The picture of the world of European man: from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. Kosareva L.M.
MEDIEVAL PICTURE OF THE WORLD
It was shown above that people of the Middle Ages differed from each other by belonging to any class. But they were all united by collective psychology and fundamental attitudes of consciousness, determined by the “picture”, the model of the world, part of which is the peculiarities of the perception of space and time.
Features of space perception
Speaking about the peculiarities of the perception of space by a person of the Middle Ages, it is worth noting that in the medieval system of thinking the very category of earthly life was of an evaluative nature and opposed to heavenly life. In this regard, land as a geographical concept was simultaneously perceived as a place of earthly life and was part of the “earth-sky” opposition, and therefore had a religious and moral character. These same ideas were transferred to geographical concepts in general - some lands were perceived as righteous, others as sinful, and movement in geographical space becomes movement along a vertical scale of religious and moral values, in which the upper level is in heaven, and the lower one is in hell (for example, This feature determined the composition of Dante's Divine Comedy).
In addition, the peculiarities of the perception of Medieval space are closely related to the idea of chosenness, which was expressed in the division of lands into the righteous and the sinful. The opposition “one's own - someone else's” was perceived as a variant of the opposition “righteous sinful”, “good bad”.
The earth seemed flat in the form of a huge disk supporting the vault of heaven and surrounded by the ocean, its edge, which was lost in the darkness, was inhabited by wonderful tribes - one-legged people, wolf people. In this flat, round world, surrounded by all sorts of horrors, there is a center - Jerusalem.
The objective world was divided into three areas. In one of them Islam reigned - the kingdom of evil. Another region is Byzantium, it was dominated by semi-evil, this christian world caused mistrust and was a stranger. The third area is the West itself, the Latin, Christian world, which dreamed of a Golden Age and an empire.
The image of space was not an image of extension, as for a modern European, it was measured by the time required to overcome it (days of travel or the size of plots of land that can be plowed in this time). In the Middle Ages, the images of all measurements were not the divisions of a ruler or tape measure, but “natural” measures: the length of the foot or forearm, the size of a strand or the surface of the earth that could be cultivated in one day.
But there was no impenetrable partition between the earthly and heavenly worlds; they formed a single whole. According to cosmography, the long road of the soul leads step by step to God.
The Universe was a system of concentric spheres. So, for example, according to the “Lamp” of Honorius Augustodunsky, the sky was divided into three parts: the bodily sky that we see; the spiritual heaven, where spiritual angels live, and the intellectual heaven, where the blessed contemplate the face of the Holy Trinity.
Medieval man perceived himself as a “small world” - a microcosm that was correlated with the macrocosm, feeling his inner kinship with it.
Peculiarities of time perception
Time is a category that was perceived ambiguously. This ambiguity lay in the fact that, on the one hand, it was still closely connected with the cyclical, agrarian perception, on the other, with the church, time in the Early Middle Ages was perceived as a Divine gift, it belongs to God. In addition, his perception changed dramatically in the High Middle Ages, during the period of transition from “heaven to earth.”
Despite the fact that each class had its own image of time: the peasants had agrarian time, seigneurial time and church time - all these images depended on natural time. Seigneurial time was tied to natural time thanks to military operations that took place only in the summer. The entire liturgical year of the church was correlated with the natural rhythm of agricultural work. The contrast between day and night, winter and summer can also be seen among artisans; the guild regulations prohibited night work, and many crafts were seasonal. But the most significant thing for a person of the medieval era was participation in eternity, therefore, for a person, the time of salvation was the main thing.
The peculiarities of time perception were associated with the fact that there were no ideas about minutes and seconds at all. Even the upper layers were indifferent to the exact time.
Medieval times were, first of all, religious and ecclesiastical times. Religious, because the year was presented as a liturgical year, which was perceived as a sequence of events from the history of Christ. It unfolded from Christmas to Trinity and was filled with events from the lives of the saints. It was also ecclesiastical because only the clergy could measure it by ringing bells, and were its “master”.
The basis of the general view of the universe was the religious picture of the world, which united “heaven” and “earth” into one whole. The image of an impending catastrophe occupied an important place in it. Humanity was approaching its end, and the life of each person was presented as “life on the road.” Each believer imagined himself as a “pilgrim”, for whom the goal of the journey was more important than the difficulties of the path. Great importance in this picture it was determined by images of sin and the punishment that inevitably follows it.
We have already noted that medieval society is a traditional society, so the images of the past for a person of this era were vague. If he had no education, his ideas were of a legendary, fairy-tale nature. They were based on the stories of elders, and the more distant past was associated with myths. Educated people perceived the past as biblical history, as a succession to world monarchies. They closely followed the change of seasons, the annual rhythm of divine services, but at the same time they did not understand chronology and even less about specific dates.
Picture of the world medieval man was filled to the limit with all sorts of symbols. Each real object was considered as an image of something corresponding to it in a higher sphere and, accordingly, became its symbol. Language also served to express reality hidden from the eyes. Symbolism was universal; thinking meant eternally discovering hidden meanings that promised salvation. Everything was symbolic.
But the medieval man is not a permanent category. Despite the fact that the Middle Ages are usually classified as a traditional type of culture, this does not mean that throughout the thousand-year culture this society was unchanged. Society changed, and the idea of time changed.
It is no coincidence that the period of the XI - XV centuries. called the High Middle Ages. So, according to J. Le Goff, around 1200 a great upsurge begins, during this period man turns his gaze “from heaven to earth.” The following were reassessed: innovation, perception of time, writing, the physical, etc.
The attitude towards time is also changing. This new idea of time was formed by the middle of the 12th century. and is reflected at different levels.
Firstly, we have already noted that time in the Early Middle Ages was considered as a gift from God, therefore it could not be an object of trade, and the work of a merchant was therefore condemned. In the High Middle Ages, the work of a merchant was perceived as a specific activity; it began to be compared with the work, although of a different nature, of a craftsman and a farmer.
Secondly, changes are taking place in science. This is due, first of all, to the development of education; until this time, the monopoly on education was concentrated in monastery schools; now the laity is taking it into their own hands, some of them making it their profession and source of livelihood. Changing ideas in this area gives impetus to the emergence of universities. University a corporation that united teachers and students of one city. In the 13th century. the university organization was a sign of the integration of the city's intellectual life
The use of “scientific” calculations in measuring time at the end of the 13th century. will be the impetus for the creation of mechanical watches, which spread very quickly. There is a rationalization of time: the hour of a mechanical watch is a clear unit that is convenient for arithmetic operations. The monopoly of bells, which announced the time of God, becomes the time of the merchants, which can be mechanically changed. As a result, man became oriented towards earthly, rational values.
The turning point in the XII - XIII centuries. observed in the triumph of literacy and knowledge. In the cities, primary education was spread for laymen and merchants who learned reading, writing and arithmetic. During this period, the number of schoolchildren and vagabonds on the roads of Europe sharply increased. The word "vagant" means "wandering". It was applied to priests without a parish, to monks who left the monastery and wandered from city to city. Schoolchildren who, in search of knowledge, changed school after school also fell under it.
