Everyday life and customs of medieval Rus'. Preface The Middle Ages: the lifestyle of a knight

No matter how important the military and religious aspects of existence and contacts with the surrounding Muslim world were for the Latin states of Lenant, the problems of peaceful life and ensuring everyday life occupied an equally significant place. Immediately after the bloody wave of conquest, it became clear that murder and terror were not the best way to ensure the stability and viability of new states. The Franks themselves did not have the opportunity to settle these countries precisely because of the peculiarities of the “combat” pilgrimage: after all, the absolute majority of participants in the crusades, after they fulfilled their duty as pilgrims, left the Holy Land. And those thousands, even tens of thousands of Catholic soldiers who still remained, could not at all become a replacement for millions. In addition, the conquerors themselves needed subjects, they needed money and food for the army. Therefore, soon after the First Campaign, especially from 1110, when the new government was sufficiently strengthened, the attitude towards the conquered population changed significantly.

It is important to note that the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean were distinguished by exceptional national and religious diversity. About half the population were Muslims (in the Kingdom of Jerusalem their percentage was even higher). And in the Principality of Antioch, most of the inhabitants were Greek Orthodox.

The county of Edessa and Eastern Cilicia were predominantly Armenian. The mountainous regions and valleys of Lebanon were inhabited by both Maronite Christians* and Druze** who had broken away from each other. All this was supplemented by a considerable number of Jewish Judaists, and in the mountainous northeast also fire-worshipping Persians. If we take into account that the same Muslims were divided into Ismailis, Twelfth Shiites and Orthodox Sunnis***, then the picture becomes extremely motley.

It must be admitted that the new rulers coped with the task of establishing order in the conquered territories quite well. It was based on a principle as old as the world, clearly formulated back in ancient Macedonia: “divide and conquer.” The entire population was clearly divided depending on privileges or, conversely, restrictions, taxes paid and legal status. At the same time, the authorities tried not to interfere in the internal life of these communities, demanding only compliance with general legislation. The Frankish lords did not interfere with local customs and self-government; Moreover, each social group had its own legal norms. So, for example, Muslims judged according to Sharia law - of course, the judges were also Muslims. Naturally, the highest jurisdiction belonged to the conquerors, whose court tried crimes that went beyond the boundaries of a particular community (for example, a lawsuit between a Muslim and an Orthodox Greek) or especially serious crimes. Otherwise, these different groups were practically autonomous.

* Maronites are an Eastern Christian sect that arose around the 5th century. In 1181 they submitted to the apostolic see, but retained a certain internal autonomy.

** The Druze are a heretical movement in Islam founded by the Egyptian Sultan al-Hakim, who declared himself a living god around 1017. They refused to practice the Shahada, thereby excluding themselves from the ranks of Muslims; were also hostile towards Islam.

***See Chapter 3.

The most privileged part of the subjects were, of course, the crusaders themselves and their descendants. Almost all of them, with the exception of a small part of the feudal lords' servants, enjoyed personal freedom, including complete freedom of movement and settlement. In general, these former peasants, who by the will of fate became warriors, occupied a place in the Levant that has no analogues in the European class system of that time. A fairly clear three-tier gradation prevailed there: those who prayed - that is, the clergy, those who fought - the knighthood, and the working people - the peasantry. The growth of cities, of course, began to complicate this order - craft and trade moved significantly away from rural labor. Nevertheless, the belonging of merchants and artisans to the working class was beyond doubt. But with the crusaders of the first wave and their descendants the situation was more complicated. On the one hand, they were undoubtedly workers who fed on their own work. Some of them became tenants of the feudal lords, usually on the condition of paying a tenth of the harvest**. The other part, and until the end of the 12th century, the smaller one, settled in cities. But, on the other hand, the Catholic conquerors constituted an insignificant minority in the Holy Land, living among a hostile (or, at best, neutral) population that outnumbered them tens of times. And the feudal lords were forced to constantly attract them as a military force for endless wars. That is, they were both breastfeeding and military at the same time.

The conflict for a rigidly structured medieval society was, indeed, almost unprecedented. Only as a very incomplete analogy, and even a later one, can one cite the English yeomen or Russian single-lords. And yet, the yeomen legally remained peasants, while the noblemen, despite their actual peasant labor, belonged to the nobility. For the crusaders of non-noble origin, a clear legal status was never determined: they remained an intermediate social group. And from the end of the 12th century, this legal problem gradually began to fade away. Saladin's conquests forced almost all Catholics to move to the cities, and after Saladin's death a half-century period of peace began, and the need for constant military service disappeared. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the line that in Europe completely separated the nobility from the peasants was largely blurred in the Holy Land, and during the years of the Crusades, many of these “Catholic single-lords” joined the ranks of knighthood.

Among the conquered population, Christians of various persuasions had a higher status; Moreover, before the break with Byzantium at the beginning of the 13th century, the position of the Orthodox Greeks was the best. They enjoyed some tax benefits, and sometimes were recruited into the army. Relations with the Monophysite Armenians* were more complex, but in general the Armenians remained a privileged group. Moreover, the crusader nobles willingly married representatives of the Armenian nobility, and the Armenian princes married the daughters of Frankish lords and knights. This was especially noticeable in the County of Edessa, which already in the thirties of the 13th century had become a prosperous Franco-Armenian enclave beyond the Euphrates.

The largest part of the population was in a less advantageous position. Muslims were subject to much higher taxes, ranging from 30 to 50%, depending on the area and the crop grown. They were also prohibited from living in Jerusalem and some port cities. At the same time, their situation was not particularly difficult, and in many ways it was even better than under the rule of fellow Muslims. It is interesting, in THIS connection, the testimony of the implacable enemy of the crusaders - the slave traveler Ibn Ju-bayr, who around 1184 wrote the following: “We moved from Tibnin along the threshold, along which stretched farms where Muslims live, living in great prosperity under the Franks - May Allah protect us from such a temptation... Muslims are the owners of their houses and govern themselves as they understand... The hearts of many Muslims are filled with the temptation to settle there (in the Frankish lands) when THEY see the situation of their brothers in the areas ruled by Muslims, for their condition is very far from prosperous. Unfortunately for Muslims, in countries where their co-religionists rule, they always complain about the injustice of their rulers, but they criticize the behavior of the Franks, whose justice they can only be proud of.”

The words of ibn Jubayr are echoed by the famous Arab poet and scientist Osama ibn Munkyz, who also seriously fears the mass resettlement of Muslims under the rule of the crusaders. Osama, who is by no means friendly towards the Franks, praises the fairness of their justice, which he experienced himself - the court in his litigation with the Catholic took the side of Osima, and not his co-religionist. The Arab poet also notes that Christians (in this case, the Templars) gave him the opportunity to pray to Allah in their own chapel. In general, Islamic authors emphasize that in matters of religious ritual the conquerors were quite tolerant: suffice it to say that in the crusader citadel of Acre there were two mosques.

The Jewish population of the Levant was in a similar position to the Muslims. They were also forbidden to live in Jerusalem, and the tax burden was the same. However, it is worth noting that both Muslims and Jews did not pay church tithes, which reduced fiscal pressure, and sometimes caused discontent among some Christian communities; in particular, the Armenians of Jerusalem complained about such injustice. And in general, the attitude towards Jews in the Christian states of the East was not bad. The Jews could practice their religious rites quite freely; no one forced them to wear special clothing indicating their faith, which was constantly practiced in Europe and often caused hostility and persecution. In Syria and Palestine for all two hundred years there was not a single pogrom against Jews. The practice of ghettos*, so beloved in Europe, was also not used: Jews could freely settle in cities and engage in any type of activity at their discretion.

A review of the national-religious situation in the Latin East will be incomplete without mentioning another very interesting group - the so-called. Turkopo-loving. From them, auxiliary units of lightly armed cavalry of the Seljuk type were recruited. From this it is clear that the Turkopols were descendants of the Seljuks and preserved the basic elements of their life and culture. However, the origin of Turcopoles is still unclear. Perhaps these were Turks who converted from Islam to Catholicism, although such transitions are a rare occurrence in the society of that time. They could also be descendants of mixed Muslim-Christian marriages - Christians by faith and Turks by way of life. Finally, it could also be Muslim Turks who crossed II.-| side of the enemy and swore an oath of allegiance to the crusaders. The first version is perhaps supported by the fact that Saladin in 1169 ordered the killing of all captured Turcopoles. A change of faith - that is, essentially a betrayal of Islam - fully explains this rage of the Kurdish ruler, who in general was not particularly bloodthirsty. And in later times there were precedents for a mass transition from Islam to Christianity - just remember the baptized Tatars in the service of the Russian grand dukes.

The conquering crusaders quite organically joined this conglomerate of peoples and cultures. Already the second generation of “Christ’s soldiers” differed sharply from their fanatical fathers, as well as from the newly arriving pilgrims. And despite the constant external war (with the exception of the aforementioned peaceful half-century of 1193-1243) waged by Christian states, a fairly strong internal peace was established in them. The history of the Latin East for all two centuries of its existence is almost devoid of major popular unrest (which, by the way, the neighboring Muslim countries could not boast of). A certain symbiosis was established - the Franks guaranteed law and order, the conquered peoples, almost without changing their way of life, paid established, not too burdensome, taxes. The famous chronicler Fulcher of Chartres spoke figuratively and emotionally about the current cultural phenomenon back in 1120 (!): “People from the West, we have turned into residents of the East. Yesterday's Italian or Frenchman became a Galilean or Palestinian. The resident of Reims or Chartres was now converted into a Syrian or Antiochene. We have forgotten our native country. Here one owns the house and servants with such confidence, as if it were his hereditary right from time immemorial. Another takes as his wife a Syrian, an Armenian, or even a baptized Saracen. The third lives with a local family. We all speak several languages ​​of this land.”

The internal peace established in the Latin East soon led to a revival of economic life. The crusader states in the 12th-13th centuries were in a flourishing state, even despite constant war and incessant raids by regular Seljuk cavalry or Bedouin robbers. The agriculture of the Levant achieved great success, having embarked on the path of commodity production much earlier and more firmly than Europe.

Agricultural achievements, of course, were facilitated by the fact that both the coast of the Levant and many of the lands inland around the Sea of ​​Galilee and along the banks of the Jordan were extremely fertile, and they could grow several crops per year.

The excellent climate, a well-established irrigation system of canals and aqueducts preserved from Roman times gave peasants the opportunity to grow a wide variety of crops. In addition to traditional wheat, other grains were also cultivated, including millet. Viticulture, gardening and olive growing played a very important role in the economy. The export of these goods to Europe was significant, where Levantine olive oil and many varieties of them were very popular. Ec-Yutic Mediterranean fruits also arrived on the tables of European nobles. It is interesting that the now well-known apricot was a completely unknown fruit for the West and gained popularity only after the conquest of the Holy Land. Moreover, apricot began to enjoy the glory of “godly” food and began to be actively cultivated in monasteries, from where it later spread throughout Europe.

The agriculture of the Eastern Mediterranean also provided the Western world with two more extremely important products - sugar and cotton. In the Levant, these industrial crops were grown almost exclusively for export and, with the growth of commodity-money relations, gradually occupied an increasing place in the economy of the region. Finally, a separate and important export item were valuable wood species, incense and especially spices, the trade of which brought fabulous profits and became one of the main factors in the economic prosperity of the Levant in the 12th-13th centuries.

In general, trade in the new Christian states occupied an extremely important place. Already from the middle of the 12th century and especially in the first half of the 13th century, commerce, focused on large import-export operations, became the driving force of the entire Levantine economy. The cities of the Eastern Mediterranean, and especially the ports, turned into thriving trading centers that attracted merchants from all over the world. In the middle of the 13th century, Acre, which became the most important transshipment base for world transit trade, was home to more than sixty thousand people; it was one of the largest cities in the world, surpassing in population such large capital cities as Paris, Rome and London. Acre, Tire, Beirut, Tripoli and Laodicea became destinations for trade routes to and from the east, and became a meeting place between East and West.

The growth of Levantine trade could not fail to attract special attention from such large trading cities as Venice, Genoa and Pisa. Initially, their interest was focused on transporting pilgrims, whose numbers increased significantly after the conquest of Jerusalem, crusader military contingents and military equipment. This brought huge income to the Italian city-republics and became one of the main sources of initial capital accumulation. Little by little, priorities began to shift, and by the beginning of the 13th century, cunning Italian merchants had taken control of the Leiantian transit trade. In coastal cities, neighborhoods and entire districts appeared that belonged to Genoese or Venetian merchants. In Tyre, the Venetians, in general, owned a third of the city, under ■-JTOM they enjoyed the right of extraterritoriality and had huge tax benefits. The Genoese quarter and Acre occupied the central square with the church ell. Lawrence and the palace where the court chamber met. The quarter had its own fortified gates, its own bakeries, shops and hotels for visiting merchants.

Trade gave the Italians colossal dividends. It was not too uncommon to receive five hundred, or even a thousand percent profit from a trade transaction. But even taking into account all kinds of tax benefits (especially since, for example, Byzantine or Armenian merchants did not have such benefits), a considerable share of this income remained in the Holy Land, ending up in the pockets of princes and feudal lords; Some things also fell to the common population. It was the unprecedented scale of trade operations that led to a situation unique for the Middle Ages, when fiefs often featured not land holdings, but various financial payments - shares of tax or port fees, interest on trade transactions, etc. In conditions of unstable feudal land tenure - always one could expect a Muslim invasion - this was a kind of insurance for lords and knights, allowing them to invest in strengthening their castles. And although the feudal nobility did not directly participate in trade operations - this contradicted the unwritten knightly code of honor - its very wealth and even, to some extent, political power were based precisely on the success of trade.

The economic advantages of the princely-knightly elite were well supported by legal trump cards. In the second half of the 12th century, under King Amalrich, a set of laws was finally formulated and written down - the famous Jerusalem Assizes. Unfortunately, this wonderful monument of medieval law has not reached us: the manuscripts with a complete record of the laws were lost during the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin. But until the fall of Acre, the oral tradition of interpretation of these laws prevailed; There were also written comments, of which the most famous was the so-called. “The Book of Jean d'Ibelin.” Its author himself was a representative of the princely elite, the Count of Jaffa, and in his work both political aspects and legal procedures related to the concepts of vassalage and feudal ownership, the rules of conduct of knights and the limits of jurisdiction were analyzed in particular detail in relation to feudal lords.

