Features of everyday life in the Renaissance. Life of European countries in the Renaissance

At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, when Italy found itself at the center of international politics, the Renaissance spirit also penetrated other European countries. It manifested itself, in particular, in the strong Italian influence on political life and economic relations, which gave rise to the English historian A. Toynbee to speak of the "Italianization" of Europe.

Things were different in the field of culture. Outside of Italy, especially in the north of Europe, the ancient heritage played a much more modest role than in the birthplace of the Renaissance (read about the Italian Renaissance). Of decisive importance were the national traditions and peculiarities of the historical development of various peoples.

These circumstances were clearly manifested in Germany, where a broad cultural movement arose, called the Northern Renaissance. It was in Germany at the height of the Renaissance that printing was invented. In the middle of the XV century. Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1397-1468) published the world's first printed book, a Latin edition of the Bible. Printing quickly spread throughout Europe, becoming a powerful means of disseminating humanistic ideas. This landmark invention changed the whole character of European culture.

The prerequisites for the Northern Renaissance were formed in the Netherlands, especially in the rich cities of the southern province of Flanders, where almost simultaneously with the early Italian Renaissance, elements of a new culture were born, the most striking expression of which was painting. Another sign of the advent of new times was the appeal of the Dutch theologians to the moral problems of the Christian religion, their desire for a "new piety". Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536), the greatest thinker of the Northern Renaissance, grew up in such a spiritual atmosphere. A native of Rotterdam, he studied in Paris, lived in England, Italy, Switzerland, gaining pan-European fame with his work. Erasmus of Rotterdam became the founder of a special direction of humanistic thought, called Christian humanism. He understood Christianity primarily as a system of moral values ​​that had to be followed in everyday life.

Based on an in-depth study of the Bible, the Dutch thinker created his own theological system - the "philosophy of Christ." Erasmus of Rotterdam taught: “Do not think that Christ is concentrated in rites and services, no matter how you observe them, and in church institutions. A Christian is not the one who is sprinkled, not the one who is anointed, not the one who is present at the sacraments, but the one who is imbued with love for Christ and is exercising in pious deeds.

Simultaneously with the High Renaissance in Italy, the fine arts also flourished in Germany. Central to this process was the brilliant artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). His home was the free city of Nuremberg in southern Germany. During trips to Italy and the Netherlands, the German artist had the opportunity to get acquainted with the best examples of contemporary European painting.

In Germany itself, at that time, such a type of artistic creativity as engraving, a relief drawing applied to a board or a metal plate, was widely used. Unlike paintings, engravings, reproduced in the form of separate prints or book illustrations, became the property of the widest circles of the population.

Durer brought the engraving technique to perfection. The cycle of his woodcuts "Apocalypse", illustrating the main biblical prophecy, is one of the greatest masterpieces graphic art.

Like other Renaissance masters, Dürer entered the history of world culture as an outstanding portrait painter. He became the first German artist to receive pan-European recognition. The artists Lucas Cranach Sr. (1472-1553), known as a master of mythological and religious scenes, and Hans Holbein Jr. (1497/98-1543) also gained great fame.

Holbein worked for several years in England, at the court of King Henry VIII, where he created a whole gallery of portraits of his famous contemporaries. His work marked one of the pinnacles of the artistic culture of the Renaissance.

French Renaissance

The culture of the Renaissance in France was also distinguished by its great originality. After the end of the Hundred Years War, the country experienced a cultural upsurge, relying on its own national traditions.

The flourishing and enrichment of French culture was facilitated by the geographical position of the country, which opened up opportunities for close acquaintance with the cultural achievements of the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.

