Early Middle Ages culture. Medieval culture

During the early Middle Ages, the ancient, secular culture was replaced by a medieval culture, which was openly dominated by religious views. The formation of culture is determined by the legacy of the traditions of old Christianity and the legacy of the culture of the barbarian peoples who destroyed Rome.

Features of the culture of the early Middle Ages

A distinctive feature of Western European culture in the Middle Ages can be called the monopoly of the church, which subordinated all spheres of art and education to its principles and motives.

Sciences such as law, science and philosophy had to conform to the teachings of the church. The first early medieval encyclopedia “Etymology”, written in the 6th century by Isidore of Seville, contained knowledge of grammar, geography, history, cosmology, and all its contents were interpreted in accordance with Christian dogma.

After all, the ideological goal of the church at that time was to destroy the heritage of ancient culture, and despite the fact that it had to put up with some of its elements, the church did everything possible to destroy all its influence. ().

Features of early medieval culture

The key moment of medieval culture of this period is called symbolism; most works of art are imbued with symbols and allegories, which later became established.

The culture is also characterized by a direct sense of materiality, rudeness and excessive brightness. Gradually, art began to move away from barbarian traditions and worldviews, and the asceticism inherent in Christianity completely crushed the barbarian heritage.

If we talk about the culture of the masses, then it was a naive and slightly wild realism, to which the asceticism of religious beliefs was alien.

Despite the fact that the dominant feudal-church culture tried to crush folk culture, living and real folklore continued to develop in a wide variety of forms. These were legends, folk songs: love, lyrical, patriotic; fairy tales and legends.

It was these motives that laid the foundation for the later culture of the Middle Ages, many literary works were based on tales and legends about heroes and warriors who were the main characters for the people. For example, folk art served as the basis for the Anglo-Saxon poem about the incredible hero Beowulf, which was written in the 10th century.

The Church was unable to completely subjugate the trends of popular culture, so it tried to exert a significant influence on it, even canonizing local “heroes” and celebrating church holidays to public festivities.

Carolingian and Ottonian Revival

The period of the rise of the feudal-ecclesiastical culture of the Middle Ages, at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century, is called the “Carolingian Renaissance”. Charlemagne sought to strengthen his position and the position of the country, and for this he needed a cadre of officials and judges who had educational training.

The events carried out by Charlemagne contributed to the rapid development of culture. At his court, an Academy arose, reminiscent of a literary circle, annals were written in monasteries, treatises on agricultural technology and agriculture were created.

Gradually the circle of educated people expanded, and the collection of manuscripts increased. The Carolingian Renaissance promoted the benefits of education and the secular sciences. However, the development of culture still remained rather narrow, since it was limited to the needs of the ruling class.

After the collapse of the Carolingian Empire, the revival of culture came to an abrupt end; most European countries expected a cultural decline by the 10th century. Only at the court of the German emperors did the development of education and art continue and develop literary activity, attention was paid to architecture and the opening of new schools.

This phenomenon is called the “Ottonian Renaissance” because it took place at the Ottonian court. And despite their narrowness and lack of diversity, the “Carolingian” and “Ottonian” revivals managed to contribute further development culture of the Middle Ages.

But it is worth noting that its rise and development was rather difficult due to the lack of a worthy cultural heritage.

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Culture is the various forms and methods of human self-expression. What features did the culture of the Middle Ages have, briefly outlined? The Middle Ages spanned a period of more than a thousand years. Over this huge period of time, great changes have occurred in medieval Europe. The feudal system appeared. It was replaced by the bourgeois one. The Dark Ages gave way to the Renaissance. And in all the changes taking place in the medieval world, culture played a special role.

The role of the church in medieval culture

The Christian religion played an important role in the culture of the Middle Ages. The influence of the church in those days was enormous. This largely determined the formation of culture. Among the completely illiterate population of Europe, ministers of the Christian religion represented a separate class of educated people. The church in the early Middle Ages played the role of a single center of culture. In the monastery workshops, the monks copied the works of ancient authors, and the first schools were opened there.

Medieval culture. Briefly about literature

In literature, the main directions were heroic epics, lives of saints, and chivalric romance. Later, the genre of ballads, courtly romance, and love lyrics appeared.
If we talk about the early Middle Ages, the level of cultural development was still extremely low. But starting from the 11th century, the situation began to change radically. After the first Crusades, their participants returned from eastern countries with new knowledge and habits. Then, thanks to the voyage of Marco Polo, Europeans gain another valuable experience of how other countries live. The worldview of medieval man undergoes serious changes.