Even based on the sources that have reached us, we can safely say that the Jerusalem assizes were truly a fundamental body of feudal law. Moreover, the assizes defended, so to speak, “feudalism squared”, feudalism in its most vivid and pure forms. They very clearly defined vassalage relations and strictly limited the powers of the central government in relation to the ruling barons. In fact, large landowners in their estates were almost sovereign sovereigns, holding both the life and property of their subjects in their hands. Any feudal lord could only be convicted by a court of peers, that is, lords equal to him in rank: The legislative and political possibilities of kings were sharply limited and were actually reduced to the formal acceptance of the oath of allegiance - homage. However, in the 12th century - a century of permanent wars, kings still had considerable authority as bearers of supreme power. With the advent of a relatively peaceful era, the real power of the kings began to rapidly decrease; they have effectively become nothing more than “first among equals.” In the end, the very title of the King of Jerusalem simply turned into a card being played, giving the winner of the game almost nothing but moral satisfaction. And if in Europe the 13th century became the century of the formation of centralized states and the limitation of the arbitrariness of princes and lords, then in Palestine these years were the time of conservation of the most odious feudal orders.

However, this political fragmentation had little effect on the economic life of the states of the Levant, for which the first half of the 13th century was the time of greatest economic prosperity. Thus, Acre alone in 1240 yielded about fifty thousand pounds of silver per year in the form of taxes and fees (excluding the actual profits of trade operations), which exceeded the financial income of the king of England. In Tripoli in the 13th century there were four thousand silk weaving looms, and Antioch was not inferior to it. In the markets in Tire and Acre one could purchase goods from all over the world - European cloth and textiles, Arabian and Indian spices, noble horses from Central Asia. Until the Mongols cut the Great Silk Road in the mid-13th century, caravans came to the Levant from as far away as China.

The huge income that Levantine trade brought, especially the trade in spices, made it possible to invest significant funds in construction and in improving living standards. The crusaders' acquaintance with the highly developed Islamic culture introduced many of its achievements into Christian use. One of these conquests was the serious success of hygienic procedures, which was almost unknown in Europe at that time. There were dozens of bathhouses in the cities, some of them could accommodate up to a thousand people. The use of cosmetics has become fashionable among women; Even something like beauty salons arose, where women could socialize and pay attention to their appearance. In numerous hospitals of the Johannite and Teutonic orders, not only pilgrims, but also the urban poor could receive a wide variety of food, as well as medical care. In the houses of nobles and large merchants, swimming pools and fountains were commonplace.

And yet, despite some interpenetration of Christian and Muslim cultures, its degree should not be exaggerated. The “soldiers of Christ” by no means merged with the conquered population; Each national and religious group lived separately, essentially turning in on itself. A nobleman could know several languages ​​of the country in order to facilitate communication, but, for example, during the entire two centuries of Christian rule, not a single Arabic book was translated into Latin, commonly used among Catholics. However, in the same way, Muslims accepted the introduced Western culture. The Latin East was an absolutely remarkable conglomerate of cultures, each of which retained its own identity.

Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences

Abstract on cultural studies:

“Life and customs of the Middle Ages”

Saint Petersburg
2003.

Content:
1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………3
2. Brightness and poignancy of life…………………………………………………….4
3. Chivalry………………………………………………… …………………..7
4. The significance of the cathedral in a medieval city…………………………………10
5.City dweller and time……………………………………………………….. 14
6. Crime of the Middle Ages…………………………………………… …..16
7. The role of the church…………………………………………………… ………………..17
7.1 The role of the church in education…………………………………………… ….18
8. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..19
Appendix……………………………………………………………………...20
List of references……………………………………………………….. 21

1. Introduction
. I wanted to take a closer look at life in those times. How did people live? What was their morality? What were you guided by in life? What daily worries occupied their minds? How much do the interests of people of the present and those of that time contrast? Just like now there were big cities and squares, but a lot has changed since then: if earlier in the square one could hear
the creaking of wheels, the clatter of hooves, the knock of wooden shoes, the cries of peddlers, the roar and ringing of craft workshops, but now this has been replaced by the frantic pace of city streets and industrial factories. How have people changed?
I was interested to find out what role the cathedral played. And why so much time was devoted to the construction of the cathedral. What meaning did the cathedral bring to public life?

2.Brightness and poignancy of life
When the world was five centuries younger, all life's events took on forms that were much more sharply defined than in our time. Suffering and joy, misfortune and good fortune are much more palpable; human experiences retained the degree of completeness and spontaneity with which the soul of a child perceives grief and joy to this day. Every action, every deed followed a developed and expressive ritual, rising to a durable and unchanging way of life. Important events: birth, marriage, death - thanks to church sacraments, achieved the splendor of a mystery. Things that are not so significant, such as travel, work, business or friendly visits, were also accompanied by repeated blessings, ceremonies, sayings and were furnished with certain rituals.
There was no way to expect relief from the misfortunes and deprivation; at that time they were much more painful and terrible. Illness and health were much more different, the frightening darkness and severe cold in winter were a real evil. They reveled in nobility and wealth with greater greed and more earnestly, for they opposed glaring poverty and rejection much more sharply. A fur-lined cloak, a hot fire from the hearth, wine and a joke, a soft and comfortable bed brought that enormous pleasure, which later, perhaps thanks to English novels, invariably became the most vivid embodiment of everyday joys. All aspects of life were displayed arrogantly and rudely. The lepers twirled their rattles and gathered in processions, the beggars screamed on the porches, exposing their squalor and deformities. Conditions and classes, ranks and professions were distinguished by clothing. Noble gentlemen moved only resplendent in the splendor of their weapons and attire, to the fear and envy of everyone. The administration of justice, the appearance of merchants with goods, weddings and funerals were loudly announced with shouts, processions, crying and music. Lovers wore the colors of their lady, members of the fraternity wore their emblem, and supporters of an influential person wore corresponding badges and insignia.
The appearance of cities and villages was also dominated by diversity and contrasts. The medieval city did not, like our cities, merge into shabby outskirts with simple houses and dull factories, but acted as a single whole, surrounded by walls and bristling with formidable towers. No matter how tall and massive the stone houses of merchants or nobles were, the temple buildings with their bulk reigned majestically over the city.
The difference between summer and winter was felt more sharply than in our lives, as well as between light and darkness, silence and noise. The modern city hardly knows impenetrable darkness, dead silence, the impressive impact of a single light or a single distant cry.
Because of the constant contrasts, the diversity of forms of everything that affected the mind and feelings, everyday life excited and inflamed passions, which manifested themselves either in unexpected explosions of crude unbridledness and brutal cruelty, or in outbursts of spiritual responsiveness, in the changeable atmosphere of which the life of the medieval city flowed.
But one sound invariably drowned out the noise of restless life; no matter how varied it was, it did not mix with anything and raised everything superior into the sphere of order and clarity. This ringing of bells in everyday life was likened to warning good spirits, who, with familiar voices, announced grief and joy, peace and anxiety, convened the people and warned of impending danger. They were called by name: Roland, Fat Woman, Jacqueline - and each understood the meaning of this or that ringing. And although the bells sounded almost incessantly, attention to their ringing did not dull. In the continuation of the notorious judicial duel between two townspeople in 1455, which plunged both the city and the entire Burgundian court into a state of incredible tension, a large bell - “a terrifying thing to hear,” according to Chatellain - rang until the fight was over. On the bell churches of Our Lady in Antwerp there still hangs an ancient alarm bell, cast in 1316 and nicknamed "Orida", i.e. horrida - scary. What incredible excitement must have gripped everyone when all the churches and monasteries of Paris rang their bells from morning to evening - and even at night - on the occasion of the election of a pope who was supposed to put an end to the schism, or in honor of the conclusion of peace between the Bourguignons and the Armagnacs.
The processions were undoubtedly a deeply moving spectacle. In bad times - and they happened often - the processions replaced each other, day after day, week after week. When the disastrous feud between the Houses of Orleans and the Houses of Burgundy eventually led to open civil war, King Charles VI in 1412 deployed the oriflamme in order to, together with John the Fearless, oppose the Armagnacs, who betrayed their homeland by entering into an alliance with the British; in Paris, during the king’s stay in hostile lands, it was decided to organize processions daily. They lasted from the end of May almost to the end of July; they were attended by successive orders, guilds and corporations; Each time they walked along different streets and each time they carried different relics. On these days people fasted; everyone walked barefoot - parliamentary councilors, as well as the poorest townspeople. Many carried torches or candles. There were always children among the participants in the procession. Poor peasants came to Paris on foot, from afar, barefoot. People walked themselves or looked at those walking. And it was a very rainy time.
And then there were the ceremonial entrances of brilliant nobles, arranged with all the cunning and skill that the imagination was capable of. And in never-ending abundance - executions. The cruel excitement and raw sympathy evoked by the spectacle of the scaffold were an important part of the spiritual food of the people. These are performances with moral teaching. Horrible punishments are invented for terrible crimes. In Brussels, a young arsonist and murderer is chained to a ring placed on a pole, around which bundles of brushwood and straw are burning. Addressing the audience with touching words, he softened their hearts so much that “they shed all their tears out of compassion, and set his death as an example as the most beautiful anyone had ever seen.” Mensir Mansart du Bois, an Armagnac who was to be beheaded in 1411. in Paris during the Bourguignon terror, not only with all his heart grants forgiveness to the executioner, which he asks for according to custom, but also wants to exchange a kiss with him. “And there were crowds of people there, and everyone was almost crying bitter tears.” Often those convicted were noble gentlemen, and then the people received an even more vivid satisfaction from the execution of inexorable justice and an even more cruel lesson in the frailty of earthly greatness than any pictorial depiction of the Dance of Death could provide. The authorities tried not to miss anything to achieve the effect of the entire performance: signs of the high dignity of the convicts accompanied them during this mournful procession.
Everyday life invariably gave endless freedom to ardent passions and children's imagination. Modern medieval studies, which, due to the unreliability of the chronicles, primarily turns, as far as possible, to sources that are of an official nature, thereby unwittingly falls into a dangerous error. Such sources do not sufficiently highlight the differences in lifestyle that separate us from the Middle Ages. They make us forget about the intense pathos of medieval life. Of all the passions that colored it, they tell us only about two: greed and belligerence. Who would not be amazed by the almost incomprehensible fury and constancy with which self-interest, quarrelsomeness, and vindictiveness come to the fore in the legal documents of the late Middle Ages! Only in connection with this passion that overwhelmed everyone, scorching all aspects of life, can one understand and accept the aspirations characteristic of those people. That is why chronicles, even if they skim the surface of the events described and also often give false information, are absolutely necessary if we want to see this time in its true light.
Life still retained the flavor of a fairy tale. If even court chroniclers, noble, learned people, close associates of the sovereigns, saw and depicted the latter in nothing other than an archaic, hieratic form, then what should the magical splendor of royal power mean to the naive popular imagination!

Community of townspeople. The uniqueness of the medieval cities of Western Europe was given by their socio-political system. All other features - concentration of population, narrow streets, walls and towers, occupations of citizens, economic and ideological functions and political role - could also be inherent in cities of other regions and other eras. But only in the medieval West the city is invariably presented as a self-regulating community, endowed with a relatively high degree of autonomy and possessing special rights and a fairly complex structure.