The new culture enjoyed royal support in France, especially during the reign of Francis I (1515-1547). The formation of a national state and the strengthening of royal power was accompanied by the formation of a special court culture, which was reflected in architecture, painting, and literature. In the river valley Loire was built several castles in the Renaissance style, among which Chambord stands out. The Loire Valley is even called the "showcase French Renaissance". During the reign of Francis I, the country residence of the French kings of Fontainebleau was built, and the construction of the Louvre, a new royal palace in Paris, began. Its construction was completed during the reign of Charles IX. Under Charles IX himself, the construction of the Tuileries Palace began. These palaces and castles were among the most remarkable architectural masterpieces of France. The Louvre is now one of major museums peace.

The Renaissance is the birth of the portrait genre, which for a long time prevailed in French painting. The most famous were court painters Jean and Francois Clouet, who depicted images of French kings from Francis I to Charles IX and other famous people of their time.

The brightest event French Renaissance considered the work of the writer Francois Rabelais (1494-1553), which reflected both the national identity of the country and the Renaissance influence. His satirical novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" presents a wide panorama of the French reality of that time.

An active participant in the political life of France in the late XV - early XVI century. Philippe de Commines laid the foundations for French historical and political thought in modern times. The greatest contribution to their further development was made by the remarkable thinker Jean Bodin (1530-1596) with his works “The method of easy knowledge of history” and “Six books about the state”.

English humanism

Oxford University, which had a long tradition of classical education, became the largest center of humanistic culture in England. Studied ancient literature here Thomas More (1478-1535), whose name has become a symbol of English humanism. His main work is Utopia. It depicts the image of an ideal state. This book laid the foundation and gave the name to a peculiar literary genre - social utopia. "Utopia" in Greek means "a country that does not exist."

Depicting an ideal society, More contrasted it with contemporary English reality. The fact is that the New Age brought with it not only undoubted achievements, but also serious social contradictions. The English thinker was the first to show in his work the social consequences of the capitalist transformation of the English economy: the massive impoverishment of the population and the split of society into rich and poor.

In search of the reason for this situation, he came to the conclusion: "Where there is only private property, where everything is measured for money, there is hardly ever possible the correct and successful course of state affairs." T. More was a major political figure of his time, in 1529-1532. he even served as Lord Chancellor of England, but because of disagreement with the religious policy of King Henry VIII, he was executed.

Renaissance daily life

The Renaissance brought great changes not only to artistic culture but also in everyday culture, everyday life of people. It was then that many household items familiar to modern man first appeared or became widespread.

An important innovation was the appearance of a variety of furniture that came to replace the simple and bulky structures of the Middle Ages. The need for such furniture led to the birth of a new craft - carpentry, in addition to the simpler carpentry.

The dishes became richer and more qualitatively made; mass distribution, in addition to the knife, received spoons and forks. Food also became more diverse, the range of which was significantly enriched due to products brought from newly discovered countries. The general growth of wealth, on the one hand, and a sharp increase in the amount of precious metals and stones that flooded into Europe as a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, on the other, led to the flourishing of jewelry art. Life in Renaissance Italy becomes more sophisticated and beautiful.

The late Middle Ages left such things as scissors and buttons as a legacy to the Renaissance, and at the beginning of the XTV century. in Burgundy, which then dictated the fashion in Europe, the tailoring was invented. The production of clothes stood out as a special profession - the craft of a tailor. All this has made a real revolution in the field of fashion. If earlier clothes did not change for a very long time, now it could be easily designed according to any taste. The Italians adopted the fashion for cut clothes that arose in Burgundy and began to develop it further, setting the tone for the whole of Europe.

The historical significance of the Renaissance

The most important merit of the culture of the Renaissance was that it first revealed inner world man in his entirety.

Attention to the human personality and its uniqueness was manifested literally in everything: in lyrical poetry and prose, in painting and sculpture. In the visual arts, the portrait and self-portrait became popular as never before. In literature, such genres as biography and autobiography have been widely developed.

The study of individuality, that is, the characteristics of character and psychological make-up that distinguish one person from another, has become the most important task of cultural figures. Humanism has led to a versatile acquaintance with the human individuality in all its manifestations. The entire Renaissance culture as a whole formed a new type of personality, the hallmark of which was individualism.

