CULTURE OF MEDIEVAL WESTERN EUROPE".
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IMPORTANT FEATURES OF MEDIEVAL CULTURE
The medieval era covers more than a thousand years of dominance of feudalism, which replaced the Greco-Roman slave civilization. Happy birthday medieval society New territories and peoples entered history, no longer limited to the Mediterranean and adjacent areas.
The Western European cultural type was formed on the basis of a synthesis of ancient heritage, Christianity and spiritual development Germanic tribes. Christianity played the main role in the formation and development of medieval culture.
The term " Middle Ages» was introduced into use by Italian humanists of the Renaissance (XV century). They called the era separating them the Middle Ages. Modern times, from classical antiquity. Since then, the division of world history into ancient, middle and modern has become firmly established in historical science.
The assessment of medieval culture by Italian humanists was generally negative: they considered the Middle Ages to be “dark centuries”, “the dark night of Christianity”, a break in the development of culture, etc. However, while stating the fact of the largely negative role of the church in the Middle Ages, we should not forget that the medieval era laid the foundations of the cultural community of Europe, that then modern European languages arose, new states arose, new lands were discovered, printing was invented and much more. And if in ancient greece and Rome, many outstanding discoveries and brilliant guesses of Greek and Roman scientists were not used (because cheap slave labor made the use of machines and mechanisms unnecessary), the Middle Ages began with the widespread use of water wheels and windmills.
Medieval culture had a number of distinctive features: This symbolism And allegory(allegory), craving for generality, universalism, anonymity most works of art, etc.
The most important feature of medieval culture is its theocentrism, the dominance of a religious worldview based on Christian theology. The medieval worldview was based on the idea of duality of the world, which, according to theological views, was divided into visible, tangible, perceptible human feelings earthly world And heavenly peace, ideal, otherworldly, existing in our imagination. At the same time, the highest, heavenly, “ mountain"the world, and earthly existence (" the world below") was considered only as a reflection of the existence of the heavenly world. From the doctrine of the dualism of the world came symbolism medieval art: only symbols were taken into account, i.e. hidden meaning real objects and phenomena.
Just as the world is divided into two parts, so in a person, from the point of view of Christianity, there are two principles - body and soul. Of course, the soul takes precedence over the body, called the “prison of the soul.” Therefore, in the Middle Ages, pacification of the flesh was considered the highest virtue, and the ideal of man were monks and ascetics who voluntarily renounced worldly goods.
The dominance of the religious worldview in the Middle Ages predetermined the characteristics of medieval art. Almost all of his creations served a religious cult, reproducing images not of the real, but of the other world, using the language of symbols and allegories. Unlike ancient art, medieval art almost did not express the joy of earthly existence, but was conducive to contemplation, deep reflection and prayer. He was not interested in a detailed, specific image of space or a person: after all, only the “high” world seemed truly real, true. Therefore, the art of the Middle Ages conveyed only the typical, general, and not the individual and unique.
The dominant role of the church in the Middle Ages led to the fact that the most widespread and popular genre of medieval literature (especially in the early Middle Ages) was lives of saints; the most typical example of architecture was cathedral; the most common genre of painting - icon, and favorite images of sculpture - Scripture characters.
The influence of religion and the Christian church was especially strong in the first centuries of the Middle Ages. But as secular trends in culture strengthened, churches gradually left the control of secular genres literature, theater, urban culture, developed scientific knowledge etc.
Historians divide the medieval era into three stages, corresponding to the stages of formation, flourishing and decline of feudalism. So, V-X centuries cover the period early Middle Ages, when a new feudal Europe was born on the ruins of the Western Roman Empire. Massive invasions of various tribes (Celts, Germans, Slavs, Huns, etc.) into Roman territory (this process was called the Great Migration) led to the formation of so-called barbarian kingdoms in Europe: Visigothic - in Spain, Ostrogothic - in Italy, Frankish - in Gaul, etc. During this period, there was a significant economic, political and cultural decline associated with endless wars and the destruction that accompanied them.
Since the end of the 10th century in Western Europe, a period of rapid development begins, affecting a variety of spheres: economic, technological, political, social, religious, artistic, etc. The barbarian kingdoms are being replaced by strong nation states- France, England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany - in which medieval culture is experiencing its heyday. The rise of cultural life found expression in the emergence and flourishing of new architectural styles - Romanesque And Gothic, in development secular schools And universities, in the broad intellectual movement and spread of education, in the flowering of literature and medieval scholasticism (school science).
THE BIRTH OF MEDIEVAL CULTURE was the result of the meeting between antiquity and the barbarian world:
1. The most important source of the culture of the early Middle Ages was the ancient heritage, which was assimilated and creatively processed in the 5th-10th centuries. Played a huge role in the development of medieval culture Latin, which has retained its significance as the language of the church, government office-work, international communication, science and scholarship. Interacting with various local dialects (Germans, Celts, etc.), the Latin language soon became different from itself and at the same time became the basis for the development of European national languages. The Latin alphabet was also adopted by non-Romanized peoples. Latin was not only the language of learning, but also the only language that was taught. In the Middle Ages, “to be able to read” meant “to be able to read Latin.” On the other hand, a large number of local vernacular dialects and languages continued to exist in the early Middle Ages. Latin in the Middle Ages there was sacred language, guarantor of the unity of faith. Due to the dominance of Latin in the early Middle Ages, historians often call this era " Latin Middle Ages" Everywhere, the entire Middle Ages passed in the conditions of the coexistence of two languages - local and Latin.
In the process of assimilating the cultural heritage of antiquity vital role played rhetoric. IN Ancient Rome it was both part of education and an integral element of the Roman way of life. In the Middle Ages, rhetorical culture retained its importance and significantly influenced the appearance of medieval culture.
The culture of the early Middle Ages was also greatly influenced by roman education system, which survived until the 7th century. The Middle Ages adopted such an important element of it as the system “ seven liberal arts"-septem artes liberates, a compulsory set of school disciplines, which included grammar, dialectics (logic), rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. But if in the Roman rhetorical school the audience was quite narrow and consisted of selected members of Roman society, then in the early Middle Ages, peasants, townspeople, knights, and clergy began to be accepted into schools. Nevertheless, the old Roman classical education turned out to be unnecessary in the Middle Ages. Therefore, the ancient school was replaced by a new one - monastery, or episcopal school(the latter studied the “seven liberal arts”). In the early Middle Ages, the quality of education was low, because... the content of the items was as close as possible to the needs of the church. So, rhetoric considered as the art of composing sermons, dialectics- how to conduct a conversation, astronomy boiled down to the ability to use a calendar and calculate the dates of Christian holidays. Each school student was supposed to know chants and prayers, main events sacred history and several quotes from the Bible. Thus, the education system in the early Middle Ages was quite primitive and had a utilitarian character.