The era of the Crusades and communal revolutions sharply increased the demand for literate people, cathedral schools and the first universities began to produce more and more educated clergy in response. But at a certain point, the “production” of the intelligentsia turned into overproduction; young clerics found it increasingly difficult to find a parish, a teaching position, or a service in the chancellery, and in anticipation of this they began to wander from place to place.
New values were also reflected in writing. The main value orientation of the spoken word begins to give way to the written word. In addition, with the proliferation of university manuscripts and trade books, the written text is desacralized. If previously it was associated with the Holy Scriptures, now the written text begins to be considered as something ordinary. The letter is created not in the name of God, but for the sake of earthly things.
If in the Early Middle Ages the body was treated with contempt, then the High Middle Ages viewed it as a companion of the soul. This is reflected, for example, in a change in attitude towards one of the grave sins - gluttony.
Gluttony was a sin of the ruling class, through which social superiority could be manifested. Now, in addition to boasting about food, refined taste has also been added as a result, the joys of the feast gave birth to gastronomy.
The significance and value of earthly life are manifested not only in gastronomy, but also in evolutionary terms,
firstly, to laugh - the monasticism of the Early Middle Ages taught Christians to neglect the earthly world. This was expressed in the suppression of laughter. In the 13th century. laughter is legitimized in all its manifestations.
Secondly, a change in the concept of holiness it is the earthly life of a saint that acquires great importance.
Thirdly, the posthumous memory of oneself is transformed. J. Le Goff writes that attempts to overcome oblivion at this time had different expressions. For example, they are returning to the practice of wills, lost since antiquity. With its help, the deceased gets the opportunity to remind himself of himself with a property award to his family and friends. The recognition of purgatory also turned out to be significant in this case, since a person did not go to heaven immediately; those who are in it still have the right to return to earth and appear alive.
All these changes are reflected in art, in which until the 12th century. there was one plot - the plot of God. But during the ascent, attention to the ephemeral, fleeting increases, and earthly life begins to be highly valued. Realism is born in the system of artistic representation. This realism also represents a certain set of rules, but this code is desacralized.
As a result of all these changes, a new type of person emerges - personality, the “I” breaks through, although, of course, the prerequisites for individual consciousness were contained in Christianity itself, but they are being revealed right now. In addition to names, people have surnames. Belief in purgatory increases the importance of death and individual judgment after death. The sphere of the personal is also expanded through individual reading. At the end of the 13th century. the earthly image of the individual is embodied in an individual portrait.
The man of the Early Middle Ages is being replaced by a new man. This new person begins to perceive the earth differently. It no longer imitates the sky, but becomes reality; the earth, on the contrary, imitates the sky. “There is a great conversion of Christian society to the earthly world. The path is being cleared for the first approaches to a new time.”
Thus we see that,
firstly, the culture of the medieval West belongs to the traditional type of culture, since in it life, first of all, is governed by tradition and custom.
Secondly, the social structure of this society is characterized by two principles of organization: relations of dominance/subordination and corporate relations, which, of course, are a consequence of the traditional structure. A man of the Middle Ages was always a member of some group that determined his whole life, he did not think of himself as an individual, hence, for example, in painting there is no portrait genre
Thirdly, although the people of the Middle Ages differed from each other depending on whether they belonged to the spiritual elite or to groups of peasants and artisans, petty burghers and knights, the lower part of monasticism and clergy. Everyone was united in one era by collective psychology and fundamental attitudes of consciousness, determined by the picture of the world - attachment to agrarian time, symbolism, the unification of “heaven” and “earth” into one whole.
The era of the Middle Ages lasted throughout the 4th - 14th centuries. The Middle Ages in Europe were characterized by the decline of classical Greco-Roman culture and a sharp increase in the influence of the church on the entire spiritual life of society. This historical period received its name “Middle Ages” from its contemporaries in Christian Europe, as the period between the first and second comings of God. The expectation of the imminent end of the world left its mark on the way of life and thinking of people. The interests of medieval man were directed not at the outside world, but within themselves, serving one main goal - the salvation of the soul.
From the point of view of the development of science, three periods of the Middle Ages are distinguished: the early Middle Ages (VI - IX centuries) - the decline of education, general savagery, the middle period (X - XI centuries) - translations of ancient classics, the emergence of the first universities, the late Middle Ages (XII - XIV centuries) - high level education, the flourishing of science and art, preparation for the Renaissance.
In this era, philosophy comes close to theology (theology), in fact it becomes its “handmaiden”. “Nature is filled with miracles, so there can be no talk of any of its objective laws,” argued the philosophers of the Middle Ages. In the system of such a worldview, natural science is deprived of its real subject, real goals and objectives. Natural science becomes scholastic, whose task is now to substantiate Christian dogmas, the desire to see symbols of God in nature.
The flourishing of astrology, alchemy, magic, cabalism, and other manifestations of the occult and secret knowledge became typical for medieval Europe.
While European Christian Science experienced a long period of decline from the second half of the 8th century. scientific leadership shifted from Europe to the Middle East.
In the history of science of this period, such names of Arab scientists as Muhammad al-Battani(850 - 929) - astronomer who compiled new astronomical tables, Ibn Yunas(950 - 1009), who achieved noticeable success in trigonometry and made many valuable observations of lunar and solar eclipses, Ibn al-Hay-sam(965 - 1020), famous for his work in the field of optics, Ibn Rushd(1126 - 1198) - the most prominent philosopher and natural scientist of his time, Ibn Sina (Avicenna)(980 - 1037) - Iranian-Tajik philosopher, medical scientist and doctor, Omar Khayyam(c. 1048 - c. 1122) - Iranian-Tajik mathematician, astronomer, poet and thinker.
In the 11th century, European countries came into contact with the riches of Arab civilization, and translations of Arabic texts stimulated the perception of Eastern knowledge by European peoples. Universities (Bologna, Paris, Sorbonne, Prague, etc.), which began to be formed starting in the 12th century, played a major role in the rise of Western Christian Science. And although these universities were originally intended to train the clergy, even then, within the framework of the preparatory faculty, called the “seven liberal arts of antiquity,” disciplines of mathematical and natural science began to be studied: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy, grammar, rhetoric, dialectics (art conduct debates). These disciplines were reduced to direct service to the church (for example, calculating dates church holidays, musical accompaniment of the service, systematization of dogmas, etc.). Subsequently, this faculty began to be called philosophical. The main faculties of the first universities were medicine, law and theology. The Faculty of Theology was considered the highest faculty.
In the field of mathematics in the Middle Ages, there were two main directions of development: a serious improvement in algebraic symbolism and the establishment of trigonometry as a special science.
