10. The emergence of the first universities

Classical education (which is still used today in some institutions) was the system used by universities established in the Early Middle Ages (for the first time in history). The universities taught arts, law, medicine, and theology (the science of religion). The University of Bologna (established in 1088 AD) could grant a degree for the first time. In addition to the classical structure (based on ancient Greek education), medieval universities were also influenced by Arabs. While women were indeed kept out of the universities, women's education did exist. The nunneries of that era trained women who could enter at an early age. One of them (Hildegard von Bingen) is one of the most famous women Middle Ages, which had influence on the powerful men.

9. The beginning of the development of science

While scientific progress in the West was slow, its achievements were quite stable and reached high level. Foundation scientific foundations in this era could give rise to the magnificent flowering of science that occurred in the Late Middle Ages. It is safe to say that without scientific achievements Early Middle Ages, we would now be at a much lower level of development.
Ronald Numbers (Professor at the University of Cambridge) said: "The ideas that 'the development of Christianity killed ancient science', 'the medieval Christian Church suppressed the growth of the natural sciences', 'medieval Christians thought the world was flat' and that 'the Church banned autopsies and examinations of corpses" are examples of widespread myths that are still sometimes accepted as true despite not being substantiated by any historical research.

8. Carolingian Renaissance

The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of development in literature, writing, arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical and biblical studies, occurring in the late eighth and ninth centuries AD. The Carolingians were kings of the Franks, the most famous of which was Charlemagne. The Carolingian Empire represented a revival of the culture of the Roman Empire. By this time, "Volk Latin" represented the many dialects used in Europe, so the establishment of schools was vital to spread this knowledge among ordinary people. It was also the birth period of Western classical music.

7. Golden Age of Byzantium

During the reign of Justinian, the Corpus Juris Civilis appeared - a huge compilation of Roman law. The literacy rate was high enough elementary education was widespread (even in rural areas), secondary education was available to many people, and higher education, as discussed above, was also widely available. It was also a period of mass publication of books - encyclopedias, dictionaries and anthologies. While there have been few innovations, a lot of effort has been made to preserve past achievements for the future.

6. Religious unity

This is a rather controversial topic, but the fact is that during the Early Middle Ages in Europe there was a single Church, an agreed canon of the Bible and a developed philosophical tradition. This led to a long period of peace within the Western nations. This religious unity was associated with intellectual development, still invisible compared to the Roman Empire of its heyday. Despite the fact that Islam was far from the doctrines of the West, but the mutual exchange of information still took place. But this was only the calm before the storm, which was the First Crusade, aimed at the return of Jerusalem and other Christian shrines. After that, the mutual exchange of information between the two civilizations ended.

5. The advent of algebra

Research in the East led to the appearance of the first book on algebra. Al-Khwarizmi (790-840) and the Arabic title of the book gave rise to the word "algebra" "The Book of Completion and Opposition" written by Al-Khwarizmi (790-840). This book gave the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. The word "algorithm" comes from the name of Al-Khwarizmi himself. Later translations of his books also gave the decimal positional system of numbers, which is still used today. Al-Khwarizmi, along with Diophantas, are the "fathers" of algebra.

4. Art and architecture

Throughout the Early Middle Ages architecture was innovative and varied. At this time, the idea of ​​realistic images in art was introduced, which became the basis of Romanesque art, the influence of which penetrated into the Late Middle Ages. During the same period, the introduction of classical forms and concepts into architecture took place. We can say that this period was the first era of high art, and compared to the era of the Great Migration of Nations, it was much more functional and less artistic. We can argue that the Early Middle Ages produced an amazing and beautiful history of art and architecture.

3. Fantastic weather

It may seem trivial, but the weather played a much more significant role in the lives of the inhabitants of the Middle Ages. When we imagine the Middle Ages, we imagine storm, snow, rain and darkness, as we can see in the film The Name of the Rose. It is a fact that in the Early Middle Ages the North Atlantic region warmed up to such an extent that by the beginning of the Late Middle Ages (1100 AD), this area had already lasted for more than a hundred years an era called the “Medieval Warm Period”. During this period, the melting of the glaciers took place, allowing the Vikings to colonize Greenland and other northern lands. Oddly enough, the Protestant Reformation (16th century), as well as the period up to the 19th century, is associated with the period of the Little Ice Age - the Enlightenment period was literally darker and colder than the era of the Dark Ages itself. During this period, reforms and improvements in agricultural knowledge ensured an increase in food supplies.