2. To others the most important source the culture of the Middle Ages was spiritual life of barbarian tribes, their folklore, art, customs, peculiarities of worldview. Although our knowledge of barbarian culture is very meager, we are quite knowledgeable about, for example, folding heroic epic peoples of Western and Northern Europe(Old German, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Irish). IN popular consciousness there lived remnants of pre-Christian mythology and cults, which even penetrated into church art. Folklore, one of the components of medieval culture, which gave rise to both folk poetry and fairy tales, became the basis of the heroic epic.
Artistic creativity barbarians represented mainly by objects applied arts. These are richly decorated weapons, religious and ritual utensils, various brooches, buckles, clasps and household items, indicating a highly developed technology for processing metals, leather and other materials. In the works of art of the barbarians, preference was always given ornament.
Ideas about the mighty Germanic and Celtic gods, heroes and their struggle with evil forces gave rise to bizarre ornaments of the so-called “animal” style, in which images of fantastic animals were woven into intricate patterns. The “animal” style was subsequently widely used in applied arts and in Romanesque architecture. Images of Irish sagas (epics) and Celtic pagan symbols, found even in images of saints, penetrated early medieval Irish and English miniatures. And the construction technology of the barbarian tribes, embodied in wooden architecture, made up the glory of Burgundian and Norman carpenters.
Related information.
The term “Middle Ages” was introduced by humanists around 1500. This is how they designated the millennium that separated them from the “golden age” of antiquity.
Medieval culture is divided into periods:
1. V century AD - XI century n. e. - early Middle Ages.
2. End of the 8th century. AD - beginning of the 9th century AD - Carolingian revival.
Z. XI - XIII centuries. - culture of the mature Middle Ages.
4. XIV-XV centuries. - culture of the late Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages is a period the beginning of which coincided with the withering away of ancient culture, and the end with its revival in modern times. The early Middle Ages include two outstanding cultures - the culture of the Carolingian Renaissance and Byzantium. They gave rise to two great cultures - Catholic (Western Christian) and Orthodox (Eastern Christian).
Medieval culture spans more than a millennium and, in socio-economic terms, corresponds to the origin, development and decay of feudalism. In this historically long sociocultural process During the development of feudal society, a unique type of human relationship to the world was developed, qualitatively distinguishing it both from the culture of ancient society and from the subsequent culture of modern times.
The term "Carolingian Renaissance" describes the cultural upsurge in the empire of Charlemagne and the kingdoms of the Carolingian dynasty in the 8th-9th centuries. (mainly in France and Germany). He expressed himself in the organization of schools, the attraction of educated figures to the royal court, in the development of literature, fine arts, architecture. Scholasticism (“school theology”) became the dominant direction of medieval philosophy.
The origins of medieval culture should be outlined:
Culture of “barbarian” peoples Western Europe(the so-called German beginning);
Cultural traditions of the Western Roman Empire (Romanesque beginning: powerful statehood, law, science and art);
The Crusades significantly expanded not only economic, trade contacts and exchanges, but also contributed to the penetration of the more developed culture of the Arab East and Byzantium into barbarian Europe. At the height of the Crusades, Arab science began to play a huge role in the Christian world, contributing to the rise of medieval culture in 12th-century Europe. The Arabs passed on to Christian scientists Greek science, accumulated and preserved in eastern libraries, which was greedily absorbed by enlightened Christians. The authority of pagan and Arab scientists was so strong that references to them were almost obligatory in medieval science; Christian philosophers sometimes attributed their original thoughts and conclusions to them.
As a result of long-term communication with the population of the more cultured East, Europeans adopted many of the cultural and technological achievements of the Byzantine and Muslim world. This gave a strong impetus to the further development of Western European civilization, which was reflected primarily in the growth of cities and the strengthening of their economic and spiritual potential. Between the X and XIII centuries. There was a rise in the development of Western cities, and their image changed.
One function prevailed - trade, which revived the old cities and created a little later the craft function. The city became a hotbed of economic activity hated by the lords, which led, to a certain extent, to population migration. From various social elements, the city created a new society, contributed to the formation of a new mentality, which consisted in choosing an active, rational life, rather than a contemplative one. The flourishing of the urban mentality was favored by the emergence of urban patriotism. Urban society was able to create aesthetic, cultural, and spiritual values, which gave new impetus to the development of the medieval West.
Romanesque art, which was an expressive manifestation of early Christian architecture, throughout the 12th century. began to transform. The old Romanesque churches became too crowded for the growing population of the cities. It was necessary to make the church spacious, full of air, while saving expensive space inside the city walls. Therefore, cathedrals stretch upward, often hundreds or more meters. For the townspeople, the cathedral was not just a decoration, but also an impressive testimony to the power and wealth of the city. Along with the town hall, the cathedral was the center and focus of all public life.
The town hall housed the business and practical part related to city government, and in the cathedral, in addition to divine services, university lectures were given, theatrical performances (mysteries) took place, and sometimes parliament met there. Many city cathedrals were so large that the entire population of the then city could not fill it. Cathedrals and town halls were erected by order of city communes. Due to the high cost of building materials and the complexity of the work itself, temples were sometimes built over several centuries. The iconography of these cathedrals expressed the spirit of urban culture.
In her, active and contemplative life sought balance. Huge windows with colored glass (stained glass) created a flickering twilight. Massive semicircular vaults gave way to pointed, rib vaults. In combination with a complex support system, this made it possible to make the walls light and openwork. The evangelical characters in the sculptures of the Gothic temple acquire the grace of courtly heroes, smiling coquettishly and suffering “subtly.”
Gothic - artistic style, predominantly architectural, which reached its greatest development in the construction of light, pointed, skyward cathedrals with pointed vaults and rich decorative decoration, became the pinnacle of medieval culture. Overall, it was a triumph of engineering and the dexterity of guild artisans, an invasion of the Catholic church by the secular spirit of urban culture. Gothic is associated with the life of a medieval city-commune, with the struggle of cities for independence from the feudal lord. Like Romanesque art, Gothic art spread throughout Europe, and its best creations were created in the cities of France.
