Medieval culture in brief. Brief outline of the culture of the Middle Ages (V-XV centuries)

1. 1. .

2. 2. Coexistence of new Christian images, plots and old pagan ones associated with folk culture.

3. 3. Canonicity.

4. 4. Anonymity.

5. 5. Symbolism and allegory.

1. The influence of the Christian religion on all areas of society . The divine principle, expressed through theology, represented the highest generalization of the meaning of the material and spiritual activities of medieval man.

Theological worldview and thinking becomes not only dominant, but also the only possible one, subordinating all spheres of life - both material and spiritual - to its control. Accordingly, the means of spiritual unity becomes the church, which turns into an organized hierarchy with a single center in the Vatican, headed by the Pope.

Medieval art took away the will to act from its hero and entrusted it to God, making man a suffering being, to whom everything was given from above, and explaining the world to God. On the one hand, this was a negative trend that limited artistic creativity and development of thought. On the other hand, a huge achievement medieval culture was its ethical orientation . The most important and valuable spiritual quality, affirmed medieval art in a person - piety, when all the phenomena and actions of a person are compared by medieval consciousness with the global conflict of good and evil, and the history of the world appears as a kind of unified world-historical spectacle of salvation.

Medieval culture had its most characteristic forms and genres:

· in architecture - Cathedral ;

· in painting - icon, fresco, mosaic ;

· in sculpture - images of Christ, Our Lady, saints ;

· in literature - for the educated - theological treatise, poems and songs of the vagants, courtly lyrics, chivalric romance ;

· for listeners from the grassroots - popular literature: sermons, lives (biographies) saints, chronicles, penitentiaries (collections with questions during confession for semi-literate priests from the peasant environment, also containing a list of punishments for various kinds of sins and crimes against the church), visions of God's chosen ones (a genre where the works had a canonical form with a description of the death or miraculous entry of the chosen one into heaven - heaven and hell, and a subsequent story about the delights of the first and the horrors of the second, as well as the mention of specific persons who, after a righteous or sinful life, remain in bliss or eternal torment ).

Early Christian art gradually moved away from the aesthetic principles of Antiquity, where instead of volume and plasticity there was flatness and lack of perspective; the spirituality of the body was proclaimed the spirituality of the spirit; beauty began to consist of material and spiritual components and reflect the radiance of God; Moreover, beauty, which gives pleasure, began to include rhythm, wisdom, reason, eternity, love, peace (while among the Greek philosophers, beauty acted as proportionality, clarity, proportionality and did not include spiritual, moral criteria).

2. Coexistence of new Christian images, subjects and old pagan ones associated with folk culture .

The paradox of medieval culture becomes interaction of folklore tradition with official church doctrine , when many texts, in addition to the wishes of the authors, are “infected” with folklore. Certainly, for a long time The guarantor of the unity of faith was the sacred language - Latin, in which all theological literature was presented (moreover, for a long time it was the only written language). Consequently, to be literate in the Middle Ages meant to know Latin. Hence the division of people into literatti And illiterate - those who know Latin and those who do not. People not trained bookish language, illiterate, were called idiotae , and this word was devoid of modern negative load. Thus, in the Acts of the Apostles (4; 13) the apostles Peter and John are called “unbookish and simple people” - homines sine litteris et idiotae.

But live speech and folklore thinking penetrated into literary speech . The reasons for this process were the following factors:

· the church sought to capture the consciousness of every listener - hence the simple language, reliance on folklore and its stylistics, images and plots,

· copyists of the books of the Holy Scriptures who made changes to the texts were, as a rule, yesterday’s peasants,

· the priests themselves often came from the people’s environment (in the words of F. Engels, these are “plebeian clergy”).

Thus, as a result of the interaction of church ideology with pre-Christian folk culture, a cultural-ideological complex emerged folk Christianity or parish Catholicism . These traits folk culture penetrated even into the lives of saints, which was reflected in the attribution of participation in all historical events to one hero, carelessness about geography and chronology (events wander from era to era, from locality to locality), dominance of feeling over reason (indifference to ideas, but emotional excitability), immunity to abstractions, a tendency to visually materialize ideas, uncriticality , finally, endowing Christian images with the features of heroes of the national epic .

