Value turning point of the XII - XIII centuries. The emergence of a secular urban culture. Classical (High) Middle Ages France and Germany

The High Middle Ages is one of the defining periods in the history of mankind. In those distant and dark times, modern civilization was being formed. Old foundations disappeared and new ones appeared. The population has increased significantly. A cultural revolution has taken place.

Tribes united into nations, which were then destined to create modern European countries. is still the subject of historical research.

Historical events

The High Middle Ages began with large-scale conquests. States ancient world have sunk into oblivion, and in their place many new ones have appeared. The conquest of Britain began in the eleventh century. Prior to that, it was controlled by various pagan tribes. The Normans were the first to land in England. The local Britons offered them fierce resistance. But primitive weapons could not defeat steel and iron. In a few years, England and almost all of Ireland were mastered. Then the conquerors subjugated Scotland.

Major changes have also taken place in the north of Europe. The ancient way of life of the Vikings was destroyed. The population converted to Christianity. The Scandinavian kingdoms were united into one state. The development of the Baltic began. However, by the thirteenth century, a single power broke up into several principalities. Similar processes took place in the territory of modern Germany and France. The birth of dynasties began, which for the next centuries sat on thrones

Slavs

The High Middle Ages turned out to be favorable period for the development of the ancient Russian state. At that time it was one of the largest in the world. Culture and craft were superior to European ones. This is due to the earlier ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs, who in the fifth century ceased to lead a tribal way of life and united into one Russian people. The same processes took place in the Balkans. However, the natural development was prevented by the invasion of underdeveloped nomadic tribes, the Mongols, which had not been seen before. The weakening of the central government prevented the Russian princes from uniting and they all fell under the onslaught of the horde. After that, the development of culture, architecture and crafts was greatly slowed down.

Development of Christian culture

The High Middle Ages was characterized by the complete victory of Christianity in Europe. Even in an earlier period, many influential countries converted to monotheism. However, by the eleventh century the ancient pagan beliefs were still strong. In Britain and Scandinavia, the population was extremely slow to convert to the new faith. The isolation of these regions contributed to this. The lack of a land connection with the mainland made migration extremely problematic.

However, this factor helped to avoid the invasions of nomads, who, due to their underdevelopment, could not build ships in sufficient quantities.

The new faith had a decisive influence on culture. From now on, strict prohibitions and moral principles appeared, in accordance with which it was necessary to live. Most of all, the life of Europeans was influenced by changes in the institution of the family. By the beginning of this historical period in many regions (especially in Scandinavia) stable polygamous relations were maintained. Christianity forbade this. The institution of marriage has led to a change in the role of women in society. Firm patriarchal principles determined relations in the family. The very same family, consisting of a husband, wife and children, destroyed tribal ties. Power structures in the form of a church had a high influence on everyday life population.

Cultural change: the development of a hierarchical system

The culture of the High Middle Ages predetermined the division of the people into classes and castes. The castes of rulers, military, clergy, peasants, slaves were clearly distinguished. The poor and uneducated population has a culture of awareness and rethinking of personal freedom. Management systems are changing in many countries. England and the Holy Roman Empire had their own parliaments. The privileged class had their own traditions and rituals. But similar phenomena were also in the early historical periods. The culture of the High Middle Ages was seriously influenced by scholasticism.

And its guardians were just a new class - the clergy.

Painting

In the visual arts, painting has received the greatest development. From now on, several directions and methods of painting were clearly distinguished. The Romanesque period of the High Middle Ages was characterized by a weak development of painting. This type of art was assigned the role of painting, that is, auxiliary processing of the walls of temples. But by the beginning of the thirteenth century, attitudes towards artists had changed. In France, orders of painters were created. They decorated thrones in temples and created panels, frescoes, icons.

Artists began to systematize their skills. New tricks have emerged. For example, the concept of depth and perspective. Giving objects volume and reality became the most difficult task for medieval masters. They did not manage to fully master the skill of depth. This contributed to the creation of a generally accepted style, which would later be called Gothic. Painting and iconography gradually replaced frescoes. This kind of art was extremely difficult and long. In addition, the creation of one small fresco required significant resources. And many professing humility and a life of poverty, the orders simply could not afford this.