Changes in architecture led to changes in monumental painting. The place of the frescoes was taken stained glass. The Church established canons in the image, but even through them it made itself felt creative individuality masters In terms of their emotional impact, the subjects of stained glass paintings, conveyed through drawing, are in last place, and in the first place are color and, along with it, light. The design of the book has achieved great skill. In the XII-XIII centuries. manuscripts of religious, historical, scientific or poetic content are elegantly illustrated color miniature.
Of the liturgical books, the most common are books of hours and psalms, intended mainly for the laity. The artist had no concept of space and perspective, so the drawing is schematic and the composition is static. The beauty of the human body was not given any importance in medieval painting. Spiritual beauty came first, moral character person. The sight of a naked body was considered sinful. Special significance in appearance medieval man given to the face. The medieval era created grandiose artistic ensembles, solved gigantic architectural problems, created new forms of monumental painting and plastic arts, and most importantly, it was a synthesis of these monumental arts, in which it sought to convey a complete picture of the world .
The shift in the center of gravity of culture from monasteries to cities was especially clearly manifested in the field of education. During the 12th century. City schools are decisively ahead of monastery schools. New training centers, thanks to their programs and methods, and most importantly - the recruitment of teachers and students, are very quickly coming forward.
Students from other cities and countries gathered around the most brilliant teachers. As a result, it begins to create graduate School- university. In the 11th century The first university was opened in Italy (Bologna, 1088). In the 12th century Universities are also emerging in other Western European countries. In England, the first was the university in Oxford (1167), then the university in Cambridge (1209). The largest and first of the universities in France was Paris (1160).
Studying and teaching science becomes a craft, one of the many activities that have been specialized in urban life. The name university itself comes from the Latin “corporation”. Indeed, universities were corporations of teachers and students. The development of universities with their traditions of debate, as the main form of education and the movement of scientific thought, appeared in the 12th-13th centuries. large quantity translated literature from Arabic and Greek became a stimulus for the intellectual development of Europe.
Universities represented the concentration of medieval philosophy - scholastics. The method of scholasticism consisted in the consideration and collision of all arguments and counterarguments of any position and in the logical development of this position. The old dialectics, the art of debate and argumentation, are receiving extraordinary development. A scholastic ideal of knowledge is emerging, where rational knowledge and logical proof, based on the teachings of the church and on authorities in various branches of knowledge, acquire a high status.
Mysticism, which had a significant influence in the culture as a whole, is accepted very cautiously in scholasticism, only in connection with alchemy and astrology. Until the 13th century. scholasticism was the only possible way to improve the intellect because science was subordinate to and served theology. The scholastics were credited with developing formal logic and the deductive way of thinking, and their method of knowledge was nothing more than the fruit of medieval rationalism. The most recognized of the scholastics, Thomas Aquinas, considered science to be the “handmaiden of theology.” Despite the development of scholasticism, it was universities that became centers of a new, non-religious culture.
At the same time, there was a process of accumulation of practical knowledge, which was transferred in the form of production experience in craft workshops and workshops. Many discoveries and finds were made here, mixed with mysticism and magic. The process of technical development was expressed in the appearance and use of windmills and lifts for the construction of temples.
New and extremely important phenomenon there was the creation of non-church schools in cities: these were private schools, financially independent of the church. Since that time, there has been a rapid spread of literacy among the urban population. Urban non-church schools became centers of free thought. Poetry became the mouthpiece of such sentiments vagrants- wandering school poets, people from the lower classes. A feature of their work was the constant criticism of the Catholic Church and the clergy for greed, hypocrisy, and ignorance. The vagantes believed that these qualities, common to common man, should not be inherent in the holy church. The Church, in turn, persecuted and condemned the vagants.
The most important monument of English literature XII V. - famous Ballads of Robin Hood, which to this day remains one of the most famous heroes world literature.
Developed urban culture. The poetic short stories depicted dissolute and self-interested monks, dull peasant villans, and cunning burghers (“The Romance of the Fox”). Urban art fed on peasant folklore and was distinguished by great integrity and organicity. It was on urban soil that they appeared music and theater with their touching dramatizations of church legends and instructive allegories.
The city contributed to the growth of productive forces, which gave impetus to development natural sciences. English encyclopedist R. Bacon(XIII century) believed that knowledge should be based on experience, and not on authorities. But the emerging rationalistic ideas were combined with the search by alchemical scientists for the “elixir of life”, the “philosopher’s stone”, and with the aspirations of astrologers to predict the future by the movement of the planets. At the same time, they made discoveries in the field natural sciences, medicine, astronomy. Scientific research gradually contributed to changes in all aspects of the life of medieval society and prepared the emergence of a “new” Europe.
The culture of the Middle Ages is characterized by:
Theocentrism and creationism;
Dogmatism;
Ideological intolerance;
Suffering renunciation of the world and craving for a violent worldwide transformation of the world in accordance with the idea (crusades)
Medieval European culture covers the period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the active formation of the culture of the Renaissance and divides the culture early period(V-XI centuries) and culture classical Middle Ages(XII-XIV centuries). The appearance of the term “Middle Ages” is associated with the activities of Italian humanists of the 15th-16th centuries, who, by introducing this term, sought to separate the culture of their era - the culture of the Renaissance - from the culture of previous eras. The Middle Ages brought with it new economic relations, a new type of political system, as well as global changes in people's worldview.
The entire culture of the early Middle Ages had a religious overtones
The basis of the medieval picture of the world was images and interpretations of the Bible. The starting point for explaining the world was the idea of a complete and unconditional opposition of God and nature, Heaven and Earth, soul and body. The man of the Middle Ages imagined and understood the world as an arena of confrontation between good and evil, as a kind of hierarchical system, including God, angels, people, and otherworldly forces of darkness.
Along with the strong influence of the church, the consciousness of medieval man continued to remain deeply magical. This was facilitated by the very nature of medieval culture, filled with prayers, fairy tales, myths, and magic spells. In general, the cultural history of the Middle Ages is a history of the struggle between church and state. The position and role of art in this era were complex and contradictory, but nevertheless, throughout the entire period of development of European medieval culture, there was a search for the semantic support of the spiritual community of people.
All classes of medieval society recognized the spiritual leadership of the church, but nevertheless, each of them developed its own special culture, in which it reflected its moods and ideals.