2. The law becomes fair

In the early Middle Ages there was a complex system laws that were often unrelated, but they were effective in application and fair. For merchants who traveled the world, there was the Lex Mercatoria (Commercial Code) that evolved over time. This law allowed for the creation of arbitration and encouraged good practice among merchants. At the same time, Anglo-Saxon law was formed with an emphasis on maintaining peace on earth. The early Middle Ages (with its legal system) was best time for living, because the system of law was flexible and convenient for most. The third important system of law was early Germanic law, which allowed every person to be judged by his own kind.

1. Agricultural boom

If you wanted to die a painful death of starvation, then the Early Middle Ages were not the best times for this. As a consequence of the excellent weather and the expansion of agricultural knowledge, the West has made extraordinary progress. Iron tools were in widespread use in the Byzantine Empire, and feudalism elsewhere provided the opportunity for efficient land management, with large surpluses distributed so that animals lived on grain rather than grass. State security was also provided by the feudal system, and peace and prosperity were available to most people.

Article in the original.

The term "Middle Ages" or the Middle Ages appears for the first time in the Renaissance. In the 15th century, it was proposed by the Italian humanist, historian Flavio Biondo to designate the era between Antiquity and the Renaissance. The term itself was initially negatively evaluative - the Renaissance figures considered this period the time of the savagery of Europe.

And in our time, the term "medieval" is often used as a synonym for decadence and reactionism. Gloomy, dark, cruel times... But it was in the Middle Ages that the foundations of modern civilization were laid. Science develops, states are formed, modern languages and many cultural values.

More discoveries were made in the 12th century than in the previous millennium! Cannons, glasses, gunpowder that came from the East, cutlery, a compass, an astrolabe - all this is the legacy of the Middle Ages. And the successes of medieval shipbuilding led to the Great geographical discoveries, first of all!

The Middle Ages begin with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Young barbarian (translated from Greek “barbarian” means “foreign”) nationalities enter the world historical arena: Celts, Germans, Franks, Slavs, etc.

It is traditionally believed that the formation of medieval culture (or the early Middle Ages) lasted until the 8th-9th centuries. Period from X to XIV centuries. considered to be the heyday (High Middle Ages), and the XIV-XV centuries. (some medievalists also include the 16th century here) - the era of the Late Middle Ages. However, the boundaries are vague and have national characteristics: for example, in Italy in the 15th century, the Renaissance belongs to the New Age, and in Russia the era of the Middle Ages lasts until the end of the 17th century.

The early Middle Ages are defined by three historical processes:

The formation of feudalism, which replaces the ancient slavery, and statehood;
the great migration of peoples and, as a result, the mixing of cultures, the formation of new languages ​​and interethnic conflicts;
the growth of the influence of Christianity and the formation of a new idea about man and the structure of the world in which he lives.

The feudal society of the Middle Ages has three main characteristics:

1. Class

A man of the Middle Ages first of all defines himself as a representative of a particular class (priesthood, chivalry or peasantry) and only secondarily as a person with a set of individual qualities. The transition from one class to another was almost impossible.

2. Hierarchy

All estates are in strict subordination (the peasantry is subordinate to chivalry, chivalry to the clergy). The same principle applies within the estate (the squire admires the knight regardless of his personal qualities, abilities or skills). Moreover, the representative of the younger class should treat the representative of the older one as a Heavenly Father, and he, in turn, should love his vassals as foolish children and take care of them.

3. Traditional

It is very important to maintain the tradition, to follow the patterns. Any innovations are accepted very slowly - the society of the Middle Ages is inert. Everything new is perceived as the machinations of the devil (the extraordinary role of Christianity, remember?).

Time and space are the basic forms of human experience through which we perceive the world. Ideas about these categories are determined not only by everyday experience, but also by the development human civilization generally. These categories are historically variable.

