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By the beginning of the 16th century, Christianity played a decisive role in influencing the culture and life of the Russian people. It played a positive role in overcoming the harsh morals, ignorance and wild customs of ancient Russian society. In particular, the norms of Christian morality had a huge impact on family life, marriage, and the upbringing of children. Truth. theology then adhered to a dualistic view of the division of the sexes - into two opposite principles - "good" and "evil". The latter was personified in a woman, determining her position in society and the family. W?zek wid?owy cena wroc?aw.
The Russian peoples for a long time had big family, uniting relatives in a straight line and lateral lines. Distinctive features a large peasant family was collective farming and consumption, the common ownership of property by two or more independent married couples. The urban (posad) population had smaller families and usually consisted of two generations of parents and children. The families of feudal lords were, as a rule, small, so the son of a feudal lord, having reached the age of 15, had to serve the sovereign's service and could receive both his own separate local salary and a granted estate. This contributed to early marriages and the emergence of independent small families.
With the introduction of Christianity, marriages began to be formalized through a church wedding ceremony. But the traditional Christian wedding ceremony ("joy") was preserved in Russia for about another six or seven centuries. Church rules did not stipulate any obstacles to marriage, except for one: the "possession" of the bride or groom. But in real life, the restrictions were quite strict, primarily in social terms, which were regulated by customs. The law did not formally forbid the feudal lord to marry a peasant woman, but in fact this happened very rarely, since the feudal class was a closed corporation, where marriages were encouraged not just with persons of their own circle, but with equals. A free man could marry a serf, but he had to get permission from the master and pay a certain amount by agreement. Thus, both in ancient times and in the city, marriages, in general, could only take place within one class-estate.
The dissolution of the marriage was very difficult. Already in the early Middle Ages, divorce ("dissolution") was allowed only in exceptional cases. At the same time, the rights of the spouses were unequal. A husband could divorce his wife in the event of her infidelity, and communication with strangers outside the home without the permission of the spouse was equated to treason. In the late Middle Ages (since the 16th century), divorce was allowed on the condition that one of the spouses was tonsured a monk.
The Orthodox Church allowed one person to marry no more than three times. The solemn ceremony of wedding was performed, usually, only at the first marriage. A fourth marriage was strictly forbidden.
A newborn child was to be baptized in the church on the eighth day after baptism in the name of the saint of that day. The rite of baptism was considered by the church to be the main, vital rite. The unbaptized had no rights, not even the right to burial. A child who died unbaptized was forbidden by the church to be buried in a cemetery. The next rite - "tons" - was held a year after baptism. On this day, the godfather or godfather (godparents) cut off a lock of hair from the child and gave the ruble. After the tonsure, they celebrated the name day, that is, the day of the saint in whose honor the person was named (later became known as the "angel's day"), and the birthday. The royal name day was considered an official state holiday.
All sources testify that in the Middle Ages the role of its head was extremely great. He represented the family as a whole in all its outward functions. Only he had the right to vote at the meetings of residents, in the city council, and later - in the meetings of the Konchan and Sloboda organizations. Within the family, the power of the head was practically unlimited. He disposed of the property and destinies of each of its members. This even applied to the personal life of children whom he could marry or marry against his will. The Church condemned him only if he drove them to suicide in the process. The orders of the head of the family were to be carried out implicitly. He could apply any punishment, up to physical. "Domostroy" - an encyclopedia of Russian life of the 16th century - directly indicated that the owner should beat his wife and children for educational purposes. For disobedience to parents, the church threatened with excommunication.
Prerequisites
Prince Vladimir came to power after a fierce civil strife, defiantly seizing the Kyiv table. As Karamzin writes: "Vladimir, with the help of atrocities and the brave Varangians, took possession of the state, but soon proved that he was born to be a great Sovereign." Vladimir, while still a pagan, by his will multiplied and strengthened the territory of his de...
Partisan and underground movement
The pain of distant days burns the soul. In the native land - someone else's speech. To save life and honor people, We had to beat, break and burn. We blew up our bridges, We broke our machine tools. There was a deep enemy rear, But the city lived, and there were fights. He greeted the night with anxiety. The ban on the song, the ban on the light. At home, in bed at night, angry broke into people ...
Decembrist revolt
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Here you can find information about home improvement, clothes and food of peasants.
Knowledge of people's way of life, traditions, and customs gives us the opportunity to preserve historical memory, to find those roots that will nourish new generations of Russians.