1. The main periods of development of the Middle Ages.
The beginning of the Middle Ages is associated with the great migration of peoples that began at the end of the 4th century. The territory of the Western Roman Empire was invaded by Vandals, Goths, Huns and other nationalities. After the collapse in 476 The Western Roman Empire formed a number of short-lived states on its territory, which consisted of foreign tribes mixed with the indigenous population, which consisted mainly of Celts and the so-called Romans. The Franks settled in Gaul and Western Germany, the Visigoths in northern Spain, the Osgoths in northern Italy, and the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. The barbarian peoples who created their states on the ruins of the Roman Empire found themselves either in a Roman or Romanized environment. However, culture ancient world experienced a deep crisis during the period of the barbarian invasion, and this crisis was aggravated by the barbarians introducing their mythological thinking and worship of the elemental forces of nature. All this was reflected in the cultural process of the early Middle Ages.
Medieval culture developed in line with the period of early (V-XIII centuries) feudalism in the countries of Western Europe, the formation of which was accompanied by the transition from barbarian empires to the classical states of medieval Europe. This was a period of serious social and military upheaval.
At the stage of late feudalism (XI-XII centuries), crafts, trade, and city life had a rather low level of development. The dominance of feudal lords - landowners - was undivided. The figure of the king was decorative in nature, and did not personify strength and state power. However, from the end of the 11th century. (especially France) the process of strengthening royal power begins and centralized feudal states are gradually created, in which the feudal economy rises, contributing to the formation of the cultural process.
The Crusades carried out at the end of this period were important. These campaigns contributed to the acquaintance of Western Europe with the rich culture of the Arab East and accelerated the growth of crafts.
During the second development of the mature (classical) European Middle Ages (11th century), there was a further growth of the productive forces of feudal society. A clear division is established between city and countryside, and intensive development of crafts and trade occurs. Royal power assumes significant importance. This process was facilitated by the elimination of feudal anarchy. The royal power was supported by knighthood and wealthy citizens. Characteristic feature This period marks the emergence of city-states, for example, Venice and Florence.
2. Features of the art of medieval Europe.
The development of medieval art includes the following three stages:
1.pre-Romanesque art (V- Xcenturies),
Which is divided into three periods: early Christian art, the art of the barbarian kingdoms and the art of the Carolingian and Ottonian empires.
IN early Christian During this period Christianity became the official religion. The appearance of the first Christian churches dates back to this time. Separate buildings of a centric type (round, octagonal, cruciform), called baptisteries or baptisteries. The interior decoration of these buildings were mosaics and frescoes. They reflected all the main features of medieval painting, although they were greatly divorced from reality. Symbolism and convention prevailed in the images, and the mysticism of the images was achieved through the use of such formal elements as enlarged eyes, disembodied images, prayer poses, and the use of different scales in the depiction of figures according to the spiritual hierarchy.
Barbarian Art played a positive role in the development of the ornamental and decorative direction, which later became the main part of the artistic creativity of the classical Middle Ages. And which no longer had a close connection with ancient traditions.
A characteristic feature of art Carolingian and Ottonian empires is a combination of ancient, early Christian, barbarian and Byzantine traditions, which are most clearly manifested in the ornament. The architecture of these kingdoms is based on Roman designs and includes centric stone or wooden temples, the use of mosaics and frescoes in the interior decoration of the temples.
A monument of pre-Romanesque architecture is the Chapel of Charlemagne in Aachen, created around 800. During the same period, the development of monastery construction was actively underway. In the Carolingian Empire, 400 new monasteries were built and 800 existing monasteries were expanded.
2. Romanesque art (XI- XIIcenturies)
It arose during the reign of Charlemagne. This style of art is characterized by a semicircular vaulted arch that came from Rome. Instead of wooden coverings, stone ones, usually having a vaulted shape, begin to predominate. Painting and sculpture were subordinated to architecture and were mainly used in temples and monasteries. Sculptural images were brightly colored, and monumental and decorative painting, on the contrary, was represented as temple paintings of restrained color. An example of this style is the Church of Mary on the island of Laak in Germany. Italian architecture occupies a special place in Romanesque architecture, which, thanks to the strong ancient traditions present in it, immediately stepped into the Renaissance.
The main function of Romanesque architecture is defense. In the architecture of the Romanesque era, precise mathematical calculations were not used, however, thick walls, narrow windows and massive towers, being stylistic features of architectural structures, simultaneously carried a defensive function, allowing the civilian population to take refuge in the monastery during feudal strife and wars. This is explained by the fact that the formation and strengthening of the Romanesque style took place in the era of feudal fragmentation and its motto is the saying “My home is my fortress.”
In addition to religious architecture, secular architecture was also actively developing; an example of this is the feudal castle - house - tower of a rectangular or multifaceted shape.
3. Gothic art (XII- XVcenturies)
It arose as a result of urban development and emerging urban culture. The cathedral becomes the symbol of medieval cities, gradually losing its defensive functions. The stylistic changes in the architecture of this era were explained not only by changes in the functions of buildings, but by the rapid development of construction technology, which by that time was already based on precise calculations and verified design. Abundant convex details - statues, bas-reliefs, hanging arches were the main decorations of the buildings, both inside and outside. The world masterpieces of Gothic architecture are Notre Dame Cathedral and Milan Cathedral in Italy.
Gothic is also used in sculpture. Three-dimensional, diverse plastic forms, portrait individuality, and real anatomy of figures appear.
Monumental Gothic painting is mainly represented by stained glass. Window openings are significantly increased. Which now serve not only for lighting, but more for decoration. Thanks to glass duplication, the finest nuances of color are conveyed. Stained glass windows are beginning to acquire more and more realistic elements. The French stained glass windows of Chartres and Rouen were especially famous.
In book miniatures it also begins to predominate gothic style, there is a significant expansion of the scope of its application, there is a mutual influence of stained glass and miniatures. The art of book miniatures was one of the greatest achievements of Gothic art. This type of painting evolved from the "classical" style to realism.
Among the most outstanding achievements Among the Gothic book miniatures, the psalter of Queen Ingeborg and the psalter of Saint Louis stand out. A remarkable monument of the German school of the early 14th century. is the “Manesse Manuscript”, which is a collection of the most famous songs of the German Minesingers, decorated with portraits of singers, scenes of tournaments and court life, and coats of arms.
Literature and music of the Middle Ages.
