This term has other meanings, see High. The village of Vysokoe ukr. High Crimean. Kermençik Country ... Wikipedia

Middle Ages- a term denoting in Western Europe. history of the period between antiquity and early modern times. lower chronological. The border is traditionally recognized as the date of the overthrow of the leader of the Germans, mercenaries by Skir Odoacer of the last Rome. Emperor Roma la Augustula ... ...

Periods of the Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages The High Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages is the period of European history that began after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It lasted about five centuries, from about 476 to ... ... Wikipedia

Periods of the Middle Ages Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe a period of European history in the 14th to 16th centuries. Late Middle Ages ... ... Wikipedia

Periods of the Middle Ages Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe a period of European history in the 14th to 16th centuries. The Late Middle Ages was preceded by the High ... Wikipedia

Medicine in the Middle Ages.- In the Middle Ages, practical m. was mainly developed, which was carried out by bath attendants and barbers. They did bloodletting, set joints, amputated. The profession of a bath attendant in the public mind was associated with "unclean" professions, ... ... Medieval world in terms, names and titles

Periods of the Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages The High Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages is a period of European history that began shortly after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Lasted about five centuries, approximately from 500 to 1000 years. In ... ... Wikipedia

Contents 1 Bath attendants barbers 2 Saints 3 Amulets 4 Hospitals ... Wikipedia

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• Christian Church in the High Middle Ages. Tutorial , . The manual, prepared by the leading teachers of the Moscow State Pedagogical University I. A. Dvoretskaya and N. V. Simonova, includes fragments of sources on the history of the Christian Church in the era of the High Middle Ages.…

MIDDLE AGES

Early Middle Ages

(from 500 to 1000)

It starts from the time of the fall of the Great Roman Empire (476) and lasts about 5 centuries. This is the time of the so-called Great Migration of Peoples, which began in the 4th century and ended in the 7th. During this time, the Germanic tribes captured and subjugated all the countries of Western Europe, thus determining the face of the modern European world. The main reasons for mass migration during this period of the Middle Ages were the search for fertile lands and favorable conditions, as well as a sharp cooling of the climate. Therefore, the northern tribes moved closer to the south. In addition to the Germanic tribes, Turks, Slavs and Finno-Ugric tribes participated in the resettlement. The great migration of peoples was accompanied by the destruction of many tribes and nomadic peoples.

Viking tribes appeared, the kingdoms of the Ostrogoths in Italy and the Visigoths in Aquitaine and the Iberian Peninsula arose, the Frankish state was formed, which occupied most of Europe during its heyday. North Africa and Spain became part of the Arab Caliphate, many small states of the Angles, Saxons and Celts existed on the British Isles, states appeared in Scandinavia, as well as in central and eastern Europe: Great Moravia and the Old Russian state. The neighbors of the Europeans were the Byzantines, the population of the ancient Russian principalities and Muslim Arabs. The inhabitants of Europe maintained different relations with the nearest countries and states. The Arab states and Byzantium had the greatest influence on all aspects of the life of European countries.

The medieval society of Western Europe was agrarian. The basis of the economy was agriculture, and the vast majority of the population was employed in this area. Labor in agriculture, as well as in other sectors of production, was manual, which predetermined its low efficiency and slow overall rates of technical and economic evolution.

The vast majority of the population of Western Europe throughout the entire period of the Middle Ages lived outside the city. If cities were very important for ancient Europe - they were independent centers of life, the nature of which was predominantly municipal, and a person’s belonging to a city determined his civil rights, then in Medieval Europe, especially in the first seven centuries, the role of cities was insignificant, although over time time, the influence of cities is increasing.

The early Middle Ages in Europe are characterized by constant wars. Barbarian tribes, having destroyed the Roman Empire, began to create their own states of the Angles, Franks and others. They fought fierce wars with each other for territory. In 800, Charlemagne managed, at the cost of numerous campaigns of conquest, to subjugate many peoples and create the Frankish Empire. Having broken up after the death of Charles after 43 years, it was again recreated in the 10th century by the German kings.

In the Middle Ages, the formation of Western European civilization began, developing with greater dynamism than all previous civilizations, which was determined by a number of historical factors (the legacy of Roman material and spiritual culture, the existence of the empires of Charlemagne and Otto I in Europe, which united many tribes and countries, the influence of Christianity as a single religion for all, the role of corporatism, penetrating all spheres of social order).

The basis of the economy of the Middle Ages was agriculture, which employed most of the population. The peasants cultivated both their land plots and those of the masters. More precisely, the peasants had nothing of their own; only personal freedom distinguished them from slaves.

By the end of the first period of the Middle Ages, all peasants (both personally dependent and personally free) have an owner. Feudal law did not recognize simply free, independent people, trying to build social relations according to the principle: "There is no man without a master."

During the formation of medieval society, the pace of development was slow. Although in agriculture the three-field instead of the two-field was already fully established, the yield was low. They kept mainly small livestock - goats, sheep, pigs, and there were few horses and cows. The level of specialization of agriculture was low. Each estate had almost all vital, from the point of view of Western Europeans, branches of the economy: field crops, cattle breeding, and various crafts. The economy was natural, and agricultural products were not specially produced for the market; the craft also existed in the form of work to order. The domestic market was thus very limited.

In the period of the early Middle Ages - the beginning of the formation of medieval society - the territory on which the formation of Western European civilization is taking place significantly expands: if the basis of ancient civilization was Ancient Greece and Rome, then medieval civilization covers almost all of Europe. The most important process in the early Middle Ages in the socio-economic sphere was the formation of feudal relations, the core of which was the formation of feudal land ownership. This happened in two ways. The first way is through the peasant community. The allotment of land owned by a peasant family was inherited from father to son (and from the 6th century to daughter) and was their property. This is how the allod gradually took shape - the freely alienable land property of the communal peasants. Allod accelerated the stratification of property among free peasants: the lands began to be concentrated in the hands of the communal elite, which already acts as part of the feudal class. Thus, this was the way of forming the patrimonial-allodial form of feudal ownership of land, which was especially characteristic of the Germanic tribes.

During the early Middle Ages, feudal fragmentation was observed in Europe. Then the role of Christianity in the creation of a united Europe increases.

Medieval cities

They arose primarily in places of lively trade. In Europe it was Italy and France. Here, cities appeared already in the 9th century. The time of appearance of other cities refers to

Beginning in the 12th and 13th centuries, there was a sharp rise in the development of technology in Europe and an increase in the number of innovations in the means of production, which contributed to the economic growth of the region. In less than a century, more inventions have been made than in the previous thousand years.