Sculpture

High Middle Ages in Western Europe was marked by dramatic changes in sculpture. If others developed relatively smoothly, then the sculpture received a real breakthrough. Biblical scenes were the main motif. A high concentration of sculptors was in the territory of modern Italy. The famous sculptures that appeared in the Renaissance and today were direct successors

In the Romanesque period, bronze and copper items appeared. For example, the doors to the Hildesheim Cathedral.

Methods

For the first time, new materials for carving were used. Woodcarving has been rethought in Germany. However, due to the specific properties of wood, these works of art have practically not survived to this day. Also, the Germanic peoples were famous for the manufacture of large-scale triumphal arches. They were in a Romanesque style, but with a strong Gothic tinge. In many cities of modern Germany, these works of art still attract tourists.

The concept of relief on sarcophagi and tombs did not appear until the beginning of the twelfth century. Behind short term this processing method has become extremely popular in Western Europe. In all the works, the spirit of that era was especially sharply felt. Mysticism and dreaminess, awareness of frailty and finiteness of being. Of course, this is due to the fact that the period of the High Middle Ages was dominated by scholastic philosophy.

Cultural upheaval and early humanism

The early periods of the Middle Ages are usually called "dark". Religious persecution, insane rulers, wild laws, and so on have left a serious mark on the history of mankind. But by the thirteenth century, the old way of life was completely rethought. Huge population growth allowed the emergence of large cities in each region. Aesthetic forms of entertainment were very popular in the cities. One of these was the theater. By the beginning of the tenth century, small pantomimes were staged at divine services. This then grew into separate view art. The theater began to touch on everyday topics, thus moving away from Gothic and scholasticism.

The first works on the topic of value appeared human life. Philosophers allowed in their reasoning to deviate from the scholastic predestination of being. More attention was paid to the role of human choice. These were the first beginnings of humanism. Urban culture was most exposed to such trends. The development of personality has come to replace humility and humility.

Architecture

The High Middle Ages in Western Europe were marked by a new Gothic style in architecture.

At that time, temples and churches were the center for obtaining knowledge. And any kind is inextricably linked with charitable motives. After the end of the era of Romanism, new stone processing methods, geometric solutions, building tools were invented. The role of the urban sector is growing in economic life. Workshops and communities of freemasons appear. High Middle Ages are best symbols era.

The pomposity and scope of construction surprise modern researchers. The construction of the cathedral could last more than a hundred years. And near the construction sites, unique workers' communes appeared, which actually regulated their own social life.

Various styles

The classic difference between Gothic architecture is the presence of two elongated towers. Bell towers could be located both inside them and between them. The western façade was lavishly decorated. The entrance was supported by columns. After the development of the wireframe method, they were only an element of decoration. The classic Gothic style is considered to be the French model. The cathedrals of the High Middle Ages in Germany were distinguished by strict observance of proportions. There was also noticeable perfectionism in the design of the facade.

In Central Europe, the so-called brick Gothic prevailed. The brick cathedrals had similarities with the architecture of the Romanesque period. They were installed in the squares major cities. Huge round towers were a distinctive feature. The Cathedral of St. Barbara and the Church of St. James are classic examples of Czech architecture. Netherlandish Gothic was distinguished by the construction of temples with one high tower-spire.

The vaults were made of wood, which brought a romantic and even earlier atmosphere.

Western European culture of the High Middle Ages

For the first time, since the time of the Roman Empire, science began to exert its influence on Europe. The development of medicine, geometry, philosophy and other sciences has led to the transformation into separate branches. The control of the church was too great, so the scientists were forced to obey the bulls of the Pope. But at the same time, the ascetic worldview was called into question.

A new feudal culture appeared among the people. Huge farms with a closed cycle appeared. The lord owned the land. Feudal lords ruled as governors. The peasants were completely dependent on them. They did not take any part in economic life and could not influence political decisions. Nevertheless, the development of trade relations allowed "ordinary" people to break out into an elite society.

