.
Clearance of the primeval forest gave fertile land for farming.
In the area east of Maastricht
with its mild climate and marvelous scenery a great many Roman villas were
established. In fact the most common Villa was not more than a sizable
farm, but in the Villa Rustica the farm was separated from the residence
with a view to the comfort of its more important masters. The size of such a
holding may have been in the range from 500 to 3000 hectares. However, the Villa
Urbana served solely as a dwelling for the real rich that could do without
a farm, such as ranking governors, military and tradesmen. In the third century
AD Germanic tribes started raiding the region causing the rich to exchange the
country side for the protection under some sort of military shield.
Those staying behind grouped their
homesteads around a road junction, a church the local inn and usually near one
of the many, year-round serving rivulets.
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The
land holdings in southern Limburg were fairly large, the necessary labor
being supplied by landless. Some holdings were growing in riches and
developed into estates. Their owners became the nobility that came up around
the turn of the millennium. Examples of castles and manors, often in
combination with a farm, can be found everywhere in the southern Limburg. The
ordinary farm typically consists of a masonry buildings set in a square to
enclose a farmyard. The whole appears as a stronghold with bar-wired windows.
On opposite ends huge doorways are installed to facilitate the passage of
stacked carts. |
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In Northern Limburg and Brabant
geomorphology prescibed different solutions. The rather flat topography made
the people choose for the higher grounds that were safe from flooding. Thus
on the sandy soils villages can be found on the ever present higher ridges,
while in the Maas valley the levees served the purpose. To the west of
‘s-Hertogenbosch this has resulted in the Langstraat [Long Street], which consists of
a chain of villages with their farm houses along one central road. To the
back of those farms, parcels of land -ten to twenty meters wide- stretch out
for distances of over a thousand meters. The traditional farmstead still to
be seen in this region is of a longish type very different from that in South
Limburg. Jan de Kort, 2001, 50cm x 40cm |
Agriculture was exercised in the
fields near the village, while herds of sheep would graze on the moors which
were also significant for bee keeping. Organic matter from those moors would be
used as dry matter in the animal shelter. Pastureland in the valleys served for
grazing and hay production. At greater distance from the village one would find
the forests which provided wood, fruits, spices and medicines. Place-names with
kamp or hof in them are referring to the initial clearance in a forest for
cultivation.
In this setting a farming system was
practiced which would prove to be sustainable for ages. In autumn, after a year
of fallow, seeds of wheat or rye would be broadcasted for harvest early summer
of the next year. The following spring, barley, oats or rye would be seeded for
harvest in the summer of the same year. Then, for a period of about fourteen
months the land would be left fallow. Thus a full cycle of three years would
result in two yields of both grain and straw. About two tons of grain per
hectare would be collected in such a period. The one full and two minor fallows
in this period would produce upcoming vegetation to serve as grazing for
cattle, sheep and geese. This would bring some nutrients back to the cultivated
land in addition to the manure dug from animal sheds and brought onto the land.
The human diet of grain and animal
products would be augmented by root crops, pulses and fruits collected from the
houselot or elsewhere. The farming system in its entirety provided products for
clothing [wool, leather], housing [building wood, clay for walls, straw for
roofing], cooking and heating [wood], lighting [beeswax], etceteras. Before the
introduction of chemical fertilizers in the 19th century the productivity of
the land was improved by the cultivation of nitrogen binding legumes and the
application of marl or lime.