Cannons, glasses, artesian wells were invented. Gunpowder, silk, compass and astrolabe came from the East. There were also great advances in shipbuilding and watches. At the same time, a huge number of Greek and Arabic works on medicine and science were translated and distributed throughout Europe.

At that time, science and culture began to develop. The most progressive rulers also understood the value of education and science. For example, back in the 8th century, on the orders of Charlemagne, the Academy was formed, bearing his name.

Among the sciences: astronomy. In the Middle Ages, it was closely associated with astrology. The geocentric concept of Ptolemy was taken as the basis of the world, although many scientists by that time were already sure of its fallacy. But Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to openly criticize; Chemistry: In the Middle Ages it was called alchemy. Scientists-alchemists were looking for a philosopher's stone that gives wisdom, and a way to create gold from other metals. In the process of these searches, a huge number of important inventions were made, etc.

In Western European art of the 10th-12th centuries, the Romanesque style prevails. He expressed himself most fully in architecture.

Classical (High) Middle Ages

(1000 to 1300)

The main characterizing trend of this period was the rapid increase in the population of Europe, which in turn led to dramatic changes in the social, political and other spheres of life.

In the XI-XV centuries. in Europe, there is a process of gradual formation of centralized states - England, France, Portugal, Spain, Holland, etc., where new forms of government arise - the Cortes (Spain), Parliament (England), States General (France). The strengthening of centralized power contributed to the more successful development of the economy, science, culture, the emergence of a new form of organization of production - manufactory. In Europe, capitalist relations are emerging and establishing themselves, which was largely facilitated by the Great Geographical Discoveries.

In the High Middle Ages, Europe begins to actively flourish. The arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia. The collapse of the Carolingian Empire into two separate states, on the territories of which modern Germany and France were later formed. The organization of Christian crusades with the aim of recapturing Palestine from the Seljuks. Cities are developing and getting rich. Culture is developing very actively. There are new styles and trends in architecture and music.

In Eastern Europe, the era of the High Middle Ages was marked by the flourishing of the Old Russian state and the appearance on the historical stage of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The invasion of the Mongols in the XIII century caused irreparable damage to the development of Eastern Europe. Many states of this region were plundered and enslaved.

The Western European Middle Ages is a period of dominance of natural economy and weak development of commodity-money relations. The insignificant level of specialization of the regions associated with this type of economy determined the development of mainly long-distance (foreign) rather than near (internal) trade. Long-distance trade was focused mainly on the upper strata of society. Industry during this period existed in the form of handicrafts and manufactory.

Medieval society - class. There were three main estates: the nobility, the clergy and the people (peasants, artisans, merchants were united under this concept). Estates had different rights and obligations, played different socio-political and economic roles.

The most important characteristic of medieval Western European society was its hierarchical structure, the system of vassalage. At the head of the feudal hierarchy was the king - the supreme overlord and, at the same time, often only a nominal head of state. This conditionality of the absolute power of the highest person in the states of Western Europe is also an essential feature of Western European society, in contrast to the truly absolute monarchies of the East. Thus, the king in medieval Europe is only a “first among equals”, and not an omnipotent despot. It is characteristic that the king, occupying the first step of the hierarchical ladder in his state, could well be a vassal of another king or the pope.

On the second rung of the feudal ladder were the direct vassals of the king. These were large feudal lords - dukes, counts, archbishops, bishops, abbots. According to the immunity letter received from the king, they had various types of immunity (from Latin - immunity). The most common types of immunity were tax, judicial and administrative, i.e. the owners of immunity certificates themselves collected taxes from their peasants and townspeople, ruled the court, and made administrative decisions. Feudal lords of this level could themselves mint their own coin, which often had circulation not only within the boundaries of the given estate, but also outside it. The subordination of such feudal lords to the king was often merely formal.

On the third rung of the feudal ladder stood the vassals of dukes, counts, bishops - barons. They enjoyed virtual immunity on their estates. Even lower were the vassals of the barons - the knights. Some of them could also have their own vassals - even smaller knights, others had only peasants in submission, who, however, stood outside the feudal ladder.

The system of vassalage was based on the practice of land grants. The person who received the land became a vassal, the one who gave it became a seigneur. The owner of the land - the seigneur, could give a fief (land plot) for temporary use on special conditions. The land was given under certain conditions, the most important of which was the service of the seigneur, which, as a rule, was 40 days a year according to feudal custom. The most important duties of a vassal in relation to his lord were participation in the lord's army, protection of his possessions, honor, dignity, participation in his council. If necessary, the vassals redeemed the lord from captivity.

When receiving land, the vassal took an oath of allegiance to his master. If the vassal did not fulfill his obligations, the lord could take away his land, but this was not so easy to do, since the vassal, as a feudal lord, was inclined to defend his property with weapons in his hands. In general, despite the apparent clear order, the system of vassalage was rather confusing, and a vassal could have several lords at the same time. Then the principle "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" was in effect.

In the Middle Ages, two main classes of feudal society were also formed: feudal lords, spiritual and secular - land owners, and peasants - land holders. The basis of the economy of the Middle Ages was agriculture, which employed most of the population. The peasants cultivated both their land plots and those of the masters.

Among the peasants there were two groups, differing in their economic and social status. Personally free peasants could, at will, leave the owner, give up their land holdings: rent them out or sell them to another peasant. Having freedom of movement, they often moved to cities or to new places. They paid fixed taxes in kind and in cash and performed certain work in the household of their master. The other group is the personally dependent peasants. Their duties were wider, moreover (and this is the most important difference) they were not fixed, so that personally dependent peasants were subjected to arbitrary taxation. They also carried a number of specific taxes: posthumous - upon entering into an inheritance, marriage - redemption of the right of the first night, etc. These peasants did not enjoy freedom of movement.

The producer of material goods under feudalism was the peasant, who, unlike a slave and a hired worker, ran the household himself, and in many respects quite independently, that is, he was the owner. The peasant was the owner of the yard, the main means of production. He also acted as the owner of the land, but was a subordinate owner, while the feudal lord was the supreme owner. The supreme owner of the land is always at the same time the supreme owner of the personalities of the subordinate owners of the land, and thus also of their labor force. Here, as in the case of slavery, there is an extra-economic dependence of the exploited on the exploiter, but not complete, but supreme. Therefore, the peasant, unlike the slave, is the owner of his personality and labor force, but not complete, but subordinate.

Progress in agriculture was also facilitated by the liberation of peasants from personal dependence. The decision on this was made either by the city near which the peasants lived and with which they were connected socially and economically, or by their lord-feudal lord, on whose land they lived. The rights of peasants to land allotments were strengthened. Increasingly, they could freely pass on land by inheritance, bequeath it and mortgage it, lease it, donate it, and sell it. This is how the land market gradually develops and becomes ever wider. Commodity-money relations develop.