A similar example of the vitality of heroic folk ideals is given by A. Gurevich (Problems of medieval folk culture. M., 1981), where in a Saxon poem of the 9th century. “Heliand” (“Savior”) Christ looks not so much as a teacher, but as a warlike king, leading the squad of the apostles, Satan becomes the embodiment of vassal infidelity, the struggle between good and evil descends from the level of spiritual confrontation to armed struggle, Judas is perceived as a violator of the oath, and sacred words Christ in the new interpretation sound like this: “One of you, the twelve, will break allegiance to me, sell me to his princes, proud masters.” Thus, translating the Gospel into Saxon meant translating from one system of consciousness to another - spiritual composition was becoming Germanic heroic song about exploits and leaders.

In a similar way, that is, literally, some episodes of Holy Scripture are understood. When one nun, having hidden a wooden crucifix under the bedding, cried without finding it, and Christ said: “Don’t cry, my daughter, because I am lying in a bag under the bedding of your bed,” or another recluse who stuffed the crucifix into some crevice, cried out: “Lord, where are you? Answer me!" - and immediately found him, it would be completely erroneous to interpret these scenes as a “search for God” in spiritual sense- both were looking for “their Lord,” that is, precisely the crucifixion, and it responded to their calls.

The “example” of the Sardinian bishop, whose sermon at gospel theme“Whoever for my sake leaves house, field or vineyard, he will be rewarded a hundredfold” made such a strong impression on one Saracen that he wished to be baptized on the condition that if this promise was fulfilled after his death, then his sons would receive a hundredfold compensation in full for what was distributed to them. beggars of property. The sons actually came to the bishop, demanding their own. The bishop took them to their father's grave, the sarcophagus was opened, and right hand The corpse saw a charter, which the deceased gave only to the bishop, but not to his children. The charter stated that the converted Saracen received a hundredfold and gave thanks. A literal understanding of the Christian commandment is highly characteristic of this way of thinking.

Thus, completely failed to eradicate paganism . Some of the converts became people of mixed faith, and Christian ideas mixed with pagan and traditional ones. Thus, Christian saints presented themselves to the peasants magicians . The most important thing that the peasants wanted to see in the saint was his ability to perform miracles. Miracle Only a Christian saint had the right to perform, and miracles performed by other people were declared diabolical. Evidence of the same process was the adaptation of old religious ideas and rituals to new Christian ones.

3. The canonicity of the culture of the Middle Ages .

The canonicity of medieval culture was manifested in the desire not to create something new, but reproduction of the old , leading to endless variation of what is well known and previously learned. The reason for the canonicity of the art of the Middle Ages was cyclical attitude a pagan peasant who seemed to live in a different spatial and temporal dimension than a non-pagan Christian, for whom the future existed as super-events in the future. The time of the present, past and future was thought of as a series of successive cycles, determined by the changing seasons, in which nothing fundamentally new can appear, and each person goes through the same circle of events. Constant employment and focus on traditions and rituals made it impossible to go beyond the cyclical framework.

Christianity, instead of the cyclical flow of time natural for the peasant, offered linear historical flow of time , which has a vector direction from one super-event - the birth of the God-man - to another - the Last Judgment. However, the influence of traditional culture in the Middle Ages was so great that knowledge consisted only of identification new information with what was previously learned and came down to recognition. In addition, Christian culture itself sought to canonization samples, styles, genres, since the truth is one, it has long been discovered and requires only confirmation, new illustration. The one who questions obvious truths and strives for something new - heretic . The authors constantly appealed to this form of preliminary perception. literary works The Middle Ages, when they wove into the fabric of the artistic whole excerpts from other works , from verbal genres common among the people. Archbishop Hincmar of Reims testified about the visions of God’s chosen ones that he read: “I am convinced that this is the truth, for I read the same in the book of “Dialogues” of St. Gregory, and in the history of the Angles by Beda, and in the writings of St. bishop and martyr Boniface, as well as in the story of the vision of a certain clergyman Wettin, dating back to the time of Emperor Louis.”

Other forms of art presented similar phenomena. So, in music existed tradition of recycling : the simplest of them are retextings of one-voice chants, adding voices to the well-known cantus firmus. Even Bach, introducing melodies of well-known choral melodies into his spiritual compositions, expected that the choral melody was a musical quotation that confirmed and explained the content of the passions. IN painting , by analogy, - appeal to the same stories . Similar architecture , where Gothic cathedrals in Saint-Denis, Reims, Paris were iconographic samples , which arose where the church metropolis was established in alliance with royal power.