A peasant dwelling is a courtyard where residential and outbuildings, a garden and a kitchen garden were built.
The roofs of the buildings were thatched or wooden, often wooden figures of heads of various birds and animals were attached to the roofs.
The buildings themselves were built of wood, mostly pine and spruce. Dm and in the literal sense were chopped with an ax, but later saws also became known.
For the construction of even the largest buildings, a special foundation was not built. But instead of it, supports were laid in the corners and middles of the walls - stumps, large boulders.
The main buildings of the peasant household were: “a hut and a cage”, a room, tumblers, a hay, a barn, a barn. The hut is a common residential building. The upper room is a clean and bright building, built on top of the lower one, and here they slept and received guests. Povalushki and sennik - cold storerooms, in the summer they were living quarters.
The most important component of the peasant house was the Russian stove. They baked bread in it, cooked food, washed themselves, and slept on the upper wall.
Icons were the main decoration of the house. The images were placed in the upper corner of the chambers and covered with a curtain - a torture chamber.
Wall paintings and mirrors were banned Orthodox Church. Only small mirrors were brought from abroad and were part of the women's toilet.
In the home arrangement, the Russians had a noticeable custom to cover and cover everything. The floors were covered with carpets, matting, felts, benches and benches with benches, tables with tablecloths.
The houses were lit with candles and torches.
The houses of poor and rich people had the same names, structures, differed only in size and degree of decoration.
According to the cut, the clothes were the same for both the kings and the peasants.
Men's shirts were white or red, they were sewn from linen and canvas. The shirts were belted low with straps in a weak knot.
The clothes worn at home were called zipun. It was a narrow, short white dress.
Women's clothes were similar to men's, only they were longer. A flyer was worn over a long shirt. It had a slit in the front that fastened with buttons all the way to the throat.
All women wore earrings and headdresses.
The outer clothing of the peasants was a sheepskin coat. Sheepskin coats were changed for children.
Of the shoes, the peasants had bast shoes, shoes made of twigs and leather soles, which were tied to the foot with straps.
Peasant cuisine was Russian, national. The best cook was the one who knew how other housewives cook. Changes in food were introduced imperceptibly. The dishes were simple and varied.
According to the custom of the Russians to keep the posts holy, the table was divided into two parts: modest and lean, and according to supplies, the food was divided into five: fish, meat, flour, dairy and vegetable.
The floury ones included rye bread - the head of the table, various pies, loaves, casseroles, rolls; to fish - fish soup, baked dishes; for meat - side dishes, quick soups, pates and many others.
The drinks were: vodka, wine, juices, fruit drinks, berezovets, kvass, tea.
Sweets were natural: fresh fruits, fruits cooked in molasses.
I hope that my small contribution to the promotion of folk culture and way of life will partly help to ensure that this culture is preserved, knowledge of it will strengthen the mind and soul of the growing citizens and patriots of our Fatherland.
MINISTRY OF GENERAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
SURGUT STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
SUMMARY ON THE HISTORY OF NATIONAL CULTURE
"LIFE AND MORALS OF RUSSIAN WOMEN
IN THE XVI-XVII CENTURIES»
Completed by: 3rd year student
GF (history)
Trekulova Olga
Checked by: Anna Agarkova
Bronislavovna
Surgut-2000
I. INTRODUCTION.
II. LIFE OF A MARRIED WOMAN
1. Position in the family
2. Holidays
III. RUSSIAN QUEEN
1. Royal weddings
2. Wives of Ivan the Terrible
3. Queen's Court
I. INTRODUCTION.
Despite the fact that already in the X century. (since the time of Olga) Russia recognized and, one might say, recognized the activities of a female ruler, in national history there were no such examples until the 18th century. For many centuries, a Russian woman was almost always in the shadow of a man. Perhaps it is for this reason that today we have to talk about the scarcity of sources that would help to make a clear picture of the life, life and customs of a woman in Russia.
If we turn to East Slavic mythology, then already there we can find some contradictions regarding women and attitudes towards her. So with Mokosh, the only female deity in the pagan pantheon, not only the well-being of girlish destinies was associated, but also the fertility of the land and a good harvest. "Mother is damp earth" - a constant epithet of the highest feminine. On the other hand, few female images are associated with wet, dark, bad, that is, they are correlated with the manifestation of negative qualities (for example, mermaids, who lured passers-by with their singing, who could fall into the water and drown).