Church. The schism (schism) of 1054 led to the formation of two main branches of the Christian Church - the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe. In the era of the classical Middle Ages in Europe, the Catholic Church reached its power. It influenced all spheres of human life. The rulers could not compare with its wealth - the church owned 1/3 of all land in each country.

A whole series of crusades took place over the course of 400 years, from the 11th to the 15th centuries. They were organized by the Catholic Church against Muslim countries under the slogan of protecting the Holy Sepulcher. In fact, it was an attempt to capture new territories. Knights from all over Europe went on these campaigns. For young warriors, participation in such an adventure was a prerequisite to prove their courage and confirm their knighthood.

Medieval man was extremely religious. What is considered incredible and supernatural for us was ordinary for him. Faith in the dark and light kingdoms, demons, spirits and angels - this is what surrounded a person, and in which he unconditionally believed.

The church strictly watched that its prestige was not damaged. All free-thinking thoughts were nipped in the bud. Many scientists suffered from the actions of the church: Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus and others. At the same time, in the Middle Ages it was the center of education and scientific thought. At the monasteries there were church schools in which they taught literacy, prayers, the Latin language and the singing of hymns. In the workshops for copying books, in the same place, at the monasteries, the works of ancient authors were carefully copied, preserving them for posterity.

The main branch of the economy of Western European countries during the classical Middle Ages, as before, was agriculture. The main characteristics of the development of the agricultural sector as a whole was the process of rapid development of new lands, known in history as the process of internal colonization. It contributed not only to the quantitative growth of the economy, but also to serious qualitative progress, since the duties imposed on the peasants on the new lands were predominantly monetary, and not in kind. The process of replacing in-kind duties with monetary ones, known in the scientific literature as rent switching, contributed to the growth of economic independence and enterprise of the peasants, and to an increase in their labor productivity. The sowing of oilseeds and industrial crops is expanding, and oil and winemaking are developing.

Grain yield reaches the level of sam-4 and sam-5. The growth of peasant activity and the expansion of the peasant economy led to a reduction in the economy of the feudal lord, which in the new conditions turned out to be less profitable.

Artisans were an important ever-increasing stratum of the urban population. From the XII-XIII centuries. In connection with the increase in the purchasing power of the population, the growth of consumer demand is marked by the growth of urban crafts. From work to order, artisans move to work for the market. The craft becomes a respected occupation that brings a good income. Special respect was enjoyed by people of construction specialties - masons, carpenters, plasterers. At that time, the most gifted people, with a high level of professional training, were engaged in architecture. During this period, the specialization of crafts deepened, the range of products expanded, handicraft techniques improved, remaining, as before, handmade.

The technologies in metallurgy, in the manufacture of cloth fabrics become more complicated and become more effective, and in Europe they begin to wear woolen clothes instead of fur and linen. In the XII century. in Europe, mechanical watches were made, in the XIII century. - a large tower clock, in the XV century. - pocket watch. Watchmaking is becoming the school in which the technique of precision engineering was developed, which played a significant role in the development of the productive forces of Western society. Other sciences also developed successfully, and many discoveries were made in them. The water wheel was invented, water and windmills were improved, mechanical watches, glasses, and a loom were created.

Craftsmen united in guilds that protected their members from competition from "wild" artisans. In cities there could be dozens and hundreds of workshops of various economic orientations, because the specialization of production took place not within the workshop, but between workshops. So, in Paris there were more than 350 workshops. The most important feature of the shops was also a certain regulation of production in order to prevent overproduction, to maintain prices at a fairly high level; shop authorities, taking into account the volume of the potential market, determined the quantity of output.

Throughout this period, the guilds waged a struggle with the tops of the city for access to management. The city leaders, called the patriciate, united representatives of the landed aristocracy, wealthy merchants, usurers. Often the actions of influential artisans were successful, and they were included in the city authorities.

The guild organization of handicraft production had both obvious disadvantages and advantages, one of which was a well-established apprenticeship system. The official training period in different workshops ranged from 2 to 14 years, it was assumed that during this time the artisan must go from apprentice and apprentice to master.

The workshops developed strict requirements for the material from which the goods were made, for tools of labor, and production technology. All this ensured stable operation and guaranteed excellent product quality. The high level of medieval Western European craft is evidenced by the fact that an apprentice who wanted to receive the title of master was obliged to complete the final work, which was called a “masterpiece” (the modern meaning of the word speaks for itself).

The workshops also created conditions for the transfer of accumulated experience, ensuring the continuity of handicraft generations. In addition, artisans participated in the formation of a united Europe: apprentices in the learning process could roam around different countries; masters, if they were recruited in the city more than required, easily moved to new places.

On the other hand, by the end of the classical Middle Ages, in the 14th-15th centuries, the guild organization of industrial production began to act more and more obviously as a retarding factor. Shops are becoming more and more isolated, stopping in development. In particular, it was practically impossible for many to become a master: only the son of a master or his son-in-law could actually obtain the status of a master. This led to the fact that a significant layer of "eternal apprentices" appeared in the cities. In addition, the strict regulation of the craft begins to hinder the introduction of technological innovations, without which progress in the field of material production is unthinkable. Therefore, workshops gradually exhaust themselves, and by the end of the classical Middle Ages, a new form of industrial production organization appears - manufactory.

In the classical Middle Ages, old cities quickly grow and new cities appear - near castles, fortresses, monasteries, bridges, river crossings. Cities with a population of 4-6 thousand inhabitants were considered average. There were very large cities, such as Paris, Milan, Florence, where 80 thousand people lived. Life in a medieval city was difficult and dangerous - frequent epidemics claimed the lives of more than half of the townspeople, as happened, for example, during the "black death" - a plague epidemic in the middle of the 14th century. Fires were also frequent. However, they still aspired to the cities, because, as the proverb testified, “the city air made the dependent person free” - for this it was necessary to live in the city for one year and one day.

Cities arose on the lands of the king or large feudal lords and were beneficial to them, bringing income in the form of taxes from crafts and trade.

At the beginning of this period, most cities were dependent on their lords. The townspeople fought for gaining independence, that is, for turning into a free city. The authorities of independent cities were elected and had the right to collect taxes, pay the treasury, manage city finances at their own discretion, have their own court, mint their own coin, and even declare war and make peace. The means of struggle of the urban population for their rights were urban uprisings - communal revolutions, as well as the redemption of their rights from the lord. Only the richest cities, such as London and Paris, could afford such a ransom. However, many other Western European cities were also rich enough to gain independence for money. So, in the XIII century. About half of all cities in England gained independence in collecting taxes - that is, about 200.