4. Anonymity works of art and literature of this time was associated with the idea that the creator of works is God, and man is only his instrument.

5. Symbolism and allegory of works of art .

The symbolism of the Middle Ages was a means of intellectual exploration of reality. Medieval artist sought to reveal in an image the spiritual essence of the world, similar to how God was incarnated in man in the image of Christ. However, the duality of art is that original image which the artist seeks to reflect in his work is the highest, spiritual essence, and the material , embodying this image - lowest state of the world. Purpose of symbolism just to to find a compromise between these two opposites. The world is the creation of God, therefore, the divine essence is hidden in every object. Symbols exist to reveal, and on the other hand, to hide the truth from the unworthy.

Becomes symbolic architectural form sacred buildings that are thought model of the universe . AND basilica , And cross-domed The temples have a cross-shaped plan. The luxury of interior church interiors has the same semantics, where brilliance and elegance become symbols of eternal bliss . carries a symbolic load color internal space: blue is perceived as a symbol of divine wisdom, purity, spirituality (as a rule, this is the color of the Mother of God), gold is likened to the radiance of the Kingdom of Heaven, white symbolizes purity, etc.

Numerous symbols become signs, carriers of a certain meaning, often sacred, and can be read:

· So, fish becomes a sign the first Christians and often accompanies the image of the Savior, since ichtius is an abbreviation for I.H. (Jesus Christ);

· pigeon becomes a symbol God (Holy Spirit);

· fountain - symbol updates ;

· vine - symbol Christ's atoning sacrifice ;

· vessel with water - symbol baptism ;

· Sun - symbol God the Father;

· raised hand - symbol oaths .

On medieval frescoes and mosaics there are often images of flowers, where:

· lily symbolizes the purity of Our Lady ;

· iris - her greatness ;

· catchment area (shamrock) and pansies become a symbol Trinity ;

· thorny plants, insects, reptiles (grasshoppers, locusts, lizards) - hellish creatures, devil incarnate ;

· humility is symbolized by daisies and plantain ;

· glory - laurel ;

· worship of Christ - sunflower .

The symbolism expanded in the 15th century, where the skull, the grim reaper, and the skeleton became attributes themes of frailty , and on the back of the paintings an inscription appears in Old German: “Nothing can protect you from death, so live the way you would like to die.”

It is characteristic that symbolism remains in the works of the Renaissance; it receives new life in books of emblems and heraldic symbols. At this time it is being developed four element theory (earth, water, air, fire) and five senses (touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste), and numerous still lifes of that time provide abundant food for intellectual comprehension. So, the beaten bird is on Flemish still lifes symbolizes one of the four elements - air, oysters, squid, lobsters - water, fruit - soil. A parrot pecking at these fruits embodies taste sensations, a dog sniffing next to a table littered with game represents the sense of smell, a young man carrying the dish represents the sense of touch, etc.

IN Dutch still life XVII century The theme of moderation is being actively developed, which is where simplicity, laconic color palette and small scale of paintings come from, representing a limited set of objects. In these still lifes, an indispensable attribute is a lemon with a picturesquely twisted spiral of peel, symbolizing knowing of limits (in Holland it was customary to add lemon juice to wine, which could not only improve its taste, but if there was an excess of the latter, it could spoil the drink).

At this time, the theme of vanitas - vanity of vanities, where smoking accessories and a glass of beer do not represent a pleasant pastime, but are condemned, become a means of reduction through addictions. human life. A characteristic set of objects is a still life with a half-eaten pie, a broken or overturned glass of wine and an hourglass nearby - time flows inexorably, bringing a person closer to the last hour with every moment.

During the Enlightenment of the 18th century. the world is cognized rationally, but the symbols remain and receive a new semantic load, glorifying human activity- on still lifes Chardin these are books, working tools, manuscripts, a figurine of Mercury, symbolizing inspiration. In the Rococo era, things (tongs, screens) become trinkets for fun, they have no hidden meaning, they are only interior items and are good in themselves. Romantics will return to symbolism, but this will be individual symbolism.

University

Chivalry

Carnival

Brief outline of the culture of the Middle Ages (V-XV centuries)

Lecture 4

Medieval culture: phenomena of carnival, chivalry, university

The culture of the Middle Ages powerfully and visibly expressed itself in architecture in the emerging artistic styles - Romanesque and Gothic. This topic is presented in detail in textbooks according to the course, so students will be able to study it on their own, paying special attention to the periods of development of the Romanesque and Gothic styles in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany.

