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What was medieval Europe like?
The Middle Ages (about 476 AD-AD 1453) is an era in European history (mainly in Western Europe). Hundreds of years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (AD 476), the feudal system ruled the world until the Renaissance (AD 1453) and the rise of capitalism. The word "Middle Ages" was used by humanists in the late15th century. Europe in this period did not have a strong regime to rule. Feudal separatism brought frequent wars, which led to the stagnation of science and technology and productivity, and people lived in hopeless pain. Therefore, the Middle Ages or early Middle Ages are generally called "dark ages" in Europe and America. Traditionally, it is considered as a period of relatively slow development in the history of European civilization.
Medieval history, also known as medieval history, refers to the period from the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to the outbreak of the British bourgeois revolution in 1640. The formation, development and disintegration of feudal system is the main line of European history in this period. However, the development of feudal society in the world is unbalanced. When Western Europe just entered the feudal society in the 5th century, China had already completed the feudal social course of about 1000 years.
Another view is that until the 9th century, according to St. Augustine's view, most ancient scholars believed that human beings were in the sixth and last stage of history, that is, the "doomsday" predicted by the Bible in Revelation, so it had a dark meaning. Historians generally believe that the term "the dark ages of the Middle Ages" was invented by Petrarch, a humanist of the Italian Renaissance in the14th century. He traveled around Europe, rediscovering and publishing classic Latin and Greek works, aiming at restoring Roman classical Latin language, art and culture. He thinks that the changes and events since the fall of Rome in 4 10 A.D. are not worth studying. Humanists look at history not according to Augustine's religious terms, but according to social (academic) terms, that is, through classical culture, literature and art; Therefore, humanists call this 900-year period of classical culture stagnation the "dark period".
Petrarch divided European history into two stages: one was the period of ancient Rome and ancient Greece; The second is the "dark period". Humanists also believe that one day the Roman Empire will rise again and restore the purity of classical culture. At the end of 14 and the beginning of 15, humanists believed that a modern era had begun, so logically speaking, a "Middle Ages" had been formed.
Therefore, starting from humanists, historians also hold negative views on "the dark ages" and "the Middle Ages". In the reformation of Protestants in16th century and17th century, Protestants also wrote the corruption of Catholicism into this history. In response to Protestants' accusations, Catholic reformers also gave the opposite picture to the "dark period": a period of social and religious harmony, which was not dark at all. As for the "dark period", many negative views in modern times come from the works of Kant and Voltaire in the Enlightenment in 17 and 18 century.
/kloc-at the beginning of the 0/9th century, the romantic movement changed this one-sided negative thinking tendency about the "dark period". It gives a peaceful picture: the harmony between society and environment is rooted in the life of nature; At the same time, it also responded to the rationalism in the Enlightenment that rationality completely surpassed sensibility, and the environmental damage and pollution caused by the rising industrial revolution. Through the customs and historical events displayed, we can still see the romantic views about the "dark period" in some cultural activities and festivals celebrating that period today.
In the second half of the19th century after the Romantic Movement, archaeology has made great progress, and many historical documents and cultural relics unknown to predecessors have been excavated and sorted out. The discovery of Sutton Hu Cave 1939 around 625 A.D. and the research of Charles H. haskins, a famous scholar in medieval studies, make "dark period" no longer seem to be an appropriate word. After the middle of the 20th century, the word "dark period" gradually disappeared from the literature of English-speaking professional scholars.
Charlie Haskin wrote: "The continuity of history excludes the possibility of great differences between the following two historical periods-the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Modern research shows that the Middle Ages were not as dark and stagnant as once thought. The Renaissance was neither so bright nor so sudden. Before the Italian Renaissance, there was a similar movement, although it was not so extensive.
So the original "Dark Ages" was changed to refer to the European history from 4 10 (or 455) to 754 (or 800). With the destruction of the Western Roman Empire by the Germans, a number of barbarian countries appeared one after another. Lumbard, Odyak, Burgundy, Vandal Alain, Eastern Gothic, Visigoth, Anglo-Saxon and other kingdoms were established successively. There are wars between kingdoms, among which Anglo-Saxon and Frankish kingdoms have existed for a long time.