In one of the old teachings, the following comment about a beautiful field is given: “What is a wife? The network is set up seducing a person in power with a bright face, ubo and high eyes, naming, playing with his feet, killing deeds. If you had wounded many, they were seduced by the kindness of women, and from that, love seemed to be very inflamed ... What is a wife? saints oblige, the serpent's rest, the devil is a blessing, a disease without color, a scourge that raises, a temptation to be saved, an unhealed malice, a demonic merchant.
A woman and her position in Russian society are narrated by numerous memoirs of foreigners (some of which will be given in the work), which have appeared in Russia since the end of the 15th century. But many researchers believe that statements about the higher position of a Western European woman compared to " backyard Muscovite”, a certain role was influenced by the preconceived views of foreign travelers, who had the goal of opposing their “developed” and “cultural” country to barbarian Russia.
In domestic and foreign historiography, there is a point of view that in the “history of a Russian woman” of the Middle Ages there is a significant milestone - the 16th century, after which a “regressive period” begins in the social status of a Russian woman. Its appearance is preceded, according to N. Kollman, by the appearance of the “terem system”. She believes that seclusion was the result of "strengthening the tsarist autocracy and the boyar elite", as it allowed them "to exercise control over the political ties of large clans and families" (limit the circle of acquaintances, marry in accordance with the tasks of dynastic and political ties, etc. .).
The majority of our contemporaries, however, have norms of behavior, family foundations, morality in the 16th-17th centuries. associated with such a concept as "Domostroy".
"Domostroy" is home economics, a meeting useful tips, teachings in the spirit of Christian morality. As for family relations, Domostroy instructs the head of the family to punish the children and wife in case of disobedience: it was not recommended to beat the wife with a stick, fist "neither in the ear nor in vision, so that she would not become deaf and blind, but only for a great and terrible disobedience ... wearing a shirt with a whip politely beat ... ". Moreover, “not to beat in front of people, to teach alone.”
So how and how did Russian women live during the period of seclusion and the dominance of the rules of Domostroy?
II. LIFE OF A MARRIED WOMAN.
1. Position in the family.
Fathers kept their daughters in strictness. Before marriage, the man had to be unknown to the girls. Mothers or nannies (in wealthy families) taught girls how to sew and various household chores. The more noble the family, the more rigor was present in education.
If in peasant life a woman was under the yoke of hard work, if everything that was more difficult was thrown on her, like a workhorse, then at least they were not kept locked up.
In the families of noble girls, buried in their chambers, not daring to be born, without the hope of loving someone, they day and night and always remained in prayer and washed their faces with tears.
When marrying a girl, they did not ask about her desire. She herself did not know who she was going for, she did not see her fiancé before marriage. Having become a wife, she did not dare to leave the house without the permission of her husband, even if she went to church, and then she was obliged to ask questions.
According to the laws of decency, it was considered reprehensible to talk to a woman on the street. In Moscow, one traveler notes, no one will humble himself to kneel before a woman and roll incense before her.
A woman was not granted the right to freely meet according to her heart and temper, and if some kind of treatment was allowed with those with whom her husband was pleased to allow, but even then she was bound by instructions and remarks: what to say, what to keep silent about, what to ask, what not to hear.
It happened that the husband assigned to his wife "spies" from servants and serfs, and those, wanting to please the owner, often reinterpreted everything to him in the other direction. It often happened that a husband, at the slander of his beloved serf, beat his wife out of this only suspicion. Especially for such cases, the husband hung a whip, exclusively for his wife, and was called a fool. For insignificant guilt, the head of the family dragged his wife by the hair, stripped naked and whipped the fool to the blood - this was called teaching his wife. Sometimes, instead of a whip, rods were used, and the wife was flogged, as small child.
Accustomed to slavery, which they were destined to drag from diapers to the grave, Russian women had no idea about the possibility of having other rights and believed that they were really born to be beaten by their husbands, and beatings themselves were a sign of love.