Court institutions appeared in France, England and some parts of Spain. Some pluralism was also allowed in the circle of royal advisers.

Conclusion

The High Middle Ages in Europe had a unique culture and lifestyle. The development of feudalism affected social relations. Church control began to weaken. If the early High Middle Ages were characterized by a complete lack of development of new trends in art, then by the thirteenth century more than a dozen such trends appeared. Painting and especially architecture had a decisive influence on the figures of the subsequent Renaissance. Population growth led to the penetration of culture into the poorest strata.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

medieval art

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

O. Rodin. Kiss

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

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

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

conclusions

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

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

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

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

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

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

List of sources used

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

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

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

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

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

In place of the Romanesque style, as cities flourished and social relations improved, a new style came - Gothic. Religious and secular buildings, sculpture, colored glass, illustrated manuscripts and other works of fine art began to be executed in this style in Europe during the second half of the Middle Ages. A further cultural impetus was the growth of cities, centers of trade and crafts. A new phenomenon was urban culture, which gave rise to the Romanesque style. The Romanesque style arose as a strengthening of the authority of the Roman Empire, which was necessary for the royal power and the church. Best of all, the Romanesque style was personified by the large cathedrals located on the hills, as if towering above everything earthly. In their architecture, powerful constructions and rational structure, figurative conventionality and sophisticated ornamentation are striking.

The attributes of architectural structures made in the Romanesque style are round arches, basilicas, organically connected with towers. Along with the "animal style", images of a person in biblical scenes are spreading.

The multi-figured sculptural compositions represented the “stone bible”, scenes of the Last Judgment. One of the purposes of Romanesque cathedrals is to intimidate the faithful. On the portal of one of the cathedrals of France there is an inscription: “Let fear strike here all who are entangled in earthly vices, for their fate is revealed in the horror of these figures!”

In the Middle Ages, architecture occupied a leading place in art. This was caused, first of all, by the urgent need for the construction of temples. An architect had to combine an artist and a highly educated engineer, geometer, and mathematician. Architects were highly respected and highly valued. Eminent architects as well as scientists, theologians and philosophers were called "stone doctors".

The Gothic style denies the heavy, fortress-like Romanesque cathedrals. The attributes of the Gothic style were lancet arches and slender towers rising to the sky. Gothic cathedrals are grandiose structures. So, the length of the Reims Cathedral is 138 meters and the height is about forty meters. The vertical composition of the building, the impetuous upward rush of lancet arches and other architectural structures expressed the desire for God and the dream of a higher life.

The famous Gothic cathedrals still amaze the imagination of a person today, among them the Notre Dame Cathedral, the cathedrals in Reims, Chartres, Lmienne, Saint-Denis are especially famous.

N.V. Gogol (1809-1852) wrote: “Gothic architecture is a phenomenon such as has never been produced by the taste and imagination of man. It is united in it: this slender and towering forest of vaults, huge, narrow windows, with countless changes and bindings, attached to this terrifying colossality of the mass of the smallest, variegated decorations, this light web of carving, entangling it with its own winding around it from the foot to the end of the spitz and flying with him into the sky; grandeur and at the same time beauty, luxury and simplicity, heaviness and lightness - these are such virtues that architecture has never, except for this time, contained. Entering into the sacred darkness of this temple, it is very natural to feel the involuntary horror of the presence of the shrine, which the daring mind of a person does not even dare to touch.

Gothic architecture was one with sculpture, painting, and applied arts subordinate to it.

Particular emphasis was placed on numerous statues. The proportions of the statues were greatly elongated, the expression of the faces was inspired, the poses were noble.

Gothic cathedrals were intended not only for worship, but also for public meetings, holidays, and theatrical performances. Gothic style extends to all spheres of human life. So in clothes, shoes with curved toes and cone-shaped hats become fashionable.