During the period of mature feudalism, along with and as an alternative to church literature, which had priority, secular literature also developed rapidly. Thus, the literature of chivalry, which included the epic of chivalry, the romance of chivalry, the poetry of French troubadours and the lyrics of German minisingers, received the greatest distribution and even some approval from the church. They sang the war for the Christian faith and glorified the feat of chivalry in the name of this faith. An example of the chivalric epic of France is the Song of Roland. Its plot was the campaigns of Charlemagne in Spain, and the main character was Count Roland.
At the end of the 7th century. Under the patronage of Charlemagne, a book-writing workshop was founded, where a special Gospel was produced.
In the 12th century. Appeared and quickly became widespread chivalric novels written in the prose genre. They told about the various adventures of the knights.
In contrast to the chivalric romance, urban literature is developing. A new genre is being formed - a poetic short story, which contributes to the formation of townspeople as a single whole.
During the development of Gothic, changes also occurred in music. The art of the Celts represented a separate group in the music of the Middle Ages. The court singers of the Celts were bards who performed heroic songs- ballads, satirical, fighting and other songs to the accompaniment of a string instrument - moles.
Since the end of the 11th century. In the south of France, the musical and poetic creativity of troubadours began to spread. Their songs glorified knightly love and heroic deeds during the Crusades. The creativity of the troubadours evoked many imitations, the most fruitful being the German minnesang. The songs of the Minnesingers - "singers of love" - were not only the glorification of beautiful ladies, but also the glorification of influential dukes. Minnesingers served in the courts of rulers, participated in numerous competitions, and traveled throughout Europe. The heyday of their creativity came in the 12th century, but already in the 14th century. they were replaced by Meistersingers, or “singing masters,” united in professional guilds. The development of these vocal workshops marked a new stage in medieval singing art.
In the 9th century. there was polyphony, but by the end of the 11th century. voices are becoming more independent. With the advent of polyphony in Catholic churches, an organ becomes necessary. The development of professional church polyphony was greatly facilitated by numerous singing schools at large European monasteries.
XIII century in the history of music is called the century of old art, while the art of the 14th century. is usually called new, and it was at this time that the musical art of the Renaissance began to revive.
Conclusion.
The most important feature of European medieval culture is the special role of Christian doctrine and the Christian church. Only the church for many centuries remained the only social institution uniting all European countries, tribes and states. It was she who had a huge influence on the formation of people’s religious worldview and spread her main values and ideas.
All classes of medieval society recognized the spiritual kinship of the church, but nevertheless, each of them developed its own special culture, in which it reflected its moods and ideals. The dominant class of secular feudal lords in the Middle Ages was knighthood. It was the knightly culture that included a complex ritual of customs, manners, secular, court and military knightly entertainment, of which knightly tournaments were especially popular. The knightly culture created its own folklore, its own songs, poems, and in its depths a new literary genre arose - the knightly romance. Love lyrics occupied a large place.
With all the variety of artistic means and stylistic features, the art of the Middle Ages also has some common features: religious character, because the church was the only principle uniting the scattered kingdoms; the leading place was given to architecture. Nationality, because the people themselves were the creator and spectator; the emotional beginning is deep psychologism, the task of which was to convey the intensity of religious feeling and the drama of individual plots.
Along with the dominance of Christian morality and the comprehensive power of the church, which manifested itself in all spheres of life in medieval society, including art and culture, nevertheless, this era was a unique and interesting stage in the development of European culture and civilization. Some elements of modern civilization were laid down precisely in the Middle Ages, which in many ways prepared the age of the Renaissance and Enlightenment.
Each period of historical and cultural development has its own worldview, its own ideas about nature, time and space, the order of everything that exists, about the relationship of people to each other, i.e. what can be called pictures of the world. They are formed partly spontaneously, partly purposefully, within the framework of religion, philosophy, science, art, and ideology. Pictures of the world are formed on the basis of a certain way of life of people, become part of it and begin to have a strong impact on it. Medieval man proceeded from the picture of the world developed by Christianity, or more precisely, its Western form, called Catholicism.
The term “Catholicism” comes from the Greek words “kat” (by) and “hole” (whole, whole). In the Christian Creed, compiled in the 4th century, the church is called one (unique), holy, Catholic (in Church Slavonic - cathedral) and apostolic. The Church is Catholic (conciliar), since it has its followers in all countries of the world and contains in its dogmas the fullness of the truth, the same for all Christians. After the division of Christianity in 1054 into Western and Eastern, Roman Catholic and the Greek Catholic Church, and the latter more often began to be called Orthodox as a sign of the constant confession of the right faith. What is the significance of the Catholic Church?
Christianity is a religion of salvation. For him, the essence of the history of the world is the falling away of humanity (in the person of Adam and Eve) from God, which subjugated man to the power of sin, evil, death, and the subsequent return to the Creator of the prodigal son who realized his fall. This return is led by God's chosen descendants of Abraham, with whom God enters into a "covenant" (agreement) and gives them a "law" (rules of behavior). The chain of Old Testament righteous men and prophets turns into a ladder ascending to God. But even guided from above, even a holy person cannot be completely cleansed, and then the incredible happens: God incarnates, he himself becomes a man, or rather a God-man, by virtue of his miraculous birth “from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary”, free from sin. God the Word, the Savior, the Son of God appears as the Son of Man, a preacher from Galilee and voluntarily accepts a shameful death on the cross. He descends into hell, frees the souls of those who did good, resurrects on the third day, appears to the disciples, and soon then ascends to heaven. A few more days later, the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles (Pentecost) and gives them the strength to fulfill the covenant of Jesus - to preach the Gospel (“good news”) to all nations. Christian evangelism combines ethics based on love for one's neighbor with the feat of faith, which leads through the “narrow gates” to the Kingdom of Heaven. Its goal is the deification of the believer, i.e. the transition to eternal life with God is achieved through the assistance (synergy) of human efforts and God's grace.
How can a Christian be sure of his salvation? How to maintain the right faith? This is where the role of the church comes to the fore. The Church is the bearer of religious and moral tradition, passed from Christ to the apostles, and then to their disciples; it is also the sphere of the real presence of Christ, who gives the infallibility of faith. The creation of a doctrine about the church and its organization became the most important tasks for Christianity. They became more complex as the new religion spread among the peoples of the Roman Empire. It was necessary to repel attacks on the church from the outside, fight heresies and schisms within, and adapt to new conditions. Over the 3-4 centuries, extensive Christian literature appeared, controversial issues were resolved at congresses of bishops - councils, where representatives of the East and West were present. For Western churches associated with the areas of Latin culture and language, the works and activities of the North African native Aurelius Augustine (354-430) were of particular importance.
