What are some of the most important inventions from the Middle Age?

13. The tidal mill first appeared in Ireland

Water and windmills have been known to have been employed since antiquity, and early examples in Europe include evidence of tidal mills from 6th century Ireland, and an ancient Roman mill in London on the River Fleet. However, they did not come into common use in Europe until the 11th century, when a number were built along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

The ancient Romans may have used some type of magnifying glass for reading, but the first wearable glasses known to history appeared in Italy during the 13th century.

English monk Sir Roger Bacon made the first definitive reference to eyeglasses in the 13th century, when he outlined the scientific principles behind the use of corrective lenses in his Opus Majus (c.1266).

In a sermon given by a Dominican Friar called Giordana da Pisa in 1305, he wrote: "It is not yet twenty years since there was found the art of making eyeglasses, which make for good vision..."