Foreigners told the following curious anecdote, passing from mouth to mouth in various variations. Some Italian married a Russian and lived with her for several years peacefully and in harmony, never beating her or scolding her. One day she says to him: "Why don't you love me?" “I love you,” the husband said and kissed her. “You didn’t prove it to me,” said the wife. "How can you prove it?" he asked. The wife replied: "You never beat me." “I didn’t know this,” the husband said, but if beatings are needed to prove my love to you, then this will not be the case. Soon after that, he beat her with a whip and really noticed that after that his wife became more kind and helpful to him. He also beat her on another occasion, that after that she lay in bed for some time, but nevertheless did not grumble or complain. Finally, for the third time, he beat her with a club so hard that she died after a few days. Her relatives filed a complaint against her husband; but the judges, having learned all the circumstances of the case, said that she herself was to blame for her death; the husband did not know that beatings meant love among Russians, and wanted to prove that he loved more than all Russians; he not only beat his wife out of love, but also killed him to death.
Women said: “He who loves whom, he beats him, if the husband does not beat, then he does not love”, “Do not trust the horse in the field, but the wife in the wild.” The last proverb shows that bondage was considered the property of a female being.
In domestic life, a woman did not have any power, even in housekeeping. She did not dare to send anything as a gift to others, or to accept from another, she did not even dare to eat or drink without her husband's permission.
Rarely was a mother allowed to have influence over her children, starting with the fact that it was considered indecent for a noble woman to breastfeed her children, who were therefore given to nurses. Subsequently, the mother had less supervision over the children than the nannies and clerks, who raised the master's children under the authority of the father of the family.
The position of the wife was always worse if she had no children, but it became extremely terrible when the husband, bored with her, took a mistress on his side. There was no end to cavils, fights, beatings; often in such a case, the husband beat his wife to death and remained without punishment, because the wife died slowly, and it was impossible to say that he killed her, and beating her, at least ten times a day, was not considered a bad thing. It happened that the husband thus forced his wife to enter the monastery. The unfortunate woman, in order to avoid beatings, decided on voluntary imprisonment, especially since she had more freedom in the monastery than her husband. If the wife was stubborn, the husband could hire two or three false witnesses who accused her of adultery and then the wife was forcibly locked up in a monastery.
Sometimes a wife, lively by nature, objected to her husband's beatings with abuse, often indecent content. There were examples when wives poisoned their husbands. True, severe punishment awaited them for this: the criminals were buried alive in the ground, leaving their heads outside, and kept in this position until death, they were not allowed to eat and drink, and the watchmen stood by them, not allowing anyone to feed the woman. Passers-by were allowed to throw money, but this money was used on the coffin for the convict or on candles for propitiation. God's Wrath to her sinful soul. The death penalty could be replaced with eternal imprisonment. N. Kostomarov gives a description of one case when two women were kept up to their necks in the ground for three days for poisoning their husbands, but since they asked to enter the monastery, they dug them up and sent them to the monastery, ordering them to be kept separately in seclusion and in shackles.
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Peasant's house of the 16th century
House of a poor peasant
House of a prosperous peasant
Slide 8
Traditional Slavic pagan holidays are associated with nature and the events taking place in it, they contain and conceal a deep sacred essence and meaning. The rites that our great ancestors-ancestors once performed in the old days are designed to ensure peaceful coexistence and harmony with Mother Nature, a connection with our NATIVE Slavic Gods. The Slavic kologod is divided by four seasons (winter, spring, summer, autumn), in each of which great holidays are specially celebrated: 2 solstices (solstice) in winter and summer - the time when the Sun is reborn: the old Sun fades, but a new one takes its place - nascent, young and 2 equinoxes (spring and autumn). The sun has long been especially revered by the Slavs as a symbol and source of life on earth, giving warmth and light to all living things. And this happens every year, constantly, along an uninterrupted stake (circle), in the form of which the ancient Slavs represented our Universe.
Slide 9
Each Slavic holiday is a special ritual action dedicated to the veneration of any particular Deity of the Slavic pantheon or events occurring in nature in different time. As a rule, Slavic holidays are accompanied by cheerful and wide folk festivals, songs, round dances and various fortune-telling, youth gatherings and brides' bridesmaids. But there are also such days in the Slavic kologod where there is no place for fun - these are the days of honoring the deceased relatives and close people, as well as holidays where evil spirits and deities were revered. At some festivities, masks and masks (skins of wild animals) were obligatory attributes, in which people dressed up so that the evil spirits would not recognize.
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January (Sechen, Chill) February (Lute, Snezhen) March (Berezol, Dry) April (Flower, Queten) May (Traven) June (Fresen, Cherven)
July (Lipen) August (Serpen, Zhniven) September (Veresen, Ryuen) October (Leaf fall, Yellow) November (Breast) December (Stuzhen)
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Russian Winter
After the feast of Christmas begins amazing time- Christmas time, the girls were going to tell fortunes. And on the street there was a cheerful mess - the children went caroling. After the baptism, the fun subsided, but not for long. Before Great Lent, there is a great holiday: Wide Maslenitsa! Seeing off winter has been celebrated since pagan times. The main dish on the table is golden pancakes: a symbol of the sun.
