By the end of the 15th century, the thousand-year era of the Middle Ages ended. It is difficult even to list all the achievements in the life of society, in the economy and culture, which humanity owes to the Middle Ages and still enjoys with gratitude. It was then that many states arose that still exist today. Within their borders, modern peoples with their own languages and national cultures were formed. The origins of modern urban life and parliamentary democracy, judicial norms and universities go back to the Middle Ages. At the same time, many things were done scientific discoveries and important inventions. Machine tools and blast furnaces, guns and mechanical watches appeared, not to mention such familiar little things as glasses or buttons. The invention of printing played a particularly important role in human history.
The Middle Ages was marked by an amazing rise in literature and art. The masterpieces of medieval writers and poets, architects and artists have become an integral part of world culture, influencing us too.
One of the most important achievements of the Middle Ages was the birth of Europe - not in geographical, but in cultural and historical significance. of this word. The basis of this Europe and the rich culture it created was Christianity. Originating in antiquity, Christianity spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. It turned out to be like a bridge connecting the Middle Ages with antiquity even when the brilliant Roman culture was dying under the blows of the barbarians.
In many countries of Asia and Africa, Islam played an equally important role - the third in time of its origin. world religion. On its basis, the Arab civilization was formed - one of the greatest in the history of mankind. And in some countries of East and Southeast Asia, the oldest of the world's religions, Buddhism, played an equally significant role.
The Middle Ages in Europe ended quite differently from antiquity. If the Roman Empire died as a result of internal contradictions and attacks by barbarians, then the transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age, although it was marked by strong upheavals in Europe, was not accompanied by economic, social, or cultural decline. Medieval Europe, having suffered a lot during its thousand-year history, was still firmly on her feet. Moreover, the transition to a new historical era was associated with its further development.
The ability to continuously improve is the most important distinguishing feature medieval Europe, which it handed down to modern times, and ultimately to modernity. It was this feature that allowed Europe, which in the early Middle Ages lagged behind the most developed countries of the East, to gradually get ahead technically and economically, and later use its superiority to establish dominance over other parts of the world. But you will learn about this from the course on the history of modern times.
2. Give comparative analysis policies of Greece
3. Place events in the correct order chronological sequence
A) Peloponnesian War
B) Solon's reforms in Athens
B) the reign of Pericles
D) the reign of Alexander the Great
D) the conquest of Greece by Rome
Write down your answer
6. Put events in the correct chronological order
A) Punic Wars
B) the founding of Rome
B) the collapse of the Roman Empire
D) the reign of Octavian Augustus
D) the reign of Gaius Julius Caesar
E) division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern
G) the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire
Write down your answer
7. Read a fragment from a work on history Ancient Rome, and complete the tasks.
"Octavian achieved the same goal as Caesar. He seemed less talented, was homely, shy, secretive, he did not have military talent like Caesar. The state of affairs itself helped him a lot.
Long War in all areas around the Mediterranean Sea, most people were tired: many were looking for peace and crowded around to a strong man, hoping for his protection... Residents provinces accustomed to obey Rome; they didn't care if they sent a boss roman senate or a military ruler from Rome. The population of Rome itself put up with the ruler who was ready to give him the most.
But Octavian also achieved power through his patience and skill. He didn't accept the title dictator, which resembled the triumph of Sulla and Caesar; he did not want anything in the title or in the setting that would resemble a king, so as not to irritate the old habits and concepts of the Romans.
By the way, he accepted the title tribune. At the same time, Octavian constantly repeated that his main concern was to restore the ancient order in Rome. Octavian called himself princeps, i.e. the first person in the state. This meant that he was, as it were, considered authorized to exercise his power by the people. He decided not to frighten the population of Italy with military forces: the soldiers were taken away and placed along the borders. Finally, Octavin shared with the old gentlemen, nobles. In important cases princeps consulted with the Senate, as they used to do consuls.
It was decided that, as before, the Senate would dispose of the ancient provinces: the Senate would send there governors from its midst. The newly annexed border regions remained with Octavian... The troops were subordinate to Octavian, the soldiers swore allegiance only to him. He appropriated the old title of military emperor to himself alone; it now meant the power of the supreme commander-in-chief. Emperor was his name in the provinces. Octavian sent his officers and clerks to his regions to govern.
The people stopped convening meetings. However, the new ruler also had to please the capital's population, as the popular leaders or the Senate had previously done. He only took into his own account all the expenses that had previously been made for the benefit of the people by various individuals. The princeps took upon himself the organization of entertainment, which the people persistently demanded...
When the new order was established, Octavian also accepted the new title of Augustus, i.e. sacred. This title turned to his name: the ruler clearly rose above everyone as a higher being.”
1) Write down the highlighted words and find definitions for them
_______________________________________________
______________________________
2) When did Octavian seize power in Rome?
__________________________________________________
3) Why did he manage to strengthen his power after the victory in civil war?
4) Name common features between the power of Octavian Augustus and the monarchy?
_______________________________________________________________________
5) What elements of the republican system were preserved during the period of the Principate and why?
____________________________________________
Lesson 4. Europe in the Middle Ages (V-XV centuries)
When completing assignments on this topic, you must refer to the materials in the textbook by S. Samygin, S.I. Samygina V.N. Sheveleva, E.V. Sheveleva “History”: tutorial for open source software. M.: INFRA-M, 2013, p. 75−119.
1. Using the “Great Migration” map, write the names of the Germanic tribes that settled in the territory of the Western Roman Empire
2. Mark with a “+” sign the meanings and essence of the Middle Ages
3. Highlight the main stages in the development of civilization in medieval Europe
4. Place events in the correct chronological order
A) the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe
B) the emergence of parliament in England
B) communal revolutions
D) formation of the Frankish kingdom
D) the creation of the Estates General in France
E) beginning Hundred Years' War
G) War of the Scarlet and White Roses
H) Jacquerie
Write down your answer
6. Mark with a “+” the features characteristic of the feudal system of Europe in the X-XV centuries.
| 1.formation of large land ownership | |
| 2. agricultural production was based on the labor of small producers endowed with land, tools, livestock, and household property | |
| 3. Reduction of cultivated area | |
| 4. Internal colonization | |
| 5. Population decline due to the plague epidemic | |
| 6. The emergence of manufacturing | |
| 7. Expansion of the domestic market | |
| 8. Decline of overseas trade | |
| 9. economic and personal dependence of the peasants on the feudal lord | |
| 10. subsistence nature of the economy | |
| 11. the presence of feudal rent: in the form of labor and quitrent in kind or money | |