In the Middle Ages, the idea of ​​linear, unidirectional and finite time arises. The world was created, so it must end sometime. Another substance that a person of the Middle Ages remembers is eternity, where time came from and where it should return to. Hence the expectation of the Last Judgment and preparation for it as the main goal of earthly life. Remember the oprichnina of Ivan the Terrible, the Inquisition in Europe? Their main goal was to prepare for eternity and expel filth from the earthly world. Carpe diem has nothing to do with this era of the Middle Ages.

Interestingly, the first mechanical clocks, which were installed in Europe on city towers from the 10th century, did not have minute (and even more so second) hands, but often celebrated the holidays of the church calendar.

The concept of space in the Middle Ages also changes in comparison with ancient culture. There is an idea of ​​its unity: the whole world was created by God. But at the same time, space is hierarchical: some territories are more valuable than others.

The most valuable space of the Middle Ages is the space of the church. In medieval German cities, there was even a custom: a criminal who touches the door of a cathedral is not subject to justice. Remember how Quasimodo hid Esmeralda in Notre Dame Cathedral? Victor Hugo very accurately described the idea of ​​the Middle Ages about the sacred space of the church.

The medieval world is clearly divided and ethically charged: good is in the south and east, and evil is in the north and west. Purity and goodness is the sky, the top; the bottom and the earth are evil.

The symbol of this hierarchy is the cathedral, which even illiterate believers read like a book.

The language of international communication in the Middle Ages is Latin, which is also the language of worship. For the peasants and chivalry (with the exception of the highest ranks), who spoke folk dialects (the modern European languages ​​​​are gradually being formed from them), this was the sacred (and, what is very important, absolutely incomprehensible) “language of angels”. In Russia in the Middle Ages, the role of Latin was performed by the Church Slavonic language.

The power of the church in the era of the Middle Ages was comprehensive - it becomes the main political force. Secular power was weak and unstable. Dynastic Wars between feudal lords (as an example, one can cite the civil strife of Russian princes in the 10th-11th centuries or the war of the Scarlet and White Roses in England in the 15th century), fragmentation (the collapse of the Carolingian Empire or Kievan Rus, wars between Italian cities) led to the strengthening of the power of the church, which has centralization, a rigid structure and a single language.

One of the symbols of the Middle Ages - the crusades - were waged against the Gentiles in order to recapture Palestine - the Holy Land with its Christian treasures (and only then for the sake of glory, wealth and honors). It was a search for an earthly paradise, a pilgrimage. The knights dedicated their exploits to the Virgin Mary (“the most beautiful of wives”). Later, spiritual and knightly orders were formed: the warriors became monks, combining the ideals of asceticism and selfless service. In the Middle Ages, people live in anticipation of the Second Coming and the Last Judgment.

A person is connected with God and only in this capacity has the right to exist (the Middle Ages does not know atheism). Education is also associated with the church - until the 9th-10th centuries. even a person could learn to read only at the monastery, not to mention the acquisition of more serious knowledge.

Since the XIII century, formed new type economic relations- bourgeois, which requires not a vassal, but a worker with personal freedom. Urban, secular culture develops, interest in the individual life of a person appears. The stagnation of the culture of the Middle Ages begins.

Education is no longer the prerogative of the church - universities are gaining strength (the first European university, Bologna, was opened in Italy in the 11th century, soon the University of Paris in France, Cambridge and Oxford in England, Prague, Krakow and Heidelberg universities) began to teach, in which secular sciences (medicine, jurisprudence, etc.). The Middle Ages considered theology and philosophy as the main science, the Renaissance - medicine and philology.

The attitude towards the church is changing, there is a division: she is provided with care for the soul of a person after his death, and secular authorities are responsible for his life in this world. The Reformation begins (first in Germany at the beginning of the 16th century, then in France, England, Denmark and others European countries). In Russia, the process of secularization and the end of the Middle Ages are attributed to late XVII- the beginning of the 18th century and is associated with the activities of Peter I.

The New Age begins, which has learned much more from its predecessor than it seemed to its representatives.

