The Middle Ages are full of mysteries. And the farther it goes, the more it becomes overgrown with fiction. How to understand, to understand where is the truth and where is the lie? Let's open the veil of mysterious centuries and dwell on interesting facts about the Middle Ages.
What period is this?
What is the Middle Ages? This is a period from 500 to 1500, although the exact dates have not yet been established. What interesting facts about the Middle Ages in Europe are reported by modern historians? It is noteworthy that at that time there was no central authority or government. It was an intermediate time between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. Asceticism became the official ideology in the early Middle Ages. A person had to prepare himself for the afterlife even during his lifetime and spend time in prayers and repentance. The influence of the church on public life waned slightly from 800 to 900.
Early Middle Ages. Interesting Facts
The Early Middle Ages is the period from the 6th to the 10th centuries. The second name of this stage is “late antiquity”, which speaks of the connection with the era of antiquity. That time was later called simply darkcentury.”
An interesting fact: the Middle Ages were marked by the arrival of German tribes in Western Europe, primarily Goths and Vandals, who did not know cities, European culture. Many of them were pagan tribes. Cities fell into decay, many were plundered, local residents fled. Trade began to decline: it became dangerous to transport goods and trade. At this time, the expansion of the Frankish state began, reaching its greatest strength under Charlemagne (768-814). Charlemagne planned to create a new Roman Empire.
Interesting fact: Charlemagne's empire had no capital. He, along with his court, traveled from one estate to another. Feudal relations began to develop in the state. Free people were forcibly turned into slaves. The power of large feudal lords who lived in their castles increased, they became absolute masters of their lands. And after the fall of the Carolingian Empire, the lands were completely divided between lords and princes, which further strengthened the power of the feudal lords.
Castles
In the 12th-16th centuries, any European state consisted of cities and fiefs. Large feudal lords lived in large castles surrounded by a moat and a wall that could protect against enemies. Indeed, at that time it was necessary to defend not only from an external enemy, but also from the attacks of a neighbor who claimed fertile lands. The outer wall went into the ground for several meters, so that it was impossible to dig. The thickness of the walls reached 3 meters, the height - up to 6 meters. Holes were made on the walls above, loopholes, so that you couldshoot with bow and crossbow. Stone towers were built into the walls, from where surveillance was carried out.
There must have been a well inside the yard, the construction of which was very costly. But the feudal lords did not spare money for a source of water: it is not known how long the siege of the fortress could last. Some wells were up to 140 meters deep, as feudal castles were built on hills.
A church and a tower have always stood next to the castle - the highest part of the fortress. From here, observations were made of the surrounding area, and women and children hid here in the event of a break in the siege.
The weakest part of the walls was the wooden gate. To strengthen them, they were protected by wrought iron bars. Some castles had double gates, which could cause an enemy to be trapped between them.
Interesting facts about medieval castles:
- Castles were well adapted to protect the population, but they were very inconvenient to live in: inside it was often damp, twilight, because the sun's rays could not enter through small windows, poor air circulation.
- The most important pets in the fortress were cats and dogs. They saved the premises from rat attacks.
- Practically in every castle, secret passages were created to quietly move from one room to another.
- The siege of the castle sometimes lasted several months: the besieged sometimes surrendered only when the famine began.
- A bridge with a lifting structure passed through the ditch, in the event of a siege, the bridge was raised, and a wide ditch interferedthe enemy to come close to the walls.
- Windsor Castle is one of the famous medieval castles in the world. After William the Conqueror became King of England, he built Windsor. Today the castle is still used by the English queen.
The Age of Chivalry
The history of medieval knights goes back to the ancient world, but the real phenomenon became popular in the middle and late medieval times. Chivalry goes back to the Catholic order of chivalry. The first knights appeared among the Visigoths, who lived in Italy and Spain. And by the end of the 12th century, almost all nobles were knighted. Next, interesting facts about the knights of the Middle Ages will be presented.
Knighting ceremony
Remarkable fact: it turns out that being a knight was very expensive. It was necessary to buy armor, a horse, a servant. These were the prerequisites. All these knights had to provide the ruler. He gave them plots of land that could be rented out and used to buy everything they needed.
Another interesting fact about life in the Middle Ages: knighthood took place after the age of 20 or 21 in the presence of a ruler or lord, whom the young man was obliged to serve. The rite of passage was borrowed from the ancient Romans. The seigneur approached the future knight, who knelt before him, and struck several times with his flat sword on the shoulder. The young man took an oath of allegiance to God and his lord. After that, a horse was brought to the knight.
This rite was preceded by yearsknight training: starting from the age of eight, boys of noble origin were trained in the use of a sword, bow, horseback riding, and secular manners. Often they were sent to be trained by a family of lords, where the boys played the role of a servant and at the same time were trained in various martial arts.
Knights are the elite of the state
Ideally, a knight should have been distinguished not only by noble birth. They were supposed to be Christians, defenders of the church, examples of bravery and courage, bearers of honor and dignity. The knights acted in the campaign of their master against another feudal lord, participated in the crusades as preachers of Christianity. In their free time from the war, tournaments were organized, participation in which the knights considered it an honor. After all, it was an opportunity to demonstrate their military prowess.