| 12. growth of crafts and cities |
7. The correct sequence of formation of the political organization of feudal society
A) absolute monarchies
B) barbarian states
D) estate-representative monarchies
8. Fill out the table. Estates of medieval society.
9. Mark the main true statements about cities with a “+” sign
| 1. Cities arose at the intersections of roads, at river crossings, near fortified places | |
| 2. Medieval cities were larger than ancient cities | |
| 3. Medieval cities were initially subordinate to spiritual and secular feudal lords | |
| 4. The growth of cities was associated with the rise of agricultural and craft production, and the development of trade | |
| 5. The communal movement led to the liberation of many cities from the power of the lords | |
| 6. Most medieval cities obeyed the king | |
| 7. All residents of the city were considered full citizens, regardless of property status | |
| 8. Craftsmen of the same specialty united in workshops, and merchants in guilds |
10. Correlate the events and dates in the formation of Christianity in Europe
Write down your answer
| A | B | IN | G |
§ 1 The concept of “Middle Ages”
One and a half thousand years ago, with the collapse of the Roman Empire, a new era began world history. In historical science it is usually called the Middle Ages or the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages lasted for a thousand years until, around the 15th century, this period of history was replaced by the Modern Age.
The Middle Ages was a centuries-long period of the emergence, dominance and decay of feudalism. In European countries it lasted for the 12th century, in Asian countries even longer. It should be noted that the remnants of medieval traditions and customs in some Asian countries have not yet disappeared.
The term "Middle Ages" was first coined by Italian humanists during the Renaissance. From the standpoint of the high achievements of Renaissance culture, the Middle Ages were seen by humanist philosophers as a period of savagery and barbarism. This position has long been rooted in historical science.
Historians of the 17th-18th centuries established the division of human history into ancient, middle and modern. The history of the Middle Ages covers a long period, saturated with numerous events that have both positive and negative significance for historians.
The history of the Middle Ages is usually divided into three main periods:
1. The end of the 5th - mid-11th centuries - the period of the early Middle Ages. The feudal system is just beginning to take shape as a social system. This is the time of barbarian and early feudal kingdoms. Christianity is established, and in spiritual life the decline of culture is replaced by an upsurge.
2. The middle of the 11th - the end of the 15th centuries - the heyday of feudal relations. There is a massive growth of cities, and after a period of feudal fragmentation, centralized states are formed. Commodity-money relations are developing. Arises new form states - feudal monarchy. The ideology of early humanism and the culture of the Renaissance are being formed.
3.XVI - XVII centuries - the period of late feudalism or the beginning of early modern times. This time is characterized by the processes of decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of early capitalist relations. A type of feudal state was formed - an absolute monarchy. The 17th century becomes a turning point in the development of rationalism and natural sciences.
§ 2 Transition to feudalism
In the Middle Ages, most peoples embarked on the path of feudalism, bypassing the slave system. Thus, their Middle Ages begin with the disintegration of tribal relations.
Other nations, having survived the slave-owning formation, began their history of the Middle Ages with the traditions of class society and the state. However, the essence of the new social order remained unchanged. In all countries, the transition to feudalism was associated with the subordination of peasants to large landowners, who turned the land into their monopoly property.
It should be noted that feudalism at that time marked progress in social development. The peasant, endowed with land, was interested in increasing the productivity of his labor. The era of feudalism is marked by the flourishing of small-scale commodity production in cities, which become centers of culture. It was here that manufacturing was born and new classes of bourgeois society began to take shape.
§ 3 Development of culture
It should be noted that in the Middle Ages, humanity made significant progress in terms of the development of material and spiritual culture.
It was in the Middle Ages that Christianity became one of the world's largest religions, exerting a tremendous influence on the development of medieval European civilization, which is what makes it unique.
Of course, with the term “Middle Ages” many will remember the fires of the Inquisition, devastating epidemics and manifestations of feudal violence. But, nevertheless, the Middle Ages left in the memory of mankind wonderful poetic works, wonderful monuments of architecture, painting, and scientific thought.
Among the galaxy of great people whom the Middle Ages gave us, we can name: scientists - Roger Bacon, Galileo Galilei, Giordano Bruno, Nicolaus Copernicus; genius poets and writers - Omar Khayyam, Dante, Petrarch, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Cervantes; outstanding artists - Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Rembrandt.
§ 4 Brief summary lesson
The further the history of the Middle Ages is studied, the more complex and multifaceted it appears. At the moment historical science does not represent this period as dark years of violence and ignorance. The medieval world appears before those who study it, not only as a natural stage in the development of society, but also as an original, unique era in the history of Europe with a unique culture - both primitive and sophisticated, which undoubtedly can spiritually enrich modern man with its acquaintance.
List of used literature:
- Vainshtein O. L. Western European medieval historiography L., 1994.
- Korsunsky A. R. The emergence of feudal relations in Western Europe M., 1979.
- Blok M. Feudal society M., 2003
- Encyclopedia World History M., 2011
- History of the Middle Ages, ed. S. P. Karpova M., 2010
- Duby J. Middle Ages M., 2001
- Le Goff J. Civilization of the medieval West M., 1997
Images used:
The Middle Ages was a centuries-long period of the emergence, dominance and decay of feudalism. In Europe it lasted 12 centuries, in Asia even longer. The remnants of the Middle Ages in some countries have not disappeared to this day.
Most peoples embarked on the path of feudalism, bypassing the slave system. Their Middle Ages began with the disintegration of tribal relations. Other nations that survived the slave formation began their medieval history with the traditions of a class society and state. But the essence of the new social system remained the same. Everywhere, the transition to feudalism was associated with the subordination of peasants to large landowners, who turned the land - the main condition for the application of human labor - into their monopoly property (state, private).
Feudalism marked progress in social development. The peasant endowed with land was interested in increasing labor productivity, and this interest increased with the development of feudal relations and the weakening of personal and land dependence. The era of feudalism was marked by the flourishing of small commodity production in cities, which became the cradle of freedom and centers of culture. Manufacture was born here and new classes of bourgeois society began to emerge. As a result of the development of the commodity-money economy, agrarian relations changed: peasants were transferred to chinsha, and in some places capitalist-type farms appeared.
During the Middle Ages, ethnic communities and government entities changed radically. Tribes merged into nationalities, and from them modern nations began to form. Instead of primitive barbarian states and isolated lordships, large centralized states were formed on a national or interethnic basis. Culture has risen incomparably. If in the early Middle Ages people were content with the remnants of ancient education and biblical legends about the creation of the world, then by the end of the feudal era a scientific idea about surrounding nature and the foundations of a materialistic worldview were laid.
The term "Middle Ages".