The wealth of cities was based on the wealth of their citizens. Among the richest were moneylenders and money changers. They determined the quality and usefulness of the coin, and this was extremely important in the conditions of the defacing of the coin that was constantly practiced by mercantilist governments; they exchanged money and transferred it from one city to another; took on the preservation of free capital and provided loans.

At the beginning of the classical Middle Ages, banking activity was most actively developed in Northern Italy. The activities of usurers and money changers could be extremely profitable, but sometimes (if large feudal lords and kings refused to return large loans) they also became bankrupt.

Late Middle Ages

(1300-1640)

In Western European science, the end of the Middle Ages is usually associated with the beginning of the Church Reformation (beginning of the 16th century) or the era of great geographical discoveries (15th-17th centuries). The late Middle Ages is also called the Renaissance.

This is one of the most tragic periods of the Middle Ages. In the XIV century, almost the whole world experienced several epidemics of the plague, the Black Death. In Europe alone, it killed more than 60 million people, almost half of the population. This is the time of the strongest peasant uprisings in England and France and the longest war in the history of mankind - the Hundred Years. But at the same time - this is the era of the great geographical discoveries and the Renaissance.

Reformation (lat. reformatio - correction, transformation, reformation) - a broad religious and socio-political movement in Western and Central Europe of the 16th - early 17th centuries, aimed at reforming Catholic Christianity in accordance with the Bible.

The main cause of the Reformation was the struggle between those who represented the emerging capitalist mode of production and the defenders of the then dominant feudal system, whose ideological dogmas were protected by the Catholic Church. The interests and aspirations of the emerging bourgeois class and the masses of the people who somehow supported its ideology found expression in the founding of Protestant churches that called for modesty, economy, accumulation and self-reliance, as well as in the formation of nation-states in which the church did not play a major role.

Until the 16th century, the church in Europe owned large fiefs, and its power could only last as long as the feudal system existed. The riches of the church were based on the ownership of land, church tithes and payment for ceremonies. The splendor and decoration of the temples was amazing. The church and the feudal system ideally complemented each other.

With the advent of a new class of society, gradually gaining strength - the bourgeoisie, the situation began to change. Many have long expressed dissatisfaction with the excessive splendor of the rites and temples of the church. The high cost of church rites also caused a great protest among the population. The bourgeoisie was especially dissatisfied with this state of affairs, which wanted to invest not in magnificent and expensive church rites, but in production.

In some countries where the power of the king was strong, the church was limited in its appetites. In many others, where the priests could manage to their heart's content, she was hated by the entire population. Here the Reformation found fertile ground.

In the 14th century, Oxford professor John Wyclif spoke openly against the Catholic Church, calling for the destruction of the institution of the papacy and the removal of all land from the priests. His successor was Jan Hus, rector of the University of Prague and part-time pastor. He fully supported the idea of ​​Wyclif and proposed to reform the church in the Czech Republic. For this he was declared a heretic and burned at the stake.

The beginning of the Reformation is considered to be the speech of Martin Luther, doctor of theology at Wittenberg University: on October 31, 1517, he nailed his “95 Theses” to the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church, in which he opposed the existing abuses of the Catholic Church, in particular against the sale of indulgences. Historians consider the end of the Reformation to be the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, as a result of which the religious factor ceased to play a significant role in European politics.

The main idea of ​​his composition is that a person does not need the mediation of the church to turn to God, he has enough faith. This act was the beginning of the Reformation in Germany. Luther was persecuted by church authorities who demanded that he retract his words. The ruler of Saxony, Friedrich, stood up for him, hiding the doctor of theology in his castle. Followers of Luther's teachings continued to fight to bring about a change in the church. The speeches, which were brutally suppressed, led to the Peasants' War in Germany. Supporters of the Reformation began to be called Protestants.

The death of Luther did not end the Reformation. It began in other European countries - in Denmark, England, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, the Baltic States, Poland.

Protestantism spread throughout Europe in the creeds of the followers of Luther (Lutheranism), John Calvin (Calvinism), Ulrich Zwingli (Zwinglianism), and others.

A set of measures taken by the Catholic Church and the Jesuits to combat the Reformation,

The process of pan-European integration was contradictory: along with rapprochement in the field of culture and religion, there is a desire for national isolation in terms of the development of statehood. The Middle Ages is the time of the formation of national states that exist in the form of monarchies, both absolute and class-representative. The peculiarities of political power were its fragmentation, as well as its connection with conditional ownership of land. If in ancient Europe the right to own land was determined for a free person by his ethnicity - the fact of his birth in a given policy and the civil rights arising from this, then in medieval Europe the right to land depended on a person's belonging to a certain estate.

At this time, centralized power is being strengthened in most Western European countries, national states (England, France, Germany, etc.) begin to form and strengthen. Large feudal lords are increasingly dependent on the king. However, the king's power is still not truly absolute. The era of estate-representative monarchies is coming. It was during this period that the practical implementation of the principle of separation of powers begins, and the first parliaments arise - class-representative bodies that significantly limit the power of the king. The earliest such parliament - the Cortes - appeared in Spain (end of the 12th - beginning of the 12th centuries). In 1265 Parliament appears in England. In the XIV century. Parliaments have already been established in most Western European countries. At first, the work of parliaments was not regulated in any way, neither the dates of meetings nor the procedure for their holding were determined - all this was decided by the king depending on the specific situation. However, even then it became the most important and permanent issue that was considered by parliamentarians - taxes.

Parliaments could act both as an advisory, and as a legislative, and as a judicial body. Legislative functions are gradually assigned to parliament, and a certain confrontation between parliament and the king is outlined. Thus, the king could not impose additional taxes without the sanction of the parliament, although formally the king was much higher than the parliament, and it was the king who convened and dissolved the parliament and proposed issues for discussion.

Parliaments were not the only political innovation of the classical Middle Ages. Another important new component of public life was political parties, which first began to form in the 13th century. in Italy, and then (in the XIV century) in France. Political parties fiercely opposed each other, but the reason for their confrontation then was more psychological reasons than economic ones.

In the XV-XVII centuries. in the field of politics also appeared a lot of new things. Statehood and state structures are noticeably strengthening. The line of political evolution common to most European countries was to strengthen the central government, to strengthen the role of the state in the life of society.

Almost all countries of Western Europe during this period went through the horrors of bloody strife and wars. An example is the War of the Scarlet and White Roses in England in the 15th century. As a result of this war, England lost a fourth of its population. The Middle Ages is also a time of peasant uprisings, unrest and riots. An example is the revolt led by Wat Tyler and John Ball in England in 1381.