The son of a provincial aristocrat indifferent to religion and a deeply religious Christian, Augustine seemed to have made his way from father to mother. A brilliant orator, teacher of rhetoric with plans for a public career, philosopher, Christian hermit, priest and, finally, bishop of the African city of Hippias, Augustine experiences a passion ancient culture, the philosophy of Plato and comes to Christianity, becoming its defender from pagans, heretics and schismatics. Augustine’s focus is on the problem of evil in man and the fight against evil, the cause of which he initially considered matter, the flesh. Augustine the Christian believes that God created man righteous, but with a will free for good and evil. Adam and Eve abused their freedom, sinned, stained their soul with pride and selfishness, and the fallen soul infected the body, which became its master from the servant of the soul. The destiny of the descendants of Adam is to be in the power of the devil who seduced them, to carry within themselves original sin, with early childhood adding to it the sins of his fellow tribesmen and his own. The human will became capable only of evil that was not created by God. It is not something that really exists, but the action of the free will of primordially pure angels and people who wished to move away from the Creator. So, evil is only the absence of good, removal from it.
God's mercy opened the path of salvation for people through the redeeming power of the incarnation, suffering and death of Christ. By the way, Augustine had his own vision of the dogma of the trinity of God: Lover (Father), Beloved (Son) and Love (Holy Spirit), which, after the ascension of Christ, the Father and Son together send to the church. Salvation does not depend on the will and merits of man, but is conditioned by grace, the action of God. But justification by grace does not apply to everyone. God, in his omniscience, knew that few would take advantage of His gifts, and predestined a minority destined for bliss, while leaving the sinful majority to perish.
So, victory over evil is possible only through the subordination of reason to the authority of faith, the bearer of which is the church. Again and again Augustine repeats that neither men, nor angels, nor even the Gospel can be trusted unless their words are supported by the authority of the church. Only she teaches the teachings of Christ and the apostles intact, only she has the right to forgive sins and dispose of the merits of the saints. The preaching of the church is essentially the same for all people and nations; it is universal and Catholic. The unity of the church, the “City of God,” which leads man to the peace of the Heavenly Kingdom, is opposed by the multiplicity of earthly kingdoms, heresies, and sects ruled by the devil. Standing above all power, the “City of God” wanders the earth until the Last Judgment. And although he attracts love to himself, he also has the right to use coercion, including the power of the state, to force the lost to submit. Augustine recognized the Pope as the head of the universal church, although he opposed the interference of popes in the affairs of African bishops.
The power of authority proclaimed by Augustine was embodied in the supremacy of the Roman pontiff over church and state. In the 8th century on the basis of the forged document “Donation of Constantine”, the pope received secular power over Italy in the 9th century. the false “Isidore Decretals” declared that not only metropolitans and bishops, but even councils and emperors must obey the pope unquestioningly. The Pope is the earthly head of the church and the vicar of Christ on earth; the “prince of the apostles” Peter himself speaks through his lips. The dogma of the infallibility of popes in matters of faith and morals was officially adopted in 1870, but this idea belongs entirely to the Middle Ages. “The Avignon Captivity of the Popes” (1308–1377), the great schism of the Catholic Church (1378–1409), the strengthening of royal power, anti-papal councils (1409–1438), and finally, the Reformation of the 16th–17th centuries. greatly weakened the power of the papacy, but did not force it to abandon its claims.
The same principle of the dominance of authority is visible in the special position of the Catholic clergy and monasticism. Catholicism divides the church into heavenly, triumphant and earthly, militant, and the latter into “learners” and “taught”. Celibacy (celibacy) of the non-monastic clergy was intended not only to make church property non-inheritable, but also to more sharply distinguish clergy from laity. For this purpose, the main sacrament of Christianity, the Eucharist, was also changed. The clergy began to receive communion with bread and wine, and the laity with bread alone. Finally, Augustine's idea of forcing heretics to obey was used in organizing the Inquisition - special tribunals that searched for and condemned heretics.
An important difference Catholicism From Orthodoxy came the addition to the Creed of the thesis about the procession of the Holy Spirit not “from the Father,” but “from the Father and the Son.” Spread throughout the churches of Spain and France, this increase was approved by the pope in 1019. Two other purely Catholic dogmas - about Purgatory and the non-involvement of the Mother of God in original sin (finally approved only in 1854) stemmed from the Augustinian doctrine of sin. It was seen as a kind of man’s debt to God, which man can “pay off” with merit and even in excess. These “super-due merits” are at the disposal of God, the Church and the Pope. In their account, sinners who did not have time to repent during life can be cleansed after death - in Purgatory. The Mother of God, “in view of the future merits of Christ,” was initially freed from original sin. The doctrine of “extraordinary merit” also led to the trade in indulgences - letters of remission of sins. The massive sale of indulgences in the interests of the papacy caused great outrage and became one of the reasons for the Reformation.
Medieval pictures of the world amazingly combine ideas about the unity and duality of the world, created and governed by one God, but split into Heaven and Earth. The man of that era persistently and sometimes painfully searches in these things for symbols, allegories of the otherworldly, the miraculous, but truly real. Therefore, in literature and art, fantasy prevailed over observation, the general over the particular, the eternal over the temporary. The Middle Ages sought to bring the divine, universal order to Earth. Universalism found its most complete expression in the culture of the intellectual elite, the most educated part of medieval society.
Education in the Middle Ages is directly related to ancient models. As in the late Roman schools, it was based on the seven “liberal arts” (artes liberales) - a series of disciplines divided into two levels: the trivium (preparatory) and the quadrivium. The trivium included: grammar - the ability to read, understand what is read and write; dialectics is the art of arguing through arguments and their refutations, and rhetoric, which teaches how to make speeches. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. These sciences were thought of as teachings about numerical relationships that underlie world harmony. Education was conducted in Latin only in the 14th century. schools teaching in national languages appeared.
