FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS. In the early Middle Ages, a paired family - parents with children - was usually not perceived as independent and was included in a wider circle of relatives and everyone who lived under one roof, including servants.
From the ninth century priests begin to be involved to bless the newlyweds. In the 11th century, not without ecclesiastical influence, the small pair family began to be perceived as the main unit. Since that time, the influence of the church on the family has increased, the wedding in the temple has become the main rite of its creation, although it became mandatory only in the 13th century. But even later, cohabitation not consecrated by the church persisted, especially among the peasantry, although children from such ties were often considered illegitimate.
Feelings were not the basis of the family, but its addition. The church saw the essence of marriage only in the continuation of the human race. Passion was condemned, for it led away from love for God. Therefore, the ardent attitude of a husband towards his wife was qualified as a sin, a kind of debauchery.
They got married early. According to church rules, the groom had to reach 14 years old, the bride - 12. The choice of spouses, especially such minors, was carried out by parents based on economic or prestigious considerations.
A woman in the family, as well as in society, occupied a humiliated position, which was largely based on the church's idea of her as the bait of Satan, an instrument of temptation and the fall, which came from monasteries. In the Middle Ages, women were not perceived as independent individuals, including by the majority of them. Women's participation in public life was allowed only through monasticism. Aristocrats as abbesses could obtain and exercise the rights to power. It is significant that the wife's adultery was almost always considered a reason for divorce, but the husband's betrayal was not.
On the other hand, the development of the urban economy has made it possible, in a number of cases, to raise the status of women. Gradually, a set of women's professions and occupations took shape in the cities: weaving, spinning, baking bread, brewing, and running taverns. However, the discussion about literacy for women continued until the end of the Middle Ages (men had to read at home).
The development of the family in the Middle Ages was reflected in a peculiar way in the design changes burials. From the V-VI centuries. family and children disappear from the tombstones, as well as the tombstone images themselves. Tombstones appear again in the 11th-12th centuries, but the husband and wife are buried separately, the children are not depicted at all. Joint burials of spouses have been noted since the 14th century. At the same time, images of children appear, but without indicating the age and words of grief. In the sixteenth century inscriptions about the grief of parents appear, and images of a specific child appear only in the 17th century.
In conditions when almost the majority of children died in infancy, and almost half of women died during childbirth, when epidemics destroyed everyone in a row, when a rare wound healed and when almost more than one scar did not heal, when both life itself and the church were taught to constantly think about death, thoughts about it were everyday, familiar. Until the thirteenth century it was generally believed that before the second coming of Christ and the Last Judgment, people do not die, but fall into a dream. Only with the complication of life, primarily in cities, already from the 12th century. there is a fear of death. And from the thirteenth century the idea of a dream before the Last Judgment is replaced by the concept of Purgatory, in which, after death, it is determined where the soul should be, in heaven or hell.
The development of the family is evidenced name history. Christianity limited the choice of names saints(church calendar with the names of saints who were revered by the church on a given day). As a result, there were fewer names. Moreover, it was faster to join this tradition to know what distinguished it from the rest of the population. But many identical names quickly appeared, which led to the emergence of surnames that occurred in Western Europe in the 12th century. from nicknames.
CONCEPTS OF TIME. In medieval Europe, a solar calendar was used, which arose among the ancient agricultural peoples from the need to determine the beginning of field work by the sun. During the Middle Ages, Europeans used Julian calendar. But he wasn't entirely accurate. The duration of the mean solar year adopted in it exceeded the true one so much that an error of 1 day accumulated over 128 years. As a result, the timing of the actual vernal equinox ceased to coincide with the calendar. This was of fundamental importance for Easter calculations. The error was discovered in the Middle Ages, but only in the 16th century, when the error was already 10 days, under Pope Gregory XIII, a commission was created to reform the calendar. As a result, a new Gregorian calendar, in which an error of 1 day accumulates over 3280 years. By decree of the Pope, 6 October 1582 was to be followed by 15 October. But the transition to the new calendar, due to the considered conservatism of people, was delayed even in Western Europe and into the 17th century.
The Middle Ages accounted for the establishment of another temporal sign - Christian era. It was introduced in 525 by the Roman monk Dionysius the Small, who calculated the date of the birth of Christ (753 from the founding of Rome). In documents, the concept of "Christian era" began to be used from the 7th century. But only from the fifteenth century. all papal documents received a date from the Nativity of Christ, and this chronology became universal only in the 18th century.
The seven-day week in the Middle Ages was also borrowed from the ancients, from the Romans, and the names of the days of the week also came to medieval Europe. At first, Christians, like Jews, celebrated the Sabbath as a day dedicated to God. But in the II century. the day of rest was moved to the day of the Sun, and Emperor Constantine legalized this holiday. The Carolingians made this tradition obligatory throughout the empire, declaring Sunday a day of rest and prayer.
Medieval man in general was almost indifferent to time, which was caused by the general routine of life, its monotony, the connection of man with the natural rhythm. Time was not felt, they did not take care of it, although they did not live long, on average, up to 30-35 years. It was believed that time is the property of God, man has no power over time.
However, with the slowness, slowness of society as a whole, with the slow course of life, dependent on natural cycles, people quickly matured and quickly realized their abilities: a short life expectancy seemed to compress time and by the age of 25-30 people had a lot of time. This applies especially to the upper classes of society: young kings, dukes, bishops, etc. Old age began with modern adulthood. The medieval world was ruled by the young. But the ecclesiastical idea that everyone is mortal led to a lack of lust for life.
MOVEMENT. It was as slow as the passage of time. During the day, usually only a few tens of kilometers were covered. So leisurely traveled not only because they did not know the value of time. They mostly traveled on foot, because it was expensive to ride a horse. Often, aristocrats riding on horseback were accompanied by servants on foot, i.e. The rider had no advantage in speed. But traveling on a horse was more comfortable and reflected a certain social status of the traveler. Those. the average speed of movement in the Middle Ages was determined by the speed of a pedestrian and rarely exceeded 30 km.
The roads were in very poor condition. First of all, they were narrow, more like trails. In winter and in the rain they became impassable. The roads in France were better, thanks to the introduction of road service by kings and monasteries. There were few bridges, and they were distinguished by fragility. Stone bridges began to be built in the 13th century. Rivers were more convenient for movement - "God's roads", as they were then called.
In general, medieval roads cannot be viewed from a modern point of view. They then had other functions, because most people traveled on foot or on horseback, which did not require large expenditures for their hard surface. Comfort when walking and a good overview - that's all that was required of them.