As a branch of the Germans, the Franks defeated the Gaul army in 486, and Clovis established the rule of the Mei Tam dynasty. Clovis, by uniting with the Vatican, occupied all the territory of the Roman Empire in Gaul. With the continuous expansion of the Frankish kingdom, in the middle of the 6th century, it conquered some tribes in Burgundy, Thuringia, Bavaria and Saxony, became the most powerful country in Western Europe at that time, and established a feudal manor system. In 75 1 year, the palace gnome Paiping became the king of Franks and established the Carolingian dynasty. During Charlemagne's reign, the national strength reached its peak, including the annexation of Lombardy, the occupation of the Spanish border area, the occupation of eastern Bavaria and the conquest of awar Khan. Most of the land in western Europe became the territory of the Frankish kingdom. After Charlemagne's death, the Frankish kingdom was divided by the war between brothers. In August, 843, treaty of verdun signed the agreement, which was divided into West Frankish Kingdom, East Frankish Kingdom and Italian Kingdom. The territory of modern France, Germany and Italy is based on this treaty.
Another Germanic branch, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, entered the British Isles in the middle of the 5th century. Seven kingdoms were formed at the end of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th century, which was called the Seven Kingdoms Period in British history. In 829, the kingdom of Wessex annexed six other kingdoms, and England was born. 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, France, claimed to inherit the throne by blood. After being rejected, he seized the British throne by force, and was called "William the Conqueror" (that is, William I), and established the Normandy Dynasty, but it also caused the root of the Hundred Years' War in the future. During the reign of Henry I (1100 ~1135), with the strengthening of kingship, social contradictions intensified. 12 15 John (Landless) was forced to sign the Magna Carta of Freedom. 1264 during the civil war, Henry III was captured by Simon de montfort. 1265, montfort called the parliament, which became the beginning of the British parliament. From 1343, the parliament was divided into an upper house composed of nobles and a lower house representing knights and citizens, and a parliamentary monarchy was established. At the same time, the western Frankish kingdom evolved into the French kingdom, and the kingship was strengthened. The Vatican was forced to move to avignon in the south of France, held three-level meetings from top to bottom (the first level was the high priest, the second level was the aristocrat, and the third level was the wealthy citizen), and also formed a parliamentary monarchy.
The local government of the East Frankish Kingdom, the predecessor of Germany, was very strong. 9 1 1 After the Carolingian dynasty, the king was elected by local dignitaries, but he was more honorary, and his rights were equal to those of local governors. This feature is considered by historians to be the reason why it is keen on external expansion. In 95 1 year, Otto I led troops to occupy Lumbard, and then Otto II marched into Rome. 1 155, Frederick I captured Milan, and the Pope crowned it as the Holy Roman Empire. In its heyday, the territory included all of Germany, central and northern Italy, Sicily, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia and Prussia. In Frederick I, he was defeated by the resistance of 15 city (Lombardy League). Frederick I drowned in the Third Crusade and the occupied area became independent. Italy has never been unified. In order to maintain his independent status, the Pope established a papal state and forged the document of "Constantine Gift", claiming that Constantine the Great gave Rome, Rutland Palace and other places to the Pope. The church is very strict and controls the culture and education in western Europe. Priests can't get married, advocate abstinence, and ask people to give everything to God in order to go to heaven after death. On the other hand, the sale of clergy is very serious. We advocate scholasticism such as trinity and original sin theory, strictly control the spread of scientific ideas, set up inquisition to punish heresy, and school education also serves theology. During the period of Pope Gregory I (590 ~604), ancient Roman libraries were also set on fire.