Mathematicians of Southern Germany made a great contribution to the formal-symbolic improvement of algebra in the 15th and 16th centuries. They developed several systems of symbols that were more convenient for recording mathematical operations, and some of them expressed ideas in their writings that were close to the concept of a logarithm.
The successes of trigonometry, which were a consequence of the development of astronomy, were also obvious. The facts of trigonometry were accepted, like other facts of mathematics, mostly when translating scientific treatises from Arabic. At the same time, the achievements of astronomers and mathematicians of both Byzantium and later Arab science came into the field of view of European mathematicians.
The following figures made the greatest contribution to the development of mathematics during this period.
In 1202, Europe received its first arithmetic textbook for the general reader, The Book of Abacus. It was compiled by Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa (1180-1240). He studied arithmetic in Algeria with local Muslims. Fibonacci later wrote the textbook Practical Geometry and the Book of Squares. In them, for the first time, the rules of operations with zero and negative numbers were set out in Latin, and the famous Fibonacci numbers appeared. The Book of Abacus has 15 sections. The first seven cover the calculus of integers using the positional decimal system and operations with ordinary fractions. Sections 8-11 contain applications to commercial calculations: simple and complex triple rule, proportional division, problems for determining coin samples. A diverse set of problems solved using simple and double false positions, summing arithmetic progressions and squares of natural numbers, finding integer solutions to indefinite equations of the first degree, makes up departments 12 and 13. The penultimate, 14th department is devoted to the calculation of square and cube roots and operations with "binomies". The “Book of the Abacus” ends with the 15th section, containing summary algebra and almukabala, close to Khorezmi algebra, as well as problems on continuous numerical proportions and geometric problems, reducing to the application of the Pythagorean theorem.
At the end of the 15th century, bachelor of the University of Paris N. Shuke, in addition to the fractional exponent, also introduced negative and zero exponents, negative numbers, and also made improvements to algebraic symbolism. In this symbolism there is still no special symbol for the unknown, and most of the symbols are formed by abbreviating words. For example, m- abbreviation of the word minus. The root sign is R x from the word radix, root, addition sign - R.
In England, the theory was developed by a learned theologian Robert Groseteste ("Big Head"), Bishop of Lincoln (1175-1253) . He began summing endless series of numbers and soon learned to distinguish a convergent series from a divergent one. But the series can also diverge at different speeds. Groseteste noticed that the sum of natural numbers grows much more slowly than the sum of their squares, and the sum of squares grows more slowly than the sum of successive powers of two. Thus, the first of the Christians penetrated into the field of infinitely large and infinitely small quantities, second after Archimedes, four centuries ahead of Newton.
In 1461, the work “Five Books on Triangles of Every Kind” appeared in Europe, in which for the first time trigonometry was separated from astronomy and treated as an independent part of mathematics. It was written by a German mathematician Johann Muller (1436-1476), better known as Regiomontan.
This book systematically examines all problems of identifying triangles, flat and spherical, based on given elements. At the same time, Regiomontanus expanded the concept of number to include the irrationality that arises in the case of geometric incommensurabilities, and to apply algebra to the solution of geometric problems. Thus, a new understanding of the subject of trigonometry and its tasks was opened.
Regiomontan enriched the concept of number by introducing radicals and operations on them. This made it possible to pose the problem of solving the widest possible class of equations in radicals. And it was in this area that the first successes were achieved - equations of the 3rd and 4th degrees were solved in radicals.
Regiomontanus continued the work begun earlier by other scientists on compiling tables of trigonometric functions. His table of sines had a frequency every minute and accuracy to the seventh digit. To do this, he took the radius of the generating circle equal to 107, since decimal fractions were not yet known. He introduced trigonometric functions into European practice, which in the 17th century received the names tangent and cotangent, compiling a table of their values.
Thus, in the field of mathematics during the Middle Ages, there were two main directions of development. This is, first of all, a serious improvement in algebraic symbolism and the establishment of trigonometry as a special science. A special contribution to the development of these directions was made by Leonardo Fibonacci, N. Schuquet, Robert Groseteste (“Bigheaded”), Bishop of Lincoln, Johann Muller (Regiomontanus). Their research influenced the development of algebra and trigonometry, led to the emergence of the concept of logarithm, and introduced trigonometric functions into European practice, which in the 17th century were called tangent and cotangent.
culture science alchemy trigonometry
List of used literature
- 1. Gindikin S.G. Stories about physicists and mathematicians. M.: Nauka, 1981.
- 2. Gurevich A.Ya. “The Medieval World: The Culture of the Silent Majority”, M.: 1990
- 1981 Zakovsky I.S. “Problems of medieval science and culture”, M.:
- 3. Danilova B.S. Kozhevnikov N.N. Basic concepts of modern natural science, M.: Aspect Press, 2000.
"1. Revolutionism (from the Latin word revelatio - Revelation). True faith is given to man by God himself in the form of the Holy Scriptures (Bible) and is the only source true knowledge. Hence the primacy of faith over reason. The church is called to interpret revelation and guard the true faith. Hence its power over the spiritual life of people. And connected with this was the reckless faith in the authority of the written, bookish word (the Bible, the writings of the church fathers, Aristotle). [...]
2. Creationism (from creatio - creation). Medieval man learned from the Bible that the world was created by one omnipotent God and must obey his fatherly commandments. Hence the stagnant conservatism of medieval thinking and frequent outbreaks of fundamentalism - the militant doctrine that the immutability of the foundations of the world is good and any violation of the established order (divine!) is a grave sin, that any innovation is dangerous.
3. Adynamism of perception. Biblical chronology was generally very compressed - the creation of the world was thought to be several thousand years before the birth of Christ. Medieval man is characterized not only by the amazing static nature of socio-historical life, its stagnant nature, the duration of all processes, but also by insensitivity to the passage of time. Partly due to the actual stagnation of life, partly due to creationism, people Not they noticed changes in the material world - as can be seen from their drawings, they imagined distant ancestors in the same clothes that they themselves wore, and in the same cities in which they themselves lived, they placed ancient peoples in a close time. The ancient Greeks and Romans were represented in their own image. [...]
4. Degenerationism. Everything in the world was created in at its best, but gradually deteriorates, collapses and falls into disrepair. Reason - original sin first people (violation of the ban on sexual intercourse). Faith also deteriorates: true faith into one God is replaced by polytheism and idolatry.
5. Eschatologism(from the Greek eschatologos - final, last). The world is heading towards its end, which will come soon. This will be the Last Judgment, when God will punish sinners and reward the righteous. You need to live according to the commandments, offer gifts to God and pray.
6. Providentialism. Everything that happens in the world is a unique event and happens according to the direct providence of God, his will, according to his plan. Outside of this, human affairs either stand still or repeat themselves in a regular cycle.
8. Orientocentrism. Since the Bible first appeared among the Jews, the initial history of mankind is associated with the East, the roots of everything are thought there, and pious historians must connect the rest of history to this first, biblical history, and to the biblical peoples.