3.Chivalry
Chivalry is a special privileged social stratum of medieval society. Traditionally, this concept is associated with the history of the countries of Western and Central Europe, where, during the heyday of the Middle Ages, essentially all secular feudal warriors belonged to knighthood. But more often this term is used in relation to medium and small feudal lords as opposed to the nobility. The origin of knighthood dates back to the period of the early Middle Ages (7th-8th centuries), when conditional forms of feudal land tenure, first lifelong, later hereditary, became widespread. When transferring land to a fief, the grantor became a lord (suzerain), and the recipient became a vassal of the latter, which implied military service (compulsory military service did not exceed 40 days a year) and the performance of some other duties in favor of the lord. These included monetary “help” in the event of a son being knighted, a daughter’s wedding, or the need to ransom a lord who had been captured. According to custom, vassals participated in the lord's court and were present in his council. The ceremony of formalizing vassal relations was called homage, and the oath of allegiance to the lord was called foie. If the size of the land received for service allowed, the new owner, in turn, transferred part of it as fiefs to his vassals (subfeudation). This is how a multi-stage system of vassalage took shape (“suzerainty”, “feudal hierarchy”, “feudal ladder”) from the supreme overlord - the king to single-shielded knights who did not have their own vassals. For the continental countries of Western Europe, the rules of vassal relations reflected the principle: “my vassal’s vassal is not my vassal,” while, for example, in England (the Salisbury oath of 1085) direct vassal dependence of all feudal landowners on the king was introduced with mandatory service in royal army.
The hierarchy of vassal relations repeated the hierarchy of land holdings and determined the principle of the formation of the military militia of the feudal lords. Thus, along with the establishment of military-feudal relations, the formation of knighthood took place as a serving military-feudal class, which flourished in the 11th-14th centuries. Military affairs became his main social function. The military profession gave rights and privileges, determined special class views, ethical standards, traditions, and cultural values.
The military duties of the knights included protecting the honor and dignity of the overlord, and most importantly, the land from encroachment both from neighboring feudal rulers in internecine wars, and from troops of other states in the event of an external attack. In conditions of civil strife, the line between protecting one’s own possessions and seizing other people’s lands was quite unsteady, and a champion of justice in words often turned out to be an invader in practice, not to mention participating in conquest campaigns organized by the royal authorities, such as the numerous campaigns of the German emperors in Italy, or by the Pope himself, like the Crusades. The knightly army was a powerful force. Its weapons and battle tactics corresponded to military tasks, the scale of military operations and the technical level of its time. Protected by metal military armor, knightly cavalry, low-vulnerable to foot soldiers and peasant militia, played the main role in battle.
Feudal wars did not exhaust the social role of chivalry. In conditions of feudal fragmentation and the relative weakness of royal power, knighthood, bound by a system of vassalage into a single privileged corporation, protected the feudal lords’ ownership of land, the basis of their domination. A striking example of this is the history of the suppression of the largest peasant uprising in France - the Jacquerie (1358-1359), which broke out during the Hundred Years' War. At the same time, the knights representing the warring parties, the British and the French, united under the banners of the Navarrese king Charles the Evil and turned their weapons against the rebellious peasants, solving a common social problem. Chivalry also influenced the political processes of the era, since the social interests of the feudal class as a whole and the norms of knightly morality to a certain extent restrained centrifugal tendencies and limited the feudal freemen. During the process of state centralization, knighthood (medium and small feudal lords) constituted the main military force of the kings in their opposition to the nobility in the struggle for the territorial unification of the country and real power in the state. This was the case, for example, in France in the 14th century, when, in violation of the previous norm of vassal law, a significant part of the knighthood was recruited into the king’s army on the basis of monetary payment.
Participation in the knightly army required a certain level of security, and the land grant was not only a reward for service, but also a necessary material condition for its implementation, since the knight acquired both a war horse and expensive heavy weapons (spear, sword, mace, armor, armor for the horse) at his own expense, not to mention the maintenance of the corresponding retinue. Knightly armor included up to 200 parts, and the total weight of military equipment reached 50 kg; Over time, their complexity and price increased. The system of knightly training and education served to prepare future warriors. In Western Europe, boys up to the age of 7 grew up in a family; later, until the age of 14, they were brought up at the court of a lord as a page, then as a squire, and finally a ceremony was held to knight them.
Tradition required the knight to be knowledgeable in matters of religion, know the rules of court etiquette, and master the “seven knightly virtues”: horse riding, fencing, skillful handling of a spear, swimming, hunting, playing checkers, writing and singing poetry in honor of the lady of the heart.
Knighting symbolized entry into a privileged class, familiarization with its rights and responsibilities, and was accompanied by a special ceremony. According to European custom, the knight initiating the title struck the initiator on the shoulder with the flat of his sword, pronounced the initiation formula, put on a helmet and golden spurs, presented a sword - a symbol of knightly dignity - and a shield with the image of a coat of arms and motto. The initiate, in turn, took an oath of allegiance and a commitment to uphold a code of honor. The ritual often ended with a knightly tournament (duel) - a demonstration of military skills and courage.
Knightly traditions and special ethical standards have developed over centuries. The code of honor was based on the principle of loyalty to the overlord and duty. Knightly virtues included military courage and contempt for danger, pride, a noble attitude towards women, and attention to members of knightly families in need of help. Stinginess and stinginess were condemned, and betrayal was not forgiven.
But the ideal was not always in agreement with reality. As for predatory campaigns in foreign lands (for example, the capture of Jerusalem or Constantinople during the Crusades), knightly “deeds” brought grief, ruin, reproach and shame to more than just the common people.
The Crusades contributed to the formation of ideas, customs, the morality of chivalry, and the interaction of Western and Eastern traditions. During their course, special organizations of Western European feudal lords arose in Palestine to protect and expand the possessions of the crusaders - spiritual knightly orders. These include the Johannite Order (1113), the Templar Order (1118), and the Teutonic Order (1128). Later, the orders of Calatrava, Sant Iago, and Alcantara operated in Spain. The Order of the Sword and Livonian is known in the Baltics. Members of the order took monastic vows (non-covetousness, renunciation of property, chastity, obedience), wore robes similar to monastic ones, and under them - military armor. Each order had its own distinctive clothing (for example, the Templars had a white cloak with a red cross). Organizationally, they were built on the basis of a strict hierarchy, headed by an elected master approved by the Pope. Under the master there was a chapter (council) with legislative functions.
The reflection of knightly morals in the field of spiritual culture opened the brightest page of medieval literature with its own special flavor, genre and style. She poeticized earthly joys in spite of Christian asceticism, glorified heroism and not only embodied knightly ideals, but also shaped them. Along with the heroic epic of a highly patriotic sound (for example, the French “Song of Roland”, the Spanish “Song of My Cid”), chivalric poetry appeared (for example, the lyrics of troubadours and trouveres in France and the Minnesingers in Germany) and a chivalric romance (the love story of Tristan and Isolde), representing the so-called “courtly literature” (from the French courtois - courteous, knightly) with the obligatory cult of the lady.
In Europe, chivalry has been losing its importance as the main military force of feudal states since the 15th century. The harbinger of the decline of the glory of French chivalry was the so-called “Battle of the Spurs” (July 11, 1302), when the foot militia of Flemish townspeople defeated the French knightly cavalry. Later, the ineffectiveness of the actions of the French knightly army was clearly evident at the first stage of the Hundred Years' War, when it suffered a number of severe defeats from the English army. Knighthood turned out to be unable to withstand the competition of mercenary armies that used firearms (they appeared in the 15th century). The new conditions of the era of the decomposition of feudalism and the emergence of capitalist relations led to its disappearance from the historical arena. In the 16th-17th centuries. knighthood finally loses the specificity of a special class and becomes part of the nobility.
Representatives of the old knightly families, brought up in the military traditions of their ancestors, formed the officer corps of the armies of the absolutist era, went on risky sea expeditions, and carried out colonial conquests. The noble ethics of subsequent centuries, including the noble principles of fidelity to duty and worthy service to the fatherland, undoubtedly bears the influence of the knightly era.

4. The significance of the cathedral in a medieval city
In the medieval city, the cathedral was for a long time the only public building. It played the role of not only a religious, ideological, cultural, educational center, but also an administrative and, to some extent, economic one. Later, town halls and covered markets appeared, and some of the functions of the cathedral passed to them, but even then it by no means remained only a religious center. The idea that “the main objectives of the city...served as the material basis and symbols of the conflicting social forces that dominated urban life: the castle-support of secular feudal power; the cathedral is the embodiment of the power of the clergy; The town hall is a stronghold of self-government for citizens” (A.V. Ikonnikov) - only partly true. Their unconditional acceptance simplifies the socio-cultural life of the medieval city.
It is quite difficult for a modern person to perceive the variety of functions of a medieval cathedral and its significance in all spheres of city life. The cathedral remained a temple, a religious building, or became an architectural and cultural monument, a museum, a concert hall, necessary and accessible to a few. His life today does not convey the fullness of his existence in the past.
The medieval city was small and enclosed by walls. Residents perceived it holistically, as an ensemble, a feeling lost in the modern city. The cathedral defines the architectural and spatial center of the city; with any type of urban planning, the web of streets gravitated towards it. As the tallest building in the city, it served as a watchtower if necessary. Cathedral Square was the main one, and sometimes the only one. All vital public events took place or began in this square. Subsequently, when the market was moved from the suburbs to the city and a special market square appeared, one of its corners is often adjacent to the cathedral. This happened in a number of cities in Germany and France: Dresden, Meissen, Naumburg, Montauban, Monpazier. In the city, in addition to the main cathedral, as a rule, there were also parish churches, and some of the functions of the cathedral were transferred to them. In large cities their number could be significant. So a contemporary notes in London at the end of the 12th century. One hundred twenty-six such churches.
The cathedral appears to our admiring eyes in a completed and “purified” form. Around it there are no those small shops and benches that, like bird’s nests, clung to all the ledges and caused demands from the city and church authorities “not to punch holes in the walls of the temple.” The aesthetic inappropriateness of these shops, apparently, did not bother contemporaries at all; they became an integral part of the cathedral and did not interfere with its greatness. The silhouette of the cathedral was also different, since one or the other of its wings was constantly located in the forests.
The medieval city was noisy: in a small space one could hear the creaking of wheels, the clatter of hooves, the knock of wooden shoes, the cries of peddlers, the roar and ringing of craft workshops, the voices and bells of domestic animals, which were only gradually driven out of the streets by city authorities, and the rattles of leprosy patients. “But one sound invariably drowned out the noise of a restless life: no matter how diverse it was, it did not mix with anything, raising everything that happened to the sphere of order and clarity. This is a bell ringing. In everyday life, bells were likened to warning good spirits, who, with voices familiar to everyone, announced grief and joy, peace and anxiety, called the people and warned about the impending danger. They were called by name: Roland, Fat Woman-Jacqueline - and everyone understood the meaning of this or that ringing. And although their glosses sounded almost incessantly, attention to their ringing was not dulled at all” (J. Huizinga). The cathedral spikelet provided the necessary information to all townspeople at once: about a fire, about the sea, an attack, or any emergency intra-city event. And today the ancient “Big Pol” or “Big Ben” animate the space of a modern city.
The cathedral was the guardian of time. The bells chimed the hours of the morning service, but for a long time they also announced the beginning and end of the artisan’s work. Until the 14th century. - the beginning of the spread of mechanical tower clocks - it was the cathedral bell that set the rhythm of a “well-ordered life.”
The watchful eye of the church accompanied the city dweller from birth to death. The church accepted him into society, and it also helped him move into the afterlife. Church sacraments and rituals were an essential part of everyday life. Baptism, engagement, marriage ceremony, funeral service and burial, confession and communion - all this connected the city dweller with the cathedral or parish church (in small towns the cathedral was also the parish church), allowing him to feel like a part of Christian society. The cathedral also served as a burial place for wealthy citizens; some had closed family tombs with tombstones there. This was not only prestigious, but also practical (as historians note, robberies of parish cemeteries occurred constantly).
The relationship between the townspeople and the city clergy was far from idyll. The chronicles of Guibert of Nogent, Otto of Freisingen, Richard Devize do not say anything good about the townspeople. In turn, in urban literature - fabliau, schwanks, satirical poetry - the monk and priest are often ridiculed. The townspeople oppose the freedom of the clergy from taxes; they seek not only to free themselves from the power of their prelate lords, but also to take under municipal control affairs that were traditionally under the jurisdiction of the church. Indicative in this regard is the evolution of the situation of hospitals, which during the XIII-XIV centuries. gradually cease to be church institutions, although they retain the patronage of the church and, therefore, the inviolability of their property. However, frequent opposition to the clergy is combined with constant contacts with them in everyday life and does not prevent the townspeople from considering the construction and decoration of the cathedral their vital work.
Not only the townspeople, but also the surrounding peasants, magnates and clergy took part in the construction of the city cathedral. Medieval chronicles and other documents reflected examples of religious enthusiasm that amazed contemporaries: “ladies, knights, everyone tried not only to donate, but also to help the construction with all possible labor.” Often funds were raised throughout the country for the construction of the cathedral. “In the Middle Ages, a wide variety of donations, donations, and contributions for the construction of a temple became widespread, and were considered a worthy and beneficial deed. Most often these were donations of jewelry and valuables, sums of money or free provision of materials for future construction” (K.M. Muratov). The cathedral took several decades to build, but the complete completion of the building took centuries. From generation to generation, legends about the foundation and construction of the temple were told, more and more funds were collected, donations were made, and wills were left. The phrase of the papal legate and former chancellor of the University of Paris, Odo de Chateauroux, that “Notre Dame Cathedral was built on the pennies of poor widows,” of course, should not be taken literally, but there are reasons behind it. A sincere impulse of piety was combined with rivalry with the neighboring city, and for some, with the desire to receive personal absolution. The beautiful cathedral was one of the important signs of prestige, demonstrating the strength and wealth of the city community. The size of temples built in very small cities, the luxury and complexity of their interiors meet the need to create something incommensurate in beauty and grandeur with everything around it. The importance of the cathedral is also evidenced by the desire to immediately restore it after the fire, and certainly in the same place, in order to preserve the usual objects of pilgrimage.
The construction of the cathedral was the focus of the townspeople's attention for many years, but it went into operation long before its final completion. Construction began with the choir part; the roof was built, as a rule, even before the temple was covered with vaults, so worship could be performed fairly quickly after construction began.
etc.................

The Middle Ages begin with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and end around the 15th - 17th centuries. The Middle Ages are characterized by two opposing stereotypes. Some believe that this is a time of noble knights and romantic stories. Others believe that this is a time of disease, dirt and immorality...

Story

The term “Middle Ages” was first introduced in 1453 by the Italian humanist Flavio Biondo. Before this, the term “dark ages” was used, which currently denotes a narrower period of time during the Middle Ages (VI-VIII centuries). This term was introduced into circulation by a professor at the University of Galle, Christopher Cellarius (Keller). This man also divided world history into antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times.
It is worth making a reservation, saying that this article will focus specifically on the European Middle Ages.

This period was characterized by a feudal system of land tenure, when there was a feudal landowner and a peasant half dependent on him. Also characteristic:
- a hierarchical system of relations between feudal lords, which consisted in the personal dependence of some feudal lords (vassals) on others (lords);
- the key role of the church, both in religion and in politics (Inquisition, church courts);
- ideals of chivalry;
- the flourishing of medieval architecture - Gothic (in art as well).

In the period from the X to the XII centuries. The population of European countries is increasing, which leads to changes in social, political and other spheres of life. Since the XII - XIII centuries. There has been a sharp rise in technology development in Europe. More inventions were made in a century than in the previous thousand years. During the Middle Ages, cities developed and became richer, and culture actively developed.

With the exception of Eastern Europe, which was invaded by the Mongols. Many states in this region were plundered and enslaved.

Life and everyday life

People of the Middle Ages were highly dependent on weather conditions. So, for example, the great famine (1315 - 1317), which occurred due to unusually cold and rainy years that destroyed the harvest. And also plague epidemics. It was the climatic conditions that largely determined the way of life and type of activity of medieval man.

During the early Middle Ages, a very large part of Europe was covered with forests. Therefore, the peasant economy, in addition to agriculture, was largely oriented towards forest resources. Herds of cattle were driven into the forest to graze. In oak forests, pigs gained fat by eating acorns, thanks to which the peasant received a guaranteed supply of meat food for the winter. The forest served as a source of firewood for heating and, thanks to it, charcoal was made. He introduced variety into the food of medieval man, because... All kinds of berries and mushrooms grew in it, and one could hunt strange game in it. The forest was the source of the only sweetness of that time - honey from wild bees. Resinous substances could be collected from the trees to make torches. Thanks to hunting, it was possible not only to feed themselves, but also to dress up; the skins of animals were used for sewing clothes and for other household purposes. In the forest, in the clearings, it was possible to collect medicinal plants, the only medicines of that time. Tree bark was used to mend animal skins, and the ashes of burnt bushes were used to bleach fabrics.

As well as climatic conditions, the landscape determined the main occupation of people: cattle breeding predominated in the mountainous regions, and agriculture in the plains.

All the troubles of medieval man (disease, bloody wars, famine) led to the fact that the average life expectancy was 22 - 32 years. Only a few lived to the age of 70.

The lifestyle of a medieval person depended largely on his place of residence, but at the same time, the people of that time were quite mobile, and, one might say, were constantly on the move. At first these were echoes of the great migration of peoples. Subsequently, other reasons pushed people on the road. Peasants moved along the roads of Europe, individually and in groups, looking for a better life; “knights” - in search of exploits and beautiful ladies; monks - moving from monastery to monastery; pilgrims and all kinds of beggars and vagabonds.

Only over time, when the peasants acquired certain property, and the feudal lords acquired large lands, then cities began to grow and at that time (approximately the 14th century) Europeans became “homebodies.”

If we talk about housing, about the houses in which medieval people lived, then most buildings did not have separate rooms. People slept, ate and cooked in the same room. Only over time did wealthy townspeople begin to separate the bedroom from the kitchens and dining rooms.