The situation of feudal arbitrariness interfered with movement: customs duties, mandatory routes for merchants, which were determined by the feudal lords in their possessions (the path was often specially lengthened to collect additional duties), payment for a mandatory convoy, which the feudal lords had to provide. Although more often they took money for protection and issued a corresponding letter. But it would be wrong to conclude that the roads were almost always deserted. We traveled a lot. The lack of reliable communication required personal contacts: many kings literally did not get off the saddle. The feudal lords moved frequently from estate to estate: both for control and for eating up stocks - it was easier to come by yourself than to transport food. Merchants-peddlers traveled because of the lack of buyers.
CONNECTION. The described state of the communication routes meant that it took months to deliver letters. General illiteracy was also an obstacle to the development of postal communications.
In the XII century. correspondence becomes more intense, and they wrote mainly love and religious letters. From the thirteenth century business correspondence also spread. But it should be noted that even educated people more often dictated their letters, because writing was a complex and time-consuming task. The postal service was established only in 1490 by Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg.
HYGIENE medieval population was at a very low level. It was almost impossible to wash due to the lack of soap, later - because of its high cost. Most European peoples did not know towels, handkerchiefs; until the XIII-XIV centuries. underwear was also missing. The dishes were common, they drank from common goblets, they took food with their hands, taking it out of the common pot.
In many cities, pigs roamed the streets, dead cats and dogs were lying around. Even in the late Middle Ages, there were almost no running water - the water was often undrinkable. Where there were still water tanks, the corpses of cats and rats also often floated. Sewage from cesspools often fell into neighboring wells. Cemeteries were usually located near churches, and since churches were located, as a rule, in the centers of settlements, decomposition products poisoned the air and, especially, the ground with groundwater. Slop was usually poured out into the street. Even in the eighteenth century in France chamber pots were poured out the windows.
But gradually, especially with the development of cities, measures began to be taken to improve the sanitary condition. From the twelfth century in Italy, edicts are issued on the improvement of cities, and control over the products sold is introduced. At the same time, in England and Germany, state doctors and bazaar inspectors appeared. But the revival of hygiene (to the ancient level) began in the 16th-17th centuries, when epidemiologists appeared.
NUTRITION also affected health. Medieval food was monotonous, only the nobility and wealthy citizens could diversify their menu. The rest experienced, first of all, a lack of proteins (meat was rarely eaten, usually on holidays). There was almost no sugar. Cane sugar has been known from the Arabs since the 10th century. in Italy, but because of the high cost it was used only by aristocrats, and the rest - as a medicine. Honey was the main sweet. Little use was made of vegetable oil, common only in the Mediterranean.
Nutritional deficiencies were compensated by quantity. They ate a lot of bread. Vegetables were consumed little, which led to a lack of vitamins. The consumption of vegetables and meat has increased since the 14th century, which, by the way, has caused an increase in the demand for salt, which is necessary for the storage of meat and fish. Salt becomes one of the main products of trade, including international. From the fourteenth century butter also spread instead of melted lard, which contributed to the development of dairy farming in the countries of the North Sea coast. At the same time, they began to breed freshwater fish in ponds, which was ensured by a steady demand for fast fish on Fridays and during the fasting period. By this time, Christians had already learned how to somehow combine fidelity to the faith and already established habits of convenience and comfort.
But the food lacked spiciness: the lack of spices was replaced with garlic and onion sauces, vinegar and mustard. The meat was usually served as a stew with seasonings from roots, beans, herbs. For better absorption, rich fatty foods were washed down with plenty of water. They drank a lot, one and a half liters of wine or beer per person per day.
There were no forks in the fourteenth century. they still considered unbridled luxury. Spoons were also little used. The most popular were knives and one's own fingers. Hands, even in noble houses, were usually wiped on the tablecloth.
HEALTH CARE in the medieval era was poorly developed. Not only in rural areas, but also in many cities there were no doctors. Rare hospitals, in which there were often several patients in one bed, were served by monks and nuns who did not have special medical training.
However, medicine has evolved. From the end of the twelfth century there were private hospitals. At the same time, hospitals began to be founded in the cities for "their" poor (that is, only for the legal residents of a given city). From the fourteenth century communal hospitals are marked, but only for burghers who paid a special contribution. Sometimes such hospitals owned lands and villages.
Scientific research was underdeveloped. The Lateran Council of 1139 forbade monastic doctors from performing operations, and in 1163 an ecclesiastical rescript appeared banning the teaching of surgery because of its interference with God's mysteries. These prohibitions contributed to the emergence of secular doctors.
In the organization of civil medicine, Emperor Frederick II Staufen did a lot. He supported the Salerno School of Physicians (in Sicily), gave it a Constitution (Charter), according to which medical education consisted of a preliminary three-year study of general sciences, then a five-year study of medicine according to Hippocrates, and Galen and years of work under the guidance of an experienced doctor. Pharmacies were registered in a special list in Salerno; private individuals were forbidden to manufacture medicines, love drinks and poisons.
LEISURE, SPECTACULARITY. The main form of medieval entertainment in Western Europe was dancing, common in all walks of life and associated with secular instrumental music. With the frantic, incendiary dances of the dancers, the dances in the upper strata of society were in sharp contrast. Although they basically had the same elements, they were performed more restrained, in accordance with etiquette. The attitude to dancing in society was different. Moralists did not distinguish dancers from voluptuous courtesans: a woman who started dancing is a deliberate shamelessness. Numerous images have been preserved in which dancing women symbolized various vices and even accompanied sinners to hell. Uncovered loose hair and skillful hairstyles were compared by clerics with tongues of hellish flame and considered one of the means of diabolical temptation.
But jugglers were famous not only for dancing. The artists were performers, and often the authors of all kinds of parodies: both on different aspects of life at that time, and on people, both in terms of their social groups (nobles, clerics, etc.), and personally. In addition, in the conditions of medieval corporatism, a wandering lifestyle aroused suspicion in itself. Moreover, this position of the artists excluded daily control over them, which also contradicted the then norms of life.
Among the entertainments, a prominent place was occupied by games. In the thirteenth century in Paris and Novgorod, a game similar to hockey was known - the ball was driven like a stick. Since that time, sledges with runners made from horse jaws have been known. Of these, skates, which from the 13th century. there were also metal skids. From the XIII / XIV century. in France began to play skittles. Then the game of shuttlecock appeared - with the help of planks they threw a ball with feathers. From the fourteenth century football appeared in the English countryside. The game of dice has spread since antiquity. Its popularity - depending on the case, which is quite consistent with the medieval worldview. More refined were those that appeared in the 15th century. cards in which the same principle of the game of chance has been preserved. Spread in the XI-XIII centuries. chess was the game of the nobles.
In fact, in the Middle Ages there was a shortage of entertainment. The low level of education required simple entertainment, above all - spectacles, the thirst for which is one of the most important needs of medieval man. The thirst for spectacle made public executions popular. But the interest, sometimes unhealthy, in executions was also caused by the general coarseness of morals, less sensitivity than now, which was determined by a more severe life: cold in dwellings, dark nights due to poor lighting, widespread hunting not only for fun or food, but and for protection from predators.