Night divination. Christmas time.
Carols Shrovetide
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The first Christians were Jews and did not celebrate Christmas (according to Jewish doctrine, the birth of a person is “the beginning of sorrows and pains.” Therefore, in the early years of Christianity, no one was interested in the date of the birth of Christ. Much more important for the first Christians from a doctrinal point of view was the feast of the Resurrection of Christ, which is now known as Easter.The ancient Christian feast of the Epiphany on January 6 ideologically combined both Christmas and the Epiphany of the Lord, which later became different holidays.
Nativity
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As for Great Lent, it has a missionary origin. These 40 days were not fasted at first by Christians, but by pagans - those pagans who wanted to be baptized. And now a person is preparing for Baptism ... This is not just like that, in between times he ran into the temple, was baptized, and ran on about his business. Adults were baptized then. There were still few Christian families, so children were not baptized - practically they were not baptized; in Christian families they were baptized, but the majority were adults who had already consciously come to Christ.
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SPRING, SPRING COME RED. COME RED, BRING GOOD! So in Russian villages, climbing a hill, women called spring. She will come - prepare a plow and a harrow, it's time to plow the land. After all, work in the field is the main business of the peasant. "Spring day feeds the year."
Spring is red
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The biggest Orthodox holiday is in the spring. Easter, the bright Resurrection of Christ! This holiday signifies the victory of life over death. Prepared tables with Easter decorations consecrated in the church. Finally, it was possible to eat plenty after Lent, which lasted for seven whole weeks.
Children rolling Easter eggs.
At work.
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the holiday of the resurrection of the dead and the last day of the power and power of the evil Navi Gods before the coming of Spring. For Orthodox Christians, this date was the day of St. Eudoxia, who led the coming of Spring. With the onset of March, the Slavs begin ritual visits to graves with the offering of trebs. On this day, long-dead people are brought into the water, saying:
"Shine, shine, Sunshine! I'll give you an egg, Like a chicken lays in an oak forest, Take it to paradise, May all souls be happy."
Slide 19
On March 9, the second Calls of Spring are held (performed from the tops of the hills, from which the snow has already begun to melt, popularly called "Yarilin bald patches." According to Slavic beliefs, forty birds fly from Bright Iriy on this day (from that this holiday is called Magpies), marking the approach of the Virgin of Spring, on whose field the birds land first, the Gods will send special luck and a good harvest this year.
Slide 20
For Orthodox Christians, this date was the day of the Forty Martyrs. People used to say: “Forty birds fly to the Forty Martyrs, forty birds make their way to Russia”, “To the Forty Martyrs - the arrival of larks: how many thaws, so many larks”. On this day, the housewives baked “larks” from unleavened dough, with which the Calls were made. At the same time, it was believed that the full force of the spring warmth will appear only after forty days. In some houses, forty "nuts" were baked from rye and oat flour, and then for forty days they threw them one by one into the street, thus "paying off" from Frost.
On the Larks day and night are compared. Winter ends, spring begins.
"Larks, larks! Fly to us, Bring us a warm summer! We are tired of winter, Ate all our bread, Killed all the cattle."
"Spring, red spring Come, spring, with joy, With joy, with great mercy: With great flax, With deep roots, With great bread."
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Summer worries and holidays
Here comes the red summer! The air flows from aromas: herbal, floral, woody. Hard-working bees are buzzing... Fresh honey is as golden as the sun. And sweet!
On Semik, the girls decorated a young birch, led round dances. And most importantly, they let out wreaths: if it floats, the girl will be married, if she drowns, there will be trouble.
In the West, Russia of the 16th century is presented as a “barbarian state” filled with mass executions, the elimination of political opponents, the oppression of the people, and other unsightly phenomena. Ivan the Terrible in these descriptions looks like a kind of monster, in fact, equal to the mythical Dracula.
However, if you look at Western Europe approximately the same period, it can be seen that the History of Russia, compared with the pages of the history of Western European states, in the field of the mores of the rulers, the life of the nobility and the common people, is almost an example of humanity and Christian values.