At the same time, affirming the high dignity of the human personality, Renaissance individualism also led to the disclosure of its negative aspects. So, one of the historians noted "the envy of celebrities competing with each other", who had to constantly fight for their own existence. “As soon as the humanists begin to rise,” he wrote, “they immediately become extremely unscrupulous in their means in relation to each other.” It was during the Renaissance, concluded another researcher, that “the human personality, completely left to itself, surrendered itself to the power of its own selfish interests, and the corruption of morals became inevitable.”

From the end of the 15th century, the decline of Italian humanism begins. In the context of the diverse conflicts characteristic of the history of the 16th century, humanistic culture as a whole collapsed. The main result of the development of humanism was the reorientation of knowledge to the problems of human earthly life. The revival as a whole was a very complex and ambiguous phenomenon that marked the beginning of the modern stage in the history of Western Europe.

From T. More's book "Utopia"

For “public welfare, there is only one way - to declare equality in everything. I don't know if this can be observed where everyone has their own property. Because when someone, based on a certain right, appropriates to himself as much as he can, then, no matter how great the wealth, it will be completely divided among a few. For the rest, they leave poverty to their lot; and it almost always happens that some are much more worthy of the fate of others, for the former are predatory, dishonorable and good for nothing, while the latter, on the contrary, are modest, simple men, and with their daily zeal they bring good to society more than to themselves. ".

References:
V.V. Noskov, T.P. Andreevskaya / History from the end of the 15th to the end of the 18th century

Giving names, or, as they say, sticking labels, on historical periods is sometimes not only useful, but also deceptive. It happens that the general trends in the development of society stretch for centuries. They can be singled out, defined, and even, for the sake of convenience, divided into smaller stages and currents, naming them according to some noticeable feature typical of them. However, a trap awaits here: no historical period begins and ends at a specific moment in time. The roots of each of them go deep into the past, and the influence extends far beyond the limits indicated by historians for convenience. The use of the word "Renaissance" for a period centered on the year 1500 is perhaps the most misleading, since it leaves too much room for interpretation by every historian according to his inclination and understanding. Jacob Burckhardt, the Swiss historian who was the first to analyze and describe this period as a whole, perceived it as a kind of sharp sound of a trumpet proclaiming the beginning of the modern world. His point of view is still shared by many.

Undoubtedly, the people who lived in that era were clearly aware that they were entering into new world. The great humanist scientist, Erasmus of Rotterdam, who perceives the whole of Europe as his country, exclaimed bitterly: “Immortal God, how I would like to become young again for the sake of a new age, the dawn of which my eyes see.” Unlike many historical names, the term "Renaissance" was called from oblivion by a certain Italian just when the need arose for it. The word came into use around 1550, and soon another Italian called the previous period "the Middle Ages".

Italy was the source of the Renaissance, because the very concept of restoration, of being born anew, was associated with the discovery of the classical world, of which she was the heir. But gradually the whole of Europe shared this discovery with her. So it is almost impossible to name the exact date of the beginning and end of this period. If we are talking about Italy, then the initial date should be attributed to the XIII century, and for the northern countries, 1600 will not be too late. How great river, which carries its waters from the source in the south to the north, the Renaissance came to different countries in different time. Thus, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the construction of which was begun in 1506, and Cathedral St. Paul's in London, which began construction in 1675, both are examples of Renaissance buildings.

In the Middle Ages, the dominance of Christian ideology was observed. During the Renaissance, man moved to the center of the world. Humanism had a great influence on this. The humanists considered the creation of a “new man” to be the main task of the era, which they actively engaged in. The teachings of the humanists, of course, influenced the consciousness of a person of the Renaissance. This was reflected in the change in customs and way of life.

Relevance of the chosen topic. The meaning of the word "Renaissance", in my opinion, speaks for itself: Rebirth is the beginning of the New World. But, unfortunately, in our time, few people know about the importance of this period, they are skeptical about it. Meanwhile, in modern world there are many similarities with the Renaissance, although they are separated by more than one century. For example, one of the most urgent problems of our time - the desire for luxury, existed in the Renaissance ...