ATTITUDE TO WORK. In the early Middle Ages, the work of the farmer was the main one. But it was also considered low, the occupation of dependent people, serfs. Most crafts in the early Middle Ages were considered "low". In general, pre-capitalist societies were alien to the desire for daily work, except for the extraction of daily bread. But not to accumulate wealth. Other ways were customary for this: court or military service, inheritance, usury, alchemy. Therefore, they did not like merchants: the peasants did not trust, they envied the nobility.
A turning point in the attitude towards labor began on the verge of the 10th/11th centuries, which was associated with the rise of cities and the development of independent crafts. With the advent of new professions, the number of objectionable occupations is gradually reduced - their benefits were taken into account. The prestige of labor gradually increased. And if earlier the church considered labor as repentance for sins, now the church concept of labor is taking shape as a means of self-sufficiency and active salvation of the soul. A feature of the urban mentality is that it has become shameless to get rich. A wealthy city dweller (master, merchant) is no longer belittled as before. He "makes himself", this contributed to the overcoming of traditionalism and archaism in Europe.
ROLE AND PLACE OF RELIGION IN DAILY LIFE. In the X-XI centuries. the influence of monasteries on society increases, but the process of secularization of the clergy also intensified, for the higher clergy were recruited from the feudal environment, the lower - from the peasants. Since the X century. in Western Europe, a three-member division of society into "those who pray, those who fight and those who work" has spread. The clergy in this system was in first place.
Also in the thirteenth century. because of the incapacity for abstract thinking, born of illiteracy, the laity more assimilated the emotional side of Christianity. Religion remained for them at the level of rituals and gestures, visions and belief in miracles. Latin interfered with the perception of the theological foundations of Christianity. The Church strove to maintain and strengthen the religiosity of the masses, and paid great attention to repentance, to which all believers were to be regularly subjected. Special penitential books served to evaluate them. They collected typical sins and gave recommendations to priests about the punishments that had to be imposed for certain sins.
LEGAL VIEWS. In the Middle Ages the word law rarely used, more often right, rights, justice. There were frequent references in legal documents to custom. Ancient customs were especially valued. Among the forms of evidence in the early Middle Ages were common ordeals- judicial trials, during which the accused had to prove his innocence during the ritual - "God's judgment", which lasted until the 13th century.
With the replacement of forensic trials by the practice of inquiry, torture. From the thirteenth century it was believed that the criminal had a weak soul. She can't handle the body. Therefore, it is necessary to torture the body in order to knock out the truth.
Among the punishments are monetary fines (even for murders), shameful and corporal punishment, keeping in prison on bread and water (if the convicted person does not have money). Common punishments included the death penalty. The execution was carried out according to a strict ritual, which demonstrated the triumph of the law. In the XIV-XV centuries. gradually began to develop criminal investigation system, which meant the transition of the suppression of crime from the population to the state.
From the twelfth century spread the ideas of natural law, the source of which is nature (along with God). Thus began the separation of legal consciousness from religion. The notion of the equality of all before the law and natural law, which can oppose one’s own, personal law, penetrates into Western European society: there is an awareness that others recognize your right- you need a contract. By the fourteenth century already recognized that everyone should have your right which is generally accepted. From here, in combination with religious ideas about morality, ideas about the general order are born.
In the fourteenth century there is also a complete return to Roman law. The concept of natural law demarcated it from morality, because in human nature there are also vices, most people are not virtuous enough. Because of their corruption, they cannot live according to God's right. Moral life requires effort from them. Therefore, people need civil (and not God's) laws. Hence the rise in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. the role of the judiciary and lawyers.
From the fourteenth century spread the idea of the sovereignty of royal power - the right to legislate. Insulting the king is considered a state crime. But this increased the dependence of the subjects on the kings. For the public good, the kings also receive the rights of confiscation. That is, kings are transformed into bearers of the common law. The new monarchical doctrine also limited private law. But the idea of popular sovereignty, although weakened, did not die, remaining in the city self-government. It was revived and won in the course of bourgeois revolutions.
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design
Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences
Essay on cultural studies:
“Life and manners of the Middle Ages”
Saint Petersburg
2003.
Content:
1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………3
2. The brightness and sharpness of life……………………………………………………….4
3. Chivalry……………………………………………………………………..7
4. The value of the cathedral in the medieval city…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. City dweller and time…………………………………………………………….. 14
6. Crime of the Middle Ages…………………………………………… …..16
7. The role of the church…………………………………………………………………..17
7.1 The role of the church in education…………………………………………… ….18
8. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..19
Application………………………………………………………………………...20
List of used literature……………………………………………….. 21
1. Introduction
. I wanted to take a closer look at the life of those times. How did people live? What was their morality? What guided you in life? What daily concerns occupied their minds? How strongly do the interests of the people of the present and that time contrast? As now there were big cities, squares, but since then a lot has changed: if earlier in the square you could hear
the creak of wheels, the clatter of hooves, the clatter of wooden shoes, the cries of pedlars, the rumble and ringing of craft workshops, but now this has been replaced by the frantic pace of city streets, industrial plants. But how have people changed?
I was interested to find out what role the cathedral played. And why did so much time was devoted to the construction of the cathedral. What meaning did the cathedral bring to public life?
2. Brightness and sharpness of life
When the world was five centuries younger, all the events of life took on forms much more sharply outlined than they do today. Suffering and joy, misfortune and good fortune are much more palpable; human experiences retained that degree of fullness and immediacy with which the soul of a child perceives grief and joy to this day. Every action, every deed, followed an elaborate and expressive ritual, rising to a stable and unchanging way of life. Important events: birth, marriage, death - thanks to the sacraments of the Church, they achieved the brilliance of mystery. Things not so significant, such as travel, work, business or friendly visits, were also accompanied by repeated blessings, ceremonies, proverbs and furnished with certain ceremonies.
Disasters and deprivation had nowhere to wait for relief, at that time they were much more painful and terrible. Sickness and health differed much more, frightening darkness and severe cold in winter represented a real evil. They reveled in nobility and wealth with greater greed and more earnestly, for they opposed blatant poverty and rejection much more sharply. The fur-lined cloak, the hot fire of the hearth, the wine and the joke, the soft and comfortable bed, gave that tremendous pleasure, which later, perhaps thanks to English novels, invariably becomes the most vivid embodiment of worldly joys. All aspects of life were paraded arrogantly and rudely. The lepers twirled their rattles and gathered in procession, the beggars screamed on the porches, exposing their squalor and ugliness. Conditions and estates, ranks and professions differed in clothing. Noble gentlemen moved only shining with the splendor of weapons and outfits, to everyone's fear and envy. The administration of justice, the appearance of merchants with goods, weddings and funerals were loudly announced with shouts, processions, weeping and music. Lovers wore the colors of their lady, members of the brotherhood their emblem, supporters of an influential person their respective badges and distinctions.
