Agent-based modelling to explore the combined effects of social and demographic changes on rural settlement patterns in North-Western Europe during the Middle Ages (800 CE to 1200 CE).
The agent-based model SimFeodal simulates the emergence of enduring population clusters located around the castles and the churches in a rural region during the Middle Ages. In the course of time, population clusters (hamlets, villages, small towns) become more numerous; many of them grow (i. e. their number of peasant households increases) but some clusters grow more than others.
| Name | Category | Type | Activity | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peasant household | Moving locally and at long distances | Socio-spatial | Active | Micro-geographic |
| Peasant household | Moving only locally | Socio-spatial | Active | Micro-geographic |
| Lord | Overlord (prince, count) | Social | Active | Micro-geographic |
| Lord | Small lord (castellan, knight...) | Socio-spatial | Active | Micro-geographic |
| Tax area | Rents | Spatial | Passive | Micro-geographic |
| Tax area | High justice rights | Spatial | Passive | Micro-geographic |
| Tax area | Other rights (usage rights, low justice rights) | Spatial | Passive | Micro-geographic |
| Attractive point | Parish church | Socio-spatial | Active | Micro-geographic |
| Attractive point | Castle | Spatial | Passive | Micro-geographic |
| Attractive point | Village community | Spatial | Passive | Micro-geographic |
| Population cluster | Village, hamlet | Spatial | Passive | Meso-geographic |
| Population cluster | Agglomeration (market town, small town) | Spatial | Passive | Meso-geographic |
| Attraction centre | Spatial | Passive | Meso-geographic |