Italian humanists - linguists and writers, seeking to revive classical Latin, called the time separating their century from classical antiquity the “Middle Age” (medium aevum). In the 15th century this term began to be used by historians to designate the period of history from the death of the Western Roman Empire to the contemporary Renaissance. In the 17th century The division of world history into antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times has already firmly entered into historical science. The concept of “Middle Ages” in humanistic and subsequent bourgeois historiography did not acquire a strictly scientific meaning and chronological certainty. The initial milestone of the Middle Ages was considered to be the deposition of the last Roman emperor (476), then the reign of Constantine (306-337), or the Arab attack on Europe (early 8th century). The end of the Middle Ages was dated even more arbitrarily. For some, this date was the fall of Constantinople (1453), for others, the discovery of America (1492), for others, the beginning of the Reformation in Germany (1517). The character of the Middle Ages is equally differently understood. Historians of the Enlightenment, following the humanists, assessed the Middle Ages as a time of social and cultural regression, ignorance and obscurantism. Reactionary trends in bourgeois historiography, on the contrary, idealize and modernize the Middle Ages, elevating exactly what the enlighteners condemned - Catholicism, scholasticism, and the corporate system.
Soviet historical science, using the term “Middle Ages” and the traditional periodization of world history according to the three indicated eras, puts a completely different meaning into them. We consider the historical process as a natural follow-up of socio-economic formations: the Middle Ages are the time of the emergence, dominance and decomposition of the feudal mode of production that replaced the slave or primitive communal one. The end of the Middle Ages meant the transition from feudalism to a higher stage of social development - capitalism .
The essence of feudalism. Historians began talking about feudalism in the 18th century, when the bourgeoisie was preparing to storm the “old order.” By feudalism they understood precisely this old order, contrary to ideal ideas about “natural rights” and a normal social order. The main features of feudalism were considered to be: the fragmentation of political power, the absence of civil law and order, the combination of political power with land ownership, and the hierarchical structure of society. Although at present the assessment of feudalism in bourgeois historiography has changed significantly, nevertheless, this legal concept remains in force. Historians continue to define feudalism by its external political and legal characteristics, without delving into the essence of economic relations. They consider political fragmentation, “dispersion of sovereignty,” vassalage, a hierarchical structure of political power, and corporatism to be the main features of feudalism.
Marxist-Leninist historiography sees feudalism as one of the antagonistic socio-economic formations. The basis of the feudal mode of production was the presence in the hands of the exploiting class land ownership and the allocation of land to direct producers - dependent peasants - who ran independent small-scale farming on it and gave their surplus product to the feudal lords in the form of rent or tax. At the same time, each feudal lord used non-economic coercion, since otherwise he “could not force a person endowed with land and running his own farm to work for himself.” feudal rent existed in three forms: labor rent (corvée), food rent (in-kind rent) and money. In the early Middle Ages, labor rent prevailed in Western Europe. Later, quitrent in kind became more widespread. With the development of commodity-money relations, money rent acquired predominant importance: the feudal lords began to curtail the lordly economy, distributing the master's land into peasant holdings, which led to the weakening and even elimination of serfdom and its replacement with quitrent obligations of the peasant holders. This contributed to the growth of peasant labor productivity and the stratification of the peasantry. But in some countries, feudal lords expanded their farms and reduced peasant plots. To cultivate the lord's land, they used hired labor or resorted to restoring the corvee duties of the holders.
In feudal society there was an acute class struggle between the exploited (peasants and townspeople) against the exploiters (feudal lords and the urban elite). This struggle often resulted in grandiose uprisings that shook the foundations of the feudal system. And although the rebellious masses were defeated, their actions nevertheless forced the feudal lords to soften exploitation and adhere to the norms of feudal duties established by custom. Thereby popular uprisings played a progressive role in the development of feudal society and its productive forces. During the period of the disintegration of feudalism, the struggle of the popular masses merged with the actions of the bourgeoisie and ensured the victory of the bourgeoisie in the early bourgeois revolutions.
Feudalism represented more high level social development than the primitive communal and slave system, on the ruins of which it was formed. Unlike the slave system, under which the direct producer - the slave - was deprived of the means of production and turned into a “talking instrument”, under feudalism the dependent and serf peasant is endowed with land and runs his own small farm. Peasants showed interest in increasing the productivity of their labor, since a certain share of the surplus product was used to expand small peasant farming and improve the well-being of the dependent population. As feudalism developed, personal dependence weakened and in many cases disappeared, which created new incentives for increasing the productivity of peasant labor.
The transition to feudalism from the primitive communal system had a no less progressive effect on the development of productive forces. The strengthening of individual production and the transformation of small peasant farming into the main economic unit of society contributed to the growth of labor productivity, despite the fact that peasants began to be subjected to brutal exploitation.
In contrast to the slave system, feudalism was a universal socio-economic formation that almost all peoples of the world went through. But in the development of feudalism in different countries and on different continents there were significant features that were determined by specific historical conditions life of peoples and the natural geographical environment. I The feudal system developed differently among agricultural and pastoral peoples, in countries with a temperate and arid climate, where agriculture required artificial irrigation, in the conditions of the decomposition of the slaveholding or primitive communal system. In particular, very noticeable differences were observed in the development of feudalism in European and Asian countries. If in Europe during all periods of the Middle Ages private feudal property land and the exploitation of the peasantry was carried out mostly in the form of collecting feudal rent, then in Asian countries, in particular China and India, in the early and even classical Middle Ages, state ownership of land was widespread and the most important form of exploitation of peasants was state taxes. This also explains the fact that in Europe during the period of established feudalism, political fragmentation reigned, and in the East at that time there was a more or less centralized system of government in the form of a despotic monarchy.
Periodization of the history of the Middle Ages. Feudalism went through several stages in its development, each of which is characterized by significant changes in the economy, social and political system. Based on the principle of staged development of society
a Marxist-Leninist periodization of the historical process is being constructed.
The transition to feudalism did not occur simultaneously in different countries. Earlier, peoples who survived the slave system entered the path of feudal development, and later peoples for whom feudalism was the first class formation. In the same way, there is no single chronological milestone for all countries for the end of the feudal formation. Some, more developed peoples put an end to feudalism and embarked on the path of capitalism earlier, others later. The beginning of the Western European Middle Ages Soviet historians They consider the collapse of the slave-owning Roman Empire (5th century), and the end of the English bourgeois revolution (1640-1660). In Asian countries with ancient civilization- China, Northern India - the transition to feudalism began a little earlier (2nd-3rd centuries), but the feudal period as a whole in the East lasted a longer time (until the 18th-19th centuries).