It can be said that the living conditions that once gave birth to the Greeks and Romans’ passion for science and philosophy have changed radically. The layer of people who had the freedom and knowledge to think about the origins of man, culture and peoples disappeared, and secular education disappeared. People went pretty wild in their villages and castles, and the culture of literacy concentrated in church havens - abbeys and monasteries, finding themselves under the strictest control of the Christian religion.”
Klein L.S. , History of archaeological thought in 2 volumes, Volume 1, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University Publishing House, 2011, p. 88-89.
The core of medieval consciousness was a religious worldview, in which the interpretation of all phenomena of nature and society, their assessment, as well as the regulation of human behavior are justified by reference to supernatural forces that completely dominate the material world, are capable of arbitrarily changing the course of natural events and even creating being from non-existence. God was the supreme supernatural force. Such ideas were generated both by the practical powerlessness of man before nature (underdevelopment of productive forces, agricultural and handicraft nature of production), and by the spontaneous nature of social-class processes, communication processes (social oppression, social injustice, unpredictability life situations and etc.).
Medieval consciousness was focused primarily on interpersonal relationships. But their reflection and reproduction are dominated by emotional aspects and factors of consciousness.
Nature was no longer perceived as something independent, carrying within itself its own purpose and its own law, as it was in antiquity. It was created by God for the benefit of man. God is omnipotent and capable of disrupting the natural course of natural processes at any moment in the name of his goals. When faced with unusual, amazing natural phenomena, man perceived them as a miracle, as God’s providence, incomprehensible to the human mind, too limited in its capabilities.
For medieval man, nature is a world of things behind which one must strive to see the symbols of God. Therefore, the perception of nature was bifurcated into objective and symbolic components. The cognitive aspect of medieval consciousness was aimed not so much at identifying the objective properties of objects in the visible world, but at understanding their symbolic meanings, i.e. their relationship to the deity. Cognitive activity was predominantly hermeneutic, interpretive, and therefore ultimately based on a hierarchized and subordinated system of values, on value consciousness.
During the Middle Ages, all forms of human activity and communication were imbued with rituals. All forms of human action, including collective action, are strictly regulated. Magical, ceremonial and ritual actions were considered as a way of influencing natural and divine elements. They were associated with hopes for additional supernatural help from “good” forces and protection from “evil” ones. Accurate observance of ritual and magical actions, customs, holidays, the execution of various kinds of spells, requests, calls was considered a necessary condition for a favorable outcome of activity, not only in the economic field, but also in the sphere of human communication, in the sphere of knowledge, political and legal practice, etc. In craft and manufacturing production, rituals accompanied every technological procedure, since their implementation was seen as a condition for the full disclosure of the potential inherent in the objects of labor.
The features of the medieval worldview and thinking that we noted were correspondingly reflected in the process of medieval cognition, determining its following specific features.
1. All human activity was perceived in line with religious ideas, and everything that contradicted the dogmas of the church was prohibited by special decrees. All views on nature were censored by biblical concepts. This strengthened the element of contemplation of knowledge, tuned it into an openly mystical mood, which predetermined the regression or, at best, stagnation of scientific knowledge.
2. Since the reason for the interconnectedness and integrity of the elements of the world in the Middle Ages was seen in God, in the medieval picture of the world there could not be a concept of objective laws, without which natural science could not take shape. After all, a law is a necessary essential connection between some phenomena. The medieval thinker was looking not for these connections between phenomena, but for their relationship to God, their place in the hierarchy of things.
3. Due to the theological-textual nature of cognitive activity, the efforts of the intellect were concentrated not on the analysis of things, but on the analysis of concepts. The universal method was deduction, which carried out the subordination of concepts, which corresponded to a certain hierarchical series of real things. Since the manipulation of concepts replaced the manipulation of objects of reality, there was no need for contact with the latter. Hence the fundamentally inexperienced style of speculative science, doomed to fruitless theorizing and isolation from reality.
Natural scientific achievements in the Middle Ages
Math achievements
The Arabs significantly expanded the ancient system of mathematical knowledge. They borrowed from India and widely used the decimal positional number system. It penetrated along the caravan routes to the Middle East during the Sassanid era (224-041), when Persia, Egypt and India were experiencing a period of cultural interaction.
The tradition of creating new computational techniques and special algorithms also received significant development (characteristic of the Ancient East). For example, al-Kashi, using inscribed and circumscribed regular polygons, calculated the number π to 17 regular signs.
Arab mathematicians also knew how to summarize arithmetic and geometric progressions. Not limiting themselves to the methods of geometric algebra, Arab mathematicians boldly moved on to operations on algebraic irrationalities. They created a unified concept of real numbers by combining rational numbers and ratios and gradually blurred the line between rational numbers and irrationalities.
Arab mathematicians improved methods for solving 2nd and 3rd degrees, and solved certain types of equations of 4th degree.
The most significant achievement of the Arabs in algebra was Omar Khayyam's Treatise on Proofs of Problems, which dealt mainly with cubic equations. Khayyam built a theory of cubic equations based on the geometric methods of the ancients. He classified all cubic equations with positive roots into 14 types. He solved each type of equation using the appropriate construction. Khayyam tried to find a rule for solving cubic equations in general form, but without success.
If individual rudimentary elements of spherical trigonometry were known to the ancient Greeks (for example, Ptolemy used the concept of “chord of an angle”), then trigonometry was created in a systematic form by Arab mathematicians. Already in al-Battani's works there is a significant part of trigonometry, including tables of cotangent values for each degree.
The historical merit of medieval Arab mathematicians was that they began deep research on the foundations of geometry. The first attempts to prove the postulates are described in the works of O. Khayyam.
Advances in physics
Of the branches of mechanics, statics received the greatest development, which was facilitated by the conditions of economic life in the medieval East. Intensive monetary circulation and trade, both domestic and international, required constant improvement of weighing methods, as well as systems of weights and measures. This determined the development of the doctrine of weighing and the theoretical basis of weighing - the science of balance, the creation of numerous designs, various types of scales.
Arab scientists widely used the concept of specific gravity, improving methods for determining the specific gravities of various metals and minerals. This issue was dealt with by al-Biruni, O. Khayyam, and at-Khazini (12th century). To determine specific gravity, Archimedes' law was used; loads were weighed not only in air, but also in water. The results obtained were extremely accurate. For example, the specific gravity of mercury was determined by al-Khazini to be 13.56 g/cm 3 (according to modern data - 13.557), the specific gravity of silver is 10.150 g/cm 3 (according to modern data - 10.49), gold - 19.05 g /cm 3 (modern data - 19.27), copper 8.80 g/cm 3 (modern data -8.91), etc. Such accurate data made it possible to solve a number of practical problems: distinguish between pure metal and gems from counterfeits, establish the true value of coins, detect differences in the specific gravity of water at different temperatures, etc.