After the Reformation in Germany, the Renaissance came into being in Italy and spread to many European countries. There are many philosophers, writers, artists and scientists, such as Dante, Boccaccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo, Kepler, Harvey, Francis Bacon and so on. The economy in the Middle Ages was mainly a feudal manor-style natural economy. A number of commercial cities have emerged: Paris, Lyon, Daulnay, Marseille, Cologne, Trier, Strasbourg, Hamburg, Venice, Genoa, etc., forming a trade zone centered on the Mediterranean. /kloc-After the 0/6th century, the workshop handicraft industry rose. First in Florence, then in Flanders, the enclosure movement made Britain develop rapidly. This economic model accelerated trade, which led to the great geographical discovery and the discovery of the new American continent. Workshop handicrafts have also made a leap in weapons of war. Cannons and muskets gradually replaced the knight's sword, and the ancient castle lost its defense ability. Workshop handicraft industry gave birth to capitalist economy. In the middle and late Middle Ages, various handicrafts gradually developed from individual operation to the establishment of trade unions, and the concept of "specialty" sprouted during this period. In the feudal society of Europe, kings, nobles and feudal lords of all sizes formed a pyramid hierarchy, but their rights and obligations were limited. "I am a non-minister", which makes the European feudal countries in a state of separatism for a long time. China in the East is "all over the world, isn't it the land of kings?" On the land coast, is it very different from the centralized feudal monarchy of Wang Chen? The rulers of various countries are still waging wars, plundering and annexing each other, and many countries have never had a unified and stable regime. Feudal landlords exploited farmers by virtue of land ownership and political power. In Europe, Christian churches became the tools of feudal rule, and they maintained the feudal system together with secular feudal owners. The labor of peasants and serfs was embezzled by feudal lords in the form of servitude, land rent in kind, various taxes and church tithes. Farmers resisted constantly, but the scale of the uprising was generally small, and there was no large-scale peasant war that overthrew a dynasty many times like China.
The wars in the Middle Ages were organized by scattered fighting groups, confronted and clashed with each other on the battlefield that needed strategy and mobilization, and then gradually evolved. Part of evolution is reflected in the development of different arms and weapons and how to use them. The early army in the dark ages was a group of unorganized soldiers on foot. When heavy cavalry rises, the best army is a group of unorganized knights. Soldiers on foot will cause damage to farmland along the way, which will cause a greater blow in siege warfare. However, in the battle, the knights will try to fight the enemy one-on-one, and the foot soldiers will be sandwiched between the knights of both sides. This method of warfare is actually very dangerous, because most of the soldiers in the early Middle Ages were peasants recruited under the feudal system and had no combat training. Gong Bing is very suitable for siege warfare, but there is also the risk of total annihilation on the battlefield.
By the late14th century, commanders had strengthened the discipline of knights, so that their troops could play a greater cooperative role as a team. However, in the British army, although the longbowmen proved their value in many battlefields, the knights didn't pay much attention to these shooters. Discipline also makes more and more knights fight for rewards, and rarely fight for loyal and glorious soldiers. Italian mercenaries are famous for fighting for a long time with little damage. In this period, soldiers from all walks of life are assets of the army and will not be easily abandoned. This makes the feudal army that once pursued glory gradually become a professional army that only cares about how much money it will collect.
The cavalry will be divided into three teams or three units, and then one team will fight one after another. The first wave of attacks will break through or disperse the enemy, and then the second or third wave of attacks can be subdued. Once the enemy escapes, they can be killed or captured.
In fact, if the knight takes personal action, it will do great harm to any commander's plan. What knights value most in the first row of first-class teams is loyalty, glory and riding. In order to win personal honor, the overall victory on the battlefield has become the second. After fighting on the battlefield, it won't be long before the knights attack the enemy they see, thus undermining the overall battle plan.
The best way for a commander to control his knights is to unload them immediately when necessary. This is a common way for small armies, because these knights rarely expect to perform well in battle. Dismounting knights can strengthen their combat power in time and boost the morale of ordinary infantry. These knights and the rest of the infantry will be used to fight behind wooden stakes or other battlefield fortifications to slow down the enemy's charge.
The battle of Chris in 1346 is an example of the knight's indiscipline. At that time, the French army surpassed the British army in number (40,000 to 1 10,000 people), and there were many knights. The British army divided the longbowmen into three teams and put them into the battlefield under the protection of wooden stakes. Among these three teams, there are two dismounted knights, and the third dismounted knight is reserved as a reserve. The French king also organized his knights into three parts, and appointed Gong Bing, who was hired by Genenos, to shoot the English knights, but it was useless because the crossbow was wet. In addition, the French knights ignored the organizational efforts of the French king. Shortly after the war, as soon as they saw the enemy, they went into a rage and opened their mouths and shouted again and again, "Kill! Kill! " Because the French king couldn't stand the Genoese repeatedly missing their arrows, he ordered the knights to move forward and knocked down the Genoese crossbowman in front of him. The battle lasted all day, and finally the English knights and longbowmen (who kept the bowstring dry) defeated the French knight who was riding a horse but was sloppy.
