Development of Russian culture in the 14th-15th centuries
The Mongol invasion and the establishment of the Golden Horde yoke inflicted irreparable loss on the culture of Russia. Hundreds of talented artisans were killed and taken prisoner, which led to the decline of handicraft activities, and the crafts of individual species disappeared. Many architectural monuments were destroyed. Due to lack of funds and masters for a while, stone construction stopped. It was lost a large number of written masterpieces, paintings.
Only in the second half of the XIV century. in Russia begins a cultural upsurge. It was due to successes in economic life and the first great victory over the conquerors in the Kulikovo battle. Moscow’s role as one of the main cultural centers is growing.
The most important and most tragic events people perpetuated in oral folk art. Unknown authors narrated about the Battle of Kalka, the ruin of Ryazan by Khan Baty, the battle on the Neva and the Battle of Ice, the Battle of Kulikovo Field, etc. Folk singers,
In those days, they created many songs, which were later called historical songs. They depict ordinary people who tried to stop the hordes of Batu. For example, the heroine of “The Song of Avdotya-Ryazanochka” performs a feat. She takes the inhabitants of Ryazan out of captivity and rebuilds the city anew. The rebellion of the inhabitants of Tver against the Khan’s governor is glorified in the “Song of the Shchelkan”. A unique monument of the Russian epic is the unfinished poem of the 13th century. “The word about the death of the Russian land.” She sings the power and might of Christian Russia, exalts its rulers on the eve of the Mongol invasion: “O light-bright, marvelously decorated Russian land!” An outstanding
Products of ancient masters are striking in beauty and elegance
The original genre of written literature of North-Eastern Russia was “walking”, for example, “Walking over the Three Seas”, written by Afanasy Nikitin, or “walking” of the Novgorodian Stefan and Smolenchan Ignatius to Constantinople, etc.
Gradually the writing and book business revived. The level of education is evidenced by the birch bark writings found in Novgorod. On birch bark wrote letters, business records, debt receipts, etc. For example, the manager of the country estate wrote to his master: “Mikhail bowed to his master Timothy.” The land is plowed and it is necessary to sow. “Sir, come, because everything is ready, and without your order we can not take rye. “
Birch bark letters. Beginning XII century. Books created in Russia testify to the high skill of book-keepers
The cultural upsurge was accompanied by the development of book business. The largest book centers were monasteries, where scripts and libraries operated. There were book collections of the Trinity-Sergius, Kirilo-Belozersky and Solovetsky monasteries. Book-writing workshops existed in the cities, at princely courts. Books were made, as a rule, to order, sometimes – for sale. They were written on parchment, and from the XIV century. On paper, which was imported from other countries.
At the beginning of the XV century. in Moscow, the Trinity Chronicle was created, the main idea of which is the unification of Russian lands. This was the first all-Russian chronicle. In the middle of the XV century. in Moscow was written a summary of world history – “Chronograph.”
In the architecture of the North-Eastern Russia, Slavic identity and simplicity combined with Byzantine splendor and solemnity.
In architecture from the end of the XIII century. Stone construction is reviving. The first stone structures were built in Tver. Prince Dmitry Donskoy built in Moscow, a magnificent white stone Kremlin. The most ancient monuments of Moscow architecture are the Assumption and Annunciation cathedrals. Novgorod is famous for its majestic church of St. Sophia, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, and others.
The second half of the XIV – the beginning of the XV centuries. call the “golden age” of wall paintings of North-Eastern Russia. Successfully created in Novgorod, the talented artist Theophanes the Greek. He came from Byzantium to Russia in the second half of the 14th century. already a mature painter and glorified his new homeland. First Feofan worked in Novgorod, and later – in Moscow. Unfortunately, Feofan’s paintings in Moscow’s temples have not been preserved, but his Novgorod works are now striking with spirituality, a desire for harmony.
The continuer of Theophanes the Greek is considered to be the outstanding artist Andrei Rublev. In 1405 Andrei Rublev together with Theophanes the Greek painted the walls of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The most famous work of Andrei Rublevaya is the famous icon “Trinity”, written “in praise of Sergius” for the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. In it, the artist expressed the humanistic idea of peace, unity and harmony between people.
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