The Middle Ages in Europe were defined by Christian culture. Feudalism was established with the rural community and man's dependence on it and the feudal lord. Many European countries have become self-determined and strengthened; the center of cultural improvement is not a collection of city-states or one Roman Empire, but the entire European region. To the forefront cultural development Spain, France, Holland, England and other countries come out. Christianity, as it were, unites their spiritual efforts, spreading and establishing itself in Europe and beyond. But the process of establishing statehood among the peoples of Europe is far from completed. Large and small wars arise, armed violence acts as both a factor and a brake on cultural development.

A person feels like a community member, and not a free citizen, as in ancient society. The value of “serving” God and the feudal lord, but not oneself or the state, arises. Slavery is replaced by circular communal guarantee and subordination to the community and feudal lord. Christianity supports feudal class, subordination to God and master. The Church extends its influence to all major spheres of social life, to family, education, morality, and science. Heretics and all non-Christian dissent are persecuted. With the approval of Christianity as state religion During the Roman Empire (325), it strictly subjugated the entire life of European society, and this continued until the Renaissance.

Thus, the defining feature of medieval culture, the essence of the cultural phenomenon of the Middle Ages, is a worldview based on Christian doctrine. The theological system of Christianity covered any of the cultural phenomena, in turn, each of the phenomena had its own specific hierarchical place. Hierarchical ideas are embodied in public life(lords - vassals; ethics of personal service), in the spiritual sphere (God - Satan).

However, it would be wrong and one-sided to evaluate the culture of the Middle Ages only negatively. She developed and achieved success. In the 12th century. A loom without a mechanical engine was invented in Flanders. Sheep farming is developing. Italy and France learned how to produce silk. In England and France they began to build blast furnaces and use coal in them.

Despite the fact that knowledge was subordinated to the Christian faith, religious and secular schools and higher education institutions emerged in a number of European countries. educational establishments. IN X-XI centuries For example, philosophy, mathematics, physics, astronomy, law, medicine, as well as Muslim theology were already taught in high schools in Spain. Activity of the Roman catholic church, non-compliance by its servants with the norms of morality and religious worship often caused discontent and ridicule among the broad masses. For example, in the 12th-13th centuries in France, the movement of vagantes - wandering poets and musicians - became widespread. They sharply criticized the church for greed, hypocrisy and ignorance. The poetry of minstrels and troubadours emerges.

Poetry and prose of chivalry are developing, masterpieces of folk epic are being written down (“The Song of the Nibelungs”, “The Song of My Side”, “Beowulf”). Biblical and mythological painting and icon painting are widespread. In the spirituality of people, Christianity affirmed not only obedience, but also a positive ideal of salvation. By following the commandments of God and honoring him, a person can achieve his desired state and the state of the whole world, which is characterized by overcoming all lack of freedom and evil.

Since the 14th century, European Catholicism has been experiencing acute crisis, generated by the internal struggle of popes and other hierarchs for religious and secular power, the non-compliance of many clergy with moral standards, their desire for wealth and luxury, and the deception of believers. The crisis of the Catholic Church worsened significantly as a result of the Inquisition and the Crusades. The Catholic faith was losing its status as a spiritual basis European culture. Orthodoxy functioned more smoothly in Byzantium and other countries of Eastern Europe.

Byzantium, or the Eastern Roman Empire, arose in 325 after the split of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern. In 1054, the Christian Church was also divided. Orthodoxy is established in Byzantium.

Byzantine culture existed for 11 centuries, being a kind of “golden bridge” between Western and eastern culture. In his historical development Byzantium went through five stages:

First stage (IV - mid-VII centuries). The independence of Byzantium is affirmed, power, military bureaucracy, and the foundations of the “correct” faith are formed based on the traditions of pagan Hellenism and Christianity. Outstanding monuments mid V-VI centuries – Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna; Hippodrome; Temple of Sophia (Anthimius and Isidore); mosaic paintings of the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna; mosaics in the Church of the Assumption in Nika; icon "Sergius and Bacchus".