In Soviet historiography, it is customary to divide the history of the Middle Ages into the following three periods: the early Middle Ages - the time of the formation of the feudal mode of production - (V century, in some Asian countries II-XI centuries); the classical Middle Ages - a period of developed feudalism (the end of the 11th-15th centuries, in some Asian countries - and the 16th century inclusive); the late Middle Ages - the period of the decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of the capitalist mode of production ( XVI-mid XVII century, in the East until the 18th-19th centuries).
During the early Middle Ages, the formation of feudal relations took place - the formation of large land ownership and the subordination of free peasant community members by feudal lords. Two antagonistic classes of feudal society were formed - the class of feudal landowners and the class of dependent peasants. The economy combined different structures - slaveholding, patriarchal (free communal land ownership) and emerging feudal (various forms of land and personal dependence). These socio-economic conditions determined the character of the early feudal state. It was relatively unified, and in Asian countries even more or less centralized (with a despotic form of government) and exercised its dominance over the personally free population with the help of territorial authorities. Within these states, which united many different ethnic communities, a process of ethnic integration took place and the foundations were laid for the formation of medieval nationalities.
The second period of the history of the Middle Ages is characterized by the completion of the process of formation of feudal relations and the flourishing of feudalism. The peasants were placed in land or personal dependence, and members of the ruling class were in a hierarchical subordination. This led to the collapse of the early feudal territorial organization state power and the dominance of feudal fragmentation. In the countries of East Asia, where, even under developed feudalism, state ownership of land remained to a significant extent, large state entities with a centralized management system continued to exist.
As a result of the development of the feudal economy, the rise of cities and the growth of commodity-money relations, the forms of feudal exploitation changed, the serfdom of the peasants weakened, and free urban population. Thus, the prerequisites were created for the elimination of feudal fragmentation and the centralization of state power. This was also greatly facilitated by the ethnic unity of the population - the formation of feudal nationalities from separate tribal communities. The development of commodity-money relations, the flourishing of cities and urban culture radically changed the face of feudal society. A new ideology was emerging - humanism, and a movement for the reform of the Catholic Church began. The struggle of the popular masses against feudal exploitation intensified, and grandiose peasant and urban uprisings broke out.
The third period of the Middle Ages is characterized by an extreme aggravation of the contradictions inherent in feudalism. Productive forces have outgrown the framework of feudal production relations and traditional forms of ownership. Capitalist relations arose in the depths of feudal society. In some countries (England, Northern Netherlands) expropriation of direct producers occurred. The masses fought against both feudal and capitalist exploitation. All this created the conditions for the completion of the centralization of feudal states and the transition to absolutism. The rising bourgeoisie went to battle with feudalism (first in the form of the Reformation, later in open political struggle) to establish its dominance.
The Middle Ages were approaching their end. A new time has arrived.
History of the Middle Ages and modern times.
The history of feudal society is of not only academic, but also deep theoretical, scientific and practical interest to us. Many phenomena in the life of modern peoples and states have their roots in the medieval past - the formation of classes in bourgeois society, the formation of nations and the development of national cultures, the revolutionary struggle of the oppressed masses, which laid the foundation for the revolutionary traditions of peoples, the struggle for free thought against the spiritual dictatorship of the church, liberation movements against foreign yoke and national oppression, the beginning of the creation of colonial empires, etc. Studying the history of the Middle Ages helps to better understand modernity and development prospects for the future.
The world still has remnants of the Middle Ages, which the progressive forces of society are fighting against. Remnants of feudalism exist in a number of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, especially those that have recently freed themselves from the yoke of colonialism. Some medieval traditions - monarchy, class privileges - have not been eliminated even in such highly developed countries as England and Japan.
By critical issues In the history of the Middle Ages, there is a sharp ideological struggle between Marxist historians and bourgeois historians. Modern bourgeois reactionary historiography distorts many phenomena in the life of medieval society; she tries despite historical facts, to prove that private ownership of land and the exploitation of man by man have existed from eternity, is silent about the brutal class struggle in feudal society and insists on the “harmony of social interests.” Apologists of modern capitalism argue that the capitalist system has existed from eternity, since it supposedly corresponds to human nature. Reactionary historians idealize feudal orders, medieval religiosity, and corporate isolation. The fight against reactionary bourgeois historiography is the most important task of Soviet medievalist historians.
“The Middle Ages” is an era that began after antiquity and ended with the advent of the New Age, that is, the bourgeois order, the capitalist economy. The duration of the Middle Ages was about ten centuries. The name was given by the thinkers of the Italian Renaissance, who believed that they were reviving the culture of ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The end of the Middle Ages and at the same time the beginning of the New Age is a series of bourgeois revolutions, which began with an uprising in the Netherlands at the end of the 16th century and continued with revolutions in England (17th century) and France (18th century).
IN last centuries During the period under review in Western Europe, the most important processes took place in the sphere of spiritual life: Renaissance(Renaissance), the results of which were the emergence and development of European humanism and revolutionary transformations artistic culture; religious reformation, which created the “spirit of capitalism”; in the very last, XVIII century, Education, largely formed rationalism and prepared positivism. All these processes take place in the Middle Ages and complete this era; they are preparing bourgeois revolutions. However, due to their enormous significance, they will be considered separately.
Within the Middle Ages, it is customary to distinguish at least three periods. This:
Early Middle Ages, from the beginning of the era to 900 or 1000 (until the X - XI centuries);
High (Classical) Middle Ages, from the X-XI centuries to approximately the XIV century;
Late Middle Ages, XIV and XVI centuries.
The Early Middle Ages was a time when turbulent and very important processes also took place in Europe. First of all, these are the invasions of the so-called barbarians (from the Latin barba - beard), who, already from the second century AD, constantly attacked the Roman Empire and settled on the lands of its provinces. This ended, as already said, with the fall of Rome.
At the same time, the barbarians accepted Christianity, which in Rome by the end of its existence was the state religion. Christianity in its various forms replaced pagan beliefs and religions throughout the Roman Empire; After the fall of the empire, the spread of Christianity continued. This is the second most important historical process that determined the face of the early Middle Ages in Western Europe.
The third significant process was the formation of new state entities, created by the same “barbarians”. At Christmas 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned in Rome by the Catholic pope as emperor of the entire European West. The Holy Roman Empire arose. Later (900) the Holy Roman Empire broke up into countless duchies, counties, margraviates, bishoprics, abbeys and other fiefs. However, the processes of formation of state entities continued in subsequent periods.
A characteristic feature of life in the early Middle Ages was the constant looting and devastation to which European settlements were subjected. There were constant pirate raids from the north Scandinavian Vikings. Muslims raided and captured from the south. The Magyars flew in from the east - Hungarians who had relatively recently settled in Eastern Europe, on the Danube, and also began to slowly build their state. Europe, fragmented into small destinies, lived in constant tension and fear; the threat of robberies and robberies significantly slowed down economic development.
