Early Medieval Boat People
Population
- population of Roman Britain variously estimated between 2M and 5M
- question - what was the population levels of Roman Britain at various points in history
- Assume population in 410 was ~ 4M
- population level not reachieved to early Tudor period
- what was the population before the Black Death - one third of population died in Black Death
- did population level reachive 4M before Black Death?
- what was the population before the Black Death - one third of population died in Black Death
- population level not reachieved to early Tudor period
- Domesday book suggests population of England around 1M
- suggests severe population drop albeit over 600 year period
- abandonment of settlements
- reduced occupation levels
- suggests severe population drop albeit over 600 year period
Reasons for population decline
- plague of Justinian
- supposed plague in C7 (smallpox ?)
- jointly supposed to have killed 50% of population of Europe
- abandoned farmsteads and communities in Gaul
- any disporportionate effect on romano british as compared with saxons?
- crop failures
- Gulf of Carpentaria Meteorite (cf David Keys Catastrophe)
- reduced replacement rates due to
- shortened overall lifespan due to poorer nutrition
- higher infant mortality due to poorer living conditions
- reduced fecundity due poorer nutrition
- increased death rate due to conflict
- emigration
Emigration
- know church in Galica appointed a Bishop specifically to look after needs of Britons
- how big a population required a Bishop
- Brittany - name change suggests impact of migration
- what records do we have of actual migration
- did bulk migration to Brittany (and Galici) happen mostly after 565 (Plague of Justinian) when there was free agricultural land for refugees to homestead on
Galiicia
- on tin trading route with cornwall
- migration occurred before Plague of Justinian (date of appointment of bishop)
- how many people on a tin carrier as passengers
- how many maximally crowded onto boats
- how many boats per annum
- if british population in Galicia 10k
- 200 boats if 50 passengers
- 500 if 20 passengers
- if population 100k 2,000/5,000 - seems too many voyages though possible cf Vietnamese boat people
- impact though less than 3% if population 4M
- disproportionate number of younger fitter and richer
- any comparisons with population mix of contemporary refugees compared with population in refugee camps?
- disproportionate number of younger fitter and richer
- if british population in Galicia 10k
Brittany
- assume frequent contact - more frequent than Galicia due to shorter sea crossing
- imples more more liklely to make voyage (100k rather than 10k)
- impact on overall population still likely to be small
Ships
- Bronze age wreck off Devon
- 40ft length 6 ft beam
- Yassi Ada C6 Byzantine shipwreck
- 60 ft length, 14 ft beam
- 20 to 30 passengers maximum
- passengers probably camped on deck - certainly case in Mediterranean until C10
- cf 27 boat people on similar size boat sailing from Vietnam to Darwin
Tin Trade
Recent Analogues
- Vietnamese boat people
- long voyages on poor overcrowded boats
- possibly best analogues
- Australian Boat People
- role of people smugglers and organised trade
- Remnant Jewish population to Palestine after end WW2
page revision: 5, last edited: 22 Nov 2010 22:02