Second stage (second half of the 7th - first half of the 9th centuries). The invasions of Arabs and Slavs are repelled. The ethnic basis of culture is consolidated around the Greeks and Slavs. There is an alienation from Western Roman (European) cultural elements. The Church is victorious over secular power. The orthodox-conservative foundations of Orthodoxy are strengthening. Culture is becoming more and more localized, acquiring originality, and gravitating towards eastern cultures.

Third stage (second half of the 9th - mid-11th centuries). "Golden Age" of Byzantine culture. Schools, universities, and libraries emerge.

Fourth period (second half of XI - beginning of XIII centuries). In 1071, Byzantium was defeated by the Turks; in 1204, the knights of the Fourth Crusade subjugated it. The resulting Latin Empire loses the authority of power. The Orthodox Church assumes protective and unifying functions. Cultural development is significantly slowing down.

Fifth stage (1261 - 1453). After liberation from the power of the Latin knights, Byzantium was unable to restore its former greatness due to internal unrest and civil strife. Religious and literary creativity, theology, philosophy, miniatures, icons, and fresco painting are being developed.

After the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Byzantium ceased to exist.

Features of Byzantine culture are:

· Orthodoxy as an orthodox-conservative version of Christianity as a spiritual basis

· low degree of losses on the part of the conquerors in comparison with Western Roman culture

· cult of the emperor as a representative and exponent of secular and spiritual power

· protection of the power of the emperor, preservation of the unity of the state through the efforts of the Orthodox Church

· traditionalism and the canon of the creeds of Orthodoxy

Since 622 it appears first in Mecca, then in Medina on the Arabian Peninsula new religion- Islam (submissive to God). The spiritual foundations of medieval Arab-Muslim culture have some common features with Christianity in terms of ideas about God and monotheism, in terms of the relationship between God and being, God and man.

The establishment of Christianity and Islam as monotheistic religions contributed to the general development of the culture of many peoples and the formation of historically new types of culture.

The lecture reveals in more detail the phenomenal phenomena of medieval culture: carnival, chivalry, university - which will make it possible to comprehend both the universalism and the depth of the contradictions of medieval culture, the features of which were preserved in culture until the 21st century.

Questions for self-control

1. Give brief description culture of the European Middle Ages.

2. Explain what the essence of medieval culture is.

3. What do you think makes it unique? Byzantine culture?

4. Describe the most famous monument Byzantine architecture– Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.

5. What are the features of Byzantineism?

6. Bring realities modern life, which can be considered the heritage of the Middle Ages (institution, symbolism, architectural monument, custom, tradition, clothing, food, drink, spices).

Middle Ages is a millennium, the conventional historical framework of which is the 5th and 15th centuries. The culture of the European Middle Ages arose from the ruins of the Roman Empire. In the stormy atmosphere of general confusion, the fate of European culture was being decided. Three forces collided in a struggle on the outcome of which the future depended.

The first one is traditions of decrepit Greco-Roman culture . They were preserved in a few cultural centers, but they could no longer provide new ideas. If this force could survive and re-establish itself in society, then the vector of further cultural life in Europe would be turned to the past. The culture of Europe would have frozen in ancient forms, like Indian or Chinese culture.

The second force was spirit of barbarism . Its carriers were various peoples who inhabited the provinces of the Roman Empire and invaded it from the outside. If they had managed to root their way of life in the Roman state, then Europe would have become a habitat for wild hordes of semi-nomads. Ancient culture would have disappeared from the face of the earth, and the cultural development of Europe would have followed some completely different path, as if starting anew.

Christianity was the third and most powerful of the forces that determined the path of cultural development of Europe. It was based on traditions that had developed outside ancient world and introduced fundamentally new humanistic attitudes into people’s consciousness. Christianity was a fresh stream capable of breathing new life into the culture of Europe. By the time the Roman Empire collapsed, the Christian movement already had a centralized church organization uniting all Christians. This allowed him to become the main political force and defeat Greco-Roman polytheism and barbarism.

In this struggle of cultural influences and traditions, medieval Christianity underwent some changes. Ordinary people, newly converted barbarians, accepted Christ simply as more powerful, while maintaining a pagan consciousness: they believed in goblin, mermaids, brownies, sorcerers, etc. Displacing paganism, the Christian church began to transform some pagan characters, including them in its rituals or declaring them devilish evil spirits.

The Church rejected the ancient cult of the mind, the ancient cult of the body, replacing it with the humiliation of the mind and the postulate of the sinfulness of sensual pleasures, health and bodily beauty.

