Abstract

If we are to accurately gauge the validity of Lynn White, Jr.’s thesis as articulated in his article, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis”, we must bring together recent research not only in the fields of environmental ethics and ecotheology but also in environmental history. We must also consider White’s work as a whole, including his Medieval Technology and Social Change, which has been ignored for the most part by non-medievalists. Environmental history provides a corrective to White by anchoring medieval attitudes and practices in specific times and places and demonstrating that the medieval period was not monolithic or uniform with respect to attitudes toward nature. Recent work by medieval environmental historians confirms that while many of the broad claims made by White in “Roots” and Medieval Technology and Social Change must be strongly qualified, his central point that medieval agriculture was an important part of European environmental history has been largely sustained.