Diversity and contrasts also prevailed in the external appearance of cities and villages. The medieval city did not move, like our cities, into slovenly outskirts with simple houses and dull factories, but appeared as a single whole, surrounded by walls and bristling with formidable towers. No matter how high and massive the stone houses of merchants or the nobility were, the buildings of the temples majestically reigned over the city with their bulk.
The difference between summer and winter was felt more sharply than in our life, just as between light and darkness, silence and noise. The modern city is hardly aware of the impenetrable darkness, the dead silence, the impressive impact of a single light or a single distant cry.
Because of the constant contrasts, the diversity of forms of everything that touched the mind and feelings, everyday life aroused and kindled passion, manifested either in unexpected explosions of rude unbridledness and bestial cruelty, or in impulses of spiritual responsiveness, in the changeable atmosphere of which the life of a medieval city flowed.
But one sound invariably blotted out the hustle and bustle of life; no matter how varied it was, it did not mix with anything and exalted everything transcendent into a sphere of order and clarity. This bell ringing of bells in everyday life was likened to warning good spirits, who in familiar voices announced grief and joy, peace and anxiety, summoned the people and warned of imminent danger. They were called by their first names: Roland, Fatty, Jacqueline - and everyone understood the meaning of this or that ringing. And although the bells sounded almost incessantly, attention to their ringing was not dulled. In the continuation of the notorious duel between two townspeople in 1455, which plunged both the city and the entire Burgundian court into a state of incredible tension, a large bell - "terrifying hearing", according to Chatellin - rang until the fight was over. An old alarm bell, cast in 1316 and nicknamed “Orida”, still hangs on the bell churches of Our Lady in Antwerp. horrida - scary. What incredible excitement must have seized everyone when all the churches and monasteries of Paris rang their bells from morning to evening - and even at night - on the occasion of the election of a pope who was supposed to put an end to the schism, or in honor of the conclusion of peace between the Bourguignons and Armagnacs.
A deeply moving spectacle, no doubt, was the procession. In bad times - and they happened often - processions succeeded each other, day after day, week after week. When the disastrous strife between the houses of Orleans and Burgundy eventually led to open civil war, and King Charles VI in 1412. unfolded the oriflamme, in order to, together with John the Fearless, oppose the Armagnacs, who had betrayed their homeland by allying with the British, in Paris, for the duration of the king's stay in hostile lands, it was decided to organize processions daily. They continued from the end of May almost until the end of July; successive orders, guilds and corporations participated in them; each time they walked along different streets and each time they carried other relics. These days people fasted; everyone walked barefoot - councilors of parliament, as well as the poorest citizens. Many carried torches or candles. There were always children among the participants in the procession. On foot, from afar, barefoot, poor peasants came to Paris. People walked by themselves or looked at those walking. And it was very rainy.
And there were solemn exits of brilliant nobles, furnished with all the cunning and skill for which only the imagination was enough. And in never-ending abundance - executions. The cruel excitement and rude participation caused by the spectacle of the scaffold were an important part of the spiritual food of the people. These are moral performances. Terrible punishments are invented for terrible crimes. In Brussels, a young arsonist and murderer is chained to a ring placed on a pole around which bundles of brushwood and straw are blazing. Addressing the audience with touching words, he softened their hearts so much, “that they shed all the tears out of compassion, and set up his death as an example, as the most beautiful of anyone ever seen.” Mensir Mansart du Bois, an Armagnac who was to be beheaded in 1411. in Paris during the Bourguignon terror, not only from the bottom of his heart grants forgiveness to the executioner, which he asks him according to custom, but also wants to exchange a kiss with him. “And there were crowds of people, and almost everyone wept bitter tears.” Often the condemned were noble gentlemen, and then the people received an even more lively satisfaction from the accomplishment of inexorable justice and an even more cruel lesson in the frailty of earthly greatness than any picturesque depiction of the Dance of Death could do. The authorities tried not to miss anything in order to achieve the effect of the whole performance: signs of the high dignity of the convicts accompanied them during this mournful procession.
Everyday life invariably gave endless expanse to ardent passions and childish fantasies. Modern medieval studies, which, because of the unreliability of the chronicles, mainly turns, as far as possible, to sources that are of an official nature, thereby unwittingly falls into a dangerous mistake. Such sources do not sufficiently reveal the differences in lifestyle that separate us from the era of the Middle Ages. They make us forget the tense pathos of medieval life. Of all the passions that colored it, they tell us only about two: greed and militancy. Who will not be amazed by the almost incomprehensible frenzy, the constancy with which in the legal documents of the late Middle Ages greed, quarrelsomeness, vindictiveness come to the fore! Only in connection with this passion that overwhelmed everyone, scorched all aspects of life, can one understand and accept the aspirations characteristic of those people. That is why the chronicles, even if they skim the surface of the events described and, moreover, so often report false information, are absolutely necessary if we want to see this time in its true light.
Life still retained the flavor of a fairy tale. If even court chroniclers, noble, learned people close to sovereigns, saw and portrayed the latter in no other way than in an archaic, hieratic guise, then what was the magical brilliance of royal power supposed to mean for the naive popular imagination!
Community of citizens. The uniqueness of the medieval cities of Western Europe was given by their socio-political system. All other features - concentration of population, narrow streets, walls and towers, occupations of citizens, economic and ideological functions and political role - could also be inherent in cities of other regions and other eras. But only in the medieval West, the city is invariably presented as a self-regulating community, endowed with a relatively high degree of autonomy and having a special right and a rather complex structure.
3. Chivalry
Chivalry is a special privileged social stratum of medieval society. Traditionally, this concept is associated with the history of the countries of Western and Central Europe, where in the heyday of the Middle Ages, in fact, all secular feudal warriors belonged to chivalry. But more often this term is used in relation to medium and small feudal lords, as opposed to the nobility. The origin of chivalry dates back to that period of the early Middle Ages (7th-8th centuries), when conditional forms of feudal landownership, first for life, later hereditary, became widespread. When land was transferred to a feud, its complainant became a lord (suzerain), and the recipient became a vassal of the latter, which involved military service (compulsory military service did not exceed 40 days a year) and the performance of some other duties in favor of the lord. These included monetary "assistance" in the event of a son being knighted, a daughter's wedding, and the need to ransom a seigneur who was captured. According to custom, the vassals participated in the court of the lord, were present in his council. The ceremony of registration of vassal relations was called homage, and the oath of allegiance to the lord was called foie. If the size of the land received for service allowed, the new owner, in turn, transferred part of it as fiefs to his vassals (subinfeodation). This is how a multi-stage system of vassalage developed ("suzerainty", "feudal hierarchy", "feudal ladder") from the supreme overlord - the king to single-shielded knights who did not have their own vassals. For the continental countries of Western Europe, the rules of vassal relations reflected the principle: "the vassal of my vassal is not my vassal", while, for example, in England (the Salisbury oath of 1085) a direct vassal dependence of all feudal landowners on the king was introduced with compulsory service in royal army.
