In 476 AD, the fall of the Western Roman Empire marked the end of the slavery society in ancient Europe and the establishment of the feudal system, and Europe began the long Middle Ages. In the Middle Ages, the ancient Greece and Rome, which were brilliant in art and culture, descended to the Renaissance with the dazzling humanistic spirit. In the middle of these two peaks, there seems to be only mediocrity and darkness left, and because of the humanistic spirit of the Renaissance, the Middle Ages had to be covered with a veil of darkness. This is the understanding of the Middle Ages for a long time. But, as Hegel said: "Knowledge is not true knowledge". In the 18th century, after the rise of historicism, the dawn of the Middle Ages began to appear. Historicism initially entered the stage of history as a purely rational critique of the Enlightenment, but it made it possible to re-evaluate the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages is like a dark curtain shining with several beautiful colors, especially eye-catching, especially surprising.
1. The
Middle Ages spanned more than ten centuries from the 5th century AD to the end of the 16th century AD, so the Middle Ages cannot be viewed in the same way. The Middle Ages can generally be divided into three periods: the 5th to 11th centuries, the 12th to 15th centuries, and the 15th to 16th centuries.
The backwardness of the early Middle Ages was not only the result of the invasion of the Germanic barbarians, but also to a certain extent an inevitable result of the development of the ancient Greek and Roman culture itself. It has been in a state of turmoil and migration, with constant struggles among the Germanic ministries, a situation of feudal separatism emerged, urban life basically disappeared, and literary and artistic life basically stopped.
Around 1000 AD, Christianity had basically occupied a dominant position on the European continent, and the center of gravity of European civilization moved from the Mediterranean Sea to the Rhine Valley and the North Atlantic coast. An important turning point in the prosperity of the middle period was the Crusades, which freed Europe from the stagnant and closed state of society in the early Middle Ages, mobilized the whole of Europe, and played a positive role in the decline of European feudalism and the strengthening of monarchical power. It also opened up the long-term isolation and closure between the East and the West since the Middle Ages. The scale of trade between the East and the West gradually expanded. The Europeans suddenly discovered that there were two other styles of civilization around them: Islamic civilization and Byzantine civilization. . The Europeans rediscovered Asia, and many new technologies and sciences began to be introduced into Europe (the Four Great Inventions of China, the Arabic numerals of India, and the Arabic culture), which promoted the development of European civilization.
The 12th century entered the "beautiful Middle Ages", and Western European culture once again entered a golden age. The revival of the city established in the Roman era accelerated, once again becoming the center of commerce and intellectual life, and a new burgher class emerged. The birth of City University is an original contribution to human culture. The University of Paris evolved from the church school of Notre Dame de Paris, and Oxford and Cambridge were also established at this time. The main achievements in art are churches, Romanesque and Gothic respectively. Before the middle of the 12th century, it was Romanesque, and there are relics of Germanic geometric figures, mainly abstract lines; with the prosperity and development of Christian culture, Gothic churches that reflect the rich imagination and creativity of the Germanic people came into being. The word "Gothic" comes from "Gothic", which means savage, but the Gothic church is full of drama, full of the vitality and vitality of the Germanic people. Gothic architectural art focuses on the religious beliefs, religious emotions and religious pursuits of that era, and has a strong symbolic meaning, reflecting the contrast between the pain and despair in reality and the strong romantic fantasy of heaven. Gothic architecture is characterized by the fact that every nuance can reflect the grand architectural intent of the entire structure, which is linked to the medieval people's worldview, who understood the world as a whole, and all parts of the world are whole. A microcosm of , the small universe contains the big universe, as the so-called "one sand, one world, one flower, one heaven". The achievements of medieval music also had a great influence on later generations. Polyphonic music appeared. Its various parts were independent and did not depend on each other in rhythm, but complemented each other. The later achievements of Western music and the world-renowned European classical music Music is all thanks to the achievements made in the field of music in the Middle Ages.
The decline of the late Middle Ages was mainly due to the disintegration of the papal power, the fabrication of doctrines by the church, the mass sale of indulgences, the division of the church caused by the "prisoner of Avignon", the emergence of the Black Death, etc. reflection on the problem. Despite the crisis, the dawn of the Renaissance has been bred.