Peasant houses were built of wood, and in some places preference was given to stone. The roofs were thatched or made of reeds. There was very little furniture. Mainly chests for storing clothes and tables. They slept on benches or beds. The bed was a hayloft or a mattress stuffed with straw.

Houses were heated by hearths or fireplaces. Stoves appeared only at the beginning of the 14th century, when they were borrowed from the northern peoples and Slavs. The houses were illuminated with tallow candles and oil lamps. Only rich people could purchase expensive wax candles.

Food

Most Europeans ate very modestly. They usually ate twice a day: morning and evening. Everyday food was rye bread, porridge, legumes, turnips, cabbage, grain soup with garlic or onions. They consumed little meat. Moreover, during the year there were 166 days of fasting, when eating meat dishes was prohibited. There was much more fish in the diet. The only sweets were honey. Sugar came to Europe from the East in the 13th century. and was very expensive.
In medieval Europe they drank a lot: in the south - wine, in the north - beer. Instead of tea, they brewed herbs.

The utensils of most Europeans are bowls, mugs, etc. were very simple, made of clay or tin. Products made of silver or gold were used only by the nobility. There were no forks; people ate at the table with spoons. Pieces of meat were cut with a knife and eaten with their hands. The peasants ate food from the same bowl as a family. At feasts, the nobility shared one bowl and a wine cup. The dice were thrown under the table, and hands were wiped with a tablecloth.

Cloth

As for clothing, it was largely unified. Unlike antiquity, the church considered glorifying the beauty of the human body sinful and insisted that it be covered with clothing. Only by the 12th century. The first signs of fashion began to appear.

Changing clothing styles reflected the public preferences of the time. It was mainly representatives of the wealthy classes who had the opportunity to follow fashion.
The peasant usually wore a linen shirt and trousers that reached his knees or even his ankles. The outer clothing was a cloak, fastened at the shoulders with a clasp (fibula). In winter, they wore either a roughly combed sheepskin coat or a warm cape made of thick fabric or fur. Clothes reflected a person's place in society. The attire of the wealthy was dominated by bright colors, cotton and silk fabrics. The poor were content with dark clothes made of coarse homespun linen. Shoes for men and women were leather pointed shoes without hard soles. Headdresses originated in the 13th century. and have changed continuously since then. Familiar gloves acquired importance during the Middle Ages. Shaking hands in them was considered an insult, and throwing a glove to someone was a sign of contempt and a challenge to a duel.

The nobility loved to add various decorations to their clothes. Men and women wore rings, bracelets, belts, and chains. Very often these things were unique jewelry. For the poor, all this was unattainable. Wealthy women spent significant amounts of money on cosmetics and perfumes, which were brought by merchants from eastern countries.

Stereotypes

As a rule, certain ideas about something are rooted in the public consciousness. And ideas about the Middle Ages are no exception. First of all, this concerns chivalry. Sometimes there is an opinion that the knights were uneducated, stupid louts. But was this really the case? This statement is too categorical. As in any community, representatives of the same class could be completely different people. For example, Charlemagne built schools and knew several languages. Richard the Lionheart, considered a typical representative of chivalry, wrote poetry in two languages. Karl the Bold, whom literature likes to describe as a kind of macho boor, knew Latin very well and loved to read ancient authors. Francis I patronized Benvenuto Cellini and Leonardo da Vinci. The polygamist Henry VIII spoke four languages, played the lute and loved the theater. Is it worth continuing the list? These were all sovereigns, models for their subjects. They were oriented towards them, they were imitated, and those who could knock an enemy off his horse and write an ode to the Beautiful Lady enjoyed respect.

Regarding the same ladies, or wives. There is an opinion that women are treated as property. And again, it all depends on what kind of husband he was. For example, Lord Etienne II de Blois was married to a certain Adele of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror. Etienne, as was customary for a Christian then, went on crusades, while his wife remained at home. It would seem that there is nothing special in all this, but Etienne’s letters to Adele have survived to this day. Tender, passionate, yearning. This is evidence and an indicator of how a medieval knight could treat his own wife. One can also recall Edward I, who was destroyed by the death of his beloved wife. Or, for example, Louis XII, who after the wedding turned from the first libertine of France into a faithful husband.

When talking about the cleanliness and level of pollution of medieval cities, people also often go too far. To the point that they claim that human waste in London was poured into the Thames, as a result of which it was a continuous stream of sewage. Firstly, the Thames is not the smallest river, and secondly, in medieval London the number of inhabitants was about 50 thousand. So they simply could not have polluted the river in this way.

The hygiene of medieval man was not as terrible as we imagine. They love to cite the example of Princess Isabella of Castile, who vowed not to change her underwear until victory was won. And poor Isabella kept her word for three years. But this act of hers caused a great resonance in Europe, and a new color was even invented in her honor. But if you look at the statistics of soap production in the Middle Ages, you can understand that the statement that people have not washed for years is far from the truth. Otherwise, why would such a quantity of soap be needed?

In the Middle Ages there was no such need for frequent washing as in the modern world - the environment was not as catastrophically polluted as it is now... There was no industry, food was free of chemicals. Therefore, water and salts were released with human sweat, and not all those chemicals that are abundant in the body of a modern person.

Another stereotype that has become entrenched in the public consciousness is that everyone stank horribly. Russian ambassadors to the French court complained in letters that the French “stinked terribly.” From which it was concluded that the French did not wash, they stank and tried to drown out the smell with perfume. They actually used perfume. But this is explained by the fact that in Russia it was not customary to smother oneself heavily, while the French simply doused themselves with perfume. Therefore, for a Russian person, a Frenchman who reeked heavily of perfume was “stinking like a wild beast.”

In conclusion, we can say that the real Middle Ages were very different from the fairy-tale world of chivalric romances. But at the same time, some facts are largely distorted and exaggerated. I think the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. Just as always, people were different and they lived differently. Some things, compared to modern ones, really seem wild, but all this happened centuries ago, when morals were different and the level of development of that society could not afford more. Someday, for future historians, we will find ourselves in the role of “medieval man.”

Latest tips from the History section:

Did this advice help you? You can help the project by donating any amount at your discretion for its development. For example, 20 rubles. Or more:)

As soon as we talk about medieval knights or about chivalry in general, the same, essentially the same image immediately passes before our mental gaze: the image of valiant and noble warriors in bright shining armor. Here is their cavalcade trotting out of the castle gates under bright banners pleasing the eye with the freshness of their colors. Here they are - some with a spear at the ready, some with a sparkling sword in hand - rushing into battle to defend the right of the undeservedly offended, to protect the widow and the orphan...

However, as soon as you look closely at this beautiful image, it begins to blur, fragment, losing its original unambiguity. Historical reality was probably much more complex before the stereotypical image of a knight, the same one that served Cervantes as a model for his immortal, cruel and at the same time touching caricature, took shape in the public consciousness.

To begin with, the word “knight” itself has more than one meaning. Initially, it obviously indicates a warrior-horseman (this is obvious for a Frenchman, a Spaniard, an Italian, a German, but, for example, not for an Englishman. - F.N.). But chivalry is far from just cavalry. Very early on, this term was attached to a warrior of very respectable social status, but it still became a noble title much later. Chivalry, in fact, is associated with nobility, but, be that as it may, these categories are not at all synonymous. Finally, the knight is the bearer of a special ethics, various aspects of which appear in different eras with varying degrees of intensity. Knightly morality presupposes: honest fulfillment of all obligations associated with military service - vassal or feudal, devotion to the Church and the king, as well as to one’s patron, lord or beautiful lady; greatness of soul; sense of honor; humility mixed with pride. From such and such elements, taken at different times in different proportions and under different names, an ideal is formed - an ideal offered to the knight by the main characters on the medieval stage: first of all, the Church, which has an almost complete monopoly on culture and which, by all means available to it, medieval “mass information” persistently spreads its own ideology; then, by the secular aristocracy, which is connected with knighthood by blood ties, which little by little acquires its social self-awareness and, in opposition to church influence, brings to the fore its own unique ways of feeling, acting and thinking.

It was the interaction of these two poles, church and aristocratic, that gave soldier, which was originally the knight, professional deontology, social dignity and a multifaceted ideal. It was this that gave birth to chivalry as such, gradually, over the centuries, hewing and polishing it - until Bayard emerged from the ranks of the latter, “a knight without fear and reproach” - both in life and on the pages of historical works XV-XVIII centuries. The image sculpted by Epinal enchants us, but this enchanting and, like a mask, frozen face hides behind itself, as if behind a thick curtain, the changing historical reality. The purpose of the proposed book is to restore the history of chivalry, marking the main stages of its development with milestones.

Chivalry, first of all, is a profession. The profession of those selected warriors who serve their sovereign (king) or their lord (seignor). The special methods of combat of this heavy cavalry quite soon transform it - due to the high cost of weapons and the training required to wield them - into an aristocratic elite. Military service is increasingly concentrated in the hands of this social class, which ultimately begins to look upon it as its exclusive privilege.

Such military service has its own ethics. Ethics going back to two sources. The first of them is the old military morality, requiring obedience to the lord, courage, and combat skill. The second is the old royal ideology, which called not only for the fulfillment of a purely military duty, but also, in addition, imposed obligations of a slightly different kind on knighthood - such as, for example, the defense of the country and its inhabitants, patronage of the weak, widows and orphans . The Church continued educating the military elite in the same spirit in the feudal era itself, when the decline of royal power revealed the power of the owners of castles and their armed servants.

However, the mentality of chivalry was determined not only by this ideal instilled by the Church. Literature, which was more secular in nature, expressed the aspirations of the knights themselves and gave them a model of behavior based on the example of their heroes. This model, perhaps to an even greater extent than the factors mentioned, contributed to the development of a purely knightly ideology based on values ​​that were valued primarily by the knights themselves and which were defended and strengthened precisely by the knights, and by no one else. This ideology is not without greatness, but it also has its flaws. To recognize them does not at all mean to reject the knightly ideal, which, perhaps, continues to live in the depths of our souls.

Notes:

Translator's Notes

Id="n_1">

Note lane

Id="n_2">

Note lane

Id="n_3">

republican Note lane

Id="n_4">

vigilante squad Friends Note lane

Id="n_5">

Note lane

Id="n_6">

Note lane

Id="n_7">

Note lane

Id="n_8">

Note lane

Id="n_9">

Note lane

Id="n_10">

Note lane

Id="n_11">

ordo"(plural ordines ex ordine- in order, one by one. - Note lane

Id="n_12">

12 Binary - binomial. - Note lane

Id="n_13">

Note lane

Id="n_14">

14 Pataria (it. pataria Note lane

Id="n_15">

Hue, Hugues hhhu Hue Note lane

Id="n_16">

Note lane

Id="n_17">

17 Perceval or Parzival Note lane

Id="n_18">

Bretagne ancient Note lane

Id="n_19">

courtoisie Note lane

Id="n_20">

Arnold V.

Barber R.

Barbero A.

Bumke Joachim. Jackson W.T.H. et E. New York, 1982.

Cardini F.

Chênerie M. L.

Cohen G.

Contamine P.

Coss P.R.

Duby G.

Duby G.

Flori J.

Flori J.

Flori J.

Flori J.

Gautier L. La Chevalerie. Paris, 1884.

Jackson W. T. N.

Keen M. Chivalry. London, 1984.

Parisse M.

Reuter H. G.

Ritter J.P.

Stanesco M.

Winter J. M., van.

Literature in Russian

Barber M.

Barg M. A.

Bessmertny Yu. L.

Bitsilli P. M.

Blok M.

Boytsov M. A.

Bordonov Zh.

Budanova V. P.

Volkova Z. N.

Gurevich A. Ya.

Gurevich A. Ya.

Duby J.

Egorov D. Ya.

Zaborov M. A. Crusades. M., 1956.

Zaborov M. A.

Ivanov K.

Cardini F.

Kartashov A.V. Ecumenical councils. M., 1998.

Kolesnitsky N. F.

Conrad N.K. West and East. M., 1966.

Contamin F.

Korsunsky A. R., Gunter R.

Le Goff J.

Le Goff J.

Levandovsky A. P.

Laurent T.

Lyublinskaya A. D.

Meletinsky E. M.

Melik-Gaykazova N. N.

Mikhailov A. D.

Moulin L.

Matthews J. Tradition of the Grail. M., 1997.

Pastoureau M.

Ponyon E.

Rua J. History of chivalry. M, 1996.

Wallace-Hedryll J.M.

Flory J.

Fustel de Coulanges.

Illustrations

Translator's Notes

Id="n_1">

1 Deontology is a branch of ethics that examines the problems of duty and what is due. - Note lane

Id="n_2">

2 Estates, first of all, are not “established” by an imperial edict; the latter is capable, at most, of legalizing an actually existing estate, “prescribing” its rights and obligations. But in this case there was no need for this kind of legislative activity: the horsemen were still The early republican period, that is, several centuries before Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD), was constituted as the second, after the senatorial, estate, with clearly defined rights and responsibilities.

It is true that the equestrian class took off sharply under Augustus, occupying the highest and most profitable positions in the hastily cobbled together imperial administration. - Note lane

Id="n_3">

3 This statement is too categorical and needs clarification. Cavalry in republican Rome was both a traditional and even more honorable branch of the military, since it was formed from the patrician nobility, that is, that faction of it that formed the class of “horses”. Later, the “riders” moved away from military service the further they went, making a career in the field of civil administration or plunging headlong into wholesale trade, usury and tax farming. Their place in the army was gradually taken by turmas (squadrons) recruited from the barbarians, but even at the Battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), on this “last day of the Republic”, the cavalry of Gnaeus Pompey was mostly composed of Roman aristocrats . With such a social composition, there was no way she could become (see next paragraph) an object of neglect. - Note lane

Id="n_4">

4 As the reader probably remembers, the epithet “faithful” was applied, if not exclusively, then primarily to those who surrounded their leader in a tight ring in battle. This is a synonym vigilante, that is, by definition, an aristocrat. By the way, in Rus', as in the West, squad there is a community held together by bonds of loyalty to the prince; This - Friends princes with whom he loves to feast and go into battle. In Rus', the squad was divided into senior (boyars) and “young” (grid, “youths”). Senior warriors came to serve the prince at the head of their own squads, which required considerable expenses for their maintenance. Now we come to the concept of “loyalties” that needed to be created. “Verny,” this Western equivalent of the Russian boyar, also brought his squad to the service of the Frankish king, but he did this, one must think, less disinterestedly than his Russian brother. Such “loyalty” in the West, earlier than in Rus', found expression in a certain size of land allotment. This is the meaning of this term. - Note lane

Id="n_5">

5 The last assumption finds indirect confirmation in the memoirs of Russian participants in the Caucasian War of the 19th century. Shamil's murids (sometimes) and Kabardian princes (quite often) went to battle in chain mail made by Dagestan craftsmen. Such chain mail made its owner invulnerable in a battle with checkers and a Cossack pike; it could only be shot through, and even then only at close range. It fit in the palm of your hand. - Note lane

Id="n_6">

6 The list of battles given by J. Flory can hardly serve as a sufficient substantiation of the thesis he puts forward.

In the Battle of Lechfeld, the light, that is, not at all knightly, Hungarian cavalry suffered a heavy defeat, encountering not only solid infantry, but also mounted knightly militia collected from most of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Czech Republic. This defeat obviously has nothing to do with the issue being raised. At Hastings and at Crecy, the knightly cavalry was forced to attack the infantry (at Crecy, by the way, the infantry consisted of dismounted English knights mixed with archers), so to speak, “from the bottom up,” climbing a steep slope and thereby losing its main “trump card”, the power of the ram blow. At Courtrai, the cavalry attack of the French knights foundered, as it was conducted through a meadow, which turned out to be a swamp. The Flemish infantry owed their victory not to their own stamina (the horsemen did not reach it), but to the lack of cavalry reconnaissance among the French. At Agincourt, the French cavalry vanguard, being cut off from its main forces, attacked the English army deployed in battle formation, and this army was numerically superior to the entire French one, and not just its vanguard.