During the classical, or high, Middle Ages, Western Europe began to overcome these difficulties and be reborn. Since the 10th century, cooperation under the laws of feudalism made it possible to create larger state structures and gather fairly strong armies. Thanks to this, the invasions were stopped. Numerous missionaries brought Christianity to the kingdoms of Scandinavia, Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, so that these states entered the orbit of Western culture.
The relative stability that ensued provided the opportunity for rapid growth of cities and the pan-European economy. Life in Western Europe changed greatly, society quickly lost its barbaric features, and spiritual life flourished in the cities. In general, European society has become much richer and more civilized than during the ancient Roman Empire. An outstanding role in this was played by the Christian Church, which also developed, improved its teaching and organization. On the basis of the artistic traditions of ancient Rome and the former barbarian tribes, Romanesque and then brilliant Gothic art arose, and along with architecture and literature, all other types of it developed - theater, music, sculpture, painting, literature. It was during this era that, for example, such literary masterpieces as “The Song of Roland” and “The Romance of the Rose” were created.
The later Middle Ages continued the processes of formation of European culture that began during the classical period. Thus, the peasants of Western Europe achieved for themselves greater freedom and more high level life. The former feudal nobility, aristocrats, began to build magnificent palaces for themselves, both on their estates and in cities, instead of castles. The new rich from the “low” classes imitated them in this, creating everyday comfort and an appropriate lifestyle. Conditions arose for a new upsurge in spiritual life, science, philosophy, and art, especially in Northern Italy. This inevitably led to the so-called Renaissance, or Renaissance. Along with this, the specific situation christian church in medieval society, changes in the Christian religion and church itself became inevitable. All this prepared the end of the Middle Ages, the transition to the New Age in Europe as the inevitable result of the development of medieval culture.
History of peoples and states modern Europe began in an era conventionally defined in historical literature as the “Middle Ages.” Since antiquity, the concept of Europe (from the Semitic root Erebus), identified with the geographical definition of "West", was contrasted with Asia (root Asu), or the East. The term Europe, indeed, contains a certain territorial integrity of peoples and states, the history of which reveals a common economic, socio-political and spiritual development. At the same time, the uniqueness of its western part, which was clearly defined precisely at the stage of medieval history, allows us to distinguish Western Europe as a local civilization existing within the framework of a larger civilizational unity, which is Europe as a whole.
The geographical meaning of the concept of Western Europe does not coincide with the historical one and assumes a coastal strip on the western tip of the Eurasian continent, with a mild maritime climate.
Historical concept of Western Europe at the medieval stage includes the history of countries such as England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Holland, the states of the Iberian and Apennine Peninsulas, the Scandinavian countries - Denmark, Norway, Sweden, as well as Byzantium, the successor of the East Roman Empire. The border position of the latter country and its enormous influence on the destinies of the entire European civilization predetermined that its history belongs to both the West and the East.
In the first centuries AD, most of Western Europe was inhabited by Celtic peoples, partially Romanized and incorporated into the Roman Empire; then, during the era of the Great Migration of Peoples, this territory became a place of settlement of Germanic tribes, while Eastern Europe became a place of settlement and historical activity of mainly Slavic peoples.
§ 1. The content of the terms “Middle Ages” and “feudalism” in historical science
The term "Middle Ages" is a translation from the Latin expression medium aevum ( middle age) 1 - was first introduced by Italian humanists. Roman historian of the 15th century. Flavio Biondo, who wrote “History from the Fall of Rome”, trying to comprehend contemporary reality, called the “Middle Ages” the period that separated his era from the time that served humanists as a source of inspiration - antiquity. Humanists assessed primarily the state of language, writing, literature and art. From the standpoint of the high achievements of Renaissance culture, they saw the Middle Ages as a period of savagery and barbarization of the ancient world, as a time of spoiled “kitchen” Latin. This assessment has long been rooted in historical science.
In the 17th century Professor at the University of Halle in Germany I. Keller introduced the term “Middle Ages” into the general periodization of world history, dividing it into antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times. The chronological framework of the period was designated by him as the time from the division of the Roman Empire into the Western and Eastern parts (ended in 395 under Theodosius I) until the fall of Constantinople under the attacks of the Turks in 1453.
In the 17th and especially the 18th centuries. (century of Enlightenment), which were marked by convincing successes of secular rational thinking and natural sciences, the criterion for the periodization of world history began to serve not so much the state of culture as the attitude towards religion and the church. New, mostly derogatory, accents appeared in the concept of the “Middle Ages,” due to which the history of this period began to be assessed as a time of restriction of mental freedom, the dominance of dogmatism, religious consciousness and superstition. The beginning of modern times, accordingly, was associated with the invention of printing, the discovery of America by Europeans, and the Reformation movement - phenomena that significantly expanded and changed the mental horizons of medieval man.
The romantic trend in historiography, which emerged at the beginning of the 19th century. largely as a reaction to the ideology of the Enlightenment and the value system of the new bourgeois world, it sharpened interest in the Middle Ages and for some time led to its idealization. These extremes in relation to the Middle Ages were overcome by changes in the process of cognition itself, in the ways European people comprehended nature and society as a whole.
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. two methodological achievements, important for the development of historical knowledge, significantly deepened the concept of the “Middle Ages”. One of them was the idea of continuity of social development, which replaced the theory of circulation, or cyclical development, coming from antiquity, and the Christian idea of finitude of the world. This made it possible to see the evolution of Western European medieval society from a state of decline to economic and cultural growth, the chronological milestone of which was the 11th century. This was the first noticeable departure from the assessment of the Middle Ages as an era of “dark ages.”
The second achievement should be recognized as attempts to analyze not only event and political history, but also social history. These attempts led to the identification of the term “Middle Ages” and the concept of “feudalism”. The latter spread in French journalism on the eve of the French Revolution of 1789 as a derivative of the legal term “feud” in documents of the 11th-12th centuries, which denoted land property transferred for use to a vassal by his lord. Its analogue in the German lands was the term “flax”. The history of the Middle Ages began to be understood as a time of dominance of the feudal, or fief, system of social relations among the feudal lords - landowners.