2. The limitation of the understanding
of medieval traditions is largely due to the habit of thinking that opposes religion and science, thereby denying the Middle Ages.
Christianity, known as Noah's Ark, preserves the seeds of classical culture, is the nurturing mother of a new civilization, and is the moral foundation for rebuilding personality and society. Christianity is a reflection of people's ideological consciousness of externalizing their own essence into God by means of fantasy. As Engels said, "human power takes the form of superhuman power." Christianity will make politically chaotic Europe have an invisible The cohesion of the culture gradually formed the unity of the culture. It has irreplaceable authority in regulating human thought, ethics and morality. In the process of Christianity gradually becoming the dominant ideology in medieval Europe, Christianity was the shaper of medieval culture. The classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome was destroyed by the conquest of the Germans. Christianity, as the only cultural heritage of the old world, became the medieval culture. The dominant ideology in all fields of thought, Christianity, which integrates Hebrew religious spirit and Roman rational spirit, laid the most important foundation for the Middle Ages.
Marx said: "reason always exists, but it does not always exist in the form of reason." Although the Middle Ages was an era of Christian belief, it cannot simply be said to be an era of anti-rationality. Religion and reason are not opposites. In the Middle Ages reason served belief, and the heritage of classical culture provided an important source of thought for medieval Christian culture. The predominant Augustinian theological system in the early Middle Ages pursued the philosophy of Platonism, and the later dominant Thomas Aquinas theological system pursued the philosophy of Aristotelianism, both of which made full use of the legacy of classical culture The rational resources of the book serve faith, emphasizing that faith is the starting point and purpose, and reason is the means and approach, thus establishing the unique spiritual and cultural form of the Middle Ages—Christian theology and scholastic philosophy.
Greco-Roman culture, Christian culture, and Germanic national culture are the main sources of European medieval culture, respectively providing reason, belief, and customs for European civilization. The wisdom, benevolence and strength they represent constitute the "trinity" of Western spiritual culture. The Middle Ages was an important era for the Germanic nation to enter civilization, and the Germanic nation gradually became a nation with a higher civilization and became the backbone of promoting the process of Western civilization. Although the Germans were barbarians, they gradually digested the Roman Empire and Christianity, which is a typical example of barbarism overcoming civilization and being conquered by civilization. The Middle Ages were the formative period of the European national spirit, and the love of freedom in Western civilization was undoubtedly introduced through the Germanic peoples. Because freedom in classical civilization mainly refers to political freedom and civil liberty, the Germans like freedom very much, and they cannot bear any repression at all costs. Romanticism's praise and pursuit of freedom actually originated from the Germanic tradition. Byron had a rhetoric of freedom or death, and Petofi's poems extolling freedom were even more popular. The Germanic people did not attach importance to agriculture, and liked to engage in hunting and plundering adventures, which had a great influence on later colonization and the opening of new shipping routes. The Germans emphasize equality and national unity, emphasize loyalty, obedience to excellence, oppose the hereditary system, attach importance to blood relatives and family, emphasize hard work, courage to move forward, believe in elf life, and believe in a kind fairy tale world. The national origin of the knight civilization also came from the Germans, and the knight system was gradually developed and perfected in the formation of the medieval feudal system. The Western traditions of monogamy, respect for women, and women being heirs were all passed down through the Germanic peoples.