One of the characteristic features of the medieval worldview, in the spirit of which the masses were brought up, was asceticism . According to asceticism, the globe and man himself in his bodily nature were represented as the embodiment of sin and evil. The duty of a believer was the gradual liberation of the soul from earthly shackles, a continuous struggle with “passions” in order to prepare for the transition to a better, afterlife. For this, the church recommended fasting, prayer, repentance, mortification, etc. The highest feat was considered to be complete withdrawal from the world into a monastery.

Asceticism was an official teaching, propagated from the church pulpit, taught to youth at school, and included as a necessary element in many types of medieval literature. Asceticism was the most striking expression of the dominance of religion in the Middle Ages, when exact sciences were still in their infancy, human power over the forces of nature was extremely imperfect, and social relations doomed the masses to constant patience, abstinence, expectation of retribution and bliss in the other world.

The material basis of medieval culture was feudal relations: a large landowner (feudal lord) disposed of the land with the peasants, which he received from a superior feudal lord (seigneur) on a lease basis. The peasants were completely economically and personally dependent on the “holder” of the land, as a result of which serfdom arose. The farm was natural: with a closed cycle of the estate and underdeveloped trade and monetary relations. This was a consequence of the fact that during the early Middle Ages, when barbarian raids were almost continuous, the city suffered losses, the trade system collapsed, and the network of roads built during the heyday of the Roman Empire froze. The so-called "agrarianization of the population", leading to the disintegration of the united Roman world into separate duchies, principalities, and kingdoms.

Such a character economic life led to formation of a new social culture . Relations between lord and vassal, vassal and feudal lord were built on the basis of personal and family connections, contracts, patronage, etc. This led to the formation estates- the clergy, nobility (knighthood) and the rest of the inhabitants, called the “third estate” (the people). Monasticism also arose, which personified the process of transition from earthly, “sinful” life to the achievement of individual salvation through ascetic “involvement” with Jesus Christ.

If the clergy is in medieval society cared about the human soul, then another class group - the nobility - had different ideas about man. On its basis arose the so-called knightly culture , with his ideal person. This ideal assumed nobility of origin, courage, concern for glory, honor, desire for achievements, loyalty to one's lord and God, nobility, and worship of a beautiful lady.

Peasant culture of the Middle Ages was presented mainly in the form of folklore. Some researchers call it “laughter” or carnival culture.

The Middle Ages knew three types of schools . Lower schools , formed at churches and monasteries, aimed to prepare elementary literate clergy - clergy. The main attention was paid to the study of the Latin language, prayers and the very order of worship. IN high school , which arose most often at episcopal sees, the study of seven " liberal arts» (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics or logic, arithmetic, geometry, which included geography, astronomy, music). The first three sciences constituted the so-called trivium, the last four - the quadrivium. Later, the study of the “liberal arts” began to be carried out in higher school , which later received the name university .

The first universities arose in the 12th century, partly from episcopal schools, which had the most prominent professors in the field of theology and philosophy, partly from associations of private teachers who specialized in philosophy, Roman law and medicine. The most ancient university in Europe is considered to be the University of Paris, which existed as a “free school” in the first half of the 12th century.

The most common areas of medieval science were scholasticism and mysticism . Scholasticism found its most vivid expression in theology. Its main feature was not the discovery of anything new, but only the interpretation and systematization of what was the content of the Christian faith. Holy Bible and sacred tradition - these are the main sources of Christian teaching, which the scholastics sought to confirm with relevant passages from ancient philosophers, mainly Aristotle. From Aristotle, medieval teaching borrowed the very form of logical presentation in the form of various complex judgments and conclusions. In works on geography, for example, the authority of Aristotle and other ancient authors in the Middle Ages was considered indisputable.

The scholastics resumed the study of the ancient heritage, developed some of the most important problems of knowledge, and finally, many of the scholastics were universal scientists who studied all the sciences then available to them. The largest medieval scholastics were Parisian professors Pierre Abelard, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, English scientist, monk Roger Bacon, who paid the greatest attention to issues of natural science.

In addition to scholasticism, in the Middle Ages there was another direction that waged a heated struggle with the scholastics. It was Mystic . Thus, his contemporary fought stubbornly against Abelard Bernard of Clairvaux, former organizer 11th Crusade. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the most famous were German mystics. Johann Tauler And Thomas a Kempis. Mystics rejected the need to study Aristotle and logical proof of the foundations of faith. They believed that religious principles were learned solely through “contemplation,” that is, prayer and pious reflection. By speaking in this form, the mystics took a clearly reactionary position.

