Medieval technology that its potential was fully achieved. Artesian well (1126) A thin rod with a hard iron cutting edge is placed in the bore hole and repeatedly struck with a hammer, underground water pressure forces the water up the hole without pumping. Artesian wells are named after the town of Artois in France, where the first one was drilled by Carthusian monks in 1126. Central heating through underfloor channels (9th century) In the early medieval Alpine upland, a simpler central heating system where heat travelled through underfloor channels from the furnace room replaced the Roman hypocaust at some places. In Reichenau
A Year in the Province A Year in the Province A Year In The Province is a comic novel by Christopher Marsh. The book tells the story of Jesus Sanchez Ventura, who persuades his wife Begona and his three daughters to leave Andalusia for Belfast. The book was well received by critics, with the BBC's Ian Sansom comparing Marsh to Flann O'Brien. The book's title references the bestselling memoir by Peter Mayle, "A Year in Provence". Christopher Marsh read history at Cambridge. He has since worked as an academic, publishing numerous historical titles, and since 1998 has been Reader in History at Queen's University, Belfast.