The list of victories of united infantry over knightly cavalry can be replenished with two more: the battle of Legnano (1176) and on the ice of Lake Peipsi (1242). They had two things in common. Both near Milan and on the border with Russia, the German knights, having exhausted their first blow, no longer resumed the classic cavalry attack “with a running start”, as they were drawn into a grueling sword fight with the infantry at Legnano, storming on foot the Milanese camp surrounded by a ditch, and at Crow Stone, having no place to turn around and reorganize for a new attack. The second common feature of the two battles is the cavalry attack on the flank of the Teutons who had upset their ranks. At Legnano, it was inflicted, moreover, “from a running start”, which was absolutely necessary for gaining the necessary power, by the Milanese knights, who managed to rebuild after the initial defeat. The Battle of Lake Peipsi also ended with the attack of the princely squad, saved for the decisive hour on the wooded shore under the canopy of spreading spruce branches.

All this is true. However, the above exceptions confirm the general rule: throughout the Middle Ages, it was the knightly cavalry that remained the “queen” on the battlefields. An analysis of each of the cases when she failed to maintain her royal dignity in clashes with infantry shows quite clearly: she was entrusted with solving insoluble combat tasks - such as galloping through a swamp “like dry land” or taking off without losing initial speed to the top steep hill, like a bird. - Note lane

Id="n_7">

7 Jugglers - traveling comedians, singers and musicians in medieval France (X-XIII centuries). They performed knightly epic poems (gestures) in recitative or chant and were therefore welcome guests both in the knight’s castle and at the prince’s court. Not a single holiday in high society was complete without them. - Note lane

Id="n_8">

8 Above is a prose translation of the rhymed text. - Note lane

Id="n_9">

9 Interdict - a temporary prohibition (without excommunication) of the pope or bishop from performing divine services and religious ceremonies (baptism of newborns, church weddings, funeral services for the deceased, etc.) in the punished territory. - Note lane

Id="n_10">

10 “Schism” (lit., “schism”), which finally divided the Universal Church into the Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) in 1054, was the result of both the centuries-old separatist policy of the Roman Church and the clearly provocative actions of the papacy directly in the year of the schism . Nevertheless, the West has always placed responsibility for the “schism” on Constantinople and attached the slanderous label of “schismatics” to the Orthodox. It is very characteristic of the current Western mentality that even such an objective researcher as Jean Flory, at the first meeting with the odious term, did not consider it necessary to put it in quotation marks. - Note lane

Id="n_11">

11 In classical Latin the word “ ordo"(plural ordines) had the following basic meanings: 1) row; 2) military row, formation, rank; 3) class, rank, social system; 4) order; ex ordine- in order, one by one. - Note lane

Id="n_12">

12 Binary - binomial. - Note lane

Id="n_13">

13 We are talking, of course, about the “Consolation of Philosophy” by the last Roman philosopher and political figure Anicius Manlius Boethius (480–524). Boethius, the author of treatises on logic, mathematics and theology and court adviser to the Ostrogothic king Theodoric in Ravenna, was accused of treasonous relations with the Byzantine emperor, sentenced to death and imprisoned until the execution of the sentence.

Expecting execution every day, he wrote his last work, the title of which quite clearly reveals its content. The significance of “The Consolation of Philosophy” went far beyond the personal tragic fate of its author: the medieval intellectual elite of the West saw in the book a testament and greeting from Ancient Rome to the new world that replaced it. The manuscript taken by the jailers from the place of execution was carefully copied, copied in dozens of copies, and read in the original language wherever a group of learned monks could gather. Then they began to translate. - Note lane

Id="n_14">

14 Pataria (it. pataria, from the name of the junk market in Milan) is a popular movement in Milan and a number of neighboring cities against the clergy and city nobility for church (Clunian) reform in the second half of the 11th century. It was suppressed, but still played an important role in the success of the Cluny reform and in the formation of city-republics in northern Italy. - Note lane

Id="n_15">

15 Russian reading of such French names as Hue, Hugues and others like them, in the English way, risks greatly surprising the reader, who, of course, knows that the French “ash” ( h), as opposed to the English "eh" ( h), in no way like the Russian “ha” is pronounced. But the trouble is that in Russian phonetics and in the Russian alphabet there are no sounds and letters that would be able to convey, even with a very large “tolerance,” the French letter combination “ hu", and the fact that in a literary text there is no possibility of resorting to signs of international phonetic transcription. English name Hue Pronounced in Russian as “Hugh” quite correctly, but the exact same spelling in French is not pronounced at all. The author of “Les Misérables” and “Notre Dame de Paris” was “christened” in Russian in the 19th century as “Hugo,” and it was terrible: not a single Frenchman would ever recognize his famous writer under this Russified name. Of two or more evils, I have chosen, as it seems to me, the least. - Note lane

Id="n_16">

16 Reithars - here: German cavalry mercenaries who took an active part in the Religious Wars in France in the 16th century. They were distinguished, even from other mercenaries, by their unbridled cruelty and unquenchable greed. - Note lane

Id="n_17">

17 Perceval or Parzival- a literary character, better known to the Russian public under his second, German name thanks mainly to Wagner’s opera. Wagner was inspired, as we know, by the poetic novel of the same name (c. 1198–1210) by Wolfram von Eschenbach, who creatively rethought the novel by Chrétien de Troyes, which was then widely read by Western chivalry. - Note lane

Id="n_18">

18 Bretons are the indigenous inhabitants of Brittany, which is now part of France, but which is at the same time much older than France. It was called "Brittany" while it was still part of Celtic Gaul, that is, when nothing had yet been heard of the Franks who would give their name to France. It is no coincidence that in modern French “Brittany” and “Britain” are denoted by the same word Bretagne: the Brittany peninsula, apparently, became a springboard for the Celtic colonization of the British Isles; in any case, a single ethnic massif stretched from Gaul through Brittany to the British Isles for many centuries (at least half a millennium). In this sense ancient the British (before the landing of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, who arrived from the shores of Schleswig and Jutland), perhaps it is permissible to designate them as “Bretons”. The same term applied to the remnants of the Celtic population in England in the 12th century is hardly acceptable, and the current British, who are considered such after the union of England with Scotland at the beginning of the 17th century, cannot be called “Bretons”. - Note lane

Id="n_19">

19 It is impossible to convey in Russian the meaning of the term “courtiness” or “courtesy” in one word, so I have to turn, firstly, to the transcription and, secondly, to the explanation of the authoritative “New French-Russian Dictionary” by V. G. Gaka and K. A. Ganshina: courtoisie- courtesy, courtesy, politeness, gallantry. - Note lane

Id="n_20">

20 Below are only works covering the problem of chivalry as a whole. The reader will find literature on specific issues in the notes to this book.

Arnold V. German Knighthood, 1050–1300. Oxford, 1985.

Barber R. The Knight and Chivalry. Woodbridge, 1995.

Barbero A. L "Aristocrazia nella società francese del medioevo. Bologna, 1987.

Bumke Joachim. The Concept of Knighthood in the Middle Ages, trad. Jackson W.T.H. et E. New York, 1982.

Cardini F. Alle radici délia cavalleria medievale. Firenze, 1982.

Chênerie M. L. Le Chevalier errant dans les romans arthuriens en vers des XII e et XIII e siècles. Geneve, 1986.

Chickering H. et Seiler Th. H. The study of chivalry. Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1988.

Cohen G. Histoire de la chevalerie en France au Moyen Age. Paris, 1949.

Contamine P. La Noblesse au royaume de France, de Philippe le Bel à Louis XII. Paris, 1997.

Coss P.R. The Knight in Medieval England 1000–1400. Stroud, 1993.

Duby G. Les Trois Ordres ou l "imaginaire du feodalisme. Paris, 1978.

Duby G. Guillaume le Maréchal ou le meilleur chevalier du monde. Paris, 1984.

Flori J. L "Idéologie du glaive. Préhistoire de la chevalerie. Genève, 1983.

Flori J. L "Essor de la chevalerie, XI e -XII e siècle. Genève, 1986.

Flori J. La Chevalerie en France au Moyen Age. Paris, 1995.

Flori J. Croisade et chevalerie. Louvain-La Neuve, 1998.

Gautier L. La Chevalerie. Paris, 1884.

Jackson W. T. N. Chivalry in XIIth century Germany. Cambridge, 1994.

Keen M. Chivalry. London, 1984.

Parisse M. Noblesse et chevalerie en Lorraine médiévale. Nancy, 1982.

Reuter H. G. Die Lehre vom Ritterstand. Köln, 1975 (2 ed.).

Ritter J.P. Ministerialité et chevalerie. Lausanne, 1955.

Stanesco M. Jeux d'errance du chevalier médiéval. Leiden, 1988.

Winter J. M., van. Rittertum, Ideal und Wirklichkeit. Bussum, 1969.

Literature in Russian

Barber M. Templar process. M., 1998.

Barg M. A. Research on the history of English feudalism in the 11th–13th centuries. M., 1962.

Bessmertny Yu. L. Life and death in the Middle Ages. M., 1991.

Bitsilli P. M. Elements of medieval culture. St. Petersburg, 1995.

Blok M. Feudal society // Blok M. Apology of history or the craft of a historian. M., 1986.

Theology in the culture of the Middle Ages. Kyiv, 1992.

Boytsov M. A. German Emperor of the 14th century: instruments for the implementation of power // Power and political culture in medieval Europe. M., 1992.

Bordonov Zh. Daily life of the Templars in the 13th century. M., 2004.

Brunel-Lobrichon J., Duhamel-Amado K. Daily life during the times of the troubadours of the 12th–13th centuries. M., 2003.

Budanova V. P. The barbaric world of the era of the Great Migration. M., 2000.

The relationship between social relations and ideology in medieval Europe. M., 1983.

Power and political culture in medieval Europe. M., 1992. Part 1.

Volkova Z. N. Epic of France. History and language of French epic tales. M., 1984.

Gurevich A. Ya. Culture and society of medieval Europe through the eyes of contemporaries. M., 1989.

Gurevich A. Ya. The medieval world: the culture of the silent majority. M., 1990.

Duby J. Europe in the Middle Ages. Smolensk, 1994.

Egorov D. Ya. Crusades. M., 1914–1915. T. 1–2.

Zaborov M. A. Crusades. M., 1956.

Zaborov M. A. Crusaders in the East. M., 1980.

Ivanov K. The many faces of the Middle Ages. M., 1996.

History of Europe. M., 1992. T. 2.

Cardini F. The origins of medieval knighthood. M., 1987.

Kartashov A.V. Ecumenical councils. M., 1998.

Kolesnitsky N. F. Feudal state V–XV centuries. M., 1967.

Conrad N.K. West and East. M., 1966.

Contamin F. War in the Middle Ages. St. Petersburg, 2001.

Korsunsky A. R., Gunter R. Decline and death of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of the German kingdoms (until the middle of the 6th century). M., 1984.

Le Goff J. The medieval world of the imaginary. M., 2001.

Le Goff J. Civilization of the medieval West. M., 1992.

Levandovsky A. P. Charlemagne: through the empire to Europe. M., 1995.

Laurent T. Carolingian heritage of the 9th–10th centuries. M., 1993.

Lyublinskaya A. D. The structure of class representation in medieval France // Questions of history. 1972. No. 1.

Meletinsky E. M. Medieval novel. Origin and classical forms. M., 1983.

Melik-Gaykazova N. N. French chroniclers of the 14th century as historians of their time. M., 1970.

Mikhailov A. D. French chivalric novel. M., 1970.

Moulin L. Daily life of medieval monks in Western Europe. X–XV centuries. M., 2002.

Matthews J. Tradition of the Grail. M., 1997.

Communities and man in the medieval world. M.; Saratov, 1992.

Experience of the millennium. The Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Life, customs, ideals. M., 1996.

Pavlenko V. G., Nikolaev R. V. European chivalry. Kemerovo, 1998.

Pastoureau M. Daily life in France and England during the time of the Knights of the Round Table. M., 2001.

Ponyon E. Daily life in Europe in the year 1000. M., 1999.

Rua J. History of chivalry. M, 1996.

Wallace-Hedryll J.M. Barbarian West. Early Middle Ages 400–1000. St. Petersburg, 2002.

Flory J. Ideology of the sword. Background of chivalry. St. Petersburg, 1999.

Fustel de Coulanges. History of the social system of ancient France. M, 1901–1916. T. 1–6.

Elite and ethnicity of the Middle Ages. M, 1995.

Illustrations

Translator's Notes

Id="n_1">

1 Deontology is a branch of ethics that examines the problems of duty and what is due. - Note lane

I would like to start a review of the life of a medieval person with the home. It was not difficult to make a choice in its favor, since housing, a house, is the most important component of a person’s worldview of everyday life at all times. The house has been one of the fundamental archetypes of human consciousness since ancient times. All the sacraments of human everyday life take place in it, such as weddings, the birth of children, and the death of loved ones.

Medieval architecture manifested itself most clearly in monumental construction, in the form of cathedrals, churches and castles. The latter became one of the symbols of the Middle Ages; their appearance, as well as their interior decoration, clearly demonstrates the everyday life of the medieval nobility and can be very useful for a researcher of everyday life.