A significant deepening of the content of the analyzed terms was given by the science of the mid-late 19th century, the achievements of which were primarily associated with the formulation of a new philosophy of history - positivism. The direction that adopted the new methodology was the first most convincing attempt to transform history itself into a science. It was distinguished by its desire to replace history as an entertaining account of the lives of heroes with the history of the masses; attempts at a comprehensive vision of the historical process, including the socio-economic life of society; exceptional attention to the source and the development of a critical method of its research, which was supposed to provide an adequate interpretation of the reality reflected in it. The development of positivism began in the 30s of the 19th century. in the works of O. Comte in France, J. Art. Mill and G. Spencer in England, however, the results of the new methodology in historical research were felt later, by the second half of the century. Summarizing the results of the historiography of the 19th century, it should be emphasized that most often historical thought continued to define feudalism along political and legal grounds. Feudalism was depicted as a special political and legal organization of society with a system of personal, primarily seigneurial-vassal, connections, conditioned, in particular, by the needs of military protection. Such an assessment was often accompanied by the idea of feudalism as a system of political fragmentation.
Attempts to combine political analysis with social analysis turned out to be more promising. Timid at the end of the 18th century, they acquired more pronounced forms in the works of French historians of the first third of the 19th century, primarily in the work of F. Guizot. He was the first to give a detailed description of feudal property as the basis of seigneurial-vassal ties, noting two of its important features: its conditional nature and hierarchical structure, which determined the hierarchy among feudal lords, as well as the connection of property with political power. Before the positivists, the social interpretation ignored that layer of direct producers - peasants, through whose efforts the feudal lord realized his property. Positivist historians began to study such important social structures of feudal society as the community and patrimony; their analysis, in turn, touched upon the problem of the economic and social life of the peasantry.
Attention to economic history led to the spread of a theory that identified feudalism with subsistence farming. The development of market relations in this case was assessed as an indicator of a new, already capitalist economy - an opinion that ignored the fundamental difference between simple commodity and capitalist production and the inevitable change in the type of producer - the small owner to the hired worker. Within the framework of positivism, the socio-economic features of the Middle Ages acted not as determinants in the system of feudal relations, but as a given, existing in parallel with the political and legal system (feudal fragmentation in the political system, subsistence farming in the economy). Moreover, attention to socio-economic history did not exclude the recognition of the decisive role of personal connections, which was explained by the psychological characteristics of people in the Middle Ages. The vulnerability of such ideas lay not in their fallacy, since each of them reflected some aspect of objective reality, but in the desire of researchers to absolutize them, which interfered with a comprehensive understanding of feudalism.
The development of positivism, with its wide range of visions of the historical process at its economic, socio-political and cultural-psychological levels, as well as the recognition of patterns historical development, could not help but direct researchers to search for unity in the diversity of factors. In other words, positivism prepared the first steps of structural or systems analysis.
One of the results of attempts of this kind was the development by historical science of the 19th century. concept of "civilization". Of the two most general parameters of historical development - place and time - it emphasized the territorial delimitation of human communities that retain their special “face” throughout the entire period of existence. Their internal unity was determined by such characteristics as natural conditions, way of life, morals, religion, culture, and historical fate. And although the concept of civilizations included the idea of their transitory nature, the lifetime of each of them was a time of “long extension.”
In the 19th century In historical science, the structural term “formation” also appeared, associated with the design of Marxist methodology. This concept, on the contrary, expanded the boundaries of human community to the scale of the planet as a whole, highlighting the temporal division of the historical process, where the method of production and the form of ownership became the unit of reference. System principle in the Marxist understanding, it connects different levels of social development with a single economic dominant. In the Marxist interpretation, feudalism was one of the methods of production, which is based on the ownership of land by feudal lords, realized through the medium of a small producer; At the same time, the fact of exploitation of the peasant by the land owner was especially emphasized. The monism of Marxist methodology, which was also highly politicized, was not accepted by most researchers at that time. The rigid determinism of the historical process with its division into primary - basic and secondary - superstructural phenomena, indeed, concealed the danger of its simplified understanding. In Soviet medieval studies, this danger was aggravated by the sacralization of the Marxist method, which enslaved science. The absolutization of the method violated the complex vision of the historical process and led to excessive enthusiasm for sociological schemes, which in a certain sense replaced the analysis of real life.
Historical knowledge of the 20th century has significantly enriched system analysis, in particular in relation to feudal society. The decisive impetus for its development was given by the “battle for history”, started in the 30s by representatives of French historical science, who created their own direction around the journal “Annals”. Having accepted the most important achievements of sociology of the 19th century. and, above all, the recognition of the systemic nature of the world, existing according to its own objective laws of development, they at the same time noticeably complicated the idea of the complexity of the historical process. The “sense of the great drama of relativity” characteristic of these historians (in the words of one of the founders of the movement, Lucien Febvre) led them to recognize the multiplicity of connections - material and personal - within the social system. This attitude broke the mechanical understanding of causality in history and the idea of unilinear development, and introduced into historical knowledge the idea of unequal rhythms of development of various aspects of the social process. A more complex interpretation of the concept of “industrial relations” was given, emphasizing their inextricable connection with the components of inquiry, since relations in the sphere of production are built by people who are guided by their ideas about them. New approaches returned a person to history, not necessarily a “hero” or creator of ideas, but an ordinary person with his everyday consciousness.
The synthesis of the achievements of world and domestic historical science of the 20th century allows us to give a deeper and more complete definition of the concepts of “feudalism” and “Middle Ages”, to the description of which we move on.
The worldview of the medieval European and his culture were characterized by such concepts as symbolism and hierarchism.
The Middle Ages created symbolic fine art and symbolic poetry, defined a rich religious cult with exceptionally complex and finely developed symbolism and philosophy, which boils down to the comprehension and disclosure of the symbolic meaning of the surrounding reality. Symbolic acts accompany the registration of legal relations, and most human objects are marked with symbolic signs. The hierarchy of society was also symbolic. Hierarchy permeated the entire social structure of the Middle Ages.
According to the ideological principles of the Middle Ages, the physical world has less reality than the spiritual world. He does not exist in himself, he has only a ghostly existence. He is only a shadow of the truth, but not the truth itself. Salvation of the body is not true salvation. Anyone who is sick in spirit and healthy in body does not have true health. Such health is only apparent: in reality it does not exist. Things not only can serve as symbols, they are symbols, and the task of the cognizing subject comes down to revealing them true meaning. This is why creatures were created by God, to be symbols and to serve to teach people.
This is the sensory foundation on which symbolic perception grows. With God there is nothing empty, devoid of meaning. This is how a noble and majestic image of the world arises, which seems to be one huge symbolic system, a cathedral of ideas, the richest rhythmic and polyphonic expression of everything that can be imagined.
When the Dark Ages ended in the West, the Early and High Middle Ages, then science and education flourished there, fundamental scientific works began to be studied, universities opened, corporations arose learned people. With all this, education never played the same role in the Middle Ages as in Antiquity. For medieval Christians, it would have sounded blasphemous to say that the path of education leads to freedom, as was believed in Ancient Greece. They knew the call of Christ: “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But it was just as obvious to them that Truth is achieved not by studying Christian doctrine, but by serving God and one’s neighbors. God, and in Him our neighbor, must first of all be loved, and everything else will follow. No matter how much learning was revered in the Middle Ages, they always remembered that Christ chose the apostles from among the simpletons.