Geometry and arithmetic were understood abstractly, through the prism of the knowledge of God, who created the world and arranged everything by "measure, number and weight." Mathematical and physical knowledge required to create grandiose structures should have been high level. High practical skills, significant experience and intuition were also needed.

The understanding of the significance of technology is evidenced by the fact that on the reliefs of the facades of Gothic cathedrals an allegorical figure is depicted with attributes symbolizing geometry - a compass, a ruler and a square. The architects were convinced that art without science is "nothing". The more exact knowledge was required to create an architectural structure, the more it was appreciated. In terms of art, the architects adhered, first of all, to harmony and correct proportions.

Gothic art originated in France around 1140, spread throughout Europe over the next century, and continued to exist in Western Europe for most of the 15th century, and in some regions of Europe well into the 16th century.

Originally, the word gothic was used by Italian Renaissance authors as a derogatory label for all forms of architecture and art of the Middle Ages, which were considered comparable only to the works of the Goth barbarians. Later use of the term "Gothic" was limited to the period of the late, high or classical Middle Ages, immediately following the Romanesque.

Currently, the Gothic period is considered one of the outstanding periods in the history of European artistic culture.

The main representative and spokesman of the Gothic period was architecture. Although a huge number of Gothic monuments were secular, the Gothic style served primarily the church, the most powerful builder in the Middle Ages, which ensured the development of this new architecture for that time and achieved its fullest realization.

The aesthetic quality of Gothic architecture depends on its structural development: ribbed vaults became a characteristic feature of the Gothic style.

Medieval churches had powerful stone vaults, which were very heavy. They sought to open, to push out the walls. This could lead to the collapse of buildings.

Therefore, the walls must be thick and heavy enough to support such vaults. At the beginning of the 12th century, masons developed ribbed vaults, which included slender stone arches arranged diagonally, transversely and longitudinally. The new vault, which was thinner, lighter and more versatile (because it could have many sides), solved many architectural problems. Although early otic churches allowed for a wide variety of forms, the construction of a series of large cathedrals in Northern France, beginning in the second half of the 12th century, took full advantage of the new Gothic vault. Cathedral architects have found that now the external bursting forces from the vaults are concentrated in narrow areas at the junctions of the ribs (ribs), and therefore they can be easily neutralized with the help of buttresses and external arches-arch-butanes. Consequently, the thick walls of Romanesque architecture could be replaced by thinner ones, which included extensive window openings, and the interiors received hitherto unparalleled lighting. In the construction business, therefore, there was a real revolution.

With the advent of the Gothic vault, both the designs, the form, and the layout and interiors of the cathedrals changed. Gothic cathedrals acquired general character lightness, aspiration to the sky, have become much more dynamic and expressive. The first of the great cathedrals was Notre Dame Cathedral (begun in 1163).

In 1194, the foundation stone for the cathedral at Chartres is considered the beginning of the High Gothic period. The culmination of this era was the cathedral at Reims (begun in 1210). Rather cold and all-conquering in its finely balanced proportions, Reims Cathedral represents a moment of classical calm and serenity in the evolution of Gothic cathedrals. Openwork partitions, a characteristic feature of late Gothic architecture, were the invention of the first architect of Reims Cathedral. Fundamentally new interior solutions were found by the author of the cathedral in Bourges (begun in 1195). The influence of French Gothic quickly spread throughout Europe: Spain, Germany, England. In Italy it was not so strong.

Sculpture. Following Romanesque traditions, in numerous niches on the facades of French Gothic cathedrals, a huge number of figures carved from stone, personifying the dogmas and beliefs of the Catholic Church, were placed as decorations.

Gothic sculpture in the 12th and early 13th centuries was predominantly architectural in character. The largest and most important figures were placed in openings on both sides of the entrance. Because they were attached to columns, they were known as pillar statues. Along with the column statues, victoriously standing monumental statues were widespread, an art form unknown in Western Europe since Roman times. The earliest surviving statues are columns in the western portal of Chartres Cathedral. They were still in the old Dogothic cathedral and date from about 1155. The slender, cylindrical figures follow the shape of the columns to which they were attached. They are executed in a cold, austere, linear Romanesque style, which nevertheless gives the figures an impressive character of purposeful spirituality.

