5. The formation of a European civilization V-XVII

• General characteristics of the Western European Middle Ages

• Early Middle Ages

• Classical Middle Ages

• Late Middle Ages

The term "Middle Ages" was first used by Italian humanists in the XV century. to indicate the period between classical antiquity and their time. In Russian historiography, the fifth century is also traditionally considered the lower boundary of the Middle Ages. AD - the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the upper one - the 17th century, when a bourgeois revolution took place in England.

The Middle Ages period is extremely important for Western European civilization: the processes and events of that time still often determine the nature of the political, economic, and cultural development of the countries of Western Europe. Thus, it was during this period that the religious community of Europe was formed and a new direction in Christianity emerged, which was most conducive to the establishment of bourgeois relations, Protestantism, the urban culture was formed, which largely determined the modern mass Western European culture; the first parliaments arise and the principle of separation of powers is put into practice; laying the foundations of modern science and the education system; preparing the ground for an industrial revolution and the transition to an industrial society.

In the development of Western European medieval society can be divided into three stages:

- - Early Middle Ages (V-X cc.) - the process of folding the main structures characteristic of the Middle Ages;

- - the classical Middle Ages (XI-XV centuries) - the time of maximum development of medieval feudal institutions;

- - the late Middle Ages (XV-XVII centuries) - a new capitalist society begins to form. This division is largely arbitrary, although it is generally accepted; depending on the stage, the main characteristics of Western European society change. Before considering the features of each stage, we highlight the most important features inherent in the entire Middle Ages period.

5.1. General characteristics of the Western European Middle Ages (V-XVII centuries.)

The medieval society of Western Europe was agrarian. The basis of the economy is agriculture, and in this area the vast majority of the population was employed. Labor in agriculture, as well as in other industries, was manual, which predetermined its low efficiency and the generally slow pace of technical and economic evolution.

The vast majority of the population of Western Europe lived throughout the Middle Ages outside the city. If for ancient Europe cities were very important - they were independent centers of life, the character of which was predominantly municipal, and the person’s belonging to the city determined his civil rights, in Medieval Europe, especially in the first seven centuries, the role of cities was insignificant, although time influence of cities is increasing.

The Western European Middle Ages is a period of domination of the subsistence economy and the weak development of commodity-money relations. The insignificant level of specialization of the districts associated with this type of economy determined the development mainly of distant (external), and not near (internal) trade. Long-distance trade was focused mainly on the higher strata of society. Industry in this period existed in the form of crafts and manufactory.

The Middle Ages is characterized by an exceptionally strong role of the church and a high degree of ideologization of society.

If in the ancient world each nation had its own religion, which reflected its national characteristics, history, temperament, way of thinking, then in Medieval Europe there is one religion for all nations - Christianity, which became the basis for uniting Europeans into one family, folding a single European civilization.

The process of European integration was controversial: along with convergence in the field of culture and religion, there is a desire for national isolation in terms of the development of statehood. The Middle Ages is the time of formation of national states, which exist in the form of monarchies, both absolute and estate-representative. The features of political power were its fragmentation, as well as connection with conditional ownership of land. If in ancient Europe the right to own land was determined for a free person by his nationality - the fact of his birth in this policy and the civil rights arising from this, in medieval Europe the right to land depended on the person’s belonging to a certain class. Medieval society - class. There were three main classes: the nobility, the clergy and the people (under this concept peasants, artisans, traders were united). The estates had different rights and duties, played different socio-political and economic roles.

Vassalitic system

The system of vassalitet. The most important characteristic of medieval Western European society was its hierarchical structure, the system of vassalage. At the head of the feudal hierarchy stood the king - the supreme overlord and often only the nominal head of state. This convention of the absolute authority of the highest person in the states of Western Europe is also an essential feature of Western European society, in contrast to the truly absolute monarchies of the East. Even in Spain (where the power of the royal power was quite tangible), when the king was inaugurated, the grandees, in accordance with the ritual, said the words: “We, who are no worse than you, make you, who are no better than us, the king, in order you respected and defended our rights. And if not, then not. ” Thus, the king in medieval Europe is only “the first among equals,” and not the all-powerful despot. It is characteristic that the king, occupying the first step of the hierarchy in his state, could well have been a vassal of another king or pope.

At the second stage of the feudal ladder were the direct vassals of the king. These were large feudal lords — dukes, earls; archbishops, bishops, abbots. According to the immunity letter, received from the king, they possessed various types of immunity (from the Latin. - immunity). The most common types of immunity were tax, judicial and administrative, i.e. The owners of the immunity certificates themselves collected taxes from their peasants and citizens, decided the court, took administrative decisions. Feudal lords of this level could have minted their own coins, which often had circulation not only within this estate, but also outside it. The subordination of such feudal lords to the king was often merely formal.