The Dark Side of the Renaissance
When they talk about the Renaissance or the Renaissance (from French Renaissance, Italian Rinascimento; from "ri" - "again" or "born again"), they usually remember the heyday of European culture, brilliant thinkers, scientists, artists, the era of the Great geographical discoveries. But somehow they leave aside that it was also an era of bloody wars, conspiracies, intrigues, insidious murders, mass terror against political and religious opponents. We must not forget that it was at this time that a moral breakdown occurred in Europe, when the craving for sensual pleasures became higher than chastity.
The money went to the "beautiful life". The nobility was often related to banking clans, considered Ancient Rome a role model. Wealth went to the construction of luxurious palaces, decorated with exquisite statues, bas-reliefs, paintings. This allowed talented artists, architects, sculptures, artists to express themselves. Venuses began to supplant the icons of the Mother of God, nymphs and satyrs - the apostles and saints. Even icons began to be painted according to the new fashion, bringing them closer to "ancient" standards. Saints, often undressed, were painted from pretty sitters and models, from customers, noble and wealthy ladies and gentlemen.
In fact, there was a “revival” not of Ancient Rome, but of the worst features of the late Roman Empire, an era of decline and decay. In certain circles, "Greek love" - sodomy - has come into fashion. The asceticism and apparent chastity of the Middle Ages were abandoned. Italy was overwhelmed by hedonism, when sensual pleasure is considered the highest goal and greatest blessing of human life. Boccaccio's Decameron became more important than the Bible. Marital fidelity was ridiculed. The jaded rich sought novelty in perversions.
It would seem that the Catholic Church had to fight back such a serious attack on the souls of its parishioners. However, she herself was infected with the corruption virus. The Church was not only a spiritual, but also a secular institution, which possessed enormous wealth. This wealth was a serious prerequisite for decomposition. Popes and spiritual feudal lords were sovereign rulers in their lands. The places of legates, canons, abbots of monasteries were considered primarily as sources of income. Positions were sold, given in rewards. Even young children of large secular feudal lords could become abbots and abbesses. At that time, many feudal lords, thus, attached their children, because this promised many benefits. Spiritual feudal lords, like the secular ones, fell into luxury, excesses, and depravity. The Catholic elite was seriously corrupted.
Suffice it to say, the heads of the Catholic Church were people who, even with a stretch, can hardly be called worthy representatives of the human race. So, in 1410 - 1415. the pope was a pirate, murderer and sodomite John XXIII (Balthasar Cossa). Pope Sixtus IV (Francesco della Rovere) - ruled from 1471 to 1484, noted as a bribe taker, murderer and sodomite.
Among a fairly significant number of criminals and perverts who held the post of Pope, apparently, the first place rightfully belongs to Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia), who was the head of the church in 1492-1503. This Spanish nobleman came to Italy for a career because his mother was the sister of Cardinal Alfonso Borgia, who became Pope Calixtus III. Cohabited with many women. He made it to the cardinals, and then to the pope, not stinting on bribes (the post of pope could also be bought, like any other rank in the church). So, the Venetian cardinal Rodrigo bribed 5 thousand gold pieces and provided his 12-year-old daughter for the night. Having received the coveted post, Alexander VI began to exalt the children. His son Giovanni Borgia received the title of Prince of Gandia and Session, as well as "Pontifical Standard Bearer and General Captain of the Church". Cesare Borgia title of Cardinal and Duke of Romagna and Valentinois. His daughter Lucretia became the epitome of the sexual promiscuity that reigned in Rome. She was the mistress of her father - the Pope (!). In addition to sexual promiscuity, the Borgia clan became famous for using poisons to eliminate political opponents and objectionable persons. It is clear that such a Catholic Church could not resist the "revival".
But even the decaying Catholic Church did not suit certain circles. Work began on creating a more convenient version of Christianity. In principle, various sects and heresies existed in Europe for a long time - at the beginning of our era, Gnosticism arose, which used motifs from the Old Testament, Eastern mythology and a number of early Christian teachings. There were sects of Manichaeans, Kabbalists, Paulicians, Bogumils, Waldensians, Cathars, etc. In Byzantium, iconoclasts gained power for some time. In the south of France in the 12th - 13th centuries, the Albigensian heresy spread, which led to a bloody war. The Knights Templar were suspected of heresy (the question is ambiguous, because main reason destruction of the order, could be his successful financial activities).