Until the 11th century. Very few schools were located at the courts of barbarian kings, bishops' departments, churches and monasteries. They trained mainly church ministers. With the growth of cities, secular urban private and municipal schools emerged, where wandering students studied - vagantes, or goliards, who came from the urban and knightly environment, the lower clergy. Often the teacher and a group of students wandered from place to place. Peter Abelard (12th century) paints a vivid picture of such wanderings. He taught in cities, monasteries, and even in the wilderness, where students had to work the land themselves. By the 12th century. cathedral schools in the largest centers of Europe: Bologna, Montpellier, Paris, Oxford, Salerno, etc. - are turning into universities (from the Latin “universitas” - totality, community).
Universities had legal, administrative, and financial autonomy, which was granted to them by special decrees of sovereigns and popes. The relative independence of the university was combined with strict regulation and discipline of internal life. Two corporations - teachers and students, elected officials: rectors, deans, etc.; Community communities played a major role in both corporations.
The university was usually divided into four faculties: theological (theological), law, medicine and the faculty of the seven liberal arts (artistic). The latter was a necessary preparatory step for any of the other three. To enter the higher faculty, you had to take a course in science at the artistic faculty and get here academic degrees first a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree. They were awarded based on the results of debates in which teachers and students participated. At the highest faculties, the master corresponded to a very honorable doctorate: theology, law or medicine. Many masters of liberal arts were outstanding logicians, mathematicians, and astronomers. Almost all teachers were priests or monks. The theological faculty enjoyed special respect.
The Middle Ages in Western Europe is a desire to recreate order after the collapse of the once powerful. Bring back peace from chaos in all spheres of life, both material and moral. Formed new person and a new worldview, and this is happening under the auspices of the Christian church. The Christian religion, with its basic postulate of spiritual benefit, permeates the entire life of a medieval person. Therefore, medieval Europe is formed, develops and exists on a Christian basis and under its close supervision. Everything is subordinated to a single task - to serve God as faithfully as possible and thereby protect your soul from sinfulness.
Main features of the culture of the Middle Ages
In literature, architecture, painting, music, everything is subordinated to one idea - service to God. But christian religion came to replace paganism, so in church rituals new images and subjects coexisted with ancient ones familiar to the common people. The entire culture of the Middle Ages is characterized by canonicity. It was impossible to invent or introduce something of one’s own; any deviation from religious canons was declared heresy. The Church denied a person the right to individuality; he should not have been a person, since he was the creation of God. Therefore, for medieval culture, especially in early period, anonymity is inherent.
Man is God's creature, he cannot be an author, he only fulfills the will of the creator. In accordance with this concept medieval culture characterizes the presence of symbols and allegories. Symbolism manifests itself in the combination of the spiritual and material. This is clearly visible in architectural forms temples and churches. Cross-domed churches and basilicas convey the shape of a cross, and the luxury of their interior decoration reminds us of the promised richness of life in paradise. The same thing happens in painting. Blue color is a symbol of purity, spirituality, divine wisdom. The image of a dove symbolizes God. The vine symbolizes the atoning sacrifice of Christ. The lily flower becomes synonymous with the purity of the Mother of God. The vessel with water symbolizes Baptism, and the raised hand becomes a symbol of the oath. Spiny, poisonous plants and disgusting and disgusting animals serve as an allegory to depict or describe hellish creatures, servants of the dark, evil, devilish forces of Satan.
The era of the Middle Ages was considered by progressive thinkers of modern times as a dark time that gave nothing to the world: the narrow religious worldview imposed by the Catholic Church hindered the development of science and art. In today's lesson we will try to challenge this statement and prove that the Middle Ages, which lasted a thousand years, left a rich cultural heritage for future generations.
In the 11th century, chivalric poetry arose in the south of France, in Provence. Provençal poet-singers were called troubadours (Fig. 1). The imagination of the poets created the image of an ideal knight - brave, generous and fair. The poetry of the troubadours glorified the service of the Beautiful Lady, the Madonna (“my lady”), which combined the worship of the Mother of God and the earthly, living and beautiful woman. In Northern France, Italy, Spain, and Germany, knightly poets were called trouvères and minnesingers (translated as singers of love).
Rice. 1. Troubadour ()
In these same centuries, poetic chivalric novels and stories arose. The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were especially widely reflected in the novels. Arthur's court was seen as a place where the best qualities of knighthood flourished. The novels transported the reader to fantasy world, where at every step one met fairies, giants, wizards, oppressed beauties, waiting for help from brave knights.
In the 12th century, urban literature began to flourish. The townspeople loved short stories in poetry and fables on everyday topics. Their heroes were most often a clever, cunning burgher or a cheerful, resourceful peasant. They invariably left their opponents - arrogant knights and greedy monks - in the cold. Poems by va-gants (translated from Latin as tramps) are associated with urban literature. Vagants were schoolchildren and students who, in the 12th-13th centuries, wandered around the cities and universities of Europe in search of new teachers.
The most outstanding figure of the Middle Ages was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) (Fig. 2). Dante was born in Florence into an old noble family. He studied at a city school, and then spent his entire life studying philosophy, astronomy, ancient literature. At the age of 18, he experienced love for young Beatrice, who later married another man and died early. Dante spoke about his experiences with unprecedented frankness for those times in a small book “ New life"; she glorified his name in literature. Dante wrote a great work in verse, which he called “Comedy”. Descendants called it “The Divine Comedy” as a sign of the highest praise. Dante describes a journey to the afterlife: hell for sinners, heaven for the righteous and purgatory for those to whom God has not yet pronounced his sentence. At the gates of hell, located in the north, there is an inscription that has become popular: “Abandon hope, all who enter here.” In the center of the southern hemisphere there is a huge mountain in the form of a truncated cone, on the ledges of the mountain there is purgatory, and on its flat top there is an earthly paradise. Accompanied by the great Roman poet Virgil, Dante visits hell and purgatory, and Beatrice leads him through heaven. There are 9 circles in hell: the more severe the sins, the lower the circle and the more severe the punishment. In hell, Dante placed bloodthirsty power-hungers, cruel rulers, criminals, and misers. In the center of hell is the devil himself, gnawing at the traitors: Judas, Brutus and Cassius. Dante also placed his enemies in hell, including several popes. In his depiction, sinners are not disembodied shadows, but living people: they conduct conversations and disputes with the poet, political strife rages in hell. Dante talks with the righteous in paradise and finally contemplates the Mother of God and God. The pictures of the afterlife are drawn so vividly and convincingly that it seemed to contemporaries that the poet saw it with his own eyes. And he described, in essence, the diverse earthly world, with its contradictions and passions. The poem was written in Italian: the poet wanted to be understood by the most wide circle readers.
