The Invention That Changed Europe

Frances Simmons has an interesting and, admittedly, super-geeky opinion piece over at suite101. She posits that the lowly stirrup (the part of a horse saddle where you stick your foot) transformed medieval Europe from a place where life was “nasty, brutish and short,” to a place where wealth circulated and an artisan class flourished.

"A class of warriors and wars required wealth to purchase or breed the proper horse. Also acquiring the acoutrements, like chain mail (an armored warriors under garment), weapons, armor, the warrior class required wealth. The necessary wealth that the monarch had to disperse to sustain wars and a warrior class encouraged the circulation of wealth from the monarch to the warrior class and from there to those whose positions supported the warrior class."

Check out the full article here.