The Middle Ages, the "dark times"... Many people associate this era with the fires of the Inquisition, cruel internecine wars, bloody crusades, terrible epidemics, ignorance and fanaticism. However, we should not forget that it was in that distant era, from which we are separated by almost a millennium, that Dante Alighieri created " Divine Comedy”, recognized by the descendants as a pearl of world literature, a magnificent St. Peter's Cathedral was erected, in major cities Universities were opened, including Oxford and Cambridge.

But even this is not the main thing. In the Middle Ages, slowly, with great difficulty, science and technical progress enter the lives of ordinary people, radically changing their usual way of life. Horseshoes, invented by the Romans, are now attached to the hooves of animals with nails, a more advanced plow, which became widespread during this period, gives impetus to the development of agriculture. After all, now it is possible to cultivate rocky, clayey plots of land, to receive generous harvests. For the peasants, who made up the majority of the population of Europe, a rich harvest was the only way to survive, to feed their families. Guilds of artisans were created in the cities, which, by the standards of their contemporaries, worked wonders. It was then that for the first time it was possible to produce sheet glass. During this era, workshops were organized for the production of Venetian glass, which is still highly valued in the world. For quite a long time, glass beads were equated with jewelry made of semi-precious stones.

For the first time, cast iron was smelted, which very quickly found wide application: cast iron guns were stronger, pipes were more reliable, dishes were more convenient and cheaper. Together with gunpowder, the invention of which is attributed to the monk Berthold Schwarz, these achievements led to the creation of small arms. Ships sheathed with iron sheets conquered the oceans, the trade borders of states began to expand rapidly, heralding the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries.

It was during these difficult times that Copernicus created his heliocentric theory of the world, and Paracelsus, Ibn Sina and Vizaly tried to understand what processes take place in the human body and looked for new ways to treat various diseases.

And, finally, it was the Middle Ages that gave us the brilliant Renaissance, the great da Vinci, Botticelli, Giotto, Raphael, Michelangelo...

The heyday of art came at the end of the Middle Ages. The beginning of the era, called the Early Middle Ages in historical science, is considered by Russian and world medieval studies to be the collapse under the onslaught of the Germanic tribes of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century BC. n. e. This period lasted about five centuries (approximately from 500 to 1000) and was marked by a grandiose migration of peoples: numerous Germanic tribes settled on the lands of the Romans, which subsequently led to a confrontation between cultures, religions, languages ​​and resulted in numerous bloody conflicts. As a result of the resettlement, the northern Gothic tribes ended up in southern Europe, the Asians, the Huns, settled in present-day France and on the western coast of the Black Sea, and the Vandals from Germany reached the territories of present-day Algeria and Tunisia, and from there migrated to Italy and Corsica.

The peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, almost completely conquered by the Moors, began to fight against the enslavers. The continuous strife of the Christian rulers significantly interfered freedom movement, but, in spite of everything, in 1492 the Moors were finally expelled from the Iberian Peninsula.

At the same time, after the withdrawal of the Roman legions, German attacks on the British Isles became more frequent. Anglo-Saxon troops landed in Kent and by the 10th century. became absolute masters of Britain.

In the south of Europe, the Byzantine Empire gained more and more influence. The vast territory of Western and Central Europe occupied the Frankish kingdom, whose influence on the course of history was very significant.

Without exaggeration, the High Middle Ages can be called the era crusades and power of the Church. This period lasted from about 1000 to 1300. Agriculture, trade and crafts led to a population explosion - the population of Europe has increased markedly. Naturally, this entailed significant changes in politics, economics, spiritual life and art. Kievan Rus with all her might held back the invasion of the Mongol hordes, but many states of Eastern Europe were conquered and plundered by the Asians.

The late Middle Ages began with terrible disasters: the Great Famine of 1315-1317. and the plague epidemic, which wiped out more than half of Europe's population. These disasters have caused numerous peasant uprisings. The bloody and brutal Hundred Years War claimed thousands more lives.

A series of terrible events of the era was crowned by the Renaissance, which gave the exhausted peoples the light of science and culture, new knowledge and the opening of trade routes.