The Renaissance created favorable conditions for the germination of a larger heretical movement. It all started in England, where Oxford University professor John Wycliffe (Wycliffe) in 1376-1377. began to condemn the greed and wealth of the clergy, referring to the fact that neither Christ nor his apostles possessed either property or secular power. In his lectures, the professor announced that the church should not own property and the king had the right to secularize church lands, and also opposed the claims of the papacy to levy taxes from England. This idea is of interest royalty and some large feudal lords. The king also liked the idea that the king is the vicar of God and that the bishops should be subject to the king. Wycliffe rejected the episcopal degree, the doctrine of purgatory and indulgences; considered confession to be the violence of conscience and offered to be content with a person's inner repentance before God. He said that there should be no intermediaries between man and God. Wycliffe and his supporters were defeated, but his ideas were taken up by Jan Hus and his Hussite followers.
Hus proposed a reform of the church in the Czech Republic, similar to that proclaimed by Wyclif. He was executed, but the dissatisfaction of the Czechs with the church, reinforced by national oppression (the dominance of the Germans), led to an uprising and a long war. The Hussites started a war against Rome and the emperor, exterminated and expelled Catholics, sacked monasteries and churches. On March 1, 1420, the Pope announced a crusade against the heretic Hussites. In Silesia, Emperor Sigismund gathered an army of German, Polish and Hungarian knights, as well as infantry, which consisted of the militia of the Silesian cities and Italian mercenaries. However, the Hussites created a very combat-ready army, which was able to repulse the knightly troops. The war continued until 1434.
In the Czech Republic itself, the reform of the church was understood ambiguously. The Chashniki demanded the elimination of the dominance of the German feudal lords and the German urban patriciate in the Czech Republic, they wanted the secularization of church lands, freedom of preaching and the creation of a national church. They believed that in the rite of communion, people should partake of bread and wine (as with the Orthodox, Catholics only partake of wine with priests, and the laity with wafers). The Taborites moved on. They wanted to destroy the royal power and establish a republic, they denied any hierarchy, both spiritual and secular. They preached the idea of socialization of property. There were extreme sects, like the Adamites, who wanted to go back "to the time of Adam", went naked and indulged in free love. Chashniki and Taborites destroyed the Adamites. Then they quarreled with each other. Finally, in 1433, the Chashniki compromised with the Catholic Church (Prague Compacts) and in 1434, together with the Catholics, they defeated the Taborites. During this long and bloody war, the Czech Republic and neighboring regions were seriously devastated. So, the Czech Republic lost 1.5 million people and became a devastated "desert".
But these were only “flowers”, “berries” - the Reformation and the Peasant War in Germany, the Reformation in the Netherlands and the Dutch Revolution, the Huguenot Wars in France, etc., will still be ahead.
Heresies also affected the Catholic elite. After all, hedonism absolutely did not correspond to the foundations of Christian morality. The rich, bathed in luxury and sensual pleasures, needed a different doctrine that would justify their way of life. Therefore, Christianity remained the lot of the "dark" common people. And among the nobility, various astrologers, soothsayers, alchemists, "psychics" gained popularity. The teaching that God is only the “prime mover” is becoming fashionable, and the life of a person is controlled by the elements, planets, and stars. Astrology was recognized as the truth of the first instance. The nobility made horoscopes for marriage, the beginning of transactions, the lords consulted with astrologers when to start a war.
True, not everywhere looked at such free-thinking calmly. In the Iberian Peninsula, where under the flag of religion, there was a long and stubborn war with Muslims, the issue of faith was more strict. Muslims were driven out, converted to Christianity and slavery. It was not easy for the Jews, who took root under the rule of the Moors. Many tried to adapt and conditionally converted to Christianity, secretly retaining their former faith. In 1478, the Inquisition, headed by Thomas Torquemada, was established to combat heresies and non-Christians. The results of his activities were: the expulsion of Jews from Spain, Sardinia and Sicily, the expulsion of the Moors (it happened after the death of the "Grand Inquisitor"); confiscation of the property of those convicted by the Inquisition, the burning of hundreds of heretics at the stake.
It should be noted that part of the Jews moved to Italy, and since many of them were associated with trade and usury activities, they had long-standing ties with local commercial and banking circles. The bankers, in turn, were associated with Italian princes and aristocrats. And churchmen depended on bankers and aristocrats. Therefore, in Italy, in the center of the Catholic world, the Jews were not persecuted. So, in Italy, the first “financial international” was formed from the “black” (departed from Christianity) aristocracy and Jewish usurers. Later he will be relocated to Holland and England.