Great geographical discoveries. One of the first expeditions to India was organized by Portuguese sailors who tried to reach it by going around Africa. In 1487 they discovered the Cape of Good Hope - the southernmost point of the African continent. At the same time, the Italian Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) was also looking for a way to India, who managed to equip four expeditions with the money of the Spanish court. The Spanish royal couple - Ferdinand and Isabella - believed his arguments and promised him huge incomes from the newly discovered lands. Already during the first expedition in October 1492, Columbus discovered the New World, then named America after Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), who participated in expeditions to South America in 1499–1504. It was he who first described the new lands and first expressed the idea that this is a new, not yet known to Europeans, part of the world.

The sea route to real India was first laid by the Portuguese expedition led by Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) in 1498. The first round-the-world voyage was made in 1519-1521, led by the Portuguese Magellan (1480-1521). Of the 256 people of Magellan's team, only 18 survived, and Magellan himself died in a fight with the natives. Many expeditions of that time ended so sadly.

In the second half of the XVI - XVII centuries. the British, Dutch and French entered the path of colonial conquests. By the middle of the XVII century. Europeans discovered Australia and New Zealand.

As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, colonial empires begin to take shape, and from the newly discovered lands to Europe - the Old World - treasures flow - gold and silver. The consequence of this was an increase in prices, especially for agricultural products. This process, which took place to one degree or another in all countries of Western Europe, was called the price revolution in the historical literature. It contributed to the growth of monetary wealth among merchants, entrepreneurs, speculators and served as one of the sources of the initial accumulation of capital.

Another most important consequence of the Great Geographical Discoveries was the movement of world trade routes: the monopoly of Venetian merchants on caravan trade with the East in Southern Europe was broken. The Portuguese began to sell Indian goods several times cheaper than the Venetian merchants.

The countries actively engaged in intermediary trade - England and the Netherlands - are gaining strength. Intermediary trade was very unreliable and dangerous, but very profitable: for example, if one of the three ships sent to India returned, the expedition was considered successful, and the merchants' profits often reached 1000%. Thus, trade was the most important source for the formation of large private capital.

The quantitative growth of trade contributed to the emergence of new forms in which trade was organized. In the XVI century. for the first time there are exchanges, the main purpose and purpose of which was to use price fluctuations over time. Thanks to the development of trade at this time, there is a much stronger connection between the continents than before. This is how the foundations of the world market begin to be laid.

The term "Middle Ages" was introduced by humanists around 1500. So they denoted the millennium separating them from the "golden age" of antiquity.

Medieval culture is divided into periods:

1. V c. AD - XI century. n. e. - Early Middle Ages.

2. The end of the VIII century. AD - the beginning of the 9th century. AD - Carolingian revival.

Z. XI - XIII centuries. - the culture of the mature Middle Ages.

4. XIV-XV centuries. - the culture of the late Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages is a period whose beginning coincided with the withering away of ancient culture, and the end with its revival in modern times. Two prominent cultures are attributed to the early Middle Ages - the culture of the Carolingian Renaissance and Byzantium. They gave rise to two great cultures - Catholic (Western Christian) and Orthodox (Eastern Christian).

Medieval culture covers more than a millennium and in socio-economic terms corresponds to the birth, development and decay of feudalism. In this historically long socio-cultural process of development of feudal society, a peculiar type of relationship between a person and the world was developed, qualitatively distinguishing it both from the culture of ancient society and from the subsequent culture of the New Age.

The term "Carolingian Renaissance" describes the cultural upsurge in the empire of Charlemagne and in the kingdoms of the Carolingian dynasty in the 8th-9th centuries. (mainly in France and Germany). He expressed himself in organizing schools, attracting educated figures to the royal court, in the development of literature, fine arts, and architecture. Scholasticism (“school theology”) became the dominant trend in medieval philosophy.

It is necessary to identify the origins of medieval culture:

The culture of the "barbarian" peoples of Western Europe (the so-called German origin);

Cultural traditions of the Western Roman Empire (Roman origin: powerful statehood, law, science and art);

The Crusades significantly expanded not only economic, trade contacts and exchanges, but also contributed to the penetration of the more developed culture of the Arab East and Byzantium into barbarian Europe. In the midst of the crusades, Arab science began to play a huge role in the Christian world, contributing to the rise of the medieval culture of Europe in the 12th century. The Arabs passed on to Christian scholars Greek science, accumulated and preserved in Eastern libraries, which was eagerly absorbed by enlightened Christians. The authority of pagan and Arab scientists was so strong that references to them were almost obligatory in medieval science; Christian philosophers sometimes attributed their original thoughts and conclusions to them.

As a result of long-term communication with the population of a more cultured East, Europeans adopted many of the achievements of the culture and technology of the Byzantine and Muslim world. This gave a strong impetus to the further development of Western European civilization, which was reflected primarily in the growth of cities, strengthening their economic and spiritual potential. Between the 10th and 13th centuries there was a rise in the development of western cities, and their image changed.

One function prevailed - trade, which revived the old cities and created a handicraft function a little later. The city became a hotbed of economic activity hated by the lords, which led, to a certain extent, to the migration of the population. From various social elements, the city created a new society, contributed to the formation of a new mentality, which consisted in choosing an active, rational life, and not a contemplative one. The flourishing of the urban mentality was favored by the emergence of urban patriotism. Urban society managed to create aesthetic, cultural, spiritual values ​​that gave a new impetus to the development of the medieval West.

Romanesque art, which was an expressive manifestation of early Christian architecture, during the XII century. began to change. The old Romanesque churches became cramped for the growing population of cities. It was necessary to make the church spacious, full of air, while saving expensive space inside the city walls. Therefore, the cathedrals are pulled up, often hundreds of meters or more. For the townspeople, the cathedral was not just an ornament, but also an impressive evidence of the power and wealth of the city. Along with the town hall, the cathedral was the center and focus of all public life.

The town hall concentrated the business, practical part related to city government, and in the cathedral, in addition to worship, university lectures were read, theatrical performances (mysteries) took place, and sometimes parliament met in it. Many city cathedrals were so large that the entire population of the then city could not fill it. Cathedrals and town halls were built by order of city communes. Due to the high cost of building materials, the complexity of the work itself, temples were sometimes built over several centuries. The iconography of these cathedrals expressed the spirit of urban culture.

In it, the active and contemplative life sought balance. Huge windows with colored glass (stained glass) created a shimmering twilight. Massive semicircular vaults were replaced by lancet, ribbed ones. In combination with a complex support system, this made the walls light and delicate. The gospel characters in the sculptures of the Gothic temple take on the grace of courtly heroes, coquettishly smiling and "refinedly" suffering.