From 1180, the Romanesque stylization begins to move into a new one, when the statues acquire a sense of grace, sinuosity and freedom of movement. This so-called classical style culminates in the first decades of the thirteenth century in a large series of sculptures on the portals of the north and south transepts of Chartres Cathedral.

The emergence of naturalism. Starting around 1210 on the Coronation Portal of Notre Dame and after 1225 on the west portal of Amiens Cathedral, the rippling, classical features of the surfaces begin to give way to more austere volumes. At the statues of the Reims Cathedral and in the interior of the Saint-Chapelle Cathedral, exaggerated smiles, emphasized almond-shaped eyes, curls arranged in bunches on small heads and mannered poses produce a paradoxical impression of a synthesis of naturalistic forms, delicate affectation and subtle spirituality.

Geometry and other exact sciences are making their way into other arts as well.

So, Vietelo in the XIII century introduces the concept of perspective (developed earlier by the Arab scientist Alhazen) in line with the theory visual perception, isometric and physical optics. In the 13th century, majestic Gothic cathedrals were erected. Size, proportionality, brilliance, luminosity, and precious ornaments were valued in architectural structures. Great importance in the aesthetic design of temples was given to interior decorations: inlays, paintings, stained-glass windows.

The architects themselves looked at their own work through the prism of philosophical and religious ideas.

They considered the talent of the artist to be a gift from God. In the early Middle Ages, inspiration was considered the direct transmission of the divine creative spirit to man. Already in the XII century, human inspiration was considered an analogue of the divine. It was believed that the artist is characterized by all seven blessings given by the holy spirit to the human soul: wisdom, understanding, susceptibility to advice, spiritual strength, knowledge, piety, fear of God. The artist, expressing the holy spirit in his work, approached God and cognized God. The artist felt that he took his place in the divine hierarchy and at the same time realized the significance and value of his work for people.

The purpose of art was thought to be that it elevates the human soul, enriches it with divine images, deep experiences, and facilitates understanding of the divine world order. Art is designed to satisfy those human needs that nature cannot satisfy. Medieval art was essentially esoteric. Medieval man saw deep meaning and higher significance behind the external form.

A work of art was the result of the intellect and soul of the artist, it reflected his knowledge and worldview. Symbolic and esoteric integrity was achieved in the Gothic cathedral. Every detail in the cathedral had a special meaning. The side walls symbolized the Old and New Testament. Pillars and columns personified the apostles and prophets carrying the vault, portals - the threshold of paradise. The dazzlingly shining interior of the Gothic cathedral personified heavenly paradise.

Stained-glass windows receive a special symbolic load: the light penetrating through them personified unearthly existence. The effects of light and the play of precious stones are often interpreted mystically, as the light of Christian teachings, as a symbol of divine power, or as a magical power. Contemplation of light and being in the light atmosphere of stained glass windows leads to a mystical understanding of God.

A specific phenomenon of medieval culture was the work of vagants (from the Latin "vagari" - to wander). Wandering students moved from country to country, from city to city. They composed freedom-loving, bold poems that castigated the vices of society. The style of the poetic form was formed as a reworking of the Latin style and the style of ancient poets. Early Christianity inherited from antiquity admiration for the products of creativity and contempt for the people who created them.

But gradually, under the influence of Christian ideas about the beneficial, uplifting significance of labor, this attitude changed. In the monasteries of that time, it was prescribed to combine activities leading to communion with God, to penetration into his essence, such as divine reading, prayers, manual labor.

It was in the monasteries that many crafts and arts developed. Art was considered a charitable and noble occupation, not only ordinary monks, but also the highest church elite were engaged in it.

Medieval arts: painting, architecture, jewelry - were laid in the walls of monasteries, under the shadow of the Christian church.

In the 12th century, interest in art increased significantly. This is due to the general technical, economic and scientific progress of society. The practical activity of a person, his intellect, the ability to invent something new, are valued much higher than before.