Before we begin to study the dwellings of medieval people in Northern Europe, it is necessary to give the main features of the Northern Renaissance, since this process largely determined the architectural appearance of castles. In fact, the term “Renaissance” (in relation to the processes that took place in the art and social thought of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium) is somewhat conditionally applicable. The essence of the Renaissance, whose origins lay in Italy, was a return to the traditions and heritage of antiquity. In the northern countries, by and large, there was nothing to “revive”, since there were no such traditions. This moment largely determined the specific features of the Renaissance in Germany and Holland. However, of course, the Northern Renaissance was under significant Italian influence.

Otto Benesch traces in more detail the specifics of the Northern Renaissance, citing the differences in its development in Germany and Holland: “One of the features of the German nation is that it always tends to break off the previous course of its development and begin a new one, throwing away all its highest achievements... Hence - irrational changes, catastrophic leaps, ... also reflected in art. In Western countries these changes occurred more evenly. Because of its extensive international connections, the Netherlands has embraced new discoveries and new directions much faster than other Western European countries.” O. Benesh. Art of the Northern Renaissance. Its connection with modern spiritual and intellectual movements. M., 1973. P. 117. Here we note that it was the architecture of the Netherlands that was not directly, but indirectly dependent on Italian trends, which penetrated into it through painting and engraving. The forms of Italian architecture were uniquely transformed in Holland and reworked, leaving the Gothic foundations unchanged. These features appeared both during the construction of churches and during the interior and exterior decoration of castles.

Based on their location relative to the landscape of the area, castles are conventionally divided into two types. Firstly, these are castles located on hills, and secondly, the so-called lowland castles. It should be noted that such castles are much less common, since they were the most vulnerable to attack, and for the same reason, to this day they are practically not preserved. Among the lowland castles there are castles located on the water, on a hill, on a plain, in a cave. During the construction of such buildings, much attention had to be paid to defensive structures. It should be added that there are castles located on the rock; this type of castle was the most protected, however, due to the difficulties of implementing such construction, these castles are very rare. Apparently, one of these castles is depicted in A. Durer’s watercolor “Castle in Innsbruck”. The castle is located on a slight hill, surrounded by a high fortress wall. The central watchtower is covered with scaffolding. By the way, this detail allowed art historians to almost accurately date this painting to 1494-1496.

D.I. Ilovaisky gives a brief and fairly typical description of these types of castles: “The feudal nobility lived, as a rule, in fortified castles. They were built on elevated, often inaccessible places and represented a group of stone, closely built buildings, surrounded by a stone battlement wall with battlemented towers at the corners. Around the wall there was a deep ditch, sometimes filled with water; A drawbridge descended across this moat from the castle gates, which after passing was raised again on chains. Sometimes it was necessary to pass two or three more walls, each with a moat and a drawbridge, before reaching the inner courtyard; around it, in the lower floor, mostly sunk into the ground, there were stables, storerooms, cellars, underground prisons, and living rooms rose above them. These were small cells with narrow windows; Only the reception and feast halls were distinguished by their spaciousness and various decorations: expensive weapons, horned heads of deer, elk and other items of hunting and military spoils were hung on the walls. In the middle of the courtyard there was sometimes a main tower, in which the owner's treasury, feudal documents and other precious things were kept. Long underground passages, in case of danger, led from the castle to a neighboring valley or forest. Of course, the castles of the petty barons were cramped, gloomy and represented rough, unadorned stone masses; and the rich feudal owners built themselves vast castles, decorated them with many slender turrets, columns, arches, carved figures, turning them into beautiful palaces.” The function of the castle was transformed over time: if initially the castle was a fortification and was intended only to protect the owners in case of danger, then later the castle began to serve as a form of demonstrating the power and wealth of its inhabitants. “Fortified castles were a symbol of security, power, and prestige. In the 11th century Donjons were bristling everywhere, and the function of defense predominated. While remaining well protected, castles began to have more residential premises, and residential buildings were built inside the walls.” D. I. Ilovaisky. History of the Middle Ages.// http://www.bibliotekar.ru/polk-8/139.htm

“The medieval castle...with its famous accessories - drawbridges, towers and battlements - was not created overnight. Scientists who devoted their work to the question of the origin and development of castle buildings noted several moments in this history, of which the earliest moment is of greatest interest: to such an extent the original castles are not similar to the castles of subsequent times, but despite all the dissimilarities that exist between them , it is not difficult to find similar features, it is not difficult to see hints of later buildings in the original castle...

The devastating raids of enemies prompted the construction of fortifications that could serve as reliable shelters. The first castles were earthen trenches of more or less extensive size, surrounded by a moat and crowned with a wooden palisade. In this form they resembled Roman camps, and this resemblance, of course, was not a mere accident; There is no doubt that these first fortifications were modeled on Roman camps. Just as in the center of the latter rose the commander’s tent, or praetorium, so in the middle of the space enclosed by the castle rampart, a natural or, for the most part, artificial earthen elevation of a conical shape (la motte) rose. Usually a wooden structure was erected on this embankment, the entrance door of which was located at the top of the embankment. Inside the embankment itself there was a passage into a dungeon with a well. Thus, it was possible to get into this wooden structure only by climbing onto the embankment itself. For the convenience of the inhabitants, something like a wooden platform, a descent on supports, was arranged; in case of need, it was easily disassembled, thanks to which the enemy, who wanted to penetrate the dwelling itself, encountered a serious obstacle. After the danger had passed, the disassembled parts were just as easily restored to their previous state.

Essential parts of a medieval knight's castle are evident here in this unpretentious structure: the house on the earthen embankment corresponds to the main castle tower, the collapsible slope corresponds to the drawbridge, the rampart with the palisade corresponds to the battlement wall of the later castle. Over time, more and more new dangers from external enemies, devastating Norman raids, as well as new living conditions caused by the development of feudalism, contributed to both an increase in the number of castle buildings and the complication of their forms...” Ivanov K. A. The Many Faces of the Middle Ages. A medieval castle and its inhabitants.// http://www.bibliotekar.ru/polk-9/2.htm Further, Ivanov describes in some detail the approach to the castle, in particular, the construction of a drawbridge for crossing the moat surrounding the castle. These bridges were located between two towers and were raised and lowered using chains or ropes. “Above the gate, oblong holes were made in the wall connecting the two newly named towers; they were directed from top to bottom. One beam was threaded into each of them. From the inside, that is, from the castle courtyard, these beams were connected by a crossbar, and here an iron chain descended from the end of one of the beams. Two chains (one to each beam) were attached to the opposite ends of the beams that faced the outside, and the lower ends of these chains were connected to the corners of the bridge. With this arrangement, as soon as you enter the gate, pull down the chain going down there, the outer ends of the beams will begin to rise and pull the bridge behind them, which, after lifting, will turn into a kind of partition obscuring the gate. But, of course, the bridge was not the only defense of the gate. The latter were locked, and quite thoroughly at that. If we approached them at such an inconvenient time, we would have to notify the gatekeeper, located nearby, about our arrival. To do this, one would have to either blow a horn, or hit a metal board with a mallet, or knock with a special ring attached to the gate for this purpose.” Right there. Chapter from the book by Werner Meyer, Erich Lessing. Deutsche Ritter - Deutsche Burgen, translated by Natalia Meteleva, provides valuable additions to this information: the bridge “is supported by one or more pillars. While the outer part of the bridge is fixed, the last section is movable. This is the so-called drawbridge. It is designed so that its plate can rotate around an axis fixed at the base of the gate, breaking the bridge and closing the gate. To set the drawbridge in motion, devices are used both on the gate itself and on its inside. The bridge is raised manually, using ropes or chains running through blocks in slots in the wall. To make work easier, counterweights can be used. The chain can go through blocks to the gate located in the room above the gate. This gate can be horizontal and rotated by a handle, or vertical and driven by horizontal beams threaded through it. Another way to lift the bridge is with a lever. Swinging beams are threaded through the slots in the wall, the outer end of which is connected by chains to the front end of the bridge plate, and counterweights are attached to the rear end inside the gate. This design facilitates rapid lifting of the bridge. Finally, the bridge plate can be designed according to the rocker principle. The outer part of the plate, rotating around an axis at the base of the goal, closes the passage, and the inner part, on which the attackers may already be, goes down into the so-called. a wolf pit, invisible while the bridge is down. Such a bridge is called tilting (Kippbrücke) or swinging (Wippbrücke). For entry when the main gate is closed, there is a gate located on the side of the gate, to which sometimes a separate lift ladder leads. As the most vulnerable point of the castle, the gate also locks and protects other devices. First of all, these are gate leaves, firmly knocked together from two layers of boards and lined with iron on the outside to protect against arson. Most often, the gates are double-leaf, with one of the leaves having a small door through which one person can bend over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate is also locked by a cross beam. It is located in a channel cut into the wall of the gate and slides into a recess located in the opposite wall. The cross beam can also be inserted into hook-shaped slots in the walls. It increases the stability of the gate and prevents it from landing. Next, the gate is protected by a lowering grate: a device already known to the Romans. In the Middle Ages, it was first found in the castles of the Crusaders and from that time spread throughout Europe. The lattice is most often wooden, with bound lower ends. It can also be made of iron, made of steel tetrahedral rods connected by iron strips. The lowering grille can either hang outside, moving in grooves on the sides of the gate, or behind the gate leaves, passing through a slot in the ceiling, or be in the middle, cutting off the front part of the portal. It hangs on ropes or chains, which can be cut off if necessary, and is quickly lowered by the force of its own weight. The lower floor of the gate building (or gate tower), the portal, may have slots and loopholes on the sides for archers and crossbowmen. Usually it is vaulted, and at the top of the vault there is a vertical hole, which serves to defeat the enemy from above, as well as for communication between the sentries below and on the upper floor. Here a guard stands guard, guarding the drawbridge, asking arrivals the name and purpose of the visit, raising the bridge when attacked and, if it is too late for this, pouring water on the attackers through the tar nose (Pechnase). In medieval Germany, in front of the center, or core of the castle (Kernburg), most often there is a front castle - forburg (Vorburg), which not only serves as a household yard, but also represents a significant barrier to the enemy. In castles of this type, the external fortification of the “Barbican”, common in Western and Eastern Europe, is rarely found. The Barbican is a courtyard surrounded by a wall with a gallery (Wehrgang) in front of the gate, sometimes with corner towers or bay windows. In this form the barbican is most often found in front of the city gates. Less commonly, it is found as a defensive structure standing separately in front of the gate, surrounded by its own moat, through which the entrance to the castle goes at an angle. It is connected both to the castle and to the area in front of it by a drawbridge.” Meyer, Erich Lessing. Deutsche Ritter - Deutsche Burgen.München, 1976, translation by N. Meteleva.// http://meteleva.ucoz.ru/blog/2009-01-25-3 It is also mentioned here that after the first crusades it was decided to double the surrounding castle wall. And along the road leading to the castle there were houses of people who performed certain functions in the castle. Apparently, these are the houses that can be seen in the already mentioned watercolor by Dürer “Castle in Innsbruck”. A gatekeeper was also located at the gate. And the bridge and the gatekeeper are not the only defenders of the entrance to the castle.

Now let's summarize all of the above. So, the castle is surrounded by an outer fortress wall, in which there were about ten bastions. A barbican was sometimes located immediately behind the main entrance, surrounded by a wooden palisade. Then came a ditch with water and a dam. Under the arches of the gate, in a special hole, there was a mechanism that set in motion the almost instantly lowering grate. There was a whole village in the courtyard: there was a chapel (which could fit in a residential building), a pool of water, a forge, and a mill. Let us dwell in a little more detail on the listed elements of the castle’s infrastructure.

Chapel. It was impossible to do without it due to the fact that upon accepting knighthood, a person made a vow to attend divine services every day. The chapel was also necessary in case of a castle siege; its presence excluded the possibility for the inhabitants of the castle to be cut off from the church, from the consolation and hopes received through prayer. The chaplain (castle priest) often served as a secretary and also served as a mentor in matters of faith for young people. The chapel could simply be a niche in the wall where the altar stood. The niche, in turn, could be carved into the wall and protrude outward. N. Meteleva explains this by saying that the inhabitants of the castle hoped to receive God's help in the most vulnerable place of the castle. “Detached castle chapels were most often simple rectangular or square hall buildings with a semicircular apse. Sometimes there are round, octagonal or cruciform buildings. Chapels associated with residential buildings often have choirs for gentlemen. The division of worshipers by rank and position presumably lay in the idea of ​​two-story chapels, where an opening in the vault of the lower room served as communication with the upper one. Chapels of this kind were built mainly in castles of high nobility, which had the character of a residence. Sometimes the floors were also connected by a staircase. The furnishings of the castle chapel included a small altar and simple benches, as a rule there were also wall frescoes depicting biblical walls or the legend of the patron. Good examples remain primarily in South Tyrol. Sometimes the chapel also served as a tomb for the family living in the castle. It could also be a refuge.” Ibid..

Swimming pool with water. It was very important for the castle to have a sufficient supply of water in case of siege. Therefore, they tried to build the central tower - the donjon - on the site of the spring; it was often located at a distance from the rest of the castle buildings. In other cases, deep wells were made, and the technical complexity and high cost of such work did not become an obstacle. The pools served as a kind of water storage. In those areas where it was difficult to find a spring, the drinking supply was provided using groundwater and rainwater. For this purpose, special tanks were built; the water collected in them was filtered through gravel.

The interior decoration of castles can be judged both on the basis of paintings and on the basis of information from surviving documents. One characteristic feature inherent in the painters of the Northern Renaissance is very beneficial to the researcher of the everyday life of medieval people. The point is that the subjects of the paintings could be taken from any historical era (mostly, of course, biblical subjects predominate), but the action was transferred to the artist’s contemporary world. The objects surrounding this or that biblical character are not authentic, they look like they are contemporary to the artist. That is, the same Virgin Mary with the infant Christ could well be in the chambers of the castle. In the setting of the same chambers, the Magi worship Christ, all kinds of saints were also depicted in clothes contemporary to the artist. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that it was believed that saints were always nearby, invisibly present in people’s lives, therefore, they were dressed the same way. Therefore, by carefully examining the paintings of Dutch and German masters, and, of course, with the help of special literature, one can get a fairly complete picture of the interior decoration of a medieval castle.