The development of kinematics was associated with the needs of astronomy for rigorous methods for describing the motion of celestial bodies. In this direction, the apparatus of kinematic-geometric modeling of the movement of celestial bodies is being developed based on the “Almagest” of K. Ptolemy. In addition, a number of works have studied the kinematics of “terrestrial” movements. In particular, the concept of motion is used to directly prove geometric propositions (Ibn Qorra Sabit, Nasiretdin al-Tusi), mechanical motions are used to explain optical phenomena (Ibn al-Hay-Sam), the parallelogram of motions is studied, etc. One of the areas of medieval Arabic kinematics was the development of infinitesimal methods (i.e., consideration of infinite processes, continuity, passage to limits, etc.).
The dynamics developed on the basis of commenting and understanding the works of Aristotle. Medieval Arab scientists discussed the problems of the existence of emptiness and the possibility of movement in emptiness, the nature of movement in a resisting medium, the mechanism of transmission of movement, the free fall of bodies, the movement of bodies thrown at an angle to the horizon.
In the late Middle Ages, the dynamic “theory of impetus”, which was the bridge that connected the dynamics of Aristotle with the dynamics of Galileo, received significant development.
In addition, the “impetus theory” contributed to the development and clarification of the concept of strength. The old, ancient and medieval concept of force, thanks to the “impetus theory,” in the further development of physics, split into two concepts. The first is what I. Newton called “force” ( ma), understanding by force an influence on a body that is external to the movement of that body. The second is what R. Descartes called the quantity of motion, i.e. motion process factors (mv), associated with the moving body itself.
All this gradually prepared the emergence of Galilean dynamics.
Astronomy
Arab scientists also made significant contributions to astronomy. They improved the technique of astronomical measurements, significantly supplemented and refined data on the movement of celestial bodies. One of the outstanding astronomer-observers al-Mirror (Arzakhel) from Cordoba, who was considered the best observer of the 11th century, compiled the so-called Toledo planetary tables (1080). They had a significant influence on the development of trigonometry in Western Europe.
The pinnacle in the field of observational astronomy was the activity of Ulugbek, who was the beloved grandson of the creator of the huge empire, Timur. Driven by a passion for science, Ulugbek built in Samarkand at that time the largest astronomical observatory in the world, which had a giant double quadrant and many other astronomical instruments (azimuthal circle, astrolabes, triquetras, armillary spheres, etc.). The observatory created the work “New Astronomical Tables,” which contained a statement of the theoretical foundations of astronomy and a catalog of the positions of 1018 stars.
In theoretical astronomy, the main attention was paid to clarifying the kinematic-geometric models of the Almagest, eliminating contradictions in Ptolemy's theory (including with the help of more advanced trigonometry) and searching for non-Ptolemaic methods for modeling the motion of celestial bodies.
Alchemy in medieval culture
In medieval alchemy (which flourished in the 13th-15th centuries), two trends stood out. The first is mystified alchemy, focused on chemical transformations (in particular, mercury into gold) and ultimately on proving the possibility of cosmic transformations through human efforts. In line with this trend, Arab alchemists formulated the idea of the “philosopher’s stone” - a hypothetical substance that accelerated the “ripening” of gold in the bowels of the earth. This substance was also interpreted as an elixir of life, giving immortality.
The second trend was more focused on competitive practical technochemistry. In this area, the achievements of alchemy are undeniable. These include methods for producing sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric acids, aqua regia, saltpeter, alloys of mercury with metals, many medicinal substances, creating chemical glassware, etc.
Among the alchemists, along with charlatans and falsifiers, there were many who were sincerely convinced of the reality of the universal interconvertibility of substances, including major thinkers such as Raymond Lull, Arnoldo da Villanova, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, etc. It was almost impossible in the Middle Ages to separate each other from each other activities related to chemistry and activities related to alchemy. They were intertwined in the most intimate way.
The medieval worldview gradually begins to limit and hinder the development of science. Therefore, a change in worldview was necessary, which occurred during the Renaissance.
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Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences
in cultural studies
On the topic: Cultural picture of the world in the Middle Ages
Nizhny Novgorod 2015
medieval knightly culture literature
Introduction
1. Medieval culture
7. Culture of the Russian Middle Ages
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
The art of each era and country is closely connected with the historical conditions, characteristics and level of development of a particular people. It is determined by political, economic, religious and philosophical teachings and reflects the pressing problems of society. At the same time, art lives and develops according to its own laws, solves its own artistic problems. And having learned to appreciate and understand this special content of art, people become heirs of the spiritual wealth that the artistic culture of humanity preserves for us.
The entire culture of the early Middle Ages had a religious overtones. The basis of the medieval picture of the world was images and interpretations of the Bible. The starting point for explaining the world was the idea of a complete and unconditional opposition between God and nature, Heaven and Earth, soul and body. The man of the Middle Ages imagined and understood the world as an arena of confrontation between good and evil, as a kind of hierarchical system, including God, angels, people, and otherworldly forces of darkness.
Along with the strong influence of the church, the consciousness of medieval man continued to remain deeply magical. The character itself contributed to this medieval culture, filled with prayers, fairy tales, myths, and magic spells. In general, the cultural history of the Middle Ages is a history of the struggle between church and state. The position and role of art in this era were complex and contradictory, but nevertheless, throughout the entire period of development of European medieval culture, there was a search for the semantic support of the spiritual community of people.
All classes of medieval society recognized the spiritual leadership of the church, but nevertheless, each of them developed its own special culture, in which it reflected its moods and ideals.
1. Medieval culture
European culture from the 5th to the 17th centuries. (conditionally divided into three stages: early culture Middle Ages V-X centuries; medieval culture of the 11th-13th centuries; culture of the late Middle Ages (XIV-XVII centuries). The beginning of the Middle Ages coincided with the withering away of Hellenic-classical, ancient culture, and the end - with its revival in modern times.
Medieval culture was distinguished by a hierarchical vertical, where social relations between lord and vassal were built on the principle of contract, family ties, personal devotion and patronage that held society together.
With the formation of centralized states, estates were formed that made up social structure medieval society - the clergy, nobility and the rest of the inhabitants, later called the “third estate”, the people.
The clergy took care of the human soul, the nobility (knighthood) was engaged in state and military affairs, the people worked. Society began to be divided into “those who work” and “those who fight.” It should be emphasized that the Middle Ages were an era of numerous wars. Only the so-called "crusades" (1096-1270) official history totals eight.
Medieval science acts as an understanding of the authority of the data of the Bible.
According to church ideologists, all knowledge is sinful if it does not have as its goal the knowledge of God. At the same time, a scholastic ideal of knowledge is emerging, where rational knowledge and logical proof, again placed at the service of the church, acquire a high status.
Knightly literature is a special cultural phenomenon of the Middle Ages.
The troubadours talked about adventures, love, victories. An epic is developing (“The Song of Roland”, “The Song of the Nibelungs”, etc.).
