History

As a result of the fall of the dynasty of Staufen the Holy Roman Empire lost its former strength. German spiritual and secular princes became almost independent rulers. The main place among them was occupied by the Electors, the princes, who had the right to elect the king. In 1273, they elected Count Rudolph Habsburg … Read more

The breadwinners of society in the Middle Ages were peasants. They not only produced food, but also spun, weaved, and made household items. The peasants worked for themselves and for the feudal lords. They gave part of their work to the feudal lord. Some supplied food, others cultivated their land with their instruments of labor, … Read more

An important role in strengthening the Catholic ecclesiastical organization belonged to monasticism. You remember that the father of Western monasticism in the VI century. became Benedict of Nursia. Over time, many monasteries were founded, guided by the statute of St. Benedict of Nursia. The charter included three vows: permanent residence in the monastery, obedience and … Read more

The general appearance of housing and household utensils indicated the occupation and the status of the owners. The type of housing was influenced by geographical conditions. People then lived predominantly in the countryside. The villages, large and small, were located near the castle. In the mountainous areas, peasants could settle in hamlets. The peasant houses … Read more

1. When did the Second World War begin? September 1, 1939, the Second World War began. It was preceded by the agreement of the leading European states on the division of Czechoslovakia, as well as the agreement between the leaders of Nazi Germany and the Bolshevik Soviet Union – Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. By … Read more

Since the XII century, the population of Northern Europe has been growing rapidly. With the cessation of marches, the main source of the nobility’s profits is agriculture, so it starts actively appropriating land. Some of the free peasants found themselves in land dependence. The land was distributed to peasants for temporary use, for which it … Read more

In the middle of the XI century. England attracted the attention of the Duchy of Normandy, formed on the territory of France. It was inhabited mainly by the Normans. They during their residence have turned from robbers-pagans to robbers-Christians – knights. In 1066, the Norman Duke William the Conqueror led a 15,000-strong force of Norman … Read more

An outstanding monument of the estate and landscape architecture of Ukraine is the palace in Kachanovka in the Chernihiv region. The construction of the palace complex began in 1771. Located in the estate of P. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, later it became the property of the Tarnowski family, with which the flowering of Kachanovka is associated. The most … Read more

The basis of the economic and political life of Scandinavia in the days of the Vikings were free people Bond. They had their own farm, they used the right to carry arms and appeal to the courts. They were farmers, cattlemen, hunters and fishermen. All of them were considered equal, but often their rights depended … Read more

The Poles formed their state in the late 10th century. The first reliable Polish prince Mieszko I married a Czech princess Dubravka. He himself became a Catholic and turned all the Poles into Catholicism. His son Boleslaw I the Brave defeated the Germans who encroached on the Polish lands, and tried to capture the Old … Read more

Main dates on the history of the Middle Ages 395 The division of the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western 476 The demise of the Roman Empire 486 Foundation of the Frankish Kingdom 610 Beginning of sermons by Mohammed 622 Relocation of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina 732 The Battle of Poitiers – the … Read more

In Russian poetry there are a lot of poems in which the author himself assesses his creative heritage. Everyone knows the poem of Alexander Pushkin, in which the great poet had every reason to assert: I erected a monument to myself not made by hands, To him the folk path will not grow, Ascending above … Read more

Medieval Europe lived mainly at the expense of agriculture. Agriculture up to the XIX century. was primitive, the technique was not used. The tools of labor remained great-great. The earth loosened up somehow, it was not fertilized, nevertheless they wanted it to yield a good harvest. Of course, under such conditions, the yields were extremely … Read more

1. What was the Ukrainian city in the late 18th – early 19th century? In the 18th century. almost all towns and villages remained small settlements, which almost did not differ from villages. Their inhabitants were engaged not only in crafts and trade, but also in agriculture. From the last decades of the 18th century. … Read more

At the turn of the V-VI centuries. the positions of the papacy grew significantly as a result of the weakening of state power in Italy, as the country survived the conquest by the Ostrogoths, Byzantines, Lombards. In this situation, the popes were able to concentrate in their hands not only spiritual but also secular power. … Read more

The second dominant estate in medieval Europe was the feudal lords. All feudal lords were considered knights, that is, warriors-horsemen. Element of the knights were wars. When the war was over, the knights, in anticipation of the next, showed their strength and courage in the Tournaments and on the hunt with the falcon. Knights from … Read more

In the XIV century. In the culture of Italian cities, the tendencies that witnessed the beginning of a new era, later called the Renaissance, began to be traced. The basis of the Renaissance culture was Humanism, which originated in the XIV century. in Italy, and XV XVI centuries. spread throughout Europe. The followers of this … Read more