The hierarchy of vassal relations repeated the hierarchy of land holdings and determined the principle of the formation of the military militia of the feudal lords. So, along with the establishment of military-feudal relations, the formation of chivalry as a service military-feudal class, which flourished in the 11-14 centuries. Military affairs became its main social function. The military profession gave rights and privileges, determined special estate views, ethical norms, traditions, and cultural values.
The military duties of the knights included defending the honor and dignity of the suzerain, and most importantly, the land from encroachment both by neighboring feudal rulers in internecine wars and by troops of other states in the event of an external attack. In the conditions of civil strife, the line between defending one's own possessions and seizing foreign lands was rather shaky, and the champion of justice in words often turned out to be an invader in deed, not to mention participation in conquest campaigns organized by the royal government, such as numerous campaigns of German emperors in Italy, or by the Pope himself, like the Crusades. The knightly army was a powerful force. His armament, battle tactics corresponded to military tasks, the scale of military operations and the technical level of his time. Protected by metal military armor, the knightly cavalry, invulnerable to foot soldiers and peasant militia, played the main role in the battle.
Feudal wars did not exhaust the social role of chivalry. Under the conditions of feudal fragmentation, with the relative weakness of royal power, chivalry, fastened by a system of vassalage into a single privileged corporation, protected the feudal lords' property rights to land, the basis of their dominance. A striking example of this is the history of the suppression of the largest peasant uprising in France - Jacquerie (1358-1359), which broke out during the Hundred Years War. At the same time, the knights representing the belligerents, the British and French, united under the banner of the Navarrese king Charles the Evil and turned their weapons against the rebellious peasants, solving a common social problem. Chivalry also influenced the political processes of the era, since the social interests of the feudal class as a whole and the norms of knightly morality to a certain extent restrained centrifugal tendencies and limited the feudal freemen. During the process of state centralization, chivalry (medium and small feudal lords) constituted the main military force of the kings in their opposition to the nobility in the struggle for the territorial unification of the country and real power in the state. This was the case, for example, in France in the 14th century, when, in violation of the former norm of vassalage, a significant part of the chivalry was recruited into the army of the king on terms of monetary payment.
Participation in the knightly army required a certain security, and the land grant was not only a reward for the service, but also a necessary material condition for its implementation, since the knight acquired both a warhorse and expensive heavy weapons (spear, sword, mace, armor, armor for a horse) at their own expense, not to mention the maintenance of the corresponding retinue. Knightly armor included up to 200 parts, and the total weight of military equipment reached 50 kg; over time, their complexity and cost have grown. The training of future warriors was served by the system of knightly training and education. In Western Europe, boys up to 7 years old grew up in a family, later up to 14 years old they were brought up at the court of a seigneur as a page, then a squire, and finally they were knighted.
Tradition required a knight to be knowledgeable in matters of religion, to know the rules of court etiquette, to possess the "seven knightly virtues": horseback riding, fencing, skillful handling of a spear, swimming, hunting, playing checkers, writing and singing poems in honor of the lady of the heart.
Knighting symbolized entry into the privileged class, familiarization with its rights and duties, and was accompanied by a special ceremony. According to European custom, the knight initiating the rank struck the initiate with a sword on the shoulder, pronounced the initiation formula, put on a helmet and golden spurs, handed over a sword - a symbol of knightly dignity - and a shield with a coat of arms and motto. The initiate, in turn, took an oath of allegiance and an obligation to uphold the code of honor. The ritual often ended with a jousting tournament (duel) - a demonstration of military skill and courage.
Knightly traditions and special ethical norms have evolved over the centuries. The code of honor was based on the principle of loyalty to the overlord and duty. Among the knightly virtues were military courage and contempt for danger, pride, a noble attitude towards a woman, attention to members of knightly families in need of help. Avarice and avarice were subject to condemnation, betrayal was not forgiven.
But the ideal was not always in harmony with reality. As for predatory campaigns in foreign lands (for example, the capture of Jerusalem or Constantinople during the Crusades), then knightly "exploits" brought grief, ruin, reproach and shame to more than one common people.
The Crusades contributed to the formation of ideas, customs, morality of chivalry, the interaction of Western and Eastern traditions. In the course of them in Palestine, special organizations of Western European feudal lords arose to protect and expand the possessions of the crusaders - spiritual and knightly orders. These include the Order of St. John (1113), the Order of the Knights Templar (1118), the Teutonic Order (1128). Later, the orders of Calatrava, Sant'Iago, and Alcantara acted in Spain. In the Baltics, the Order of the Sword and the Livonian Order are known. Members of the order took monastic vows (non-possession, renunciation of property, chastity, obedience), wore robes similar to monastic ones, and under them - military armor. Each order had its own distinctive clothing (for example, the Templars had a white cloak with a red cross). Organizationally, they were built on the basis of a strict hierarchy, headed by an elected master, approved by the pope. When the master acted chapter (council), with legislative functions.
The reflection of knightly morals in the field of spiritual culture opened the brightest page of medieval literature with its own special color, genre and style. She poeticized earthly joys in spite of Christian asceticism, glorified the feat and not only embodied chivalric ideals, but also shaped them. Along with the heroic epic of high patriotic sound (for example, the French "Song of Roland", the Spanish "Song of my Sid"), chivalric poetry appeared (for example, the lyrics of the troubadours and trouveurs in France and the minnesingers in Germany) and the chivalric romance (the love story of Tristan and Isolde), representing the so-called "courtly literature" (from the French courtois - courteous, chivalrous) with the obligatory cult of the lady.
In Europe, chivalry has been losing its significance as the main military force of feudal states since the 15th century. The so-called "battle of spurs" (July 11, 1302), when the foot militia of the Flemish townspeople defeated the French knightly cavalry, became a harbinger of the sunset of the glory of French chivalry. Later, the ineffectiveness of the actions of the French knightly army was clearly manifested at the first stage of the Hundred Years' War, when it suffered a series of severe defeats from the English army. To withstand the competition of mercenary armies using firearms (which appeared in the 15th century), chivalry proved incapable. The new conditions of the era of the disintegration of feudalism and the emergence of capitalist relations led to its disappearance from the historical arena. In the 16-17 centuries. chivalry finally loses the specifics of a special class and is part of the nobility.
Brought up on the military traditions of their ancestors, representatives of the old knightly families made up the officer corps of the armies of the absolutist time, went on risky sea expeditions, and carried out colonial conquests. The noble ethics of subsequent centuries, including the noble principles of fidelity to duty and worthy service to the fatherland, undoubtedly bear the influence of the knightly era.