The main purpose of this work is to study the life and customs of people of the Renaissance.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to perform the following tasks:

• find out what led to changes in the lives of all sectors of society;
• highlighting the common features of the teachings of the humanists and putting them into practice;
• to study the features of life during this period;
• to consider the features of the worldview and worldview of the layman in the Renaissance;
• highlighting both general and specific features of the era.

To solve the tasks, the literature of various authors was studied, such as Bragina L.M., Rutenburg V.I., Revyakina N.V. Chamberlin E., Bukgardt Ya.

1. General characteristics of the Renaissance

1.1. General features of the era.

The Renaissance raises the values ​​of antiquity, returns anthropocentrism, humanism, harmony between nature and man.

The figures of this time were multifaceted personalities and showed themselves in different fields. Poet Francesco Petrarca, writer Giovanni Boccaccio, Pico Della Mirandola, artist Sandro Botticelli, Rafael Santi, sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo Da Vinci created the artistic culture of the Renaissance, described a man who believes in himself.

The Renaissance is considered by researchers of Western European culture as a transition from the Middle Ages to the New Age, from feudal society to bourgeois society. There comes a period of initial accumulation of capital. The beginnings of capitalist industry appear in the form of manufactory. Banking and international trade are developing. Modern experimental natural science is born. Formed scientific picture world based on discoveries, primarily in the field of astronomy.

The largest scientists of the era N. Copernicus, D. Bruno, G. Galileo substantiate the heliocentric view of the world. The era of the formation of modern science begins with the Renaissance, primarily the development of natural knowledge. The original sources of the scientific process of the Renaissance were, firstly, ancient culture, philosophy, the ideas of ancient materialists - natural philosophers, and secondly, Eastern philosophy, which in the 12th - 18th centuries enriched Western Europe with knowledge in the natural sphere.

The culture of the Renaissance is the culture of the early bourgeois society, the formation of which was significantly influenced by the practice of the consistent development of the economy of medieval city-states, due to which already in the XII - XV centuries there was a transition from medieval forms of trade and crafts to early capitalist forms of organizing life.

The Renaissance was of particular importance for the development of art, the establishment of the principles of realism. The outstanding achievements of the culture of the Renaissance were stimulated by an appeal to the ancient heritage, which was not completely lost in medieval Europe. As already mentioned, the culture of the Renaissance was most fully embodied in Italy, rich in monuments of ancient architecture, sculpture, arts and crafts. Perhaps the most striking renaissance household type was that cheerful and frivolous, in-depth and artistically beautifully expressed hostel, which we are told about in the documents of the Platonic Academy in Florence at the end of the 15th century. Here we find references to tournaments, balls, carnivals, solemn entries, festive feasts, and in general about all sorts of charms even of everyday life - summer pastime, country life - about the exchange of flowers, poems and madrigals, about ease and grace both in everyday life and and in science, eloquence and art in general, about correspondence, walks, amorous friendships, about the artistic command of Italian, Greek, Latin and other languages, about the adoration of the beauty of thought and the passion for religions of all times and all peoples. The whole point here is in the aesthetic admiration of ancient medieval values, in the transformation of one's own life into an object of aesthetic admiration.

In the Renaissance, highly cultured secular life is inextricably linked with purely everyday individualism, which was then a spontaneous, unstoppable and unlimited phenomenon. Renaissance culture is characterized by several of its everyday types: religious, courtly, neoplatonic, urban and bourgeois life, astrology, magic, adventure and adventurism.

