The definition of the Middle Ages as the "dark ages" is belied by the technical advances initiated and implemented during this thousand-year span of history.

It was during this period that familiar tools became commonly used, that new inventions were imported from Eastern countries and that new techniques were perfected.

The "barbarians", the name by which the Romans called the populations living outside the borders of the Empire, arrived in the West at the beginning of the fifth century. In particular, Huns, Visigoths and Vandals were the protagonists of the first wave of the so-called "barbarian invasions", while Ostrogoths and Lombards also reached the Italian peninsula between the fifth and sixth centuries.

In fact more than invasions one should speak of the "migration" of entire populations, who moved to the West from northern Europe and from the East. The arrival of these populations helped to hasten the end of the Roman Empire and brought about the birth of the Roman-barbarian kingdoms.

Contact with these barbarians introduced some new habits related to clothing (shirt and trousers) and food (milk, butter, cheese and charcuterie customary of the Germanic people lived side by side with the cereals and legumes of the Mediterranean tradition).

Barbarians also invented stirrups during the eighth century, and these were commonly used in Europe during the ninth century where they revolutionised warfare: armies mainly consisted of knights, who became virtually invincible when standing firmly on their stirrups against opponents on foot or knights without any stirrups.

The forces of nature began to be exploited thanks to the water wheel, which served as a driving force for water mills (where grain was ground, fig. 1), for oil mills (crushing olives to obtain oil), for sawmills (where wood was cut). A similar system was used in mills where the strength of the wind was exploited instead.

Fig. 1 - Tiana (NU), the wheel of the fulling mill (Photo by Mario Chillotti, from http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19787146).

Medieval economy was mainly linked to agriculture and many innovations were directly related to cultivating fields: the heavy plough, made of iron and equipped with wheels, enabled working the land in depth and improving the quality of cultures (fig. 2).

In addition, the way of yoking animals also changed, with the introduction of a padded collar, which not only increased the exploitable pulling strength, but also avoided that the animals suffocated due to the weight of the load they carried.

The practice of shoeing horses also spread, so that they did not hurt their hooves on rough terrains.

Fig. 2 - Ploughing the fields (from http://ospitiweb.indire.it/~mitd0022/2g_firenze/rinascita.htm).

Navigation systems were revolutionised between the end of the twelfth century and the middle of the thirteenth by major technological innovations such as the magnetic compass, the stern rudder, the triangular Latin sail and pilot books (manuals for coastal and port shipping, fig. 3).

Fig. 3 - Detail from the pilot book known as "Carta Pisana", late thirteenth century (from http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carta_Pisana).

The production of small firearms began at the beginning of the fourteenth century and the first mechanical clocks were also produced.

One of the most useful medieval inventions for people’s welfare was that of spectacles, which however had no arms and were fixed to noses by a type of pincers.

At home, life improved thanks to glass for windows and to the fireplace which replaced the smoky and dangerous braziers placed at the centre of the rooms. Moreover, the habit of eating while sitting at a table became commonplace, pasta began to be produced and the fork was invented (fig. 4).

Fig. 4 - Diners using cutlery (from https://storieveneziane.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/img448.jpg).