Science of the Middle Ages

It was widely developed with the emergence of the first universities in the 11th century. Alchemy was a very interesting science of the Middle Ages. The transformation of metals into gold and the search for the philosopher's stone are its main tasks.

Architecture

It is represented in the Middle Ages by two directions - Romanesque and Gothic. The Romanesque style is massive and geometric, with thick walls and narrow windows. It is more suitable for defense structures. Gothic style is lightness, significant height, wide windows and an abundance of sculptures. If mostly castles were built in the Romanesque style, beautiful temples were built in the Gothic style.
During the Renaissance (Renaissance), the culture of the Middle Ages makes a powerful leap forward.

Culturologists call the Middle Ages a long period in the history of Western Europe between Antiquity and Modern Times. This period spans more than a millennium from the 5th to the 15th centuries.

Folk culture this era is a new and almost unexplored topic in science. The ideologists of feudal society managed not only to push the people away from the means of recording their thoughts and moods, but also to deprive researchers of subsequent times of the opportunity to restore the main features of their spiritual life. “The great dumb”, “the great absentee”, “people without archives and without faces” - this is what they call modern historians people in an era when direct access to the means of written recording of cultural values ​​was closed to them. The folk culture of the Middle Ages was unlucky in science. Usually, when they talk about it, they mention at most the remains ancient world and epic, remnants of paganism.

Early Middle Ages - from the end of the 4th century. The “great migration of peoples” began. Wherever the rule of Rome took deeper roots, “Romanization” captured all areas of culture: the dominant language was Latin, the dominant law was Roman law, the dominant religion was Christianity. The barbarian peoples who created their states in the ruins of the Roman Empire found themselves either in a Roman or Romanized environment. However, it should be noted the crisis of the culture of the ancient world during the period of the barbarian invasion.

High (classical) Middle Ages- at the first stage of late feudalism (XI-XII centuries), crafts, trade, and city life were poorly developed. Feudal landowners reigned supreme. During the classical period, or high Middle Ages, Western Europe began to overcome difficulties and be reborn. The so-called knightly literature emerges and develops. One of the most famous works - greatest monument French folk heroic epic “The Song of Roland”. During this period, the so-called “ urban literature”, which was characterized by a realistic depiction of urban everyday life of various segments of the urban population, as well as the appearance of satirical works. Representatives of urban literature in Italy were Cecco Angiolieri and Guido Orlandi (late 13th century).

Late Middle Ages continued the processes of formation of European culture that began during the classical period. During these periods, uncertainty and fear ruled the masses. Economic growth is followed by long periods of recession and stagnation.

In the Middle Ages, a complex of ideas about the world, beliefs, mental attitudes and systems of behavior, which could conventionally be called “folk culture” or “folk religiosity,” was in one way or another the property of all members of society. The medieval church, wary and suspicious of the customs, faith and religious practices of the common people, was influenced by them. The entire cultural life of European society of this period was largely determined by Christianity.

The history of the Middle Ages in Europe covers the period from the 5th to the mid-17th centuries. Within the period, the following stages can be distinguished: a) early Middle Ages: V - XI centuries; b) developed Middle Ages: XI - XV centuries; c) late Middle Ages: XVI - mid-XVII centuries. The term “Middle Ages” (lat. medium aevum - hence the name of the science that studies the Middle Ages, medieval studies) arose in Italy during the Renaissance among humanists who believed that this time was a period of cultural decline, as opposed to the high rise of culture in the ancient world and in the modern time.

The Middle Ages were a time of feudalism, when humanity made significant progress in the development of material and spiritual culture, and the area of ​​civilization expanded.

Feudal society is characterized by: 1) the dominance of large land ownership; 2) a combination of large land ownership with small individual farming of direct producers - peasants who were only land holders, and not owners; 3) non-economic coercion in various forms: from serfdom to class inferiority.

Feudal property (Latin - feodum) - hereditary land property associated with compulsory military service. In medieval society, a hierarchy emerged with a large role for personal vassal-feudal connections.

The state went through different stages: the early feudal period was characterized by large but loose empires; for the developed Middle Ages - small entities, class monarchies; For late Middle Ages- absolute monarchies.

Feudal law protected the monopoly of land ownership of the feudal lords, their rights to the personality of the peasants, to judicial and political power over them.

Religious ideology and the church played a huge role in society.

Thus, the features of feudal production gave rise to specific features of the social structure, political, legal and ideological systems.