At the beginning of the second millennium, a synthesis of the Romanesque artistic heritage and the Christian foundations of European art took place. Its main type until the 15th century was architecture, the pinnacle of which was the Catholic cathedral. From the end of the 13th century. The Gothic style, born of urban European life, becomes the leading style. For its lightness and delicacy it was called frozen, or silent, music, “a symphony in stone.”
Medieval culture is deeply contradictory. It reflects the fragmentation of existence (when each nation has its own way of life) and the desire for unity (the city of God on earth); the attachment of man to the land, his community, estate and the Christian universality of man; a painful renunciation of the world and the desire for its violent transformation.
This inconsistency acted as the driving force behind the development of culture until the advent of the Renaissance, which was marked by fundamental changes in people’s perception of the world and a person’s turning to himself.
2. Culture of medieval Europe
For a long time, historical and cultural literature was dominated by the view of the Middle Ages as the “dark ages.” The foundations of this position were laid by the Enlightenment. However, the cultural history of Western European society was not so clear. One thing is certain - the cultural life of European society of this period was largely determined by Christianity, which already in the 4th century. became the state religion in Rome. At this time, at the Ecumenical Church Councils, a number of leading provisions of Christian doctrine were adopted - the symbol of faith. These provisions are declared mandatory for all Christians. The basis of Christian teaching was the belief in the resurrection of Christ, resurrection of the dead, to the Divine Trinity.
The concept of the Divine Trinity was interpreted as follows. God is one in three persons: God the Father, creator of the world, God the Son, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of sins, and God the Holy Spirit - absolutely coequal and coeternal with each other. Christianity taught that man is by nature weak and prone to sin and cannot receive salvation without the help of the Church. The impact of the Church on feudal society was enormous, although not the same in different countries.
Between the Western and Eastern Churches, contradictions existed and over time deepened, taking on an increasingly fundamental character. In the middle of the 9th century. it was a dispute about the filioque, i.e. about whether the Holy Spirit comes only from God the Father (the position of the Eastern Church) or from God the Father and from God the Son (the position of the Western Church). The final break occurred in 1054, when the Churches openly declared complete independence from each other. After the break, both Churches continued to claim the role of the Universal Church - “Catholic” (in Western transcription) or “Catholic” (in Eastern transcription). From that time on, the Western Church calls itself Roman Catholic, and the Eastern Church calls itself Greek Catholic, i.e. Orthodox (orthodox, true believer).
Monasticism played a huge role in both the West and the East: monks took upon themselves the obligations of “leaving the world,” celibacy, and renunciation of property. However, by the 6th century. monasteries turned into strong and often very rich centers, owning movable and immovable property. Many monasteries were centers of education and culture. So, in England at the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th centuries. in one of the monasteries in the northeast lived the Venerable Bede, one of the most educated people of his time, the author of the first major work on English history. Another outstanding medieval philosopher, Thomas Aquinas (1225 or 1226-1274), who formulated five proofs of the existence of God, belonged to the Dominican Order. At the end of the 19th century. The Catholic Church has declared Thomas Aquinas to be the eternal authority in the fields of religion, philosophy, history, politics and law.
In the XII-XIII centuries. The influence of the Catholic Church and the papacy on the life of society expanded significantly. The most powerful pope of this period was Innocent III (1160 or 1161-1216). Only emperors were allowed to kiss his hand; all others had to be content with kissing the cross on the papal shoe. The Roman Catholic Church acted as an arbiter in disputes between states, was the largest financial center in the world, and was actively involved in commercial and general economic activities. An example is the sale of indulgences - letters of remission of sins, both already committed and future. The price of indulgence depended on the severity of the crime.
Medieval university science was called scholasticism, i.e. school science. Its most characteristic features were the desire to rely on authorities, primarily church authorities, underestimation of the role of experience as a method of knowledge, the combination of theological-dogmatic premises with rationalistic principles, and interest in formal logical problems. The influence of the Church on medieval universities was enormous.
In the IX-X centuries. There has been a rise in the field of natural science knowledge. Encyclopedias have been created in various branches of knowledge, containing a variety of information about Byzantine society and neighboring peoples, including Eastern Slavs- Russians. A manual on surgery and textbooks on mathematics have been compiled. Along with exact sciences Occult sciences became widespread: alchemy, astrology, magic.
The most important element of medieval culture was literature. During the early Middle Ages, oral poetry, especially heroic epic, actively developed, which was characteristic primarily of England and the countries of Scandinavia. Singers and musicians performing ethnic songs were highly respected by the Anglo-Saxons.
A significant phenomenon in the literature of France in the 12th and 13th centuries. there were vagantes and their poetry. Wandering poets were called vagantas. A feature of their work was the constant criticism of the Catholic Church and the clergy for greed, hypocrisy, and ignorance. The Vagantes believed that these qualities, common to the common man, should not be inherent in the Holy Church. The Church, in turn, persecuted and condemned the vagants.
The most important monument of English literature of the 13th century. - famous ballads about Robin Hood, who to this day remains one of the most famous heroes of world literature. An outstanding event of this period can be considered the active development of literature in English.
Italian literature was represented mainly by lyric poetry - songs, ballads, sonnets, written in Italian. In the middle of the 13th century. in Italy, the so-called new sweet style arises, glorifying love for a woman.
The development of urban literature testified to a new phenomenon in the cultural life of Western European society - urban culture, which played a very important role in the formation of Western civilization as a whole. The essence of urban culture boiled down to the constant strengthening of secular elements in all spheres of human existence.
Urban culture originated in France in the 11th-12th centuries. During this period, it was represented, in particular, by the work of jugglers, who performed in city squares as actors, acrobats, animal trainers, musicians and singers. Jugglers performed at fairs, folk holidays, weddings, christenings and were very popular among the people.
Theatrical art is actively developing in England, where since the 13th century. performances are conducted in English. At the same time, a special dramatic genre began to develop here - morality, an edifying allegorical drama, the main thing in which was the depiction of the struggle between good and evil for the soul of man.
A new and extremely important phenomenon, testifying to the deepening process of development of urban culture, was the creation of non-church schools in cities: these were private schools, financially independent of the Church. The teachers of these schools lived off the fees collected from the students.
3. Indian culture in the Middle Ages
Indian culture can be compared to a mighty river that originates high in the Himalayas and continues its flow through forests and plains, gardens and farms, villages and cities. Numerous tributaries flow into it, its banks change, but the river itself remains unchanged. Indian culture is equal parts unity and diversity, commitment to tradition and receptivity to the new. Over the centuries-old history, India has had to endure a lot, adapt to a lot, assimilate elements of various cultures, but at the same time it has managed to preserve its ancient heritage.
Harsha, the ruler of the princely state of Kanauj, tried to stop this process, but after his death in 648, independent principalities arose in Kashmir, Bengal, Orissa and many other regions of North and South India. Culturally, it was an unusually fruitful period. The Chola, Pallava and Rashtrakuta dynasties erected magnificent temples at Tandjavur, Mahabalipuram and Ellora.