Gothic - the artistic style, predominantly architectural, which reached its greatest development in the construction of light, gabled, soaring cathedrals with lancet vaults and rich decorative decoration, became the pinnacle of medieval culture. On the whole, it was a triumph of engineering thought and dexterity of craftsmen, an invasion of the secular spirit of urban culture into the Catholic church. Gothic is associated with the life of a medieval city-commune, with the struggle of cities for independence from the feudal lord. Like Romanesque art, Gothic spread throughout Europe, while its best creations were created in the cities of France.

Changes in architecture led to changes in monumental painting. The place of the frescoes was taken stained glass windows. The church established the canons in the image, but even through them the creative individuality of the masters made itself felt. In terms of their emotional impact, the plots of stained glass paintings, conveyed with the help of a drawing, are in last place, and in the first place is color and, along with it, light. Great skill has reached the design of the book. In the XII-XIII centuries. manuscripts of religious, historical, scientific or poetic content are elegantly illustrated color miniature.

Of the liturgical books, the most common are books of hours and psalms, intended mainly for the laity. The concept of space and perspective for the artist was absent, so the drawing is schematic, the composition is static. The beauty of the human body in medieval painting was not given any importance. In the first place was the spiritual beauty, the moral image of a person. The sight of a naked body was considered sinful. Of particular importance in the appearance of a medieval person was attached to the face. The medieval era created grandiose artistic ensembles, solved gigantic architectural tasks, created new forms of monumental painting and plastic arts, and most importantly, it was a synthesis of these monumental arts, in which it sought to convey a complete picture of the world. .

The shift in the center of gravity of culture from the monasteries to the cities was especially pronounced in the field of education. During the XII century. urban schools are decisively ahead of the monastic ones. New training centers, thanks to their programs and methods, and most importantly - the recruitment of teachers and students, are very quickly coming forward.

Students from other cities and countries gathered around the most brilliant teachers. As a result, it begins to create high school - university. In the XI century. the first university was opened in Italy (Bologna, 1088). In the XII century. Universities are springing up in other countries of Western Europe as well. In England, the first was the University of Oxford (1167), then the University of Cambridge (1209). The largest and first of the universities of France was Paris (1160).

The study and teaching of sciences becomes a craft, one of the many activities that have specialized in urban life. The very name university comes from the Latin "corporation". Indeed, universities were corporations of teachers and students. The development of universities with their traditions of disputes, as the main form of education and movement of scientific thought, the appearance in the XII-XIII centuries. a large number of translated literature from Arabic and Greek became incentives for the intellectual development of Europe.

Universities were the focus of medieval philosophy - scholastics. The method of scholasticism consisted in considering and colliding all the arguments and counterarguments of any proposition and in the logical unfolding of this proposition. The old dialectics, the art of arguing and argumentation, are developing in an unusual way. A scholastic ideal of knowledge is emerging, where rational knowledge and logical proof, based on the teachings of the church and on authorities in various branches of knowledge, acquire a high status.

Mysticism, which had a significant influence in the culture as a whole, is accepted very cautiously in scholasticism, only in connection with alchemy and astrology. Until the XIII century. scholasticism was the only possible way to improve the intellect because science obeyed and served theology. The scholastics were credited with the development of formal logic and the deductive way of thinking, and their method of cognition was nothing more than the fruit of medieval rationalism. The most recognized of the scholastics, Thomas Aquinas, considered science "the servant of theology." Despite the development of scholasticism, it was the universities that became the centers of a new, non-religious culture.

At the same time, there was a process of accumulation of practical knowledge, which was transferred in the form of production experience in craft workshops and workshops. Many discoveries and finds were made here, served in half with mysticism and magic. The process of technical development was expressed in the appearance and use of windmills, lifts for the construction of temples.

A new and extremely important phenomenon was the creation of non-church schools in the cities: these were private schools that were not financially dependent on the church. Since that time, there has been a rapid spread of literacy among the urban population. Urban non-church schools became centers of freethinking. Poetry became the mouthpiece of such sentiments. vagants- wandering poets-schoolboys, people from the lower classes. A feature of their work was the constant criticism of the Catholic Church and the clergy for greed, hypocrisy, ignorance. The Vagantes believed that these qualities, common to the common man, should not be inherent in the holy church. The Church, in turn, persecuted and condemned the Vagantes.

The most important monument of English literature of the XII century. - famous ballads of Robin Hood, who remains one of the most famous heroes of world literature to this day.

Developed urban culture. In poetic short stories, dissolute and greedy monks, stupid peasant villans, cunning burghers were portrayed (“The Romance of the Fox”). Urban art was nourished by peasant folklore and was distinguished by great integrity and organicity. It was on urban soil that music and theater with their touching performances of church legends, instructive allegories.

The city contributed to the growth of productive forces, which gave impetus to the development natural science. English scientist and encyclopedist R. Bacon(XIII century) believed that knowledge should be based on experience, and not on authorities. But the emerging rationalistic ideas were combined with the search by alchemists for the "elixir of life", the "philosopher's stone", with the aspirations of astrologers to predict the future by the motion of the planets. They also made parallel discoveries in the field of natural sciences, medicine, and astronomy. Scientific research gradually contributed to the change in all aspects of the life of medieval society, preparing the emergence of a "new" Europe.

The culture of the Middle Ages is characterized by:

Theocentrism and creationism;

Dogmatism;

Ideological intolerance;

Suffering renunciation of the world and craving for a violent worldwide transformation of the world in accordance with the idea (crusades)

High (classical) Middle Ages (X-XIII centuries)

The era of the mature Middle Ages begins with the time of "cultural silence", which lasted almost until the end of the 10th century. Endless wars, civil strife, the political decline of the state led to the division of the empire of Charlemagne (843) and laid the foundation for three states: France, Italy and Germany.

During the period of the classical or high Middle Ages, Europe began to overcome difficulties and revive. In the XI century. the improvement of the economic situation, the growth of the population, the decrease in hostilities led to the acceleration of the process of separation of craft from agriculture, which resulted in the growth of both new cities and their size. In the XII-XIII centuries. many cities are freed from the power of spiritual or secular feudal lords.

Since the 10th century, state structures have been enlarged, which made it possible to raise larger armies and, to some extent, to stop raids and robberies. Missionaries brought Christianity to the countries of Scandinavia, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, so that these states also entered the orbit of Western culture. The relative stability that followed made it possible for cities and the economy to rapidly expand. Life began to change for the better, the cities flourished their own culture and spiritual life. A big role in this was played by the same church, which also developed, improved its teaching and organization.

European medieval society was very religious and the power of the clergy over the minds was extremely great. The teaching of the church was the starting point of all thinking, all sciences - jurisprudence, natural science, philosophy, logic - everything was brought into line with Christianity. The clergy were the only educated class, and it was the church that for a long time determined the policy in the field of education. The entire cultural life of European society of this period was largely determined by Christianity.