The main features of medieval culture are:

• 1) the dominance of religion, a God-centric worldview;
• 2) rejection of the ancient cultural tradition;
• 3) denial of hedonism;
• 4) asceticism; medieval art artistic culture
• 5) increased attention to inner world man, his spirituality;
• 6) conservatism, commitment to antiquity, tendency to stereotypes in material and spiritual life;
• 7) elements of dual faith (Christianity and paganism) in the popular consciousness;
• 8) fetishization of works of art;
• 9) internal inconsistency of culture: the conflict between paganism and Christianity, the opposition between scientific and folk culture, the relationship between secular and spiritual, church authorities, the duality of value orientations (spirituality and physicality, good and evil, fear of sin and sin);
• 10) hierarchical culture, in which one can distinguish the culture of the clergy, knightly culture, urban culture, folk, mainly rural culture;
• 11) corporatism: the dissolution of a person’s personal beginning in a social group, for example, an estate.

Medieval European culture developed on the ruins of the Roman Empire. In the early Middle Ages, the decline of culture, which had already taken place in late Rome, deepened. The barbarians destroyed cities that were the concentration of cultural life, roads, irrigation structures, monuments of ancient art, libraries, agrarianization of society took place with the dominance of natural economy, commodity-money relations were undeveloped.

The Church established a monopoly on education and intellectual activity for many centuries. All areas of knowledge were subordinated to church-feudal ideology. Possessing a strong organization and established doctrine during the time of political decentralization, the church also had powerful means of propaganda.

The essence of the church worldview was the recognition of earthly life as temporary, “sinful”; material life, human nature were opposed to “eternal” existence. As an ideal of behavior that ensures afterlife bliss, the church preached humility, asceticism, strict observance of church rituals, submission to masters, and faith in miracles. Reason, science, and philosophy were despised, which were opposed to faith, although individual elements of philosophical and secular knowledge were borrowed from the ancient heritage. The education system: the so-called “seven liberal arts of antiquity” was divided into the lower - “trivium” (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics) and the highest - “quadrivium” (geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music parts). The works of ancient authors were used: Aristotle, Cicero, Pythagoras, Euclid, but to a limited extent. The authority of the Holy Scriptures was placed above all sciences. In general, the knowledge system of the Middle Ages was characterized by the following features:

• 1) universalism;
• 2) encyclopedism;
• 3) allegorism;
• 4) exegesis (Greek interpretation) - the ability to interpret and give a religious explanation of the Bible.

The universe (space) was viewed as a creation of God, doomed to destruction. A geocentric system prevailed with different spheres, hell and the seat of God. Each material object was considered as a symbol of the hidden and ideal world, and the task of science is to reveal these symbols. Hence the refusal to study the true connections of things with the help of experience. Symbolism left its mark on the entire medieval culture. Words were believed to explain the nature of things. The direct realistic perception of the world in art and literature was often clothed in the form of symbols and allegories.

Feudal-church culture was opposed by folk culture. It was rooted in pre-feudal antiquity and associated with barbarian cultural heritage, pagan myths, beliefs, legends, holidays. These traditions, preserved among the peasantry throughout the Middle Ages, were permeated with pagan religious ideas, alien to the dark asceticism of Christianity, its distrust of living nature: it was seen not only as a formidable force, but also as a source of life’s blessings and earthly joys. The people's worldview was characterized by naive realism. Forms folk art varied: fairy tales, legends, songs. Folk tales formed the basis of the epic (the Irish epic about the hero Cuchulainn, the Icelandic epic - the "Elder Edda", the Anglo-Saxon epic - the poem "Beowulf"). The exponents and bearers of the musical and poetic creativity of the people were mimes and histrions, and from the 11th century. jugglers - in France, houglars - in Spain, spilmans - in Germany, wandering throughout Europe.

The art of the early Middle Ages lost many of the achievements of antiquity: sculpture and the image of man in general disappeared almost completely; Stone processing skills were forgotten; in architecture, wooden architecture predominated. The art of this period is characterized by: barbarization of taste and attitude; cult of physical strength; display of wealth; at the same time, he is characterized by a living, direct sense of material, especially manifested in jewelry and bookmaking, where complex ornamentation and “animal” style dominated. Under primitivism, barbarian art was dynamic, its main means of representation was color. Bright objects created a sense of materiality, corresponding to a barbaric sensual vision and perception of the world, far from Christian church asceticism.

In the early Middle Ages VII - IX centuries. there was a certain rise in feudal-ecclesiastical culture at the court of Charlemagne (768 - 814) - the so-called “Carolingian Renaissance”, caused by the need for literate people to manage the empire. Schools were opened at monasteries and for the laity, educated people from other countries were invited, ancient manuscripts were collected, stone construction began, but this rise in culture was fragile and short-lived.

The advanced Middle Ages were marked by significant urban growth and the emergence of universities.