Nevertheless, it was the Church that preserved the ancient education system (trivium and quadrivium), slightly reshaping it to suit its needs. Thus, rhetoric (the art of eloquence), studied in Antiquity for the development of thinking, to express one’s personality, to achieve a high position in society, in the Middle Ages was a source of legal knowledge and skills in drawing up business documents (letters, charters, messages, etc. .) and should not have served ambitious thoughts. And, for example, grammar, also one of the disciplines of the trivium, was necessary not only for reading, interpreting and commenting on the Holy Scriptures or texts of authors recognized by the Church, but also made it possible to get to the hidden meaning of words, to which they are the key.
Medieval symbolism, which permeated the entire life of people, began at the level of words. Words were symbols of realities. Understanding is knowledge and mastery of things. In medicine, a diagnosis already meant healing; it should have occurred as a result of pronouncing the name of the disease. When the bishop could say about a suspect: “heretic,” then the main goal was achieved - the enemy was named, and therefore exposed.
Nature was also seen as a vast repository of symbols. Minerals, plants and animals, symbolizing the images and subjects of the Bible, were lined up in a kind of hierarchy: some, due to their symbolic meaning, had an advantage over others. By the stones and flowers symbolic meaning combined with their beneficial or harmful properties. There was color homeopathy, which, for example, treated jaundice and bleeding with yellow and red flowers, respectively. Animal world most often seen as the sphere of evil. An ostrich laying eggs in the sand and forgetting to hatch them - such was the image of a sinner who does not remember his duty to God.
Symbolism was used extremely widely in worship: from temple architecture to chants and from the choice of building materials to the smallest ornaments on utensils. Thus, the round and cruciform shape of temples was an image of perfection. In addition, the shape, based on a square, denoted the four main directions, symbolizing the Universe. The octagonal structure, according to the symbolism of numbers, meant eternity. Thus, the structure of the temple personified the microcosm.
The concept of beauty is reduced by medieval thinking to the concepts of perfection, proportionality, brilliance. Admiration for everything that glitters and sparkles is also associated with the decoration of clothing, which in the 15th century. still consists mainly of equipping it with a myriad of precious stones. They even try to highlight the shine by ringing, resorting to bells or coins.
Gray, black and purple colors were widely used in everyday clothing. Yellow was worn primarily by military personnel, pages and servants. Yellow sometimes meant hostility. Thus, a noble nobleman, dressed together with his entire retinue in yellow, could walk past his offender, letting him know with color that this was being done against him.
In festive and ceremonial clothing, red dominated over all other colors, often in combination with white. These two colors symbolized purity and mercy. Colors also represented a certain hierarchy, corresponding to their symbolic meaning.
In general, the brightness and sharpness of life, so inherent in medieval culture, were obviously generated by a feeling of insecurity. Uncertainty in material security and spiritual uncertainty. This underlying uncertainty was ultimately an uncertainty about the future life, the happiness of which was not promised to anyone with certainty and was not fully guaranteed either by good deeds or prudent behavior. The dangers of destruction created by the devil seemed so numerous, and the chances of salvation so insignificant, that fear inevitably prevailed over hope. It is this fear and the need for self-soothing that explains the emotions, behavior, and mentality of the people of the Middle Ages. And here the dominant role was played by tradition, the experience of the past and predecessors. In spiritual life, the highest authority was Scripture; in theology, special importance was attached to the recognized authorities of the past.
All these characteristics medieval thinking and attitude - symbolism, hierarchism, adherence to traditions and authorities, the need for self-soothing and oblivion among bright colors, sharp impressions, craving for exaltation and dreams (dreams and visions are also characteristic phenomena of medieval culture) - all this can be seen in life all layers of medieval society from top to bottom, no matter how much they, at first glance, differed.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL LIST
Main literature
Bitsilli P.M. Selected works on medieval history: Russia and the West. - M.: Languages of Slavic cultures, 2006.
Gusarova T.P. Power institutions and positions in Europe in the Middle Ages and early modern times. - M.: Book House "University", 2010.
Zaretsky Yu.P. History of subjectivity. Medieval Europe. - M.: Academic project, 2009.
additional literature
Boytsov M.A. Greatness and humility. Essays on political symbolism in medieval Europe. - M.: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2009.
Budanova V.P. Goths in the era of the Great Migration. - M.: Aletheya, 2001.
Ivanov K.A. Life of a medieval city.- CD. Manufacturer: New disk, 2007. Issue 9.
Monuments of medieval Latin literature. VIII-IX centuries / under. ed. M.L. Gasparova. - M.: Nauka, 2006.
Huizinga J. Autumn of the Middle Ages. - M.: Iris-Press, 2004.
When completing assignments on this topic, you need to refer to the materials in the book by S. Samygin, S.I. Samygina V.N. Sheveleva, E.V. Sheveleva “History”: a textbook for secondary vocational education. M.: INFRA-M, 2013, p. 44?56, 69?73
1. Define the following terms
2. Give a comparative analysis of policies in Greece
3. Place events in the correct chronological order
A) Peloponnesian War
B) Solon's reforms in Athens
B) the reign of Pericles
D) the reign of Alexander the Great
D) the conquest of Greece by Rome
Write down your answer
6. Put events in the correct chronological order
A) Punic Wars
B) the founding of Rome
B) the collapse of the Roman Empire
D) the reign of Octavian Augustus
D) the reign of Gaius Julius Caesar
E) division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern
G) the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire
Write down your answer
7. Read a fragment from a work on the history of Ancient Rome and complete the tasks.
“Octavian achieved the same goal as Caesar. He seemed less capable, was homely, shy, secretive, he did not have military talent like Caesar. To him a large number of The situation itself helped.
The long war in all areas around the Mediterranean Sea tired most of the people: many were looking for peace and crowded around a strong man, retaining hope for his protection... The inhabitants of the provinces were accustomed to obeying Rome; they did not care whether the Roman Senate or the army ruler from Rome sent them a commander. The population of Rome itself put up with the ruler who was ready to give him the most.
But Octavian also achieved power through art and his patience. He did not accept the title of dictator, which was reminiscent of the triumph of Sulla and Caesar; he did not want anything in the title or in the atmosphere that would resemble a king, so as not to anger the concepts of the Romans and old habits.
By the way, he accepted the title of tribune. At the same time, Octavian always repeated that his main concern was to return the ancient order to Rome. Octavian called himself princeps, i.e. the first person in the country.
