Medieval culture

During the Middle Ages, the Christian church has a special influence on the formation of the mentality and outlook of Europeans. In exchange for a meager and hard life, religion offered people a system of knowledge of the world and the laws that operate in it. That is why the medieval culture is completely imbued with Christian ideas and ideals that viewed the human earthly life as a preparatory stage for the impending immortality, but in another dimension. People identified the world with a kind of arena on which the heavenly powers and the infernal, good and evil were opposing.

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

Architecture

In the 10-12 centuries in the West European countries, the Romanesque style dominates , which is rightly considered the first canon of medieval architecture.

Secular buildings are massive, they are characterized by narrow window openings and high towers. Typical features of architectural structures of the Romanesque style are domed structures and semicircular arches. Cumbersome buildings symbolized the power of the Christian god.

Particular attention during this period was paid to the monastery buildings, as they combined the dwelling of monks, a chapel, a room for prayers, workshops and a library. The main element of the composition is a high tower. Massive reliefs adorned the facade walls and portals, were the main element of the temple decor.

Medieval culture is characterized by the emergence of yet another style in architecture. It is called Gothic. This style displaces the cultural center from solitary monasteries to crowded city blocks. At the same time, the main spiritual building is the cathedral. The first temple buildings of the Gothic style are distinguished by slender columns, carried away skyward, elongated windows, painted stained-glass windows and "roses" above the entrance. From inside and outside, they were decorated with reliefs, statues, paintings, emphasizing the main feature of the style - aspiration upwards.

Sculpture

The medieval culture of Western Europe is characterized by the integration of sculptures into the overall church architecture. They served exclusively aesthetic and constructive purposes. Small in size sculptures were created mainly from bronze, gold and bone according to the pattern of Byzantine models. Large-scale sculptures of stone appeared in Europe only in the 12th century.

In many churches, stone figures were placed on the facades, and statues - on columns. A distinctive feature of the sculpture in the Romanesque style is that it does not depict the phenomena of nature and the human body.

Literature

Church writings, which tell about the life of saints, is what distinguishes the culture of medieval Europe. By the beginning of the 10th century, the canon of this genre was formed in this area: the indomitable spirit of the protagonist and a set of his virtues. The Golden Legend of Y. Voraginsky, a collection of descriptions of the life of Catholic saints, became very famous.

Musical medieval culture

It is based on the liturgical singing of the god singing. Initially, this trend was used in tunes, and then in hymns, where the poetic text is combined with the song melody.

The Gregorian chant is an example of canonized music. It includes chants used for services marked in the church calendar.

Painting and DII

Actively developing book miniature, carving on the bone, casting, artistic weaving, chasing. In all forms of art, an important role is played by ornamentation made up of motifs of flora and fauna, or geometric patterns.

Processing of metals is used primarily for the production of church utensils.