Official and secular art of the Middle Ages

Of course, official art was features of Christian ideology and was directed to religious church needs. Painting has become icon painting . In sculpture, as in painting, they dominated biblical stories. In general, sculpture as a form of fine art in the Middle Ages did not receive independent development. After all, its object was the human body in its dynamics, emotions, beauty. And the Christian worldview considered bodily beauty sinful. But statues of saints decorated Gothic churches both inside and outside. A unique synthesis of church architecture and sculpture arose.

Music served the interests of the church. Such genres of sacred music as chorale, mass, requiem. Musical culture of the Middle Ages was especially evident in professional polyphony - treble. The canons of solemn church singing were formed. It should be noted that the dependence of fine art on the religious worldview gave it a symbolic character and contributed to the development of conventional techniques and stylization of forms. The figures of saints are of different scales, the images lack realism and are schematic.

Knightly culture

Recognizing the spiritual leadership of the church, each class of feudal society, nevertheless, developed its own special culture, in which it reflected its moods and ideals. The ruling class of secular feudal lords - chivalry in the broad sense of the word - developed by the 13th century a complex ritual of customs, manners, secular, court and military-knightly entertainment. Of the latter, knightly tournaments - a public competition of knights in the ability to wield weapons - became especially widespread. Among the knights, war songs were created that glorified the exploits of knights. Later they turned into poems, and novels depicting various knightly adventures became widespread. Occupied a large place in knightly literature love lyrics. Minnesingers in Germany, troubadours in southern France and trouvères in the North, chanting the love of knights for their ladies, were an indispensable feature of the royal courts and castles of the largest feudal lords.

Urban culture and folk art of the Middle Ages

Medieval city, played an important role political role in the Middle Ages, he did a lot for the development of culture. In the city, first of all, secular literature made rapid progress, which early revealed its anti-feudal features. In cities in the 12th-13th centuries, so-called fabliau, which contained witty attacks on the feudal lords. Italian urban stories also contained many satirical moments directed against the feudal lords - short stories.

The point is that religiosity ordinary people was original, and the combination of obscenity and blasphemy was not a manifestation of the depravity of ordinary people, but of the barbaric childishness of their ideas and perceptions. During mysteries and folk festivals, obscene songs about gospel characters were sung, and everything lofty and serious in Christian culture was ridiculed.

Folk holidays, carnivals, occupied quite a lot of time in the life of the people of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. They were an expression of a peculiar laughter culture, the creation of which the common man had access to.

The most striking manifestation of laughter culture was carnival. Carnivals had pagan origins (the word itself in Latin literally means “meat, goodbye”) - there is an obvious connection with sacrifices. The carnival did not know the division between spectators and performers. All people who took to the streets of medieval cities in Europe became participants in the carnival action. It was carefree fun after hard work, a parody of ridicule of everything higher in official life. The jester at the carnival became the king, the grotesque worldview was manifested in the “Feast of Fools”, the most sacred thing was parodied - the Christian liturgy, worship and other rituals. Songs ridiculing monks and priests were in vogue. For example, young people in Cologne in the 11th century sang a jester's song that began with the words:

I would like to die
Not in your apartment
And over a mug of wine
Somewhere in a tavern.

She was particularly frivolous vagant lyrics (wandering singers). Even in official Christian culture, the creation of which the common man had access to, the grotesque worldview was manifested in mysteries (theatrical biography of Christ), in devilish buffoonery, in satirical genre scenes (farce), in folklore images of ghouls, monsters, etc.

Medieval architecture

The Middle Ages left behind many grandiose monuments of architectural art.

During the 9th-13th centuries, two main architectural styles changed in Europe - Romanesque And Gothic . The first gets its name from the fact that it is an imitation of ancient Roman buildings. In fact, the Romanesque style was much rougher and more imperfect than the ancient Roman style. Thick walls, a relatively low dome, thick and squat columns, narrow and small windows of Romanesque cathedrals clearly reflected the weak construction technology of this period, and the very political situation of constant feudal wars and strife, when the same churches easily turned into fortresses, where raids of knights by the local population.

