Medieval Europe: states and cities. History of medieval Europe

Medieval period is usually called the time interval between the New and Old Age. Chronologically it can be framed from the end of the V-VI to the XVI (sometimes inclusive) centuries. In turn, the Middle Ages is divided into three periods. This, in particular: early, high (middle) and late era (the beginning of the Renaissance). Next, let us consider how the medieval states of Europe developed.

general characteristics

According to the volume of events that have some significance for cultural life, the XIV-XVI centuries are considered separate, independent periods. The degree of heritability of the characteristics of the previous stages was different. Medieval Western Europe, its Central and Eastern parts, as well as some of the territories of Oceania, Asia and Indonesia, retained the elements typical of the Ancient Period. The settlements of the territory of the Balkan Peninsula aspired to a fairly intensive cultural exchange. The same tendencies adhered to other medieval cities of Europe: in the south of Spain, France. At the same time, they tend to turn to the past, preserve the rudiments of previous generations' achievements in those or other areas. Speaking of the south and southeast, the development here relied on the traditions formed in the Roman times.

"Cultural colonization"

This process has spread to some of the medieval cities of Europe. There were quite a lot of ethnic groups whose culture strictly adhered to the framework of antiquity, but they were eager to attach to the dominant religion on many other territories. So, for example, it was with the Saxons. The Franks tried to force them into their own - Christian - culture. The same was true of other tribes that preserved polytheistic beliefs. But the Romans in the seizure of the land never tried to force the people to accept a new faith. Cultural colonization has been accompanied since the fifteenth century by the conquering policies of the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and later other states that carried out the seizure of the territories.

Nomadic tribes

The history of medieval Europe, at an early stage in particular, was filled with captures, wars, destruction of settlements. At this time, the movement of nomadic tribes was active. Medieval Europe experienced the Great Migration of Nations. In the course of this, there was a distribution of ethnic groups that settled in certain regions, displacing or merging with the already existing nationalities. As a result, new symbiosis, social contradictions were formed. So, for example, it was in Spain, which was captured by Muslim Arabs in the 8th century AD. In this respect, the history of Medieval Europe differed little from the Ancient.

Education of States

Medieval civilization of Europe developed quite rapidly. In the early period, many small and large states were formed. The largest was the Frankish. The Roman region of Italy also became an independent state. The rest of Medieval Europe broke up into many large and small principalities, which were only in formal submission to kings of more extensive formations. This, in particular, refers to the British Isles, Scandinavia and other lands that are not part of the larger states. Similar processes have also taken place in the eastern part of the world. So, for example, on the territory of China at various times there were about 140 states. Together with the imperial feudal power existed - the owners of feuds had, among other things, administration, the army and in some cases even their own money. As a result of this fragmentation, wars were frequent, self-will was clearly manifested, and the state was generally weakened.

Culture

Medieval civilization of Europe developed very heterogeneously. This was reflected in the culture of that period. There were several directions for the development of this sphere. In particular, there are subcultures such as city, peasant, knight. Development of the latter involved the feudal lords. To urban (burgher) culture should be attributed to artisans and merchants.

Activities

Medieval Europe lived mainly due to subsistence economy. In those or other regions, however, there is a different pace of development and involvement in certain types of activities. For example, nomadic peoples settled on lands that had been developed earlier by other nationalities, began to engage in agriculture. However, the quality of their work and subsequent performance was much worse than that of the indigenous population. In the early period Medieval Europe experienced a process of de-urbanization. In the course of it, the residents from the destroyed large settlements moved to the countryside. As a result, the citizens were forced to move on to other activities. Everything necessary for life was produced by peasants, except for metal products. Plowing of the land was almost everywhere carried out either by the people themselves (they harnessed into the plow), or using cattle - bulls or cows. From the 9th to the 10th centuries a clamp was used. Due to this, the horse began to harness. But these animals were in very small numbers. Until the 18th century the peasants used a plow and a wooden shovel. It was rare to find water mills, and windmills began to appear in the 12th century. A constant companion of that period was famine.

Socio-political development

Land ownership of the initial periods was distributed among peasant communities, the church and feudal lords. Gradually enslaved people. The land of free peasants began to join under one or other pretexts to sites of church or secular feudal lords living with them on the same territory. As a result, by the eleventh century, economic and personal dependence flourished in varying degrees almost universally. Peasants for the use of the site had to give 1/10 of all produced, grind bread at the bar mills, work in workshops or on arable land, take part in other works. In the event of a military threat, he was charged with protecting the land of the owner. Serfdom of Medieval Europe was abolished in different regions in different periods. The first to be released dependent peasants in France in the 12th century - at the beginning of the Crusades. Since the XV century, peasants in England have become free. This was in connection with the fencing of the land. In Norway, for example, the peasants were not dependent.

Trade

Market relations were either exchange (goods for goods) or financial (commodity-money). For different cities there was a weight of silver in coins, a different purchasing power. Minted money could large feudal lords, those who took the patent for coinage. In connection with the lack of systematic trade fairs began to develop. They, as a rule, were timed to various religious holidays. Large walls were formed under the walls of the prince's castle. The merchants were organized in shops and conducted foreign and domestic trade. Approximately at that time, the Hanseatic League was formed. It became the largest organization that united the merchants of a number of states. By 1300, it included more than 70 cities between Holland and Livonia. They were divided into 4 sections. At the head of each region was a major city. They had connections with smaller settlements. In the cities there were warehouses, hotels (in which merchants stopped), trade agents. The development of the material and cultural plan was promoted to a certain extent by the Crusades.

Technical progress

In the period under review, it was extremely quantitative. This can be attributed to China, which has moved far ahead of Europe. However, any improvement was met with two official obstacles: the shop statute and the church. The latter imposed bans in accordance with ideological considerations, the first - because of fear of competition. In cities, artisans were united in workshops. Organization beyond their borders was impossible for several reasons. The shops distributed the material, the quantity of products, the places for marketing. They also determined and strictly controlled the quality of the goods. The shops followed the equipment on which production was carried out. The charter regulated free time, labor, clothes, holidays and much more. Technologies were kept in the strictest secrecy. If they were recorded, it was only a cipher and they were handed over exclusively to relatives by inheritance. Often the technology remained a mystery for the future generation.