4. The significance of the cathedral in the medieval city
For a long time, the cathedral was the only public building in the medieval city. It played the role of not only a religious, ideological, cultural, educational center, but also an administrative and, to some extent, economic center. Later, town halls and covered markets appeared, and part of the functions of the cathedral passed to them, but even then it by no means remained only a religious center. The idea that “the main tasks of the city ... served as the material basis and symbols of the conflicting social forces that dominated urban life: the castle-pillar of secular feudal power; the cathedral is the embodiment of the power of the clergy; the town hall is a stronghold of self-government of citizens” (A.V. Ikonnikov) - only partly true. Their unconditional acceptance simplifies the socio-cultural life of the medieval city.
It is rather difficult for a modern person to perceive the variety of functions of a medieval cathedral, its significance in all spheres of urban life. The cathedral remained a temple, a religious building or became a monument of architecture and culture, a museum, a concert hall, necessary and accessible to a few. His life today does not convey the fullness of his being in the past.
The medieval city was small and enclosed by walls. Residents perceived it as a whole, in an ensemble - a feeling lost in a modern city. The cathedral defines the architectural and spatial center of the city; in any type of urban planning, the web of streets gravitated towards it. As the tallest building in the city, it served as a watchtower if necessary. Cathedral Square was the main, and sometimes the only one. All vital public events took place or began in this square. Subsequently, when the market from the suburbs was moved to the city and a special market square appeared, it often adjoins the cathedral one of the corners. So it was in a number of cities in Germany and France: Dresden, Meissen, Naumburg, Montauban, Monpazier. In the city, in addition to the main cathedral, as a rule, there were also parish churches, some of the functions of the cathedral were transferred to them. In large cities, their number could be significant. So a contemporary notes in London at the end of the 12th century. One hundred twenty-six such churches.
To our admiring eyes, the cathedral appears in a completed and “cleansed” form. Around it there are no those small shops and little shops that, like bird nests, clung to all the ledges and caused the demands of the city and church authorities "not to punch holes in the walls of the temple." The aesthetic inappropriateness of these shops, apparently, did not bother contemporaries at all, they became an integral part of the cathedral, did not interfere with its greatness. The silhouette of the cathedral was also different, since one or the other of its wing was constantly in the forests.
The medieval city was noisy: in a small space there was a creak of wheels, the clatter of hooves, the clatter of wooden shoes, the cries of peddlers, the rumble and ringing of craft workshops, the voices and bells of domestic animals, which were only gradually driven out of the streets by the city authorities, the rattles of leprosy patients. “But one sound invariably blocked the noise of a restless life: no matter how diverse it was, it did not mix with anything, it elevated everything that happened to the sphere of order and clarity. This is a bell ringing. Bells in everyday life were likened to good warning spirits, who, with familiar voices, announced grief and joy, peace and anxiety, called the people together and warned of impending danger. They were called by their names: Roland, Fat Jacqueline - and everyone understood the meaning of this or that ringing. And although their glosses sounded almost incessantly, attention to their ringing was not dulled at all ”(J. Huizinga). The cathedral spikelet compiled the necessary information for all the townspeople at once: about a fire, about the sea, an attack, any emergency intracity event. And today the ancient "Big Paul" or "Big Ben" animate the space of the modern city.
The cathedral was the keeper of time. The bells chimed the hours of duck worship, but for a long time they also announced the beginning and end of the craftsman's work. Until the XIV century. - the beginning of the spread of mechanical tower clocks - it was the cathedral bell that set the rhythm of "well-measured life".
The watchful eye of the church accompanied the city dweller from birth to death. The church accepted him into society, and she also helped him pass into the afterlife. Church sacraments and rituals were an essential part of everyday life. Baptism, engagement, marriage ceremony, funeral service and burial, confession and communion - all this connected the citizen with the cathedral or parish church (in small towns the cathedral was also a parish church), made it possible to feel part of the Christian society. The cathedral also served as a burial place for wealthy citizens, some of them had closed family tombs with tombstones. It was not only prestigious, but also practical (as historians note, the robberies of parish cemeteries occurred constantly).
The relationship between the townspeople and the city clergy was far from idyllic. The chronicles of Guibert of Nozhansky, Otto of Freisingen, Richard Devise do not say anything good about the townspeople. In turn, in urban literature - fablio, schwank, satirical poetry - the monk and the priest are often ridiculed. The townspeople oppose the freedom of the clergy from taxes, they seek not only to free themselves from the power of their senior prelates, but also to take under municipal control the affairs that were traditionally the responsibility of the church. Indicative in this regard, the evolution of the situation of hospitals, which during the XIII-XIV centuries. gradually cease to be ecclesiastical institutions, although they retain the patronage of the church and, therefore, the inviolability of their property. However, the frequent opposition to the clergy is combined with constant contacts with him in everyday life and does not prevent the townspeople from considering the construction and decoration of the cathedral as their vital business.
The construction of the city cathedral was attended not only by the townspeople, but also by the peasants of the district, the magnates and the clergy. Medieval chronicles and other documents reflected examples of religious enthusiasm that struck contemporaries: “ladies, knights, all sought not only donations, but also feasible work to help the construction.” Often, funds were raised throughout the country for the construction of the cathedral. “In the Middle Ages, a wide variety of donations, donations, contributions to the construction of the temple, which were considered as a worthy and pleasing deed, became widespread. Most often, these were donations of jewelry and valuables, sums of money or free provision of materials for future construction ”(K.M. Muratov). The cathedral was built for several decades, but the complete completion of the building dragged on for centuries. From generation to generation, legends about the laying and construction of the temple were indulged, more and more funds were collected, donations were made, wills were left. The phrase of the papal legate and former chancellor of the University of Paris, Odo de Chateauroux, that "Notre Dame Cathedral was built on the pennies of poor widows," of course, should not be taken literally, but precisely under a foundation. A sincere impulse of piety was combined with rivalry with a neighboring city, and for some, with a desire to receive personal absolution. The beautiful cathedral was one of the important signs of prestige, it demonstrated the strength and wealth of the city community. The size of the temples built in very small cities, the luxury and complexity of their interiors meet the need to create something incommensurable in beauty and grandeur with everything around. The significance of the cathedral is also evidenced by the desire to immediately restore its aftermath of the fire, and certainly in the same place, in order to preserve the usual objects of pilgrimage.
The construction of the cathedral was for many years in the center of attention of the townspeople, but it entered into action long before its final completion. The construction began from the choir, the roof was built, as a rule, even before the church was covered with vaults, so the service could be performed fairly quickly after the start of construction.
etc.................
Artist E. Blair-Leighton
What was invented in the Middle Ages and what is used to this day:
Soap;
Whitening masks.
François Villon
"The Ballad of the Seniors of the Past"
Tell me where they are, in what country
Thais and Flora sweet shadows?