By the end of the Middle Ages, the value of heavy cavalry on the battlefield was not as good as before, almost equal to that of projection troops and infantry. During this period, people have understood why well-planned attacks still fail and the importance of training infantry. The rules of combat have changed, and wooden stakes, horse traps and trenches are often used by the army as protective tools against cavalry attacks. If cavalry attacks a large number of spearmen and Gong Bing (or gunners) at all levels, it will only produce a large number of wounded horses and cavalry. Knights will be forced to fight on foot or wait for the right time to attack. A devastating attack can only be effective when the enemy is moving, chaotic, or coming out of temporary battlefield fortifications. In order to maintain his independent status, the Pope established a papal state and forged the document "The Gift of Constantine", claiming that Constantine the Great gave Rome, Rutland Palace and other places to the Pope. The church is very strict and controls the culture and education in western Europe. Priests can't get married, advocate abstinence, and ask people to give everything to God in order to go to heaven after death. On the other hand, the sale of clergy is very serious. We advocate scholasticism such as trinity and original sin theory, strictly control the spread of scientific ideas, set up inquisition to punish heresy, and school education also serves theology. During the period of Pope Gregory I (590 ~604), ancient Roman libraries were also set on fire.
Launched eight crusades.
Religion's persecution of science
Since Constantine announced the legalization of Christianity in 3 12 AD, Christians have changed from persecuted to persecutors. They are hostile to everything that does not conform to the Bible, including new ideas and science. Many great thinkers and scientists in history have been persecuted by Christians. In the Middle Ages, the so-called heresy was persecuted by the Vatican Inquisition and Calvin Inquisition.
1. Sebastian (375-4 15) is the first known female mathematician in history. Gibbon said in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "She was pulled out of the car, stripped naked, dragged to the church, and used sharp oysters on a group of savage and inhuman fanatics? Exploitation of her flesh from the bones, cutting off her hands and feet and throwing them into the fire;
2. Greek female mathematician Hippocia, who insisted on spreading scientific knowledge, was tortured by the mob and thrown into the fire;
3. Palisi, a scientist, was sentenced to death by the Inquisition for saying that fossils are the remains of animals rather than "the game of the creator";
4. Servit put forward the viewpoint of blood circulation in the book Revival of Christian Belief, which was baked for more than two hours and died;
5. Belgian physiologist Vesaliua Uss was forced to go to the holy land-Jerusalem to confess in 1564 for publishing anatomical work "Human Body Structure", and was killed on his way home;
6. Bruno, who insisted on Copernicus' "Heliocentrism", was first put into prison, and then burned to death in Rome Flower Square in February 1600. The first epidemic
The first epidemic was called Justinian plague. It happened twice, from 540 to 590. There is no clear statistics on the number of deaths, but it is generally believed that this epidemic caused about 25 million deaths in the eastern Mediterranean. This plague weakened the Byzantine Empire, and Justinian failed in his attempt to restore the glorious dream of the Roman Empire.
The second epidemic
The Black Death hit Europe on a large scale from 1346 to 1350, resulting in a sharp decline in the population of Europe, with a mortality rate as high as 30%. The Black Death is thought to have been brought by Mongols. About 1347, the Genoese merchant ship between Crimea and Messina (Sicily) brought infected black rats or fleas, which quickly spread to Genoa and Venice, and the epidemic spread to France, Spain and Britain in 1348+0350, and then spread eastward to Germany and Scandinavia. It is estimated that about 25 million people died in Europe, while about 55 million to 75 million people died in Europe, Asia and Africa. At that time, there was no cure, so we could only use isolation to stop the spread of the epidemic. Since then, the Black Death has invaded Europe many times in 15 and 16 centuries. However, the mortality and severity gradually decreased.
Some people think that the Black Death severely hit the traditional social structure of Europe, weakened the feudal and church forces, and indirectly contributed to the later Renaissance and religious reform.
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