This meant that he was, as it were, considered authorized by the people to exercise his own power.
He decided not to frighten the population of Italy with army forces: the soldiers were taken away and placed along the borders. Finally, Octavin shared with the old gentlemen, the nobles. In important cases, the prince consulted with the Senate, as consuls had previously done.
It was decided that, in the same way as before, the Senate would dispose of the ancient provinces: the Senate would send governors from its own midst in that direction. The regions, again annexed, border areas remained with Octavian... The troops were subordinate to Octavian, the soldiers swore allegiance only to him. He appropriated the old title of army emperor to himself alone; it now meant power to the commander in chief.
They called him Emperor in the provinces.
Octavian sent his own officers and clerks to manage his own regions.
The people stopped convening meetings. But the new ruler also had to please the capital's population, as the people's leaders or the Senate had previously done. He only accepted at his own expense all the expenses that had previously been made for the benefit of the people by various individuals. The princeps took upon himself the organization of entertainment, which the people stubbornly demanded...
At the time when the new order was established, Octavian also accepted the new title of Augustus, i.e. sacred. This title turned to his name: the ruler absolutely rightly stood above everyone as a supreme being.”
1) Write down the highlighted words and find their definitions
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2) At the time when Octavian came to power in Rome?
__________________________________________________
3) Why was he able to strengthen his own power after the victory in the civil war?
4) What are the non-specialized features between the monarchy of Octavian and the power of Augustus?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5) What specific elements of the republican system were preserved during the Principate and why?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lesson 4. Europe in the Middle Ages (V-XV centuries)
When completing assignments on this topic, you need to refer to the materials in the book by S. Samygin, S.I. Samygina V.N. Sheveleva, E.V. Sheveleva “History”: a textbook for secondary vocational education.
M.: INFRA-M, 2013, p. 75?119.
1. Using the “Great Migration” map, write the names of the Germanic tribes that settled in the territory of the Western Roman Empire
2. Mark with a “+” sign the meanings and essence of the Middle Ages
3. Highlight the main stages in the development of civilization in medieval Europe
4. Place events in the correct chronological order
A) the emergence of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe
B) the origin of parliament in England
B) communal revolutions
D) formation of the Frankish kingdom
D) the creation of the Main States in France
E) the beginning of the Hundred Years' War
G) War of the Red and White Roses
H) Jacquerie
Write down your answer
6. Mark with a “+” the features characteristic of the feudal totality of Europe in the X-XV centuries.
| 1.formation of large land holdings | |
| 2. agricultural production was based on the labor of small producers endowed with soil, tools, livestock, and household property | |
| 3. Reduction of cultivated area | |
| 4. Internal colonization | |
| 5. Population decline due to the plague epidemic | |
| 6. The emergence of manufacturing | |
| 7. Expansion of the domestic market | |
| 8. Decline of overseas trade | |
| 9. economic and personal connection between the feudal lord and peasants | |
| 10. natural economic temperament | |
| 11. the presence of feudal rent: in the form of rent in kind and labor or money | |
| 12. cities and the growth of crafts |
7. The correct sequence of formation of the political organization of feudal society
A) full monarchies
B) ruthless countries
B) feudal fragmentation
D) estate-representative monarchies
8. Fill out the table. Estates of medieval society.
9. Mark the main true statements about cities with a “+” sign
| 1. Cities appeared at the intersections of roads, at river crossings, near fortified places | |
| 2. Medieval cities were larger than ancient cities | |
| 3. Medieval cities were initially subordinate to secular feudal lords and spiritual | |
| 4. The growth of cities was associated with the rise of agricultural and craft production, and the development of trade | |
| 5. Communal movement became the reason for the liberation of many cities from the power of the lords | |
| 6. Most medieval cities obeyed the king | |
| 7. All inhabitants of the city were considered full citizens, regardless of property status | |
| 8. Craftsmen of the same profession united in workshops, and merchants in guilds |
10. Correlate the dates and events in the formation of Christianity in Europe
Write down your answer
| A | B | IN | G |
Secrets of Vastu Shastra. Why is it dangerous to have a Christmas tree on your plot of land?
By the end of the 15th century. The thousand-year era of the Middle Ages ended. It is difficult to even list all the achievements in the life of society, in the economy and culture, which humanity owes to the Middle Ages and still enjoys with gratitude. It was then that many states arose that still exist today; modern nations with their own languages and national cultures were formed within their borders. The origins of modern urban life and parliamentary democracy, judicial norms and universities go back to the Middle Ages. At the same time, many scientific discoveries and important inventions were made. Machine tools and blast furnaces, guns and mechanical watches appeared, not to mention such familiar little things as glasses or buttons. The invention of book printing played a particularly important role in the history of mankind.
The Middle Ages was marked by an amazing rise in literature and art. The masterpieces of medieval writers and poets, architects and artists, having become an integral part of world culture, have an impact on you and me.
One of the most important achievements of the Middle Ages was the birth of Europe - not in the geographical, but in the cultural and historical meaning of the word. The basis of this Europe and the rich culture it created was Christianity. Originating in Antiquity, Christianity spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. It turned out to be like a bridge connecting the Middle Ages with Antiquity even when the brilliant Roman culture was dying under the blows of the barbarians. It was in the Middle Ages that the most important part of Europe became Slavic countries, including Rus'.
In many countries of Asia and Africa, Islam, the third most established world religion, played an equally important role. On its basis, the Arab civilization was formed - one of the greatest in the history of mankind. And in some countries of East and Southeast Asia, the oldest of the world's religions, Buddhism, played an equally significant role.
The countries of medieval Asia, Africa and America made a huge contribution to the development of human culture. The West and the East in the Middle Ages differed from each other in many ways, but their development also had common features. Their multilateral interaction led to the mutual enrichment of different cultures and contributed to the birth of recognized masterpieces of world literature and art. The medieval East played an important role in preserving the ancient heritage, so significant for the development of Europe. Material from the site
The end of the Middle Ages in Europe was not like the end of the history of the Ancient World. If the Roman Empire collapsed as a result of internal disintegration and under the blows of the barbarians, then the transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age, although it was marked by strong upheavals in Europe, was not accompanied by either economic, social, or cultural decline. Medieval Europe, having suffered many different shocks during its thousand-year history, still stood firmly on its feet. Moreover, the transition to a new historical era was associated with further development.
The ability for constant development and improvement is the most important distinguishing feature of medieval Europe, which it inherited from the New Age, and, ultimately, from modernity. Although the East also changed a lot in the Middle Ages, Europe, which had lagged behind for a long time, gradually managed to get ahead in technical and economic terms, and later use its superiority to establish dominance over other parts of the world.