And where is the end in fire
The holy virgin is Lorreni's daughter?
Where is the nymph Echo, whose tune is spring
Sometimes the quiet shore disturbed the rivers,
Whose beauty was the most perfect?
Where are Bertha and Alice - where are they?
About them my languid songs.
Where is the lady who cried in silence
What did Buridan drown in the Seine?
Oh where are they like light foam?
Where is Eloise, for which age
Did Pierre graduate under the schema of renunciations?
But where is he - where is last year's snow?
Will I see Queen Blanche in a dream?
By songs equal to the former siren,
That sang on the sea wave,
In what region is she - what captivity?
Artist E. Blair-Leighton
I will also ask about sweet Elena.
O maiden of maidens, who stopped their flourishing?
And where is she, mistress of visions?
But where is he - where is last year's snow?
Famous beauties of the Middle Ages
Fair Rosamund- Beauty Rosamund Clifford, beloved of the English King Henry II. Fearing the jealousy of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the king took Rosamund to a secluded castle and visited her there. But the queen found a way to poison her husband's mistress. As punishment, Henry excommunicated his wife from the marital bed and sent her into exile, and Eleanor turned her sons against him, which led to a long civil strife in the country.
Artist J.Waterhouse
Queen Jeanne of Navarre wife of the French King Philip the Handsome. She was famous for her beautiful figure, as well as exorbitant voluptuousness.
To satisfy lust, she lured men to the Nel Tower, and to keep the secret, after the pleasures, she killed her lovers and dumped their bodies into the Seine.
Queen Isabella the French Wolf- daughter of the French king Philip the Handsome, wife of the English king Edward II. She was famous for her golden hair, dazzling whiteness of skin, intelligence, education and the ability to maintain external equanimity.
She got her nickname when she rebelled against her husband and brutally killed him in order to enthrone her son, who became King Edward III of England and, at the instigation of his mother, laid claim to the French throne, as a result of which the Hundred Years War began.
Agnes Sorel- the beloved of the French king Charles VII, became famous for her angelic perfection of her face and magnificent breast shape, to demonstrate which she brought into fashion a bold neckline, captured in many paintings of that time.
Artist Jean_Fouquet
Agnes was reproached for excessive abuse of luxury: she collected jewelry and incense, loved oriental silk and Russian furs (even then they were popular in Europe). Her sybaritism looked especially outrageous against the background of general poverty: the country was tormented by a hundred years of war, peasant riots and civil strife. But Agnes loved the king sincerely. Being in the ninth month of pregnancy, she learned that an assassination attempt was being prepared on Charles VII, and went to warn him. The carriages at that time were unsprung, Agnes was greatly shaken, she began to give birth, but she endured the torment and continued to drive the horses - in order to save her beloved.
Artist J.Waterhouse
Agnes Sorel died from childbirth in the literal sense in the arms of Charles VII, but managed to warn him about the impending assassination attempt.
Publication date: 07.07.2013
The Middle Ages originate from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and end around the 15th - 17th centuries. The Middle Ages are characterized by two opposite stereotypes. Some believe that this is the time of noble knights and romantic stories. Others believe that this is a time of disease, dirt and immorality...
Story
The very term "Middle Ages" was first introduced in 1453 by the Italian humanist Flavio Biondo. Prior to this, the term "dark ages" was used, which at the moment denotes a narrower segment of the time period of the Middle Ages (VI-VIII centuries). This term was introduced into circulation by the professor of the Gallic University Christopher Cellarius (Keller). This man also divided world history into antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times.
It is worth making a reservation, saying that this article will focus specifically on the European Middle Ages.
This period is characterized by a feudal system of land use, when there was a feudal landowner and a peasant who was half dependent on him. Also characteristic:
- a hierarchical system of relations between feudal lords, which consisted in the personal dependence of some feudal lords (vassals) on others (seigneurs);
- the key role of the church, both in religion and in politics (inquisitions, church courts);
- ideals of chivalry;
- the heyday of medieval architecture - Gothic (including in art).
In the period from the X to the XII centuries. the population of European countries is increasing, which leads to changes in the social, political and other spheres of life. Starting from the XII - XIII centuries. in Europe there has been a sharp rise in the development of technology. More inventions were made in a century than in the previous thousand years. During the Middle Ages, cities develop and grow rich, culture is actively developing.
With the exception of Eastern Europe, which was invaded by the Mongols. Many states of this region were plundered and enslaved.
Life and life
The people of the Middle Ages were highly dependent on weather conditions. So, for example, the great famine (1315 - 1317), which happened due to unusually cold and rainy years that ruined the harvest. As well as plague epidemics. It was the climatic conditions that largely determined the way of life and the type of activity of medieval man.
During the early Middle Ages, a very large part of Europe was covered with forests. Therefore, the economy of the peasants, in addition to agriculture, was largely oriented towards forest resources. Herds of cattle were driven into the forest to graze. In the oak forests, pigs gained fat by eating acorns, thanks to which the peasant received a guaranteed supply of meat food for the winter. The forest served as a source of firewood for heating and, thanks to it, charcoal was made. He brought variety to the food of a medieval person, tk. all kinds of berries and mushrooms grew in it, and it was possible to hunt outlandish game in it. The forest was the source of the only sweet of that time - the honey of wild bees. Resins could be collected from trees to make torches. Thanks to hunting, it was possible not only to feed, but also to dress up, the skins of animals were used for sewing clothes and for other household purposes. In the forest, in the clearings, it was possible to collect medicinal plants, the only medicines of that time. The bark of trees was used to mend animal skins, and the ashes of burnt bushes were used to bleach fabrics.
As well as climatic conditions, the landscape determined the main occupation of people: cattle breeding prevailed in the mountainous regions, and agriculture prevailed in the plains.
All the troubles of a medieval person (diseases, bloody wars, famine) led to the fact that the average life expectancy was 22 - 32 years. Few survived until the age of 70.
The way of life of a medieval person depended largely on his place of residence, but at the same time, people of that time were quite mobile, and, one might say, were constantly on the move. At first, these were echoes of the great migration of peoples. Subsequently, other reasons pushed people on the road. Peasants moved along the roads of Europe, singly and in groups, looking for a better life; "knights" - in search of exploits and beautiful ladies; monks - moving from monastery to monastery; pilgrims and all kinds of beggars and vagabonds.
Only over time, when the peasants acquired certain property, and the feudal lords acquired large lands, then cities began to grow and at that time (approximately the 14th century) Europeans became “homebodies”.
If we talk about housing, about the houses in which medieval people lived, then most of the buildings did not have separate rooms. People slept, ate and cooked in the same room. Only over time, wealthy citizens began to separate the bedroom from the kitchens and dining rooms.
Peasant houses were built of wood, in some places preference was given to stone. Roofs were thatched or reeds. There was very little furniture. Mostly chests for storing clothes and tables. Slept on benches or beds. The bed was a hayloft or a mattress stuffed with straw.