First of all, let us briefly consider the religious life. After all, all inaccessible objects of religious veneration, requiring absolute chaste attitude in medieval Christianity, become something very accessible and psychologically extremely close in the Renaissance. The very image of lofty objects of this kind acquires a naturalistic and familiar character. A certain type of Renaissance is that courtly life that is associated with "medieval chivalry." Medieval ideas about the heroic defense of lofty spiritual ideals in the form of cultural chivalry (XI-XIII centuries) received an unprecedented artistic processing, not only in the form of the refined behavior of knights, but in the form of sophisticated poetry along the paths of growing individualism.

Another interesting feature of the Renaissance culture is its focus on “rejuvenation” and the regeneration of time. The constitutive element of the socio-artistic consciousness of the Renaissance was the ubiquitous feeling of youth, youth, beginning. Its opposite was the figurative understanding of the Middle Ages as autumn. The youth of the Renaissance should be eternal, because the ancient gods, whom the people of the Renaissance sought to imitate, never grew old, did not submit to the power of time. The myth of youth, like other myths (happy childhood, lost paradise, etc.), has all the features of the original archetype, which is constantly reborn to return as an ideal model in changed forms in different cultures and at different times. There are very few cultures where maturity, experience, the charms of old age are more highly valued than youth.

The connection between art and science is one of the most characteristic features of the culture of the Renaissance. The true image of the world and man had to be based on their knowledge, therefore, the cognitive principle played a particularly important role in the art of this time. Naturally, artists sought support in the sciences, often stimulating their development. The Renaissance is marked by the emergence of a whole galaxy of artists-scientists, among whom the first place belongs to Leonardo da Vinci.

All changes in the life of society were accompanied by a broad renewal of culture by the flourishing of the natural and exact sciences, literature in national languages and especially fine arts. Originating in the cities of Italy, this renewal then captured other European countries. The advent of printing opened unprecedented opportunities for the dissemination of literary and scientific works, and more regular and closer communication between countries contributed to the widespread penetration of new artistic movements.

In the context of consideration, it should be noted that the culture of the Renaissance (Renaissance) in its pan-European perspective should be correlated in its origins with the restructuring of feudal socio-political and ideological structures, which had to adapt to the requirements of a developed simple commodity production.

The whole measure of the depth of the breakdown of the system that took place in this era public relations within and on the soil of the feudal system of production has not yet been fully elucidated. However, there are quite enough grounds to conclude that we are facing a new phase in the upward development of European society.

This is the phase in which shifts in the foundations of the feudal mode of production required fundamentally new forms of regulation of the entire system of power. The political and economic essence of the definition of the Renaissance (XIV-XV centuries) lies in its understanding as a phase of the full flowering of simple commodity production. In this regard, society became more dynamic, the social division of labor advanced, the first tangible steps were taken in the secularization of public consciousness, and the course of history accelerated.

1.2. Humanism is the value basis of the Renaissance.

With the Renaissance comes a new vision of man, it is suggested that one of the reasons for the transformation of medieval ideas about man lies in the features of urban life, dictating new forms of behavior, other ways of thinking.

In conditions of intense social life and business activity, a general spiritual atmosphere is created in which individuality and originality were highly valued. An active, energetic, active person enters the historical forefront, owing his position not so much to the nobility of his ancestors, but to his own efforts, enterprise, intelligence, knowledge, and luck. A person begins to see himself and the world of nature in a new way, his aesthetic tastes, his attitude towards the surrounding reality and the past change.

A new social stratum is being formed - humanists - where there was no class sign, where individual abilities were valued above all. Representatives of the new secular intelligentsia - humanists - protect the dignity of man in their works; affirm the value of a person regardless of his social status; substantiate and justify his desire for wealth, fame, power, secular titles, enjoyment of life; bring into the spiritual culture freedom of judgment, independence in relation to authorities.

The task of educating the "new man" is recognized as the main task of the era. Greek word("education") is the clearest analogue of the Latin humanitas (from where "humanism" originates).

In the era of humanism, Greek and Eastern teachings return to life, they turn to magic and theurgy, which have spread in some written sources, which were attributed to ancient gods and prophets. Epicureanism, stoicism and skepticism begin to win positions again.