The Middle Ages gave us magnificent buildings, canvases, sculptures, poetic and philosophical treatises, knightly ballads, and also ... tea, chocolate, tobacco, potatoes ... This era presented descendants with hundreds of mysteries, some of which have not yet been answered . It is about them that will be discussed in the book that you hold in your hands. Here the inquisitive reader will find many interesting, sometimes paradoxical facts about the past and will be able to draw parallels with modern life. After all, history, as you know, moves in a spiral.

The period of the Middle Ages (from lat. media - the middle) occupies a middle position between the time ancient world and New Time. The transition to it was marked by the Renaissance, the Great geographical discoveries, the industrial revolution and the emergence of a market economy. The chronology of the beginning of the Middle Ages is beyond doubt. It is customary to consider V in n as a starting point. e., more precisely, 476 AD. e., when the leader of the Germanic barbarian tribes, Odacar, deposed last emperor Western Roman Empire Romulus Augustulus. The word "barbarians" comes from "barbaros", as the Greeks called everyone who incomprehensibly chatted in an unknown and dissonant language. This word has become a household word for the destroyers of material and spiritual values. In addition, representatives of the tribes that conquered Rome were at a lower level of general cultural development than the Greeks and Romans.

For all those who study the economic history of mankind, it seems most reasonable to start the starting point of the New Age, following the Middle Ages, with the events of the industrial revolution in England in the 60s. 18th century

Conventionally, the entire Middle Ages can be divided into three stages: the first - the early Middle Ages from the end of the 5th - the beginning of the 6th century. according to IX e.; the second is flourishing. Medieval civilization from the 10th to the 15th centuries; the third - the late Middle Ages - from the end of the 15th to the middle of the 18th century. The third stage will be discussed in the following sections.

So, the duration is set. Location - Europe. This word comes from "Erebus" - "West" (translated from Semitic). Under the Greeks and Romans, Europe was seen as an object for collecting indemnities. It was, as it were, a barbarian periphery, the border of the Roman Empire. From north to south, the continent is located from the Arctic Ocean to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, from west to east - from the Atlantic coast to the Ural Mountains. So, since antiquity, the concept of Europe has been identified with geographical definition"West" and was opposed to "Asu" (translated from the Semitic "Asia"), or East. For the peoples and countries that already inhabited Europe in those centuries, one can distinguish common features of economic, socio-political and socio-cultural development. The countries of Western Europe have long stood out on the continent: England, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavian countries. It's faster here than in Eastern Europe, the processes of feudalization and industrialization took place, achievements in science and technology were more clearly manifested. The Celtic and Germanic tribes were part of the Roman Empire and had the opportunity to get to know and adopt some of the achievements of the advanced for that time ancient civilization. Western European countries with the end of the Great Migration of Peoples established themselves in state borders. They actively used the advantages and benefits of their geographical position. The seas and rivers surrounding them, crossing the plains and mountains, facilitated trade and primary exchanges of information about various kinds of innovations in material culture.

Eastern Europe became the place of settlement of the Slavic tribes, who found themselves geographic location further from the seas and ancient world centers of culture.

A kind of outpost of Europe in the east was Byzantium - the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The main feature of the early Middle Ages was the emergence of feudalism in the young European states. A qualitatively new civilization - Western (European) - is formed precisely in the Middle Ages on the basis of a synthesis of the relations of private property and the colony (lease relations) of antiquity and the communal-collectivist principles of European tribes. The third component of this synthesis of a new civilization was the material and spiritual culture of the Ancient East - the foundation of the entire world civilization. Without taking into account these closely interrelated processes that determined the material basis of European civilization, one cannot understand the features of the progress of the European economy in the Middle Ages, the formation of world economic relations.

By the beginning of the Middle Ages, the productive forces of Ancient Greece and Rome were largely destroyed, the monuments of material and spiritual culture perished in fires during the raids of barbarian tribes, in continuous wars, with the active migration of large masses of the population. Many labor skills were forgotten, the qualifications of artisans were lost. In the early Middle Ages, the development of technology and people's knowledge about the world was at a very low level.