Rice. 2. Domenico Petarlini. Dante Alighieri)
Since the 11th century, great construction began in Western Europe. The rich church expanded the number and size of churches and rebuilt old buildings. Until the 11th-12th centuries, the Romanesque style dominated in Europe. The Romanesque temple is a massive building with almost smooth walls, high towers and laconic decoration. The outlines of a semicircular arch are repeated everywhere - on vaults, window openings, and entrances to the temple (Fig. 3).
Rice. 3. Church of San Martin in Fromista (1066) - one of the best Romanesque monuments in Spain)
From the middle of the 12th century, trading premises, halls for meetings of workshops and guilds, hospitals, and hotels were built in free cities. The main decorations of the city were the town hall and especially the cathedral. The buildings of the 12th-15th centuries were later called Gothic. Now the light and high pointed vault is supported inside by bundles of narrow, tall columns, and outside by massive supporting pillars and connecting arches. The halls are spacious and high, they receive more light and air, they are richly decorated with paintings, carvings, and bas-reliefs. Thanks to wide passages and through galleries, many huge windows and lace stone carvings, Gothic cathedrals seem transparent (Fig. 4).
Rice. 4. Notre Dame Cathedral (
In the Middle Ages, sculpture was inseparable from architecture. Temples were decorated inside and out with hundreds, or even thousands, of reliefs and statues depicting God and the Virgin Mary, apostles and saints, bishops and kings. For example, in the cathedral in Chartres (France) there were up to 9 thousand statues, not counting the reliefs. Church art was supposed to serve as a “Bible for the illiterate” - to depict scenes described in Christian books, strengthen in faith and terrify with the torments of hell. Unlike ancient art, which glorified the beauty of the human body, the artists of the Middle Ages sought to reveal the richness of the soul, thoughts and feelings of man, his intense inner life. In Gothic statues, in their flexible, elongated figures, the appearance of people is especially vividly conveyed, body shapes appear more clearly under the folds of clothing, and there is more movement in poses. The idea of harmony between the external and internal appearance of a person is becoming more and more noticeable; especially beautiful female images- Mary in Reims Cathedral, Uta in Naumburg.
The walls of Romanesque churches were covered with paintings. A great achievement in painting was the book miniature. The whole life of people was reflected in many bright drawings. Everyday scenes were also depicted on frescoes, which is especially typical for German and Scandinavian churches of the 14th-15th centuries.
Considering the cultural heritage of the Middle Ages, let us dwell on scientific achievements. Astrology and alchemy flourished in the Middle Ages. Observations and experiments of astrologers and alchemists contributed to the accumulation of knowledge in astronomy and chemistry. Alchemists, for example, discovered and improved methods for producing metal alloys, paints, medicinal substances, and created many chemical instruments and devices for conducting experiments. Astrologers studied the location of stars and luminaries, their movement and the laws of physics. She accumulated useful knowledge and medicine.
In the XIV-XV centuries, water mills began to be actively used in mining and crafts. The water wheel has long been the basis of mills that were built on rivers and lakes for grinding grain (Fig. 5). But later they invented a more powerful wheel, which was driven by the force of water falling on it. The energy of the mill was also used in cloth making, for washing (“enrichment”) and smelting metal ores, lifting weights, etc. The mill and mechanical watches were the first mechanisms of the Middle Ages.
Rice. 5. Top water wheel ()
The emergence of firearms. Previously, metal was melted in small furnaces, forcing air into them with hand-held bellows. Since the 14th century, they began to build blast furnaces - smelting furnaces up to 3-4 meters in height. The water wheel was connected to large bellows, which forcefully blew air into the furnace. Thanks to this, a very high temperature was reached in the blast furnace: the iron ore melted, liquid iron ore was formed. Various products were cast from cast iron, and iron and steel were obtained by melting it down. Much more metal was now smelted than before. For smelting metal in blast furnaces, they began to use not only charcoal, but also coal.
For a long time, few Europeans dared to embark on long voyages on the open sea. Without the correct maps and marine instruments, the ships sailed “coastally” (along the coast) along the seas washing Europe and along North Africa. Going out to the open sea became safer after sailors had a compass. Astrolabes were invented - devices for determining the location of a ship (Fig. 6).
Rice. 6. Astrolabe ()
With the development of the state and cities, science and navigation, the volume of knowledge increased and, at the same time, the need for educated people, in expanding learning and in books, including textbooks. In the 14th century, cheaper writing material - paper - began to be produced in Europe, but there were still not enough books. To reproduce the text, impressions were made from a wooden or copper board with letters carved on it, but this method was very imperfect and required a lot of labor. In the mid-15th century, the German Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1399-1468) invented printing. After long and persistent work and searches, he began to cast individual characters (letters) from metal; From these, the inventor composed lines and pages of type, from which he made an impression on paper. Using a collapsible font, you could type as many pages of any text as you wanted. Gutenberg also invented the printing press. In 1456, Guttenberg released the first printed book - the Bible (Fig. 7), which was artistically on par with the best handwritten books. The invention of printing is one of the greatest discoveries in human history. It contributed to the development of education, science and literature. Thanks to the printed book, the knowledge accumulated by people and all the necessary information began to spread faster. They were more fully preserved and passed on to subsequent generations of people. Successes in the dissemination of information, an important part of the development of culture and all sectors of society, took their next important step in the late Middle Ages - a step towards the New Age.
Rice. 7. The Bible of Johannes Guttenberg ()
References
- Agibalova E.V., G.M. Donskoy. History of the Middle Ages. - M., 2012
- Atlas of the Middle Ages: History. Traditions. - M., 2000
- Illustrated world history: from ancient times to the 17th century. - M., 1999
- History of the Middle Ages: book. For reading / Ed. V.P. Budanova. - M., 1999
- Kalashnikov V. Mysteries of history: The Middle Ages / V. Kalashnikov. - M., 2002
- Stories on the history of the Middle Ages / Ed. A.A. Svanidze. M., 1996
- Liveinternet.ru ().
- Pavluchenkov.ru ().
- E-reading-lib.com ().
- Countries.ru ().
- Playroom.ru ().
- Meinland.ru ().
Homework
- What genres of literature developed in medieval Europe?
- Why is Dante considered the greatest poet of the Middle Ages?
- What styles dominated in medieval architecture?
- What technical inventions of the Middle Ages do you know?
- Why is the invention of printing considered one of the most important discoveries in human history?