And yet, many of the knights were considered notorious villains who robbed the common people, who were treated with contempt. In France, under King Charles VI, the knights became the elite of the state. Basically, these were the same aristocrats who appeared in public or at tournaments surrounded by a whole escort. But there were also poor "single-shielded" knights who stood at the lowest level of the hierarchy. Every knight, except the king, obeyed his master.
A remarkable fact: if in the 10th and 11th centuries everyone could become a knight, then already in the 12th century there were restrictions. Under King Louis VI, people from the lower classes were publicly deprived of this noble title, beaten off spurs on a dunghill.
Crusades
Only twocentury, eight crusades were undertaken. Their goal was to protect the Christian world from enemies - Muslims, but in fact everything ended with robberies and robbery. In gratitude for participating in campaigns, the knights received material rewards from the church, public respect and forgiveness for all sins. Most memorable was the Third Crusade, led by Emperor Frederick I of Germany, King Philip II of France and King Richard the Lionheart of England.
During the Crusades, Richard the Lionheart established himself as a great military leader and worthy knight. He led the third crusade and proved to be a brave warrior.
Another famous medieval knight was El Cid, a Spanish nobleman who fought bravely against the Moors in Spain in the 11th century. The people called him the winner, and after his death he was turned into a folk hero.
Military orders
Military orders played the role of a standing army, necessary to maintain order in the conquered lands. The most famous knightly orders: the Teutonic Order, the Order of the Knights Templar, the Order of the Hospitallers.
An interesting fact about the knights of the Middle Ages: the soldiers of the Teutonic Order fought the Russian army led by Alexander Nevsky on Lake Peipus and were defeated.
Secular chivalry
After the end of the Crusades, religion lost its influence on chivalry. During this period, the knights took part in the Hundred Years War between England and France.
Palace chivalry
Afterwardsthe knights were palace servants and played a purely secular role: they took part in knightly tournaments, arranged duels because of a beautiful lady, practiced secular manners at balls.
Epidemics in the Middle Ages
Before them, people were powerless. The reasons for their spread were unsanitary conditions, dirt, bad food, hunger, high population density in cities. One of the worst epidemics is the plague. Let's dwell on interesting facts about the plague:
- In the Middle Ages, namely in 1348, the "Black Death" claimed the lives of almost 50 million people, that is, a third of the population of Europe. And in populous cities, the disease mowed down more than half of the inhabitants. The streets are empty, the wars have stopped.
- Doctors were powerless in front of this disease, they did not know how to treat who is its peddler. They blamed people, cats, dogs. And the disease was spread most often by rats.
- Not knowing the causes of the infection, people began to go to church, pray to God, donate their last money. Others, more superstitious, turned to magicians and sorcerers.
Such epidemics were repeated several times and completely changed the face of medieval cities. To prevent the disease, they began to wash the streets, sewers for waste appeared, and residents began to be provided with clean water.
Interesting facts about the culture of the Middle Ages
It's interesting to know:
- When the first universities appeared: in the 12th century - Paris, in the 13th century - like Oxford and Cambridge in England, and then another 63 higher educational institutions.
- Moreone interesting fact about the Middle Ages: during this period, the free-thinking and cheerful poetry of the vagants (goliards) develops - itinerant singers and musicians who glorify a carefree free life. They took poetic rhymes from Latin literature: “Life in the world is good, if the soul is free, and the free soul is pleasing to the Lord!”.
- Memorials of the heroic epic are being recorded, which were previously transmitted only orally.
- It was in the Middle Ages that the cult of the beautiful lady arose. And it is associated with the development of courtly poetry and the work of troubadour poets.
- The first chivalric novels appear. Among the first courtly novels is the story of Tristan and Iseult.
- A new style appears in architecture - Gothic. The main buildings in this style were cathedrals - large-scale structures of great height. They were distinguished by light and slender columns, carved walls decorated with sculptures, large windows with stained-glass windows made of multi-colored mosaics. Notre Dame Cathedral in France became one of the brightest Gothic monuments.
The Late Middle Ages was marked by great geographical discoveries. Genoese Christopher Columbus made 4 voyages to the shores of South and Central America. But the territories he discovered were named after Amerigo Vespucci, who described the new lands and proved that they were separate continents. Another achievement of this time was the opening of the sea route to India. The Portuguese, led by Vasco da Gama, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached the shores of India. A Portuguese noblemanFerdinand Magellan made the first trip around the world in 1519-1521
The role of the church in the Middle Ages
The Church in the Middle Ages acquired great economic and political influence. Huge tracts of land and monetary we alth were concentrated in her hands. All this gave her the opportunity to influence state power, to subjugate culture, science, and spiritual life. Interesting facts about the church in the Middle Ages:
- History includes some of the most notorious undertakings led by the Church: the Crusades, witch hunts, the Inquisition.
- In 1054 the church was divided into two branches: Orthodox and Roman Catholic. The gap between them gradually widened.