Houses were heated by hearths or fireplaces. Furnaces appeared only at the beginning of the XIV century, when they were borrowed from the northern peoples and Slavs. The dwellings were lit with tallow candles and oil lamps. Expensive wax candles could only be purchased by rich people.
Food
Most Europeans ate very modestly. They usually ate twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. Everyday food was rye bread, cereals, legumes, turnips, cabbage, grain soup with garlic or onions. Little meat was consumed. Moreover, during the year there were 166 days of fasting, when meat dishes were forbidden to be eaten. Fish was much more in the diet. Of the sweets, there was only honey. Sugar came to Europe from the East in the 13th century. and was very expensive.
In medieval Europe they drank a lot: in the south - wine, in the north - beer. Herbs were brewed instead of tea.
The dishes of most Europeans are bowls, mugs, etc. were very simple, made of clay or tin. Products made of silver or gold were used only by the nobility. There were no forks; they ate with spoons at the table. Pieces of meat were cut off with a knife and eaten with the hands. The peasants ate food from one bowl with the whole family. At the feasts of the nobility, they put one bowl and a goblet for wine on two. The bones were thrown under the table, and the hands were wiped with a tablecloth.
Cloth
As for clothing, it was largely unified. Unlike antiquity, the church considered the glorification of the beauty of the human body to be sinful and insisted that it be covered with clothes. Only by the XII century. the first signs of fashion began to appear.
The change in clothing style reflected the then social preferences. The opportunity to follow the fashion had mainly representatives of the wealthy strata.
The peasant usually wore a linen shirt and pants to the knees or even to the ankles. The outer garment was a cloak, tied at the shoulders with a clasp (fibula). In winter, they wore either a roughly combed sheepskin coat or a warm cape made of dense fabric or fur. Clothing reflected a person's place in society. The attire of the wealthy was dominated by bright colors, cotton and silk fabrics. The poor were content with dark clothes made of coarse homespun cloth. Shoes for men and women were leather pointed boots without hard soles. Hats originated in the 13th century. and have changed continuously since then. Habitual gloves acquired importance during the Middle Ages. Shaking hands in them was considered an insult, and throwing a glove to someone was a sign of contempt and a challenge to a duel.
The nobility liked to add various decorations to their clothes. Men and women wore rings, bracelets, belts, chains. Very often, these things were unique pieces of jewelry. For the poor, all this was unattainable. Wealthy women spent considerable money on cosmetics and perfumes, which were brought by merchants from eastern countries.
stereotypes
As a rule, certain ideas about something are rooted in the public mind. And ideas about the Middle Ages are no exception. First of all, it concerns chivalry. Sometimes there is an opinion that the knights were uneducated, stupid dorks. But was it really so? This statement is too categorical. As in any community, representatives of the same class could be completely different people. For example, Charlemagne built schools, knew several languages. Richard the Lionheart, considered a typical representative of chivalry, wrote poems in two languages. Charles the Bold, whom literature likes to describe as a kind of boor-macho, knew Latin very well and loved to read ancient authors. Francis I patronized Benvenuto Cellini and Leonardo da Vinci. The polygamist Henry VIII knew four languages, played the lute and loved the theatre. Should the list continue? These were all sovereigns, models for their subjects. They were guided by them, they were imitated, and those who could knock the enemy off his horse and write an ode to the Beautiful Lady enjoyed respect.
Regarding the same ladies, or wives. There is an opinion that women were treated as property. And again, it all depends on how the husband was. For example, Senor Etienne II de Blois was married to a certain Adele of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror. Etienne, as it was then customary for a Christian, went on crusades, and his wife remained at home. It would seem that there is nothing special in all this, but Etienne's letters to Adele have survived to our time. Tender, passionate, yearning. This is evidence and an indicator of how a medieval knight could treat his own wife. You can also remember Edward I, who was killed by the death of his beloved wife. Or, for example, Louis XII, who, after the wedding, from the first debauchee of France turned into a faithful husband.
Speaking about the cleanliness and level of pollution of medieval cities, they also often go too far. To the extent that they claim that human waste in London merged into the Thames, as a result of which it was a continuous stream of sewage. Firstly, the Thames is not the smallest river, and secondly, in medieval London, the number of inhabitants was about 50 thousand. So they simply could not pollute the river in this way.
The hygiene of medieval man was not as terrible as it seems to us. They are very fond of citing the example of Princess Isabella of Castile, who made a vow not to change linen until victory is won. And poor Isabella kept her word for three years. But this act of hers caused a great resonance in Europe, a new color was even invented in honor of her. But if you look at the statistics of soap production in the Middle Ages, you can understand that the statement that people did not wash for years is far from the truth. Otherwise, why would such an amount of soap be needed?
In the Middle Ages, there was no such need for frequent washing, as in the modern world - the environment was not so catastrophically polluted as it is now ... There was no industry, the food was without chemicals. Therefore, water, salts, and not all those chemicals that are full in the body of a modern person, were released with human sweat.
Another stereotype that has become entrenched in the public mind is that everyone stank terribly. Russian ambassadors at the French court complained in letters that the French "stink terribly." From which it was concluded that the French did not wash, stank and tried to drown out the smell with perfume. They really used spirits. But this is explained by the fact that in Russia it was not customary to suffocate strongly, while the French simply poured perfume on them. Therefore, for a Russian person, a Frenchman who smelled abundantly of spirits was "stinking like a wild beast."
In conclusion, we can say that the real Middle Ages was very different from the fairy-tale world of chivalric novels. But at the same time, some facts are largely distorted and exaggerated. I think the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. As always, people were different and they lived differently. Some things really seem wild compared to modern ones, but all this happened centuries ago, when mores were different and the level of development of that society could not afford more. Someday, for the historians of the future, we will also find ourselves in the role of a “medieval man”.
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Description of work
I wanted to take a closer look at the life of those times. How did people live? What was their morality? What guided you in life? What daily concerns occupied their minds? How strongly do the interests of the people of the present and that time contrast? As now there were big cities, squares, but since then a lot has changed: if earlier in the square you could hear
the creak of wheels, the clatter of hooves, the clatter of wooden shoes, the cries of pedlars, the rumble and ringing of craft workshops, but now this has been replaced by the frantic pace of city streets, industrial plants. But how have people changed?
1.Introduction…………………………………………………………………………3
2. The brightness and sharpness of life……………………………………………………….4
3. Chivalry……………………………………………………………………..7
4. The value of the cathedral in the medieval city…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. Citizen and time……………………………………………………………..14
6.Crime of the Middle Ages…………………………………………………..16
7. The role of the church…………………………………………………………………..17
7.1 The role of the church in education……………………………………………….18
8. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..19
List of literature used……………………………………………..20