The residential building of the castle - the palace (la grand "salle, der Saal) - was located on the upper floors, the second or even the third. This arrangement of the palace was most common, and only in rich princely castles the palace was a separate building, on the top floor of which there was a the so-called knight's hall (by the way, in those days the term "knight's hall" was not used and was introduced only in the 19th century as a romantic delight. In the same princely castles, the hall was preceded by a gallery with a large number of windows. Thanks to this, such galleries were called bright. However, with with the beginning of the Little Ice Age, which brought significant climate changes towards lower temperatures, large windows in the halls and galleries were either reduced in size or completely bricked in. By the beginning of the late Middle Ages, windows began to appear in the outer fortress walls, this was due to a change in the castle’s defense system: Earthen fortifications began to be erected in front of the castle, which assumed the main defensive functions.

In the early Middle Ages, windows were closed with wooden shutters. This is clearly illustrated by the painting “The Annunciation” by the Dutch artist Robert Campen. Here you can see that the windows are covered with something opaque, most likely it is either parchment or very cloudy glass; There are wooden shutters on hinges attached to the frames. There is a very similar window in another work by the same artist, “Madonna and Child.” The same shutters are made of boards fastened together with nails with semicircular heads. A lock is clearly visible on one of the shutters. Despite the fact that the window is clearly located on the top floor, the artist did not omit such a detail, which once again demonstrates the constant concern of the owners of the castles for safety.

Later, the so-called “forest glass” began to be used for glazing windows, which was round washers, rather cloudy and poorly transmitting light. A characteristic feature of these glasses is that they thickened at the base, which is explained by the specifics of their manufacture. Sheet glass was still unknown, so glassmakers first blew cylinders, which were then flattened (often unevenly) and took the shape of washers. And the builders, in turn, preferred to install the glass there in such a way that the thickened segment was at the base of the window. Forest glass (waldglas) got its name because it contained tree resin - potash; they replaced soda, the secret of the preparation of which was kept strictly secret by the Venetians. The German monk Theophilus wrote in his famous “Treatise on Various Crafts” that in the X-XI centuries. German glassmakers made glass from two parts beech ash and one part well-washed sand, and in the 12th century. used fern ash. Based on materials from the site http://biseropletenie.com/sposobipr/5.html Due to the high level of iron oxides used in production, the glass turned out to have an unusual greenish color. However, not every owner of the castle could afford even such glass, it was so expensive. Therefore, most often window openings were sealed with parchment and leather sheets; the cracks were plugged with moss or straw. In castles of the early Middle Ages, the floors were also covered with straw. When the flooring became unusable due to bones being thrown on it, beer being spilled and spitting on it, the straw was replaced with fresh straw.

The lighting in the castle as a whole was rather poor; paraffin candles, of course, did not yet exist, so candles made from lamb fat or fat obtained from cow kidneys were mainly used. Wax candles were expensive and were used only if the owner of the castle had his own apiary. The wick of wax candles was made from reed, and special scissors were used to remove carbon deposits.

In connection with the use of candles, candelabras of various shapes and sizes began to appear. An example of such candelabra can be seen in the already mentioned painting by Robert Campin “The Annunciation”. They are mounted on the fireplace portal and are not very intricate in appearance; they are made of dark, or probably darkened by burning, metal. On the table at which the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Michael are sitting, there is a bronze candlestick. There were also wall candlesticks that easily turned and could be moved to the wall itself. Another example of candlesticks can be seen in Jan de Beer’s painting “The Assumption of the Virgin Mary”. One of them - curved - is also attached to the fireplace portal; the other represents a bowl. In Campin's painting "Madonna and Child in the Interior?" (my translation..) the candlestick is also located on the fireplace, which allows us to draw a conclusion about the prevalence..... However, it is important to note here that when depicting certain objects in the paintings, the painters had not so much the goal of describing everyday life, but rather encrypting various signs and symbols in these objects . For example, the leitmotif of all paintings depicting the Madonna is a vase with a lily, which symbolizes the purity of the Virgin Mary. The same mentioned candles in the candlesticks denoted Christ and his grace. And the seven-armed candlestick was used to represent the Holy Spirit and his seven gifts: wisdom, intelligence, discernment, firmness, knowledge, piety and fear.

Then chandeliers began to appear, at first they were quite simple, but later they began to be made from deer antlers and decorated with various figures. We see an example of a rather skillfully made chandelier in the famous painting by Jan Van Eyck “Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple”. It is made of yellow metal and consists of seven horns, each of which is decorated with floral patterns.

As already mentioned, in the early period of the Middle Ages, the floors in castles were covered with straw or were even earthen. However, later the feudal lords, paying more and more attention to convenience and comfort, began to prefer floors lined with multi-colored slabs. Often these slabs were simply two contrasting colors, arranged in a checkerboard pattern. Such floors can be seen in almost every painting in which the characters are located in a castle room or in a church. For example, in Van Eyck’s painting “Madonna of Chancellor Roland” the floor is not only laid out with square tiles, but also decorated with a repeating pattern. The floor in the painting “Madonna of Canon Van der Paele” by the same author is also richly decorated; in the above-mentioned painting by Campin, the tiles in the form of small rhombuses are laid out in a checkerboard pattern.

The bedroom of the owner and his family members was usually located above the hall, and the servants were located under the roof. As noted in the article by A. Schlunk, R. Giersch. Die Ritter: Geschichte - Kultur - Alltagsleben, the servants' quarters were not heated until modern times. These rooms, as well as the far corners of the castle, were heated with iron baskets filled with hot coals, which, as you might guess, provided very little heat. There was a fireplace in the main hall, as well as in the master bedroom; in fact, all heated rooms are kelmnaty rooms (kemenaten), (in Latin - heated by a fireplace or stove). “This is a whole building. It is placed between two windows. The base of its outer part is formed by straight columns almost as tall as a man; above them a stone cap protrudes quite far forward, gradually narrowing as it approaches the ceiling. The cap is painted with images of subjects of knightly poetry” Ivanov K. A. The Many Faces of the Middle Ages. M., 1996. P. 43.. Indeed, Kampen depicts the scene of the Annunciation against the background of a fireplace, the height of which is at least human height. The fireplace in the hall was often combined with a tiled slab. Tile slabs, which already existed from the 12th century, were made of simple clay. They retained and distributed heat better and at the same time were not as fire hazardous. Soon they began to be faced with baked clay tiles, which increased the surface area and better retained heat. Later, the tiles began to be covered with glaze and decorated with various designs.

As already mentioned, the top floor of the residential tower was occupied by the master bedroom, which could be reached via a spiral staircase. The lighting here, as elsewhere, is quite poor - the forest glass is very cloudy and does not transmit light well. The bedroom also has a fireplace, located in the wall between two windows, but the fireplace is usually smaller than in the large hall. The walls were covered with carpets or tapestries to protect against the cold. There were also carpets on the floor. Initially they were brought to Europe by participants in the Crusades. Subsequently, after the discovery of tapestry production techniques in Spain, carpets began to be widely used in the interiors of castles and wealthy houses. They were bent at the corners from one wall to another, sometimes turned over so as not to be cut off. In some cases, tapestries divided large halls into separate rooms. In Van Eyck’s work “Madonna of Canon Van der Paele” we see one of these carpets, or rather a carpet runner. Judging by the pattern, it is clearly of Eastern origin.

The main item in the bedroom, of course, was the bed. Various beds can be seen in the works of Dutch and German painters. Michael Pacher's painting The Birth of Our Lady depicts one of them. It is not richly decorated, but still has a canopy and tassels along the edges of the upper frame. By the way, canopies, in addition to their aesthetic function, also had a utilitarian meaning: they were designed to protect the sleeper from bedbugs falling from the ceiling. However, this did not help much, since there were even more bedbugs in the folds of the canopy. Another bed is in Bosch’s work “Death and the Merchant”. From the title of the painting it is clear that this bed was located in the house of a merchant, and therefore much simpler than it could be in the castle of an aristocrat. However, the principle is the same - frame and canopy. An example of a more richly decorated bed is in Van Eyck’s painting “Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple.” Despite the fact that only a fragment of the bed is depicted here, the lush folds of the rich canopy are clearly visible. Almost all the pictures show that the bed was positioned with the head of the bed facing the wall. K. A. Ivanov specifies the appearance of the bed: Silk-embroidered pillows rise high. The curtains, which move on iron bars, are completely drawn back. The rich ermine blanket stands out sharply. On both sides of the bed, animal skins are thrown on the patterned stone floor.” Ivanov K. A. The many faces of the Middle Ages. M., 1996. P.45.

The bedroom must have either candelabra or a chandelier. The chandelier is clearly visible in the painting by van Eyck just mentioned, as well as in the Annunciation by Rogier van der Weyden. But since the chandelier was a rather expensive household item, many aristocratic families used candelabra for lighting. Candelabra were often depicted by artists, mainly on canvases dedicated to the Virgin Mary, since a candelabra with seven candles symbolizes the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Candelabra with one candle were also common. Each living room had benches with seat cushions, mostly red. They can be seen in Campin’s “Annunciation”, and in the painting of the same name by Rogier Van der Weyden, in “Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple” and in many others.

In the bedrooms of wealthy homeowners, merchants and aristocrats, in addition to the bed, there was often a small cabinet with drawers like a modern chest of drawers (“The Annunciation” by Rogier van der Weyden). The boxes were decorated with carvings and served to store jewelry.

Another luxury item is a mirror. Mirrors were small in size, most often round and convex. They were inserted either into a decorated frame (in the “Portrait of Arnolfiini” the frame is decorated with images of the passion of Christ), or into an ordinary wooden frame without decoration.

Le Goff gives the following description: “There was not much furniture. The tables were usually collapsible and were cleared after the meal. Permanent furniture consisted of a chest, or chest, where clothes or dishes were stored. Since the life of the seigneurs was itinerant, it was necessary to be able to easily carry away luggage. Joinville, going on a crusade, burdened himself only with jewelry and relics. Another functional luxury item was carpets; they were hung like screens and formed rooms. Carpets were carried from castle to castle; they reminded the warlike people of their favorite dwelling - a tent.” Jacques le Goff. Civilization of the medieval West. M., 1992. P. 125. Indeed, the chest was an integral part of the interior of both a rich castle and the home of a simple city dweller or even a peasant. This is evidenced by numerous images of the chest on the canvases of different artists. So in Bosch’s painting “Death and the Merchant” in the foreground there is a rather simple chest on low legs. There are also images of chests in the work of Michael Pacher “The Birth of the Virgin Mary”. During the early Middle Ages, the skills used by Egypt's master woodworkers were lost. In those days, chests roughly hollowed out of a tree trunk were common. They were equipped with a lid and reinforced with iron rims, preventing the wood from splitting. Another type of chest is chests made of rough boards, examples of which have been preserved in ancient European churches to this day. The design of chests of the later Middle Ages is similar to the design of ancient chests. In the south (in the Alps) chests were made of spruce; in the north (in German, English, Scandinavian territories) - often made of oak. Along with simple bench chests, churches used taller chests with short legs and doors. This is already a transitional form to the closet. A cabinet from the Gothic period is actually just a chest turned on its side. During the same period, there are already many chests with frames and panels. The decor of medieval chests imitates Gothic architectural forms. Wood carving is widely used, facilitated by the use of hardwood. In the south, semi-hard woods were used primarily, and therefore shallow carved ornaments with numerous plant elements, foliage, curls, and ribbons, often in a naturalistic image, were common. This “shallow carving had a certain coloring, mainly in the furniture of the Alpine countries. The most commonly used colors are red and green. The interior furnishings made using this technology are known as “Tyrolean Carpenter Gothic” (Tiroler Zimmergotik). With the development of everyday culture, the number of types of furniture in use increases, but the chest remains one of the main pieces of furniture, serving as a cabinet and bench, gradually transforming into other pieces of furniture, such as a sideboard, credenza or dressoir. http://www.redwoodmaster.ru/catalog/trunk.html The chest was also covered with cloth and it could serve as a desk, as can be seen in the painting “St. Jerome” by van Eyck.

The Capitulary on Estates provides a detailed list of household items that should be present in the castle. “In the chambers of each estate there should be bedspreads, feather beds, pillows, sheets, tablecloths, carpets for benches, copper, tin, iron and wooden dishes, tagans, chains, hooks, plows, axes, that is, cleavers, drills, that is, gimlets, knives and all kinds of utensils, so that there is no need to ask for it anywhere or borrow it” Capitulary on estates. History of the Middle Ages. Reader. M., 1969. P. 73.

Let's add a few more words about furniture making. “The furniture art of medieval Europe almost did not inherit ancient traditions. It developed independently. In the early Middle Ages, chests, stools (which were tree trunks), as well as tables (in the form of boards resting on trestles), quite high, were widespread, which was determined by the custom of sitting on a stool while eating or writing. During the Romanesque period, stools on three legs, high-back chairs, cabinets, beds (like a chest without a lid), and tables with supports in the form of vertical planes began to be used. Made using box knitting from boards chopped with an ax or sanded poles, Romanesque furniture was distinguished by the laconicism of its massive forms (often decorated with carved geometric, floral or ribbon patterns), and the dull undifferentiated volume. Subsequently, with the reinvention of the two-handed saw (which made it possible to obtain thin boards), as well as the spread of frame-panel frame construction (as if echoing the structure of Gothic architectural structures), lighter and more durable furniture appeared.” http://www.vibormebely.ru/mebsrednvek.html

As for sanitation in the castle and in the Middle Ages in general, there are absolutely polar opinions on this matter. Let us present two opposing points of view. According to the authors of the article Die Ritter: Geschichte - Kultur - Alltagsleben, hygiene in the Middle Ages was at the proper level. “Sanitation, water supply and personal hygiene were closely linked in castles. Where water had to be obtained with difficulty from wells, taken from tanks or delivered several kilometers away, its economical use was the first commandment. At that time, caring for animals, especially expensive horses, was more important than personal hygiene. Therefore, it is not surprising that townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of castle inhabitants. Back in the 16th century. the chronicle justified the relocation of the nobility from castles with the argument: “So that we have a place to wash.” Since the city baths of that time were not limited to body care, but also included the services of a modern “massage parlor” in their repertoire, it is difficult to say with certainty what the knights were actually looking for. If we follow medieval novels and epics, then personal hygiene was of high value. Dusty after a long ride, Parzival takes a bath, cared for by bathing maids. Meleganz (in the novel of the same name in the Arthurian cycle, 1160-80) finds the mistress of the castle, who is not at all indignant at this, in a bathing tub, which, by the way, is located in front of the castle under a linden tree. The epic hero Biterolf organizes joint bathing for “86 or more”, and once 500 knights at once - in a tub installed in the hall. In the "Naked Ambassador" shwanka, the protagonist was sent to the bathhouse with his news. Logically assuming that the owner of the castle is washing there, the ambassador undresses naked and enters the room, but finds the entire knightly family there with their maids - also dressed. They retired to a warm bath only because of the cold weather. And it’s no joke that in 1045 several people, including the Bishop of Würzburg, died in the bathing tub of Persenbeug Castle after the ceiling of the bathhouse collapsed.