The accumulated knowledge begins to be systematized into a hierarchy, at the top of which God continues to remain. Art, which combines high practical skills and the reflection of images of sacred tradition, receives a special status in medieval culture.

The purpose of fine art is that it allows illiterate people to join the sacred history, to perpetuate sacred events and to decorate the interiors of cathedrals with stained-glass windows, murals, and inlays.

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high middle ages wikipedia, high middle ages photo
- a period of European history that lasted approximately from the 11th to the 14th century. The era of the High Middle Ages replaced the early Middle Ages and preceded the late Middle Ages. The main characterizing trend of this period was the rapid increase in the population of Europe, which led to drastic changes in the social, political and other spheres of life.

  • 1 Historical events
    • 1.1 Britain
    • 1.2 Scandinavia
    • 1.3 France and Germany
    • 1.4 Southern Europe
    • 1.5 Eastern Europe
  • 2 Religion
    • 2.1 Church
    • 2.2 Crusades
    • 2.3 Scholasticism
    • 2.4 Rise of monasticism
    • 2.5 Mendicant orders
    • 2.6 Heretical movements
      • 2.6.1 Cathars
  • 3 Trade and commerce
  • 4 Technology development
  • 5 Culture
    • 5.1 Art
    • 5.2 Architecture
    • 5.3 Literature
    • 5.4 Music
  • 6 Notes

Historical events

Captured on the famous Bayeux tapestry, the Battle of Hastings is a fateful battle for the history of England, in which the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons.

Britannia

Main articles: Medieval England, Medieval Scotland, Medieval Ireland

In 1066, the conquest of England took place by the army of the Norman Duke William the Conqueror who arrived from the continent. In 1169, the Normans invaded Ireland and soon subjugated part of its territories. Around the same time, Scotland, which later regained its independence, and Wales were conquered. In the 12th century, the institution of the treasury was founded; in 1215, King John Landless signed the Magna Carta, a document that limited royal power and later became one of the main constitutional acts of England, and in 1265 the first parliament was convened.

Scandinavia

Between the middle of the 10th and the middle of the 11th centuries, the era of Viking raids ended. The Scandinavian kingdoms were now united and their populations converted to the Christian faith. At the beginning of the 11th century, Denmark, Norway and England were ruled by King Canute the Great. Soon after his death in 1035, the former dynasties were restored in Norway and England, and after the defeat of the Danes at Bornhöved in 1227, their influence in the region was greatly reduced. By this time, Norway had strengthened its position in the Atlantic, subjugating the territory from Greenland to the Isle of Man, and Sweden, under the rule of Birger Jarl, had firmly established itself in the Baltic.

France and Germany

Main articles: Medieval France, Medieval Germany

By the beginning of the High Middle Ages, the Carolingian Empire had split into two individual states, on the territories of which modern Germany and France were later formed. Germany at that time occupied a dominant position in the Holy Roman Empire.

Southern Europe

Main article: Medieval Spain

In 711, most of the Iberian Peninsula (with the exception of the northern regions) was occupied by the Moors. In the 11th and then in the 13th century, the united Christian states under the leadership of Castile completely ousted the Muslims from the central regions of the peninsula and partly from the south.

Main article: Medieval Italy

In Italy at that time, trading cities prospered, enriched by trade with the East. Four cities - Genoa, Venice, Pisa and Amalfi - formed the so-called Maritime Republics.

Eastern Europe

Main article: Old Russian state

The era of the High Middle Ages was marked by the flourishing of the Old Russian state and the appearance on the historical stage of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The invasion of the Mongols in the XIII century caused significant damage to many countries of Eastern Europe and interfered with the natural course of their development.

Main article: Byzantine Empire

During the first half of the era (1050 - 1185), the Byzantine Empire dominated the Balkans south of the Danube, reaching its greatest prosperity during the reign of the Komnenos dynasty. After 1180, a crisis began in the empire: in 1184 Bulgaria fell away, in 1190 - Serbia. Back in the 11th century, the church split into Western and Eastern, and in 1204 the crusader army captured Constantinople, and Byzantium broke up into a number of smaller states.

