Category: History

Trade and craft were the economic basis of medieval cities. For a large part of the population this was the main occupation. In the XI-XV centuries. foreign, as well as transit, trade, which concentrated primarily in the two main European regions, developed significantly. One was the area of ​​the Mediterranean, where the trade routes that…

The Middle Ages is closer to us in time than antiquity, and therefore there are more historical sources left from it. In particular, many buildings, tools, weapons, works of art, etc., have been preserved from the Middle Ages. Some of them were discovered by archaeologists during excavations, some of them carefully preserved by descendants as…

On the third place in the medieval theory of the three classes are “those who work”, that is, the peasants. At the turn of the X-XI centuries. The land was already cultivated by mostly dependent peasants. There are several ways that peasants turned out depending on the feudal lord. With the development of feudal society,…

Food in the Middle Ages was fairly monotonous. Simple people – peasants and artisans – often ate rye bread, porridge, beans, turnips, cabbage or cereals, seasoned with onion and garlic. Traditional daily drinks were tinctures of forest berries, herbs, beer and wine. Meat spruce is rare, mainly for holidays. Occasionally used and dairy products. Quite…

During the Great Migration of Nations, the most powerful barbarian state in Western Europe created the Germanic tribes of the Franks. The first of their kings was the Merovingians. The origin of this dynasty is covered with legends, its founder, Merovey, was considered the son of two parents – the usual king and sea monster.…

In 1348, the English people experienced an epidemic of plague – “black death”, which claimed almost a third of the country’s population. Feudal lords, rich merchants and craftsmen faced the problem of shortage of workers and preservation of old wages. To satisfy their interests, royal power in the second half of the XIV century. issued…

The Byzantines skillfully spent their leisure time. They celebrated Christian holidays, especially Easter, but they did not renounce “devil’s play” – pagan holidays and rituals. So, on the night of January 1, Calendas were celebrated, and a few days earlier – Brumalii, the shortest days of the year. Men dressed as women, women as men,…

Despite the overthrow of the Mongol yoke, the struggle lasted another 20 years. The unification of the country was completed only in 1387 after the subordination of Liaotung. With the coming to power Zhu Yuanzhang conducted a number of reforms. The possessions of the Mongols were confiscated. All the lands that were captured by the…

A bold attempt to identify the true meaning of the Great Patriotic War in the history of a great country from the Bug to the Kuriles, the poet Alexei Surkov was probably the first to assess the greatness of the people’s achievement. Back in 1942, from a high rostrum, he said: “The war in our…

After the death of Philip IV the Beautiful, the French throne belonged to three of his sons for 15 years. However, none of them left their heirs, and in 1328 the rule of the Capetian dynasty ceased. On the throne, the representative of her younger branch, Philip VI Valois, ascended. The British King Edward III…