Even the fight against "witches" in Europe was selective. At the courts of the aristocracy, including the spiritual, various astrologers, magicians, fortune-tellers, soothsayers, soothsayers flourished. In Florence, at the Medici Palace, the Platonic Academy openly operated, where they studied the Kabbalah and other secret teachings. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued the famous bull "Summis desiderantes affectibus", which served as the basis for a new wave of "witch hunts". In 1487, a treatise on demonology, The Hammer of the Witches, was published, which was written by two German monks, the Dominican inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger. It was a fundamental legal and practical guide to detect and destroy "witches". Bonfires blazed all over Europe. Midwives and healers got into them, just beautiful women etc. They destroyed the carriers of knowledge that did not fit into the official Catholic concept of the picture of the world. Thousands of innocent people were subjected to savage torture and killed.
The life of the European population
Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries was still agrarian, the land was the main wealth. Actually, "wealth", that is, the products necessary for life, was produced by the peasants. Monarchs, and secular and spiritual feudal lords, and local administration were flogged from them in three skins. Direct requisitions were supplemented by various state monopolies and duties. Often the direct owners of the peasants, in need of cash and getting into debt, gave them away. The tax-farmers did not stand on ceremony with the peasants at all. The peasants were considered only as a source of income, they were powerless and downtrodden (except for small, remote corners where relatively free peasant communities remained), they lived in miserable huts with an earthen floor, without windows and heated by a hearth, because windows and pipes were subject to a separate tax .
True, classic serfdom in Western Europe in most of the countries died off. But the nobles still lived at the expense of the peasants. Now the nobles preferred to lease the land. But at the same time, while maintaining legal power over the peasants, the right to judge them, the land in their ownership. Most of the nobles barely made ends meet. Expensive weapons and clothes were inherited. In many ways, the ruin of the nobility was due to exorbitant spending and inability to manage the household.
Therefore, they tried to improve the state by participating in numerous wars, when robbery was a legalized phenomenon. The basis of the armies were feudal militias. By order of the overlord, his vassals brought troops. But aristocrats were often unreliable, betrayed, and were in no hurry to follow orders. Therefore, the feudal militias began to supplement the detachments of mercenaries. Entire regions even specialize in this craft - Scotland, Switzerland and the German principalities. In war, such troops were distinguished by extreme cruelty and looting, trying to reward themselves with violence and booty. The maintenance of the army was an expensive pleasure, so the monarchs and large feudal lords tried to collect troops only for the duration of the hostilities. In peacetime, they managed with small security units.
The cult of luxury, which sharply intensified with the beginning of the Renaissance, became ruinous for the nobility. Not only small and medium feudal lords, but counts, dukes, monarchs got into debts to merchants and usurers, mortgaged lands, castles and other assets, like family jewels. As a result, increased taxes on producers - peasants and townspeople. The impoverished nobles, trying to improve the situation, tried to get into the retinue of rich nobles. For this they received various handouts. There were other ways to improve the situation. It was considered good luck to arrange a son along the church line. Spiritual feudal lords prospered (the church was the largest landowner in Europe) and could help relatives. In addition, one could try to make the pretty daughter become the mistress of a high-ranking person. It was not considered shameful. On the contrary, such a case was considered a great success and luck. In particular, in France, nobles who had beautiful daughters actually sold them. Offered to nobles, dukes, princes, kings. The question was the price, not the moral side of things.
There were few truly large cities in Western Europe - Rome, Naples, Paris and London. The population of most cities numbered only a few thousand people. They tried to build houses in the ring of fortress walls, so they were built 3-4 floors, and the houses strongly hampered the streets, turning them into streets about 2 m wide. Crews could only drive through the main streets. For the rest, goods were carried in carts, people moved on foot or on horseback, noble persons were carried in sedan chairs. There was no sewerage system. Various garbage and waste products were simply thrown into the streets, into canals, ponds, rivers, ditches. The traveler learned about the approach to the city from afar - by the smell of sewage. Unsanitary conditions and overcrowding made the inhabitants of the cities the first victims of frequent epidemics, which claimed a very significant percentage of the population.
Interestingly, wealth often coexisted with a lack of basic hygiene. Many believed that washing is harmful. It is not for nothing that in England lice were called the "companion of a gentleman." There were no toilets even in the palaces. They used chamber pots or relieved themselves behind curtains.