Religion

Church

The schism of 1054 led to the formation of two main branches of the Christian Church - the Roman Catholic Church in Western Europe and the Orthodox Church in Eastern Europe. The split occurred as a result of a conflict between the Roman legate Cardinal Humbert and Patriarch Michael Kirularius of Constantinople, during which the churchmen anathematized each other.

Crusades
1st crusade
Peasant crusade
german crusade
norse crusade
Rearguard crusade
2nd crusade
3rd crusade
4th crusade
Albigensian Crusade
Children's Crusade
5th Crusade
6th Crusade
7th Crusade
Shepherds' Crusades
8th crusade
northern crusades
Crusades against the Hussites
Crusade to Varna

Crusades

Main article: Crusades

One of the defining features of the High Middle Ages was the crusades organized by Christians with the aim of recapturing Palestine from the Seljuks. The crusades had a powerful influence on all layers of medieval society - from the kings and emperors who led these campaigns to ordinary peasants, whose owners spent many years fighting in the East. The heyday of the idea of ​​the Crusades came in the 12th century, when, after the First Crusade, a Christian state was formed in the conquered territories - the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In the 13th century and later, Christians undertook several crusades against their own Christian brothers, as well as against pagans who professed other, non-Muslim religions.

Scholasticism

Main article: Scholasticism

Scholasticism (Greek σχολαστικός - scientist, Scholia - "school") is a systematic European medieval philosophy, concentrated around universities and representing a synthesis of Christian (Catholic) theology and the logic of Aristotle.

Rise of monasticism

The period from the end of the 11th century to the middle of the 12th century was the heyday of Christian monasticism.

Mendicant orders

In the 13th century, the mendicant orders flourished, the most famous of which were:

  • Franciscans (founded 1208)
  • Carmelites (1150)
  • Dominicans (1215)
  • Augustinians (1256)

heretical movements

Cathars

Main article: Cathars

Trade and commerce

In the 12th century, the Hanseatic League was founded in Northern Europe, headed by the city of Lübeck. the union included many northern cities of the Holy Roman Empire - Amsterdam, Cologne, Bremen, Hannover and Berlin - and other regions - such as Bruges and Gdansk. The Union carried out intermediary trade between Western, Northern and Eastern Europe, was in trade relations with many other cities, including Bergen and Novgorod.

At the end of the 13th century, the Venetian traveler Marco Polo was one of the first in Europe to travel along the Great Silk Road to China, and upon his return carefully described what he saw during the trip, opening the world of Asia and the East to Westerners. Even before him, numerous missionaries visited the East - Giovanni Plano Carpini, Guillaume de Rubruk, André de Longjumeau, and later - Odorico Pordenone, Giovanni de Marignolli, Giovanni Montecorvino - and travelers such as Niccolò Conti.

Technology Development

Main article: Development of technology in the Middle Ages

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Europe saw a sharp rise in technology development and an increase in the number of innovations in the means of production, which contributed to the economic growth of the region. In less than a century, more inventions have been made than in the previous thousand years.

  • In 1185 in Yorkshire (England) the first windmill(earliest documented case).
  • In 1270, paper production appeared in Italy.
  • In the 13th century, the spinning wheel came to Europe (probably from India).
  • At the end of the 12th century, with the advent of the compass, navigation was greatly simplified.
  • Glasses were invented in Italy in the 1280s.
  • The astrolabe returned to Europe from Muslim Spain.
  • In 1202, through the book Liber Abaci by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci, Europeans learned Arabic numerals.

culture

Art

Main article: Art of the Middle Ages

Architecture

Main article: Gothic architecture

Literature

Main article: medieval literature

Music

Main article: Music of the Middle Ages

Notes

  1. Borngeved // Military Encyclopedia: / ed. V. F. Novitsky. - St. Petersburg. ; : Type. t-va I. V. Sytin, 1911-1915.

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