In the 11th century The Sun Temple was built in Konarak (Orissa) and the Shiva Temple in Khajuraho (Central India). A characteristic element of their architectural style is sculpture. In literature; Sanskrit was gradually replaced by local dialects - Bengali, Marathi, Hindi and Punjabi.
The caste system, initially associated only with a person’s role in the production process, over time became rigid and self-sufficient. The turning point in the history of Indian culture was the establishment at the end of the 12th century. Muslim rule. The fundamental differences between Islam and Hinduism inevitably led to conflict between them. However, their reconciliation soon began, facilitated by the closeness of Vedanta to the mysticism of the Sufis. Many Muslim feudal lords, both in Delhi and in the provincial principalities, patronized Indian writers and musicians and even took part in Hindu festivals.
One of the greatest geniuses of medieval India was Amir Khusrov Dehlavi - poet, musician, linguist. He invented several musical instruments that have become classics in Indian musical culture, and his experiments in poetry led to the emergence of Urdu, one of the main languages of India.
3.1 Medieval Indian philosophy
Indian culture is one of the most ancient in the history of world civilization. And the deeper and more comprehensively its distant past is studied, the clearer and more obvious the role of India in the fate of world civilization and culture becomes.
Usually the philosophical heritage of India is understood as philosophical teachings the period of antiquity and the Middle Ages, i.e. - Indian classical (traditional) philosophy, in contrast to Indian philosophy New time XVIII-XX centuries. Within this historical period, three stages in the development of Indian philosophy are distinguished: odic - the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. (the time of the decomposition of the primitive communal system, the emergence of early class slave-owning societies); epic - second half of the 1st millennium BC e. (the time of consolidation of the system of economic, political, moral, etc. ties and relations in the form of the varna-caste division of society); classical - from the first millennium AD e. up to the XVII-XVIII centuries. (the emergence and development of feudalism based on the estate-class social structure).
4. Arab medieval culture
Medieval Arab culture refers to the culture of the tribes that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula, as well as those countries that, as a result of wars, were Arabized and adopted Islam. By the beginning of the 8th century AD. The Arabs subjugated Iran, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, part of the territory of North Africa, Transcaucasia, and Spain. However, having absorbed the culture of the Persians, Syrians, Jews, and other peoples who inhabited the conquered lands, the Arab-Muslim culture remained united. The leading link was Islam.
The founder of Islam is a real person - the Prophet Muhammad (Magomed, Muhammad), whose biography every Muslim knows.
Muhammad was orphaned early and was raised first by his grandfather, then by his uncle, who was a wealthy merchant. At the age of 25, Muhammad began working for a 40-year-old widow with several children. The woman was engaged in trade - she organized caravans with goods to sell them in neighboring countries. Soon they got married. It was a love match and they had four daughters.
In 622 Muhammad left Mecca and, together with his supporters, moved to Medina - the city of the prophet. From this moment the Muslim calendar begins. The inhabitants of Medina immediately recognized Muhammad as their religious and political leader and supported him in his quest to defeat Mecca. In 630, after the complete victory of Medina, Muhammad returned to Mecca, which became the center of Islam.
Every Muslim, educated and illiterate, knows the basics of religion. The briefest summary of the main dogma of Islam is contained in the 112th sura (chapter) of the Koran: “In the name of Allah, the merciful, the merciful! Say: “He is Allah alone, Allah the mighty. He did not give birth and was not begotten, and there was no one like him, ever.”
The pilgrimage takes place in the month of Dhu-l-Hijjah, which, like Ramadan, is the month lunar calendar and therefore occurs at different times of the year. Pilgrims, wearing special white clothes and undergoing a ritual purification ceremony, make a solemn circumambulation around the Kaaba and drink water from the nearby sacred Zamzam spring. This is followed by solemn processions and prayers in the hills and valleys around Mecca, associated with the legend of the stay of the forefather Ibrahim, the first preacher of monotheism, in those places. This is the Holy Kaaba in Mecca and the Forbidden Mosque around it.
According to old Arab customs, girls were not counted when indicating the number of children in a family, but it became customary to wish happiness at the birth of a daughter.
The man was considered the absolute leader. God's blessing lay on sons, so only after the birth of a son was a person considered complete. The man had to take care of the elders and the younger ones; he had to be persistent, purposeful, generous, be ready for any adversity and trials, be able to love and have fun.
The man cared primarily about his hair and weapons; the only jewelry he wore was a ring. The respect that the peoples of the East have for a man's beard is the merit of Mohammed. Any desecration of her was considered the most terrible insult. But the Arabs began to shave their heads, leaving only a tuft of hair on the top of the head.
And the most noble sport was considered, as in our time, polo - a game of ball on horseback, allowing one to demonstrate masterly skill in controlling a horse. The passion for hunting never waned: noble people hunted lions, of which there were plenty in Iraq and Egypt.
Also, despite the prohibitions of Islam, wine was always drunk in all regions. It is mentioned in passing about Caliph al-Wasiq that when his beloved slave died, he grieved for her so much that he did not even drink wine. But even the most immoral people could not admit that wine could be drunk during dinner: drinking wine was not considered part of the meal.
The places where alcoholic drinks were sold (the so-called “zucchini”) were kept mainly by Christians. They drank even in the highest religious circles. From time to time, a wave of piety swept over the entire Islamic world: the caliphs suddenly forbade the sale of wine, and the Hanbalites walked around the city and destroyed the taverns and houses of those people who had alcoholic drinks. But such a faithful reaction was short-lived.
The feast usually opened with snacks - olives and pistachios, sugar cane soaked in rose water, and apples were served. The art of cooking was a huge success. Already at that time, the first books on cooking and diet were written, which were widely distributed. The basis of the diet was wheat bread, milk and meat - lamb.
5. Culture of Medieval Japan
Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism made a significant contribution to the formation of the uniqueness of Japanese culture. Shintoism is an ancient Japanese religion that originated and developed in Japan independently of China. It is known that the origins of Shinto go back to ancient times and include totemism, animism, magic, etc., inherent in primitive peoples. Buddhism originated in Japan before our era, but became widespread only in the 5th and 6th centuries. There is no doubt that the Heian period (8th-12th centuries) is the golden age of Japanese statehood and culture, in the formation of which Buddhism played a significant role.
Confucianism. Its heyday begins in the 13th century. It was at this time that Confucianism gained independence from Buddhism. Haikai poetry is typically Japanese and has its origins in refined parlor playing. Traditional Japanese art cannot be imagined without calligraphy. According to tradition, hieroglyphic writing arose from the deity of celestial images. Painting subsequently evolved from hieroglyphs.