Baths and baths, of course, were a typical property of the castles of the high nobility and were usually located on the first floor of the palace or residential tower, as they required a large amount of water. On the contrary, they are rarely found in the castles of ordinary knights, and even then only on the threshold of the New Age. Soap, even if of poor quality, was a mandatory accessory; they learned to make expensive soap already in the era of the Crusades. Various brushes, including toothbrushes, nail and ear cleaners were also required equipment and their existence can be traced through sources in individual castles. Small mirrors were known, but they were considered luxury items, since they could only be made in Venice. Some, mostly noble ladies, wore wigs, dyed their hair or curled it.” A. Schlunk, R. Giersch. Die Ritter: Geschichte - Kultur - Alltagsleben. Stutgart, 2003. Life of a medieval castle. (A summary translation of a chapter from the book by N. Meteleva). Thus, according to this point of view, sanitation and hygiene in the Middle Ages took place and were placed at a certain level (of course, corresponding to the era).

Researchers who take the opposite view describe medieval Europe as a huge, fetid cesspool. This is what Absentis says about sanitation: “The phrase “the accused was known to take baths ... was common in the reports of the Inquisition.” Bathing began to be interpreted as a tool of the devil to deceive Christians. Frightened Europe will stop washing altogether by 1500. All baths, which briefly returned to Europe during the Crusades, will be closed again: “When it comes to bathing and cleanliness, the West in the 15th-17th centuries. experienced a regression of fantastic proportions...The ancient world elevated hygiene procedures to one of the main pleasures; just remember the famous Roman baths. Before the victory of Christianity, more than a thousand baths operated in Rome alone. It is well known that the first thing Christians did when they came to power was to close all the baths, but I have never seen an explanation for this action. Nevertheless, the reason, quite possibly, lies on the surface. Christians have always been irritated by the ritual ablutions of competing religions - Judaism and, later, Islam. Even the Apostolic Rules prohibited Christians from washing in the same bathhouse as a Jew... Christianity uprooted even thoughts about bathhouses and baths from the memory of the people. Centuries later, the Crusaders invaded the Middle East and amazed the Arabs with their savagery and filth. But the Franks (crusaders), faced with such a forgotten benefit of civilization as the baths of the East, appreciated them and even tried to return this institution to Europe in the 13th century. Unsuccessfully, of course - during the soon-to-come Reformation, through the efforts of church and secular authorities, baths in Europe were again eradicated for a long time as centers of debauchery and spiritual infection. A visual representation of the hygiene of the Middle Ages, a wave adequate to reality, can be obtained by watching the film “The 13th Warrior,” where the basin in which one washes oneself and where one blows his nose and spits is passed in a circle. A couple of years ago, the English-speaking part of the Internet made the rounds of the article “Life in the 1500’s”, immediately called by Christians “an anti-Catholic lie”), which examined the etymology of various sayings. The authors argued that these are the dirty the pelvis provoked the idiom “not to throw out the baby with the bathwater,” which is still alive today. Indeed, in dirty water one might not even notice it. But in reality, such pelvises were very rare. In those troubled times, caring for the body was considered a sin. Christian preachers called for walking literally in rags and never wash, since this is how one could achieve spiritual cleansing. It was also forbidden to wash because this would wash off the holy water that one had touched during baptism. As a result, people did not wash for years or did not know water at all. Dirt and lice were considered special signs of holiness. Monks and nuns set a corresponding example for other Christians to serve the Lord: “Apparently, nuns appeared earlier than monks: no later than the middle of the 3rd century. Some of them walled themselves up in tombs. They looked at the cleanliness with disgust. Lice were called "God's pearls" and were considered a sign of holiness. Saints, both male and female, used to boast that water never touched their feet, except when they had to ford rivers.” (Bertrand Russell)" http://absentis.front.ru/abs/lsd_01_preface.htm A few more words on the topic of sanitation. If German authors delicately bypass it and only mention the existence of bay windows in every castle, then Absentis, with his characteristic sarcasm, describes the state of affairs in great detail: “With the advent of Christianity, future generations of Europeans forgot about flush toilets for one and a half thousand years, turning their faces to the night vases. The role of forgotten sewers was played by the grooves in the streets, where stinking streams of slop flowed. People who had forgotten about the ancient benefits of civilization now relieved themselves wherever they had to. For example, on the main staircase of a palace or castle. The French royal court periodically moved from castle to castle due to the fact that there was literally nothing to breathe in the old one. Chamber pots stood under the beds day and night. People of that time were suspicious of washing their bodies: nudity was a sin, and it was cold and you could catch a cold. A hot bath is unrealistic - firewood was very expensive, and even that was barely enough for the main consumer - the Holy Inquisition; sometimes the favorite burning had to be replaced by quartering, and later by wheeling.” http://www.asher.ru/library/human/history/europe1.html “Because of the constant dirt, almost all members of the Duma wear wooden shoes to the Duma, and when they sit in the council hall, the wooden shoes are standing outside the door. Looking at them, you can perfectly count how many people came to the meeting...” A book to read on the history of the Middle Ages. Part 2./ Ed. S.D. Skazkina. - M., 1951. Quoted. from http://www.asher.ru/library/human/history/europe1.html I will add that hygiene was revived for a very short period of time: baths and baths as an attribute of luxury only briefly returned to Europe after the first campaigns of the Crusaders. And in any case, they were fully available only to noble inhabitants of castles.

Of course, according to generally accepted tradition, one should refrain from such categorical judgments. But at the same time, a certain part of medievalists considers the Middle Ages to be an era of extreme living conditions, and in this case, the situation described above with hygiene and sanitation in the Middle Ages could well have occurred.

In conclusion, it should be added that the castle as a whole was not just the home of a separate noble family, it was also a kind of social unit. “The society ... of the castle united the young sons of vassals sent there to serve the lord, to study the art of war with the lord's servants, as well as with those who satisfied the master's needs for entertainment and served to maintain a certain feudal prestige, with those who represented the world of entertainment . Obliged to sing the virtues of those who hired them, being dependent on the money and favors of their masters, they most often aspired to become lords in turn, and sometimes they managed to realize this hope - such was the case of Minnesinger, who became a knight and received a coat of arms (the famous The Heidelberg Manuscript, whose miniatures depict the Minnesingers and their coats of arms, testifies to this elevation through the noble art of lyric poetry). Jacques le Goff. Civilization of the medieval West. M., 1996.P.290-291.

Villages that belonged to the owner of the castle, as a rule, were located at the foot of the hill on which the castle itself stood. K. A. Ivanov gives a good general view of the village: “For the most part, these buildings are small and have suffered greatly from time and bad weather. Each family has a home, a barn for storing hay and a granary for grain; part of the dwelling is reserved for livestock. All this is surrounded by a fence, but it is so pitiful and frail that when you see it, you are somehow involuntarily struck by the sharp contrast that the master’s dwelling and the dwellings of his people represent. It seems that a few strong gusts of wind are enough to sweep through, and everything will be blown away and scattered. The owners of the villages forbade their inhabitants to surround their homes with ditches and palisades, as if to further emphasize their helplessness and defenselessness. But these prohibitions fell heavily only on the most insufficient: as soon as a wealthy peasant managed to receive some benefits from his owner, he was already in better conditions. That is why among the low, neglected huts one comes across stronger and better built houses, with spacious courtyards, strong fences, and heavy bolts.” K. A. Ivanov. The many faces of the Middle Ages.// This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. To view it, you must have JavaScript enabled

Peasant life and, in particular, housing are almost always present in the paintings of the masters of the Northern Renaissance. The most important of the visual sources on peasant life, perhaps, can be called Pieter Bruegel (it’s not for nothing that his nickname is Muzhitsky) and, to some extent, Hieronymus Bosch. So, for example, for Bruegel, the main sitters were ordinary people - artisans, traders, peasants. The entire mass of the people is very dynamic and in constant motion. It is customary to characterize this artist as a peasant, but in fact one cannot lose sight of the undoubted complexity of the master’s work. His works such as “The Census in Bethlehem” and “The Massacre of the Innocents” are of great help to the researcher of everyday life. As mentioned above, these biblical scenes are placed by the artist in a contemporary setting of a medieval village or city. From these paintings, as well as from the works of other Dutch and German masters, one can get an idea of ​​the appearance of a peasant home.

Bosch's painting "The Prodigal Son" apparently depicts a typical peasant house. It has two floors; the poverty of its inhabitants is obvious: one of the shutters hung on one hinge, the roof was leaky, the windows were covered with torn bull's bladder. Next to the house there is a cattle pen. An entire village street is depicted in the painting “The Peasant Dance” by Bruegel. The artist also placed a story about the worship of the Volkhs against the backdrop of a two-story peasant house. This work clearly shows the details of the village dwelling, and especially its appalling poverty. From these works it is clear that peasant houses mainly had two floors. Often houses had a rectangular plan; the entrance to the house, located on the narrow side, was protected by a roof canopy supported by pillars. Such a canopy can be seen in Bruegel’s painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” It must be said that this type of construction is very archaic and developed back in the Neolithic era. Subsequently, the entrance from the narrow part moved to the side of the house. These canopies were common both in the Netherlands and in Central and Southern Germany; in specialized literature, this type of house is usually designated by the term Vorhallenhaus, i.e. “house with a canopy.” In northern Germany, two forms of house became the main ones - Low German and Frisian.

In the Netherlands and Germany, the so-called stable house has become widespread. Its main feature is the combination of utility and residential premises under one roof in a building divided by two rows of pillars into three parts. There was an open hearth in the center. With the development of agriculture, the central passage began to widen and was used as an extensive threshing floor. This transformation is apparently due to the fact that high air humidity, frequent rains and fogs made it difficult to thresh grain in an open room. Large houses combining a residential area, barn and threshing floor under one roof have been found since the 13th century, but they became widespread in the 16th century. The roof of such a house was very steep and high, four- or two-slope, which was also apparently caused by the large amount of rainfall in the Netherlands. Such roofs also provided a large attic space where grain supplies were stored. Tokarev. Types of rural housing in foreign European countries. M., 1968. P. 227 The roofs were covered with straw, and later with tiles. On occasion, the straw was used to feed livestock. Bruegel's "Prodigal Son" depicts a house with just such a steep gable roof covered with thatch.

The above-mentioned Frisian type of peasant dwelling also became widespread in the North of Europe and differed from the stable house in that instead of a threshing floor, a large haystack was located in the center of the house, around which all the premises were located. In front of him, against the wall facing the street, was the living part of the house, to the right - the stalls; the back of the house served as a workroom. To the left of the stack there was a wide corridor with large gates on both sides; Carts, agricultural implements, etc. were also stored here. In the Northern Netherlands, agriculture did not play a big role; dairy farming was more developed, so there was no need for a large threshing floor. Hay, on the contrary, was one of the income items. For this reason, the storage of hay here was treated with great care. Initially it was stored in stacks under a removable hip roof, which was placed on stilts; Subsequently, the gaps between the piles began to be filled with boards to better preserve the hay. Thus, gradually a barn arose, which at first was a separate building, but increasingly merged with the house, and then the place for hay was moved to the main building in the central opening between the pillars. As a result, the entire building acquired that monumental appearance with a steep pyramidal roof, which is still found in North Holland Op.cit. P. 231..

The choice of building material was determined by environmental conditions. If we talk about Germany, rich in forests, then, of course, the main building material was wood.

Their internal layout varied somewhat in different countries, and also depended on the financial situation of the peasant. In general terms, the inside of the house looked something like this: on the ground floor there was a storage room, a place for a fireplace, a kitchen, and sometimes a restroom. On the top floor there was a landing and a staircase leading to it; bedrooms were often located there. K. A. Ivanov describes the medieval village and the peasant’s house in particular: “At the very foot of the mountain nestled one of the villages belonging to the inhabitant of the castle. The huts and outbuildings of farmers with shingle or thatch roofs were scattered in a disorderly, close crowd. For the most part, these buildings are small and have been badly damaged by time and bad weather. Each family has a home, a barn for storing hay and a granary for grain; part of the dwelling is reserved for livestock. All this is surrounded by a fence, but it is so pitiful and frail that when you see it, you are somehow involuntarily struck by the sharp contrast that the master’s dwelling and the dwellings of his people represent. It seems that a few strong gusts of wind are enough to sweep through, and everything will be blown away and scattered. The owners of the villages forbade their inhabitants to surround their homes with ditches and palisades, as if to further emphasize their helplessness and defenselessness. But these prohibitions fell heavily only on the most insufficient: as soon as a wealthy peasant managed to receive some benefits from his owner, he was already in better conditions. That is why, among the low, neglected huts, there are stronger and better built houses, with spacious courtyards, strong fences, heavy bolts... If we enter one of the dwellings, the first thing that will catch our eye is a high fireplace. On its floor stands an iron tripod on which a fire is blazing, and above the fire hangs a cauldron on an iron chain attached to a large iron hook. The smoke is carried away into the hole located at the top, but a considerable portion of it ends up in the upper room itself. Right next to it is a bread oven, around which an elderly housewife is fiddling around. A table, benches, chests with vessels for making cheese, a large bed on which not only the owners and children sleep, but also a random guest sent by God who wandered under the roof of a peasant hut - this is all the decoration, all the furnishings of the home. In addition, there are baskets, jugs, and a trough near the walls; there was a ladder leaning against the wall; There are fishing nets and large scissors hanging there, as if they were taking a break from their work; a broom with drills was nestled near the door. In most cases, the floor is earthen, paved with stone, only in some places it is made of wood.” Ivanov K. A. The many faces of the Middle Ages.// This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. To see it, you must have JavaScript enabled. I will add that the listed household items were only in the houses of relatively wealthy peasants. The poor people made a fire right in the middle of the main room, the smoke also escaped through a hole made in the ceiling; in order to conserve heat, sometimes all the openings except the door were filled with hay. Furniture everywhere was more than meager: for the poorest peasants, even a bed remained an unattainable luxury for a long time; they slept on straw or on a chest, and the entire furnishings consisted of chests and bread chests. In the houses of wealthy peasants one could sometimes see buffets and stands with tin and even silver utensils. But all household utensils here were usually made of clay. In general, the few images of peasant dwellings differ little from each other.