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Medieval literature has a particularly important position in the history of literature. The Middle Ages cannot be evaluated by the laws of social development or standards. In fact, the greatest works in the history of literature are not works that conform to the times, but works that transcend the times. Church literature, as the mainstream culture, is religious and non-ethnic. Miracle, morality, and mystery dramas were the predecessors of British historical dramas, comedies, tragedies, and legendary dramas during the Renaissance. They "violated the unity of the three, the unanimity of time and place, and mixed comedy and tragedy in one play. The stage background is extremely rudimentary, and certain fixed roles - harlequins - appear repeatedly, and there are already men dressed as women - inherited by Shakespeare. Secular literature as a heterogeneous culture, around the 10th century, the national literature of most countries in Europe was established and presented The theme is nationalized and the language is national. As the main representatives of secular literature, heroic epics, knightly literature, and civic literature have their own development backgrounds, and they are all related to Christian culture. The heroic epics of medieval Europe are partly Retaining the tradition of ancient Greek and Roman culture, it also contains the cultural connotation of other European nations, and at the same time accepts the elements of Christian culture. Heroes in European medieval heroic epics are often based on the interests of the country and the nation, showing The quality of loyalty and patriotism, the rational character and dedication of self-restraint and even self-sacrifice. Knight literature pursues the happiness of real life, does not pursue asceticism, and mainly expresses elegant love and ranger adventure. It is an ancient legend, the concept of knighthood, A mixture of Christian ideas. Citizen literature often reveals an appreciation for human nature and wisdom, which is contrary to the asceticism, atonement, and facing the other side advocated by the church. Citizen literature fully affirms the life of the world and encourages the enjoyment of real happiness, but in form It is still influenced by Christianity in terms of content and content, using metaphors, allegories, dreams and other techniques commonly used in religious literature. Dante was a great philosopher and writer in the Middle Ages. Although his thoughts were deeply limited by medieval theology, he first made the sacred As an epic, "The Divine Comedy" is the completed history of personality and a microcosm of the Christian pilgrimage. From Augustine, Thomas to Dante, the more specific the pilgrim of the Middle Ages is, the more it permeates the secular world. In the name of divinity, God gradually returned the alienated humanity to man himself.”
The dreamy, hazy and romantic colors in medieval literature had a great influence on the creative techniques of 19th century Romanticism, and also had a great influence on various literary themes, genres and narrative perspectives in Europe afterward. Medieval themes of fools have a great influence on European literature, and they have become huge images and ironies of reason. Various poems and novels with the theme of "Fool's Ship" are the main content and form carriers of "Fool's Literature". Britain, France, Germany and other countries have successively appeared in this "fool's boat" style works, such as the French poet Rimbaud's "The Drunkard's Boat", the German writer Brandt's "Fool's Boat", an anonymous British writer's "boat". The Ship of Cock Lorel, The Ship of Fools by American author Katherine Ann Porter and The Death of a Fool by Mario Puzo; Confession theme is about how saints become saints In the process, he believes that only by abandoning his body can he save his soul, and he regards self-denial as a way to convert to Christianity and approach God; the theme of the adoration of the Virgin Mary is also very popular in the ascetic trend of thought; the theme of heaven stealing is mainly monks Their love letter, the love between Father Abelard and Sister Eloise, is still alive today. Some plots in the idiot drama, farce, and hard comedy in urban drama, such as misunderstanding, slaps, Tibetans under the bed, and handkerchiefs, etc., had a great influence on the later French dramas in the 17th century. Medieval literature also created some perspectives, such as the madman's perspective, the fool's perspective, the child's perspective, and the animal's perspective.
In short, the Middle Ages in Europe was an era of continuation and reconstruction, an era of belief. The whole medieval period is not the forgetting of ancient times. The spirit of Greco-Roman culture, as an internal cultural factor, has penetrated and integrated into the culture of the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages created the European society and nation. The European continent has developed rapidly in the Middle Ages, from primitive farming The state has developed to urban civilization, from tribal dispersal to the formation of the prototype of the modern state, and the territories and ethnic patterns of various countries have been divided. Without the Christian culture of the Middle Ages, which took belief as the core and rationality as the means, it would be difficult to imagine the formation of the character of modern Western culture. The Middle Ages was the most recent foundation of modern culture. The Middle Ages in Europe was the era of the emergence of new Western cultures. The core characteristics of human spiritual strength lie in the unique ability of reason and the ability to pursue beliefs. In the eyes of people in the Middle Ages, man is a rational animal and a creature with the ability to believe, and the greatest spiritual rationality of man is that man has the conscious consciousness to move forward from the specific spirit to the supreme spirit. Modern people's enthusiasm for exploring the Middle Ages is still undiminished, which can be seen from several films in recent years, such as "The Lord of the Rings", "Return to the Middle Ages", "King Arthur", etc., which all reflect the charm and excavation of medieval civilization. potential.
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