The emergence of cities as centers of crafts and trade meant new stage in the development of medieval culture. The prerequisites for the growth of cities were the intensive development of commodity production and money circulation on the basis of private property. There was a need for literate people; production gave rise to interest in experimental knowledge and its accumulation; The townspeople are characterized by an active perception of life, sober calculation, and efficiency, which contributed to the development of a rationalistic type of thinking; mental demands and interests grew and, accordingly, the craving for secular education. The monopoly of the church on education was broken, although the church dominated ideology. City schools successfully competed with monastery schools.

Cities grew due to the influx of peasants who fled from their masters or were released on quitrent. In terms of population, medieval cities were small; in the XIV-XV centuries. those of them with a population of 20 thousand people were considered large. The population of the cities actively fought for their independence from the feudal lords: the cities were either bought off or gained independence through armed struggle. Many cities became communes, i.e. they had the right to conduct independent foreign policy, have their own self-government, mint coins, all townspeople were free from serfdom. In essence, they were city-states reminiscent of an ancient polis. The urban population, or the “third estate,” became the spiritual leader and the predominant bearer of culture.

With the development of urban culture, secular education appears and universities emerge (from the Latin universitas - association, community). In 1088, on the basis of the Bologna Law School, the University of Bologna was opened, in 1167 the University of Oxford began to operate in England, in 1209 - the University of Cambridge, in France in 1160 the University of Paris was opened. In total, by the end of the fifteenth century. in Europe there were 65 universities (in addition to Italy, France, England, universities appeared in Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland). Teaching at universities was conducted in Latin, which became the European language of culture. A common language and religion created a certain cultural unity in Europe, despite feudal fragmentation and political conflicts. The main faculties (from the Latin facultas - opportunity) were the junior faculties, where they studied the “seven liberal arts of antiquity,” and the senior faculties, where they studied theology, law, and medicine.

In its refined form, spiritual culture was expressed in philosophy. In the course of philosophical debates, the main directions of medieval scholasticism (from the Latin schola - school) emerged. Two main directions arose: “nominalism” (from the Latin nomina - name), which believed that only individual things objectively exist, accessible to human sensations, and general concepts - “universals” - do not really exist, nominalism was the embryo of materialism; "realism", which believed that only general concepts - "universals" - really exist; individual things were considered only as a generation and imperfect reflection of these concepts. The main question of scholasticism was the question of the relationship of knowledge to faith. The problem of the relationship between faith and reason is embodied in literature, fine art, and music. Religious worldview as the core of spiritual culture, and Christian God, as the basis of the moral world of medieval man, determined the subordinate role of philosophy in relation to religion.

Thomas Aquinas (1225/26 - 1274), the greatest scholastic philosopher, argued that philosophy and science are the handmaidens of theology, since faith surpasses reason in human existence. He argued this by the fact that, firstly, the human mind continually makes mistakes, while faith is based on the absolute truthfulness of God, and, secondly, faith is given to every person, and the possession of scientific and philosophical knowledge, which requires intense mental activity, is available not everyone.

An outstanding scholastic was Pierre Abelard (1079 - 1142) - French philosopher, theologian and poet, a bright exponent of freethinking, who opposed extreme forms of both nominalism and realism. His freethinking was based on the priority of reason over faith: “understanding in order to believe.” He was declared a heretic and banned from teaching and writing.

Along with scholasticism, in the Middle Ages there were other directions of philosophy and theology, in particular mysticism. Mystics rejected the need to study Aristotle and use logical proofs of faith. They believed that religious doctrines were learned not through reason and science, but through intuition, insight or “contemplation,” prayer and vigils. Denying the role of reason in knowledge of the world and God, the mystics were more reactionary than the scholastics. But democratic sentiments were strong among them: mystical sects were critical of the feudal system and preached the need to establish the “kingdom of God on earth” without private property, inequality, and exploitation. Among the mystics one can single out Bernard of Clairvaux, Johann Tauler, and Thomas à Kempis.

In medieval Europe, although slowly, science and technology developed. Thus, Oxford professor Roger Bacon (1214 - 1294), based on the fact that experience is the basis of knowledge, created the “Great Work” - an encyclopedia of that time. In medieval science, alchemy developed, which expressed the connection between crafts, religion, mysticism, magic, and the occult. Alchemy preceded the emergence of experimental natural science.

The Arab-Islamic civilization, in particular, the works of Al-Biruni (980 - 1048), Ibn Sina (980 - 1037), had a significant influence on European philosophy and science.