An important layer in the formation of folk culture during the classical Middle Ages was sermons. The bulk of society remained illiterate. In order for the thoughts of the social and spiritual elite to become the dominant thoughts of all parishioners, they had to be "translated" into a language accessible to all people. This is what the preachers did. Parish priests, monks, and missionaries had to explain to the people the basic principles of theology, instil the principles of Christian behavior and eradicate the wrong way of thinking. The sermon assumed as its listener any person - literate and illiterate, noble and commoner, city dweller and peasant, rich and poor.

The most famous preachers structured their sermons in such a way as to hold the attention of the public for a long time and convey to it the ideas of church doctrine in the form of simple examples. Some used for this the so-called "examples" - short stories written in the form of parables on everyday topics. These "examples" are one of the early literary genres and are of particular interest for a more complete understanding of the worldview of ordinary believers. "Example" was one of the most effective means of didactic influence on parishioners. In these "cases from life" one can see the original world of medieval man, with his ideas about saints and evil spirits as real participants in a person's daily life. However, the most famous preachers, such as Berthold of Regenburg (XIII century), did not use the "Examples" in their sermons, building them mainly on biblical texts. This preacher built his sermons in the form of dialogues, addressed appeals and statements to a certain part of the audience or professional categories. He widely used the method of enumeration, riddles and other techniques that made his sermons small performances. The ministers of the church, as a rule, did not introduce any original ideas and statements into their sermons, this was not expected of them, and the parishioners would be unable to appreciate this. The audience received satisfaction just from listening to familiar and well-known things.

In the XII-XIII centuries. the church, having reached the peak of its power in the fight against the state, gradually began to lose its positions in the fight against the royal power. By the XIII century. natural economy begins to collapse as a result of the development of commodity-money relations, the personal dependence of the peasants is weakened.

Value turning point of the XII - XIII centuries. The emergence of a secular urban culture

“The medieval type of man's attitude to the world was formed on the basis of feudal property, class isolation, the spiritual dominance of Christianity, the predominance of the universal, the whole, the eternal over the individual, the transient. Under these conditions, the most important achievement of medieval culture was the turn to understanding the problem of the formation of a person as a person. Until the XIII century, the craving for the general prevailed, the fundamental rejection of the individual, the main thing for a person was typicality. The European lived in a society that did not know developed alienation, in which a person strove to be “like everyone else”, which was the embodiment of Christian virtue. Medieval man acted as a canonical personality, personifying the separation of the personal principle from the universal and the subordination of the personal to the universal, supra-individual, consecrated by religious forms of consciousness. After the 13th century, there was a turn in the worldview, the claims of an individual to recognition were increasingly realized. This process proceeded gradually, in stages, starting with the realization that a person belongs not only to the Christian world, but also to his class, the guild collective, where personal characteristics were possible insofar as they were accepted and approved by his collective. A person became a class personality (in contrast to the generic personality of the ancient world).

With the development of cities, science began to go beyond the confines of monasteries. Literacy began to spread. Merchants and missionaries began to make ever longer journeys. Grandiose buildings were erected in the cities. And all this required a certain level of scientific knowledge. Of course, all knowledge was of a practical nature: geometry was used, as before, in measuring fields and in construction, astronomy - in determining the date for the start of agricultural work, in calculating church holidays and in navigation; astrology was considered a special section of astronomy - the science of the connection between heavenly and earthly phenomena. All over Europe there are laboratories where alchemists tried to get gold; their efforts contributed to the development of practical chemistry. The technical achievements of that time include a water mill, a method of building deep mines and pumping water out of them, lifting mechanisms used in construction, etc. Military affairs were not bypassed by progress either: siege machines were created - moving towers, catapults, ballistas and rams, a crossbow was invented.

With the development of the economy, with the complication of political life, the need for educated people increased. The old monastic schools no longer met the new requirements. New educational institutions were needed, providing a more systematic education in various scientific disciplines. Such institutions were those that arose in Europe in the 12th-13th centuries. universities. The oldest are Italian universities, such as Bologna, which grew up on the basis of a higher legal school that arose back in the 11th century and in 1158 received the status of a university. Subsequently, universities began to appear everywhere. The most famous were the University of Bologna, the Sorbonne in Paris, Oxford and Cambridge in England, the University of Prague, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, etc.

Universities at that time had four faculties: theological, legal, medical, and "artistic" or liberal arts, which was considered the preparatory department for the first three faculties. Education at the preparatory faculty took place in two stages: stage I - "trivium" - included grammar, logic and rhetoric, stage II - "quadrivium" - arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. After that, graduates received a master's degree in liberal arts and could continue their education at one of the higher faculties and receive a doctorate in divinity, law or medicine.

T Thus, the number of educated people in Europe began to increase. And the shortage of books became even more acute. The census takers, no matter how hard they worked, could not keep up with the growing demand. A step forward in this matter was made by the German master Johannes Gutenberg, who created a collapsible type and a printing press. Around 1445 the first printed book appeared. Printing quickly spread throughout Europe. There were more books, they became more accessible, this was also facilitated by the fact that by the time the printing press was invented in Europe, a new writing material had appeared - paper, which replaced parchment.

medieval art

The decline and stagnation that engulfed science and technology at the beginning of the Middle Ages also affected artistic culture. During barbarian raids and internecine wars, as well as at the hands of Christian fanatics, many ancient monuments and works of art perished. Masters of various profiles - jewelers, sculptors, architects, artists - died or were taken prisoner. The surviving writers, philosophers, historiographers were forced to adapt to the requirements and tastes of the new masters of Europe - the barbarian kings. As a result, many achievements of antiquity in various spheres of artistic culture were lost. Art itself acquired new features that sharply distinguished it from the art of Greece and Rome.

The style that dominated the culture of Western Europe in the 9th-12th centuries was called Romanesque. He found expression in architecture, sculpture, painting, and left an imprint on human thinking.

O The main features of Romanesque architecture were thick and strong walls, the dominance of semicircular arches and vaults, the heaviness of the proportions of both secular and religious buildings, especially the absence of domed ceilings. This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly, as already mentioned, in the early Middle Ages, many achievements of ancient architecture were lost, among them, for example, the technology of erecting a dome. Only the secrets of the construction of arches and vaults remained in the hands of medieval Western European masters, and the severity of the vaults required the construction of thick and strong walls; the craftsmen, who knew how to build real domed ceilings, by this time remained only in Byzantium. Secondly, at this time, as a rule, all buildings, in addition to their main function, performed one more - defensive. This also applied to residential buildings, and temple, especially monastic complexes. The consequence of this was an additional thickening of the walls, the narrowness of window openings, more like loopholes, the presence not only in castles, but also in temples of towers, and often a defensive moat with a rampart, as well as the almost complete absence of any decorative elements in the external design. According to the French sculptor Rodin, Romanesque architecture “puts a person on his knees”, is perceived as a heavy, oppressive, great silence, embodying the stability of a person’s worldview, his “horizontal”.