This led to low labor productivity. Manual, handicraft production prevailed. For the successful development of vast new spaces in the north and in the center of Europe, covered with dense forests, the means of communication were primitive. Poor communication between individual regions made it difficult to exchange experience in economic life, which also held back progress. Wars, epidemics of plague and cholera, mass diseases of people and domestic animals greatly undermined the productive forces of society.

But at the same time, the most important process of the formation of modern states was taking place, within the framework of which national economic complexes began to gradually form. Appeared in the 13th century. in England, the Parliament, then the first constitutions in a number of countries legislated the right of private ownership of fixed assets. The works of scientists in chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, mechanics were used in technical improvements, navigation; rising living standards of the people. The dissemination of knowledge accumulated by mankind was facilitated by printing. 1000 years after the fall ancient rome a galaxy of brilliant thinkers, rightly headed by Leonardo da Vinci, put the production and cultural experience of antiquity at the service of people. They reached new heights in technology, science, art, often looking far ahead, ahead of their time. The Renaissance was not only the heyday of medieval civilization, but also worthily introduced human society into the New Age, leading it through the Great Geographical Discoveries.

So, there was no smooth transition, progressive movement in the development of productive forces along an ascending line from the era of the Ancient World to the Middle Ages, but there was undoubtedly economic progress, especially characteristic of the third period of the Middle Ages.

It all started with the formation of an agrarian society in Europe.

The Middle Ages are often considered a dark spot on the pages of history, a realm of obscurantism: witches were burned at the stake, and fear and ugliness reigned in the streets. The name itself emphasizes the facelessness of this era, which is overshadowed by two neighboring ones: antiquity and the Renaissance, richer in the aesthetic and cultural sense.

If you have ever turned to texts created more than five centuries ago, then you will agree that the events described in them are presented in a completely different way than we are used to. Perhaps this is due to the fact that at that time the world was still presented to people in a wonderful dress of mystery, and European society had not yet lost faith in the supernatural. Let's try to figure out in what light life appeared when humanity and the world were younger.

Brightness and sharpness of life

Human feelings were expressed more directly. The soul did not hide feelings, and the mind did not try to suppress them. Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, poverty and wealth were demonstrated publicly without hesitation or fear. The ritual permeated every action or deed, "elevating them to another extraterrestrial lifestyle."

This applied not only to the most important events human life (birth, marriage and death, reaching the brilliance of mystery), but also social events: the solemn meeting of the king or execution, which became not only moralizing, but also a vivid spectacle.

Of course, the life of a medieval person was not distinguished by beauty in itself. Living conditions without electricity, sewerage and heating were far from being called beautiful, and therefore beauty had to be created artificially.

Pursuit of a wonderful life

In the Middle Ages, the aesthetic worldview prevailed over the logical and ethical. The forms of the way of life were transformed into artistic ones, and the society became more and more playful, to such an extent that any action turned into a ritual.

The art of the Renaissance did not appear in world history from scratch. Culture at the end of the Middle Ages - "the coloring of aristocratic life with ideal forms of life, flowing in the artificial lighting of knightly romance, this is a world disguised in the clothes of the times of King Arthur."

Such an artificial, aesthetic coverage of all events created a strong tension, shaping the thoughts and customs of a medieval person.

The life of the courtiers was imbued with aesthetic forms to the point of obscenity, the diversity of colors blinded the townspeople here, which once again proved and substantiated the power of the upper class. Dirty beggars, merchants and rednecks saw the true proof of noble birth in the beauty of noble robes and court decorations.

Formalization of life

Earthly life, clothed in aesthetic forms, not only attracted attention, but also acquired a dimension previously unknown to mankind. Formalism in relations sometimes prevented natural communication between people, however, it gave them the greatest aesthetic pleasure, occupying an intermediate position between sincerity and etiquette.

There is something touching in the fact that the "beautiful forms", developed in the bitter struggle of a generation of people of ardent disposition, sometimes turned into endless polite bickering.

A visit to the temple turned into a kind of minuet: when leaving, rivalry arose for granting a person of a higher rank the right to cross a bridge or a narrow street before others. As soon as anyone reached his house, he had - as the Spanish custom still requires - to invite everyone to come to his house for something to drink, such an offer everyone had to politely refuse; then the others had to be seen off a bit, and all this, of course, was accompanied by mutual bickering.