At the third step of the feudal ladder were vassals of dukes, counts, bishops - barons. They enjoyed actual immunity in their estates. Lower down were the vassals of the barons — the knights. Some of them could also have their own vassals, even smaller knights, others - only peasants were subordinate to them, who, however, stood outside the feudal ladder.

The vassalage system was based on the practice of land grants. The man who received the land became a vassal, the one who gave it was the lord. The land was given under certain conditions, the most important of which was service to the seigneur, which is usually 40 days a year according to feudal custom. The most important duties of a vassal in relation to his lord were to participate in the lord's army, protect his possessions, honor, dignity, and participate in his council. If necessary, vassals redeemed the seigneur from captivity.

Upon receiving the land, the vassal took an oath of allegiance to his master. If a vassal did not fulfill his obligations, the seigneur could take the land from him, but it was not so easy to do so, as the vassal - the feudal lord was inclined to defend his recent property with a weapon in his hand. In general, despite the seemingly clear order that the well-known formula described: “My vassal's vassal is not my vassal,” the vassal system was rather confusing, and a vassal could have several seniors at the same time.

Customs, customs

Morals, customs. Another fundamental characteristic of Western European medieval society, and perhaps the most important, was a certain mentality of people, the nature of a public outlook, and an everyday way of life rigidly associated with it. The most significant features of medieval culture were the constant and sharp contrasts between wealth and poverty, a noble origin and originlessness - everything was put on display. The society was vivid in its everyday life, it was convenient to navigate in it: so, even by clothes, it was easy to determine whether any person belonged to an estate, rank, and professional circle. The peculiarity of that society was a great many restrictions and conventions, but those who could “read” them, knew their code, received important additional information about the reality surrounding it. Thus, each color in clothes had its own purpose: blue was interpreted as the color of fidelity, green - as the color of new love, yellow - as the color of hostility. At that time, the Western Europeans and color combinations, which, like the styles of hats, caps, and dresses, conveyed the inner mood of a person, his attitude to the world, were extremely informative. So, symbolism is an important characteristic of the culture of Western European medieval society.

The emotional life of the society was also contrasted, since contemporaries themselves testified that the soul of a medieval resident of Western Europe was unbridled and passionate. The parishioners in the church could cry for hours with crying, then they were bored, and they started dancing here, in the temple, telling the saint, whose image just knelt: "now you pray for us, and we will dance."

This society was often cruel to many. Executions were common, and there was no middle ground with regard to the criminals - they were either executed or forgiven altogether. Thoughts that criminals can be re-educated, were not allowed. Executions were always organized as a special moralizing play for the public, and terrible and painful punishments were invented for terrible atrocities. For many ordinary people, executions served as entertainment, and medieval authors noted that the people, as a rule, tried to delay the finale, enjoying the spectacle of torture; common in such cases was the "animal, dull fun of the crowd."

Hot temper, covetousness, aggression, vindictiveness were other frequent traits of the medieval inhabitant of Western Europe. These qualities were combined with constant readiness for tears: sobs were considered noble and beautiful, and uplifting everyone - children, adults, men and women.

The Middle Ages - the time of preachers who preached, moving from place to place, arousing people with their eloquence, greatly influencing public sentiment. So, brother Richard, who lived in France at the beginning of the 15th century, enjoyed great popularity and love. Once he preached in Paris at the cemetery of innocent-killed babies for 10 days from 5 am to 11 pm. Huge crowds of people listened to him, the impact of his speeches was powerful and fast: many rushed to the ground and repented of their sins, many gave vows to start a new life. When Richard announced that he was finishing the last sermon and should go on, a lot of people, leaving their homes and families, left after him.

Preachers, of course, contributed to the creation of a unified European society.

An important characteristic of society was the general state of collective mores, public mood: this was expressed in the fatigue of society, the fear of life, and the feeling of fear of fate. Indicative was the absence in society of a strong will and desire to change the world for the better. Fear of life will give way to hope, courage and optimism only in the XVII-XVIII centuries. - and it is no coincidence that from this time a new period in human history will come, an essential feature of which will be the desire of Western Europeans to positively transform the world. The praise of life and the active attitude towards it did not appear suddenly and not from scratch: the possibility of these changes will gradually ripen within the framework of feudal society throughout the entire Middle Ages. From stage to stage, Western European society will become more energetic and enterprising; slowly but steadily, the whole system of social institutions of economic, political, social, cultural and psychological will change. Let us trace the features of this process by periods.