In the 15th century in Japan, poem and painting were firmly combined into one work. The Japanese pictorial scroll contains two types of characters - written (poems, colophenes, seals) and pictorial ones, and Kabuki - the most famous forms of theater. The Noh theater was a huge success among the military. In contrast to the brutal ethics of the samurai, the aesthetic rigor of Noh was achieved with the help of the canonized plasticity of the actors and more than once produced a strong impression. Kabuki is a later form of theater, dating back to the 7th century. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries there was a sharp transition from religiosity to secularism. The main place in architecture was occupied by castles, palaces and pavilions for the tea ceremony.
6. Culture of medieval China
China was known in Western Europe largely thanks to two wonderful products - silk and porcelain. The Chinese learned to print books much earlier than the Europeans. In the 8th century in the capital of China there was even a daily newspaper published - "Capital Bulletin".
Gunpowder was invented in China. At first it was used for: fireworks, and then they began to use it in military affairs. In the 13th century. guns were invented, which were bamboo tubes, and in the 14th century. - metal cannons that were loaded with stone and iron cannonballs. It was from the Chinese that the Arabs borrowed the compass, from whom it, in turn, came to the Europeans.
VII-IX centuries called the "golden age" of Chinese poetry. A sharp protest against social injustice is expressed in the poems of the poets Li Bo and Du Fu. In the XIV century. The art of the historical novel flourished. The novels “The Three Kingdoms” and “River Backwaters” are especially famous and loved to this day.
By orders of emperors, nobility and monasteries, architects built pagodas - Buddhist temples in the form of high multi-story towers made of wood, stone, bronze and iron. "Dragon Beauty Pagoda" (Shanghai, 15th century) is an octagonal tower of seven gradually tapering tiers. After the liberation from the Mongols, the wonderful Temple of Heaven was built in Beijing. Chinese architects sought to ensure that their buildings were in harmony with the natural landscape.
The main form of art in medieval China was painting. Artists painted pictures with paints or ink on long silk or paper scrolls. Most of all they loved to paint landscapes and depict animals and birds. The culture of China has had a strong influence on the culture of neighboring Korea, Indochina and Japan.
7. Culture of the Russian Middle Ages (XIV-XVI centuries)
In the era of the Russian Middle Ages, it is customary to date it to the XIII-XVI centuries. This is a long stage of consolidation and development of the Great Russian people and its cultural environment and space, trends and forms. Culturologists and art historians conditionally divide this stage into two periods:
I period - from 1240 to the middle of the 14th century. This is the time of the most tragic state of Russian culture. Destruction, loss, decline are the main features of all directions and spheres of ancient Russian culture without exception. This situation is the result of Mongol-Tatar aggression with simultaneous expansion by its western neighbors - German, Swedish, Hungarian, Danish and Polish feudal lords.
II period - from the second half of the 14th century. until the 16th century inclusive. It is characterized by a steady rise in the economic potential of Russian lands with a simultaneous growth of national self-awareness. The process of formation of the Great Russian nationality is underway, which is accompanied by the rise and then the revival of Russian culture. After two and a half centuries of almost complete isolation, the young, united Russian state begins to enter the European space, get acquainted with the Renaissance culture of the West, which made it possible to overcome the cultural lag and create its own culture, full of originality and originality. It is characteristic that Moscow was firmly established at the center of the socio-political and cultural upsurge.
The next milestone was the Council of the Hundred Heads (1551), which, in the conditions of political centralization of the country, consolidated the foundations of moral, ecclesiastical and artistic culture, and regulated the patterns that were to be followed.
The intensification of the all-Russian cultural process contributed to the fact that in the 16th century. The formation of the Great Russian nation was completed, and at the end of the 16th century. secular elements appear in culture.
7.1 Education, enlightenment, printing
It is known that one of the main indicators of the culture of any nation is the level of literacy and education. In the Russian lands, this figure slowly but steadily increased. Thanks to the economic recovery, the growth of cities and urban populations, the intensification of trade relations between regions, the growth of the state apparatus of the uniting country, the need for literate and educated people grew, as at the same time the need for business records and the execution of business accounts increased, and the range of government papers expanded: from diplomatic correspondence to tax and genealogy books. Since the 14th century In the Russian lands, they began to use paper for recordings (exported from abroad) instead of expensive parchment. The growing need for records led to the acceleration of writing. The “charter” is being replaced by the “half-charter” - a more simplified spelling of letters, allowing for fluent and free writing, and from the 15th century. - cursive writing, close to modern writing.
The spread of literacy and knowledge hardly affected the rural population. The bulk of it remained unwritten. Heterogeneous knowledge (sometimes very bizarre) about the surrounding world, nature, man, and the structure of the world was transmitted orally in the form of agricultural signs, healer recipes, proverbs and sayings, fairy tales, epic poetry, songs, etc. The Church and its teachings formed the spiritual life of the rural population and determined its way of life, morals, and customs.
An outstanding event in the culture of the 16th century. - the emergence of printing. There is information that work on setting up a printing house began in 1553 in the Kremlin. The organization of these works was carried out by Ivan Fedorov with the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius. Books were printed according to Venetian designs. Then the printing work was moved beyond the walls of the Kremlin, to Nikolskaya Street, where in 1564 the first Russian dated book, “The Apostle,” was published. However, there are 7 books without a publication date. During the oprichnina years, Ivan Fedorov went to the Baltic states, and then worked in Lvov, where, with his assistant Pyotr Mstislavets, they published the first Russian primer. In addition to the printing house on Nikolskaya Street, in the 16th century. There was a printing house in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. For the entire 16th century. 20 books were published, mainly of spiritual content. The leading place continued to be occupied by the handwritten book.
Conclusion
The Middle Ages were a time of intense spiritual life, complex and difficult searches for ideological constructs that could synthesize the historical experience and knowledge of previous millennia.
In this era, people were able to take a new path of cultural development, different from what they knew in previous times. Trying to try on faith and reason, building pictures of the world based on the knowledge available to them and with the help of Christian dogmatism, the culture of the Middle Ages created new artistic styles, a new urban way of life. Contrary to the opinion of thinkers Italian Renaissance, the Middle Ages left us with the most important achievements of spiritual culture, including institutions scientific knowledge and education. The image proposed by the philosopher, scientist and culturologist M.K. could not be more successful. Petrov: he compared medieval culture to scaffolding. It is impossible to build a building without them. But when the building is completed, the scaffolding is removed, and one can only guess what it looked like and how it was constructed. Medieval culture, in relation to our modern one, played precisely the role of such forests: without it western culture would not have arisen, although the medieval culture itself was basically not similar to it.
Bibliography
1. Culturology: educational and methodological manual, V.A. Fortunatova, S.G. Gusev. N. Novgorod: NIMB, 2012.
2. Karlin A.S., Novikova E.S. "Culturology". St. Petersburg, 2006
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5. Culturology: Textbook. A manual for universities / Ed. Prof. A.N. Markova. 3rd ed. M.: UNITY - DANA, 2003.
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