Much more interesting and technically advanced Gothic architecture . Its characteristic feature is the architect’s desire to build a building as high as possible. The place of the semicircular vaulted arch was taken by a sharp pointed arch. Gothic cathedrals had many tall and graceful columns inside. Their windows were larger, with many colored painted glasses. An abundance of statues, bas-reliefs, and intricate carvings richly decorated the buildings inside and out. One or more high towers and majestic doors gave the cathedrals solemnity.

Among the monuments of Roman architecture, the most famous are the cathedrals in Poitiers and Orly (France), Speyer, Worms, Mainz (Germany). The best monuments Gothic art is Notre Dame Cathedral (Paris), Lincoln Cathedral (England), Milan (Italy).

Despite the class-corporate nature of the culture of the Middle Ages, it is distinguished by a certain integrity. This integrity was given to her two determining factors: feudalism and Christianity .

Distinctive features of the culture of the Middle Ages

To summarize, we can say that The distinctive features of the culture of the Middle Ages were:

Christian, religious character, through which the ideas of freedom and the value of human earthly life shine through;

traditionalism, which was expressed in a commitment to icons, archetypes, in limiting the freedom of creativity within the framework of a theological worldview, in the impersonality of works;

symbolism, which found its expression in the semantic, broad interpretation and analysis of texts from the Bible;

historicism and didacticism spiritual life of the Middle Ages: the righteous and theological teachers sought, in the course of discussions, disputes, and teachings, to convey the uniqueness of the appearance of Christ and the greatness of the divine plan;

versatility spiritual culture, the essence of which was the creation big picture world created by the compilation of theoretical knowledge.

At the same time, the culture of the Middle Ages contradictory , it contains noticeable suffering renunciation of the world, and a craving for its violent transformation which found expression in the Crusades. The tension and complex search for a new ideological picture of the world, during which thinkers tried to reconcile faith and reason, created new artistic styles, and prepared people’s consciousness for the use of mechanical devices and technology. Consider the Middle Ages as a kind of “break” in the development of human culture, “ dark spot", "failure", as thinkers considered it Italian Renaissance, is illegal. During this contradictory process, man gradually turns to himself rather than to God.

The creativity of the peoples of medieval Europe laid the foundations for the further development of culture. We must agree with those culturologists who believe that the main achievement of this culture should be considered the discovery of the spiritual powers of man, the discovery of the sources of the humanistic worldview. In relation to our modern culture, it played, in comparison with M.K. Petrov, the role of scaffolding: without them it is impossible to construct a building.

During the Middle Ages, there was a special influence of the Christian Church on the formation of the mentality and worldview of Europeans. Instead of a meager and difficult life, religion offered people a system of knowledge about the world and the laws operating in it. That is why medieval culture is completely imbued with Christian ideas and ideals, which were considered earthly life human as a preparatory stage for the upcoming immortality, but in another dimension. People identified the world with a kind of arena in which they confronted heavenly powers and hellish, good and evil.

Medieval culture reflects the history of the struggle between the state and the church, their interaction and the implementation of divine goals.

Architecture

In the 10th-12th centuries in Western European countries, which is rightfully considered the first canon of medieval architecture, prevailed.

Secular buildings are massive, characterized by narrow window openings and high towers. Typical Features architectural structures Romanesque style - domed structures and semicircular arches. Bulky buildings symbolized power christian god.

During this period, special attention was paid to monastery buildings, as they combined the monks’ home, chapel, prayer room, workshops and library. Main element composition - high tower. Massive reliefs decorating facade walls and portals were the main element of temple decor.

Medieval culture is characterized by the emergence of another style in architecture. It is called Gothic. This style shifts the cultural center from secluded monasteries to crowded city neighborhoods. At the same time, the cathedral is considered the main spiritual building. The first temple buildings are distinguished by slender columns soaring upward, elongated windows, painted stained glass windows and “roses” above the entrance. Inside and out, they were decorated with reliefs, statues, and paintings, emphasizing the main feature of the style - upward direction.

Sculpture

Metal processing is used primarily for manufacturing

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

The role of the church in medieval culture

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

Medieval culture. Briefly about literature

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

Science of the Middle Ages

It was widely developed with the emergence of the first universities in the 11th century. Alchemy was a very interesting science of the Middle Ages. Transformation of metals into gold, searches philosopher's stone- its main tasks.

Architecture

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