Although the royal authority also cared about the construction of roads, without which it was impossible to reliably manage the state, the road network in medieval Europe was disgusting. Cobbled roads were a rarity. The majority of the roads of that time are ordinary paths traversed through fields and meadows and laid in forest thickets. … Read more

The territory of Germany, inhabited by German, Roman and Slavic tribes, was first part of the Frankish Empire. After this empire fell, the local feudal lords elected Henry I as their king in 919. Germany, thus, became a separate state, but divided into several large self-governing regions: Alemania, Bavaria, Franconia and Saxony. After Henry I, … Read more

The Chinese lived in houses without a ceiling. There was almost no furniture in the dwellings. The yard looked like a small fortress. To enter without permission in a strange yard was forbidden – the owner could kick away an uninvited guest, even a “mandarin”. The Chinese wore simple, uniform clothes – trousers and belted … Read more

Muscovites and guests of the capital like to stroll through old Moscow. Now the former names of squares and streets have been restored, which makes it easy to transfer to the ancient Belokamennaya capital. Let’s start our walk from China-city, which for many centuries was the center of culture and trade of the Moscow state. … Read more

In medieval India, natural sciences developed, especially mathematics, astronomy, medicine. The Indians are the creators of the “Arabic numerals”, which all mathematicians now use. Our school arithmetic is also of Indian origin. Long-standing Indian methods of healing with medicinal herbs are studied by modern medics. Sanskrit-speaking literature developed. Lyrical works and plays of the great … Read more

The administration of France was temporarily transferred to the eldest son of John II of the Good Dauphin Karl. He decided to introduce new taxes to arm the army and redeem King John II of Good from captivity. However, the General States did not approve of this decision, and in 1358 Paris embraced the flames … Read more

At the dawn of the Middle Ages, marriages in Europe were influenced by Roman and barbarous traditions. Thus, Roman law legalized early marriages – from the age of 12, but until the end of the Middle Ages, the marriage age in Europe increased by several years. Traditions of the barbarians, unlike the ancient, allowed marriages … Read more

The Scandinavians were pagans. Their mythology is a collection of stories about the warlike gods who lived in Asgard – the Scandinavian Olympus. In Asgard, three major gods dominated – One, Thor and Freyr. The Supreme God was One – the god of war and wisdom. He was one-eyed, because he gave the second eye … Read more

Especially strengthened royal power in France under Philip IV the Beautiful. Favorably married, he took possession of the region of Champagne and the kingdom of Navarre beyond the Pyrenees, and then subdued to himself and the rich Flanders. However, the cities of Flanders soon rebelled and completely defeated in the so-called “Battle of Spurs” select … Read more

What is known about the oldest books on our lands? The first books were hand-written. Wrote them on a parchment with a goose feather. For writing, dark brown or black ink was used, and for finishing – paints of vegetable or mineral origin. Making parchment is an extremely painstaking affair. First, the skins were thoroughly … Read more

In the middle of the XIV century. Orhan’s troops captured Byzantium and moved on to active operations in the Balkans. Sultan Murad I captured Adrianople and transferred here the capital of his state. His success in the Balkans was facilitated by the unwillingness of local Christian rulers to unite their forces before the Ottoman threat … Read more

Since medieval cities were formed on the land of secular and spiritual feudal lords, they accordingly submitted to them. The feudal lords were interested in this, because the craft and trade gave a lot of income. However, the desire of the feudal lords to pull out of the city as much money as possible aroused … Read more

The Scandinavian peninsula is almost 2,000 km deep in Europe. Long ago it was inhabited by the northern Germanic tribes, which in Western Europe were called Normans, that is, “people of the North”. Of these, Danes, Swedes and Norwegians separated, who later formed their states. Most of the Scandinavian Peninsula was occupied by forests and … Read more

In the Middle Ages in India favorable conditions were created for the development of education and science, in particular mathematics, astronomy, medicine. Indian mathematicians used the original decimal system of accounts, which with the Arabs subsequently fell into Europe. Hence the name – the Arabic numbers of the High level reached astronomy. Scientists have learned … Read more

Since the beginning of the Middle Ages, Buddhism is spreading in China. In the VI. it becomes the state religion. It was the early Middle Ages that became the period of the establishment of Buddhism, which had a tremendous impact on the development of Chinese philosophy, literature and art. Buddhism absorbed local rites and the … Read more

The townspeople were divided into burghers and non-burghers. By Burghers from the XI-XIII centuries. called full-fledged townspeople who elected and could be elected to the organs of city government. Only one who had a mansion or a workshop in the city became a Burgess. All other townspeople belonged to the non-burghers: servants of burghers, apprentices, … Read more