The interior decoration of feudal castles was also severe. The life and way of life of feudal lords of all ranks - from a simple knight to a king - at that time did not differ much. The refined life of the rulers of Ancient Rome is a thing of the past. The early medieval feudal lord was content with simple clothes, coarse food, was very unpretentious not only in the field, but also at home. Such popular institutions in Rome as baths and libraries disappeared, surviving only in monasteries.

The interior decoration of the temples was much richer. Since in Christian churches, unlike ancient pagan ones, worship is conducted inside the temple, the builders paid much attention to both the interior design of the walls and the temple utensils. In Romanesque churches one can see reliefs, statues, as well as frescoes and mosaics that covered the walls, pillars and ceilings; liturgical objects were made of precious metals and stones and were often decorated with embossing and enamels. All this was done to create a solemn and majestic atmosphere during the service, a person had to feel insignificant and sinful among this splendor. However, here, too, the imprint of the Romanesque style was visible on everything. Romanesque sculptures and pictorial images are distinguished by schematism, lack of portrait resemblance and proportions of bodies, pictorial images are devoid of perspective, the more important has always been depicted larger. These same features are also characteristic of decorative household items that appeared at the beginning of the 2nd millennium, as well as book miniatures.

The schematism of Romanesque images was not the result of some kind of chronic ineptitude, negligence or primitive thinking of medieval masters. At the heart of the Romanesque type of thinking was a preference for the spiritual, bodily, material, and this affected the vision of the world. The masters sought to convey not the appearance, but the image, especially when depicting the characters of the Holy Scriptures. The task of the master was to convey the inner world of the depicted character, his experiences or, conversely, calmness, for which some features, the most important from the point of view of the master, were emphasized, and others, minor ones, were obscured.

With the advent of the Gothic era, the style of thinking has changed. More or less stability was established in political life, as a result of which the need to turn a dwelling and a temple into a fortress disappeared; the development of science and technology has led to the improvement of construction methods, the discovery of new methods for processing metals, glass, etc. Now the masters learned to build lighter vaults, which did not require massive walls to maintain. Therefore, in a number of cases, the wall as such is completely replaced by bundles of thin columns, on which the weight of the vaults is distributed, and huge window openings remain between the columns. Temples take on lighter, upward-looking outlines. Semicircular arches are replaced by arched openings pointed upwards. The towers and roofs of Gothic temples acquire the same pointed forms.

The interior decoration of churches has also changed. Now that the walls had practically disappeared, it was no longer possible to use frescoes and mosaics in the design - there was simply nowhere to place them. The way out was found when the paintings were placed directly on the windows, inserting colored glass into a figured frame made of lead in a preconceived shape. This technique is called stained glass technique.

O. Rodin. Kiss

With With the advent of the Gothic era, there were changes in sculpture. Now it has become more realistic. The masters began to adhere to proportions, the figures acquired a portrait resemblance to the originals. Gothic cathedrals were richly decorated with statues on the outside, and their number could be in the tens and hundreds.

Special mention should be made of the design of the books. Handwritten books were real works of art. Their cover was made of wood, covered with leather, and, especially for church books, decorated with gold and silver chasing, precious stones. Inside the books were full of drawings, or miniatures. In the form of a small miniature, a capital letter was always performed in each chapter. As already mentioned, book miniatures had the same features as Romanesque wall images: schematism, complete or partial lack of perspective, emphasis on the dimensions of the protagonist of the miniature. Miniatures were executed in bright colors, halftones and shadows were absent. It should also be noted that the technique of book miniature, with minor changes, existed in Europe until modern times.

Concluding the conversation about the culture of the Middle Ages, it should be noted that this era was neither accidental nor unnatural. Despite the striking contrast between ancient and medieval culture, it must still be recognized that the Middle Ages as a whole was not a decline. It was a time of a special outlook, a special vision of many things, which was reflected in all spheres of culture. And it was precisely in the depths of the Middle Ages that something was born that in the subsequent era gave a surge of cultural development; but the seeds of the Renaissance fell on the well-cultivated soil of the Middle Ages.

findings

1. The Middle Ages is an era filled with contradictions. Like any other, it has its dark sides, but it is a stage in the development of human culture, having merits to world culture and its own specifics.

2. Among the specific aspects, one should first of all name the interest in the spiritual life of a person, which arose in medieval culture under the active influence of Christianity. This was reflected in the mentality of all strata of medieval society and found its expression in art, which drew attention to the emotional sphere of each individual, showing the value of both the inner world and the emotional attitude to reality.

3. The Middle Ages significantly developed the system of logical thinking. From Tertullian, who said: “I believe, because it is absurd,” through Anselm of Canterbury (XI century) with his statement “I believe in order to understand” - The Middle Ages comes to Pierre Abelard (XII century), who believes that one must “understand in order to believe” . Disputes between nominalists and realists, the development of scholasticism, disputes led to attempts to make reason the basis of reasoning and find the laws of its existence.

4. At this time, art develops, deepens and improves. There are new forms and genres, new directions of literature: novel, urban satire, living in the form of a fablio (lat. fabula “fable”), Shvankov (German. schwank “joke”), a short story that has both a satirical and instructive character, the lyrics of Provence, which discovered the wealth of consonances in words - rhyme; new music features; in the 11th century, an almost modern system of recording music appears, and in the work of troubadours, trouvers and minnesingers - numerous genres of songwriting; in architecture, Romanesque and Gothic styles are formed, associated with new ways and forms of constructive solutions for buildings and temples.

5. New languages ​​appear, based on Latin, but not reducible to it, having absorbed all the wealth of folk thinking.

6. The Middle Ages brought humanity out of the darkness of destruction associated with the fall and death of the ancient world, to a level of culture that prepared the subsequent surge of human activity, characteristic of the next era - the Renaissance.

List of sources used

Gurevich A.Ya. The Medieval World: The Culture of the Silent Majority. - M., 1990.

Gurevich P.S. Culturology. - M., 1998.

Culturology. Textbook for university students / Ed. Drach G. V. Rostov-on-Don: "Phoenix", 1996.

Culturology. Ed. Radugina A.A. - M., 1996.

Semenov V.F. History of the Middle Ages. - M., 1970.