Is it true that in the Middle Ages 80% of europe was dominated by forests?
No.
>>941511
blame st. bonifatius for starting the christmas tree meme.
You just played VTMB did you not
>>941523
what
>>941530
in da batt
>>941511
Actually nice timber was already getting scarcer in the late Middle Ages. If it wasn't for royal orders I reckon most forests would've been gone by 1500. Small patches of coppiced wood were prevalent though but these supplied only some of the wood needed to keep a village running, larger construction timbers typically had to be shipped or carted in.
>>941571
Europeans generally freaked out when they reached the Americas. When they saw miles and miles of coast with nothing but forests and the scarce Native village with fire pits and enough furs to load European boats for a few shitty knives... they could not contain themselves. Read a manuscript detailing an eyewitness account or reliving their own and you'll find they talk a lot about just how many damn trees they found.
>>941511
Not sure about all of Europe, but the Romans got busy cutting down all the trees around the Mediterranean years before
>>941762
I've heard that before Columbian contact, the forests were well maintained and were more like groves, but disease violently swept the continent and caused the forests to grow back and this is what French and English were seeing.
>>941775
I dunno about groves, but the north american natives were brutal forest cutters. Smallpox actually briefly cooled the earth, because it killed 90% of the indians and allowed all the forests to grow back
Haha
Fuck no
The forests of Western & Southern Europe were fucked by the Romans
>>941511
Yes, to hide the inquisitions mass graves
>>941952
>>941860
native americans set fires to open up the woods for paths
>>941511
Most of Europe lost most of its trees in Antiquity aside from the north. Britain's forest cover returned after the 410 evacuation by the Romans and you'd have shit so large that they were completely impenetrable e.g. the Weald. Most of it was destroyed by the 13th century though, and now all that is left in England is bits of the old New Forest and a couple of small woods.