1. How was the center of Lviv built? The history of princely Lvov, as is known, reaches the second half of the 13th century. and is associated with the names of princes Danila Romanovich and his son Leo. The city grew rapidly, therefore, to have plots for building, residents cut down the forest on the … Read more

The culture of the countries of the caliphate is predominantly called the Arab one. This is not entirely correct, because it also included the culture of the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Iranians, the peoples of Central Asia. However, the language of this culture was Arabic, and the unifying element was Islam. In addition, the Arabs … Read more

At the turn of the VI-VII centuries. Byzantium quickly lost part of its possessions, both in the West and in the East. In the middle of the VII century. The Byzantine territory was halved compared to the time of Justinian. Now it increasingly took the form of a medieval state. Instead of the Roman title … Read more

Processes Reconquista particularly intensified in the XII-XIII centuries. In the second half of the 12th century. Aragonese took over Zaragoza. In 1147, Lisbon was taken, which became the capital of Portugal. At the beginning of the XIII century. Castilians conquered the largest Moorish principalities – Cordoba and Seville. In the second half of the 13th … Read more

Commodity production and ignorance are incompatible things. In contrast to the villages, the ability to read, write and count acquired a mass character in the city. In the midst of burghers, intellectual needs arise and a new type of thinking is emerging for the Middle Ages. The psychology and attitude of dexterous, energetic merchants and … Read more

756 – the foundation of the Papal States with the center in Rome. 1054 – schism – the division of the church into the Catholic and Orthodox. The Cluny movement and the reform activities of Pope Gregory VII: The election of Pan Roman by the conclave of the Cardinals; The introduction of the vow of … Read more

1. When did St. Sophia Cathedral appear in Kiev? The Cathedral of St. Sophia was built in times that are considered the heyday of Kievan Rus. Rules then the son of Vladimir the Great Prince Yaroslav. Having spent many campaigns and battles, having obtained the right to the principality in Kiev, Yaroslav escaped the accusations … Read more

The Byzantines respectfully treated science, which they called “philosophy.” To her, they enumerated theology, mathematics, natural history, ethics, politics, grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, astronomy, music and jurisprudence. Byzantine theologians made a significant contribution to the development of the Orthodox faith. In doing so, they relied on ancient philosophy, using, unlike the European scholastics, the work not … Read more

Man during the Middle Ages was much closer to nature than we are now. However, it would be wrong to consider that the relationship between man and nature was harmonious. Nature often forced a man to feel his weakness. Reserves in the barn of a peasant or a feudal lord, on which their life depended, … Read more

Well-off Indians lived in spacious homes that had a bathroom and a restroom. The house was furnished with armchairs, beds, the floor was covered with mats, carpets, animal skins. The poor people huddled in reed huts. Male and female clothes were protozoa. At home everyone walked half-naked, people wore a long shirt and a cloak. … Read more

On the basis of several good schools there were universities. The first universities appeared in the XII century. in Bologna and Paris. Later, universities also appeared in other countries: Oxford and Cambridge in England, Salamansky in Spain, Prague in the Czech Republic, Krakowski in Poland, etc. At the end of the 15th century, in Europe … Read more

Over time, society developed, an increasingly prominent role in medieval life begins to play cities and, accordingly, artisans and merchants, who in the scheme of the medieval classes did not find a place. Subsequently, the townspeople were ranked in the third estate, the skeleton of which nevertheless was the peasantry. In the life of the … Read more

In the Middle Ages, people almost all their lives were associated with weapons. Freedom and honor, home and wealth were not simply protected by legal clauses. For many centuries, the destinies of people were resolved through fights, battles, uprisings, riots, conspiracies, tribal and personal conflicts. All this contributed to the intensive development of weapons business. … Read more

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 … Read more

Peninsula Arabia, an area of ​​3 million square meters. km, has long been populated by Arabs. The main territory of Arabia consists of deserts, semi-deserts and dry steppes. And only small plots of land are suitable for cultivation. Natural conditions have caused the division of Arabia into several regions, and its population – to sedentary … Read more

Moscow is the heart of Russia, the capital of a powerful state. Eight centuries have passed since the first time in the pages of the ancient Russian chronicle the name of Moscow was named. In 1147, the chronicler noted the meeting in Moscow of Vladimir-Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky with his allies – Chernigov princes. This … Read more

Italian scientists back in the XV century. introduced the term “Middle Ages” or “Middle Ages”. They considered the Middle Ages a difficult page in European history, its “dark era.” Like, then, the high achievements of the Greco-Roman civilization were lost – people became uncultured, cruel, destroyed each other in numerous wars, and in their political … Read more