In the Middle Ages, inventions were made that influenced the entire subsequent life of society: the invention of gunpowder, paper, printing, glasses, and a compass. Of particular importance was printing, which was started in Europe by Johannes Guttenberg (1400 - 1468), which contributed to the development of national literatures, the unification of spelling and, accordingly, education, science, and culture.

In the XII - XIII centuries. Latin-language literature flourishes, in particular, the poetry of vagantes (from Latin vagary - to wander). National literature is developing, in particular, an epic is being written down: French - “The Song of Roland”, Spanish - “Song of Cid”, German - “Song of the Nibelungs”. Knightly literature is being formed: secular lyrical poetry of the troubadours, glorifying “courtly love” (from Old French - courtier), chivalric novels. There is an interest in the person’s personality and his feelings. Urban literature is developing in national languages: for example, French“The Romance of the Fox” and “The Romance of the Rose” were created; the forerunner of the Renaissance in France was François Villon (1431 - 1461). Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 - 1400) is considered the father of English literature, who created a collection of poems in the English vernacular, The Canterbury Tales.

In medieval Europe, the place of art was controversial. Art was seen as the Bible for the illiterate. The main task of art is to strengthen religious feelings, to reveal the images of the Holy Scriptures; works, as a rule, are anonymous. What is required from the artist is not realism, but the disclosure of ideas of divine holiness. The transition from the space of the outer world to the inner space of the human spirit is the main goal of art. It is expressed by Augustine’s famous phrase: “do not wander outside, but go inside yourself.” Christian ideology rejected the ideals that inspired ancient artists: the joy of being, sensuality, physicality, truthfulness, the glorification of man, aware of himself as a beautiful element of the cosmos - it destroyed the ancient harmony of body and spirit, man and the earthly world.

Architecture became the most important form of art, embodied in two styles: Romanesque and Gothic. Romanesque architecture is distinguished by its massiveness and squatness, its task is the humility of man, his suppression against the backdrop of the monumental grandeur of the universe, of God. From the 12th century arises gothic style, the features of which are upward direction, pointed arches, stained glass windows. V. Hugo called Gothic “a symphony in stone.” Unlike the harsh, monolithic, imposing Romanesque temples, Gothic cathedrals are decorated with carvings and decorations, many sculptures, they are full of light, directed towards the sky, their towers rose up to 150 m. The ancient temple was considered the place of life of God, religious ceremonies took place outside, and the medieval the temple was perceived as a place of communication for the religious community and special attention was paid to the interior decoration.

In painting, the main genre was iconography. Painting acted as a silent sermon, “speculation in colors.” Icons were seen as an emotional connection with God, accessible to the illiterate, and they are deeply symbolic. Images are often deliberately deformed, conventional, there is an effect of so-called reverse perspective for a greater impact on the viewer. In addition to icons, fine arts The Middle Ages is also represented by paintings, mosaics, miniatures, and stained glass.

The basis of musical culture was liturgical singing, praising God in melodies, and then hymns, combining poetic text with a song melody. Canonized music - Gregorian chant - also included chants intended for all services church calendar. Another layer of music is associated with the ideology of chivalry (the courtly lyrics of troubadours) and the work of professional minstrel musicians.

In the developed Middle Ages, significant successes were achieved applied arts: carpet making, bronze casting, enamel, book miniatures.

In general, medieval art is characterized by: sincere veneration of the Divine, typification, the absolute opposition of good and evil, deep symbolism, subordination of art to extra-aesthetic, religious ideals, hierarchy, traditionalism, underdevelopment of the personal principle - at the same time, medieval culture expresses the unfrozen forever the state of man and his world, but a living movement. Dynamics cultural development largely determines the interaction and competition between official and popular cultures. In general, medieval culture had integrity; there was an authoritarian value system; dogmatism reigned; she was characterized by a craving for All-Unity (“the city of God on earth”) through the existing fragmentation of existence; Christian universality of man opposed national class limitations; Along with the renunciation of the world, there was a desire for a violent worldwide transformation of the world. Man began to turn to himself, and not just to God, but in full this greatest progressive revolution in the history of mankind occurred during the Renaissance, prepared by the Middle Ages.

Byzantium occupied a special place in medieval Europe. At the dawn of the Middle Ages, she remained the only custodian of Hellenistic cultural traditions. But Byzantium significantly transformed the legacy of late antiquity, creating artistic style, already entirely belonging to the spirit and letter of the Middle Ages.

Moreover, of all medieval European art, it was Byzantine that was most orthodox Christian. In Byzantine artistic culture two principles are fused: magnificent showmanship and refined spiritualism. The East had a significant influence on the culture of Byzantium. In turn, Byzantium significantly influenced the culture of Southern and Eastern Europe, especially Russia.