Johan Huizinga

Loud suffering for show was considered not only appropriate, but also beautiful, which turned everyday life into a genuine dramatic art.

Pain takes on a rhythm

Funeral rites were also accompanied by a celebration of suffering, in which grief was clothed in beautiful and even sublime forms.

Reality moved into the realm of the dramatic. In more primitive cultures, funeral rites and poetic funeral laments are still one; mourning, with its splendor, was intended to emphasize how grieved the afflicted with grief.

Johan Huizinga

Dutch philosopher, historian, cultural researcher

In such forms, real experiences are easily lost. Here is an excerpt from the notes of Eleanor de Poitiers about the widowed Isabella of Bourbon: “When Madame remained on her own, she did not at all stay in bed, just as in the chambers.” Which indicates a conscious desire for drama, the cause of which was social customs.

People liked it when everything that had to do with the realm of the ethical took on aesthetic forms.

Preachers and ascetics were a special category of people to whom the townsfolk had a genuine interest. Amazement before the humility and mortification of the flesh of the holy ascetics, before the repentant renunciation of sins reached the highest degree love and admiration. Any personal experience, excitement and achievement had to find the necessary public form of expression, fixed in culture.

Love and friendship

Appears special form friendship, called a minion - it lasted until the 17th century. Every self-respecting courtier had a close friend whose habits, dress, and appearance had to necessarily repeat his own. Minions were taken with them on dates, walks, work. Such friendship had an exclusively aesthetic meaning and was designed to dilute loneliness and boredom, as well as add symmetry to life.

Courtesy and etiquette were directly related to clothing, which had certain meanings.

For example, if a girl wanted to declare her loyalty to her lover, then she put on blue clothes, while clothes Green colour testified to love.

In love, for those who did not break with all earthly joys in general, the purpose and essence of enjoying the beautiful as such was manifested. The feeling of falling in love was valued much more than relationships, and even more so marriage. It often happened that a young married woman remained the lady of the heart of many knights who shouted her name on the battlefield.

Everything beautiful - every sound or flower - adorned love. Literature, fashion, customs streamlined the attitude towards love, created a wonderful illusion that people dreamed of following. Love has become a form of fantastic desire. The jousting tournament offered the game of love in its most heroic form. The winner got a special gift in the form of a handkerchief or a kiss from his beloved.

Short circuit

It is important to understand that medieval man lived in a completely different world than we do. His life was permeated with divine mystery, and therefore any phenomenon was regarded as a sign from above.

He lived in a semiotically saturated world. Full of semantic references and higher meanings of manifestations of God in things; he lived in nature, which constantly spoke the language of heraldry.

Umberto Eco

philosopher, specialist in semiotics and medieval aesthetics

Lion, eagle, snake - not only real animals, but symbols that show a person the path to truth, which meant more than objects in themselves. Allegorism extended to all phenomena of life and even served as calls to action.

Often, when the sound of rain is trance-like, or the light of a lamp is refracted in a certain way, we too can experience a different range of feelings, usually hidden in everyday life and affairs. This gives us a sense of the infinite mystery of the world and can make us a little happier, return to the state that medieval man has always experienced.

The Dark Ages are the cause of the light of the Renaissance

The beauty of everyday life was considered sinful, due to which it acquired a double attraction, and if they surrendered to it, then they enjoyed it more passionately than ever.

In art, the religious plot saved beauty from the seal of sin. If in the Middle Ages in music and fine arts saw meaning only if they were part of the veneration of Christ, and outside the church it was reprehensible to engage in art, then the Renaissance, having overcome the outdated idea of ​​the joys of life as sinful, “strives to enjoy the whole of life.”

All life becomes art, and even the most unaesthetic forms are transformed into the highest evidence of beauty and admiration.

In the era of the New Time, people begin to enjoy art in isolation from life, it begins to rise above it, and life itself loses its aesthetic dimension. With this loss is connected the longing for the Middle Ages, an era in which the sky was higher and the grass greener.