For the philosophers of humanism, man has become a kind of interweaving of the bodily and divine principles. The qualities of God now belonged to a mere mortal. Man became the crown of nature, all attention was paid to him. A beautiful body in the spirit of Greek ideals, combined with a divine soul - this is the goal that the humanists sought to achieve. By their actions they tried to introduce the ideal of man.

The humanists tried to translate their speculations into practice. There are several areas of practical activity of humanists: upbringing and education, state activity, art, creative activity.

Organizing scientific circles, academies, arranging debates, giving lectures, making presentations, humanists sought to introduce society to the spiritual wealth of previous generations. The purpose of the pedagogical activity of teachers was to educate a person who would embody humanistic ideals.

Leonardo Bruni, representatives of the so-called civil humanism, is convinced that only in conditions of freedom, equality and justice is it possible to realize the ideal of humanistic ethics - the formation of a perfect citizen who serves his native commune, be proud of it, and finds happiness in economic prosperity, family prosperity and personal prowess . Liberty, equality and justice here meant freedom from tyranny.

Humanism had a huge impact on the entire culture of the Renaissance. The humanistic ideal of a harmonious, endowed with the talent of creation, heroized person was reflected with particular completeness in the Renaissance art of the 15th century. Painting, sculpture, architecture, which entered the first decades of the XV century. on the path of radical transformation, innovation, creative discoveries developed in a secular direction.

Summing up this section, it should be noted: the humanists yearned, sought to be heard, expounding their opinion, “clarifying” the situation, because the man of the 15th century got lost in himself, fell out of one system of beliefs and has not yet established himself in another. Each figure of Humanism embodied or tried to bring his theories to life. Humanists not only believed in a renewed happy intellectual society, but also tried to build this society on their own, organizing schools and giving lectures, explaining their theories to ordinary people. Humanism covered almost all spheres of human life.

2. Key characteristics of life in the Renaissance

2.1. Features of building a house inside and out.

The predominance of stone or wooden construction in the pre-industrial era depended primarily on natural and geographical conditions and local traditions. In areas where wooden construction prevailed, brick houses are being built. This meant progress in construction. Of the roofing materials, tiles and shingles were the most common, although the houses were also covered with straw, especially in the villages. In the city, thatched roofs indicated poverty and posed a great danger due to flammability.

In the Mediterranean, houses with flat roofs prevailed, north of the Alps - with peaked ones. The house faced the street at the end, which had more than two or three windows. Land in the city was expensive, so the houses grew up (due to floors, mezzanines, attics), down (semi-basements and cellars), deep into (back rooms and extensions). Rooms on the same floor can be at different levels and are connected by narrow ladders and corridors. The house of an ordinary citizen - a craftsman or a merchant - in addition to living quarters included a workshop and a shop. Apprentices and apprentices also lived there. The closets of the apprentices and servants were on the floor above, in the attic. The attics served as warehouses. Kitchens were usually located on the first or semi-basement floor; in many families they also served as a dining room. Often the houses had an inner house.

The city houses of wealthy citizens were distinguished by spacious and numerous rooms. For example, the 15th-century palazzo of the Medici, Strozzi, Pitti families in Florence, the Fugger house in Augsburg. The house was divided into a front part, designed for visits, a part open to prying eyes, and a more intimate part - for the family, servants. The magnificent vestibule connected with the patio, decorated with sculpture, pediments, exotic plants. On the second floor there were rooms for friends and guests. One floor above - bedrooms for children, women, dressing rooms, loggias for household needs and recreation, storage rooms. The rooms were connected to each other. It was very difficult to separate. A new type of room appears in the palazzo, designed for privacy: small offices ("studios"), but in the 15th century it was not yet widespread. The houses lacked the division of space, which reflected not only the state of building art, but also a certain life concept. Family holidays acquired social significance here and went beyond the boundaries of the home, family. For celebrations, for example, weddings, the loggias on the ground floor were intended.

Village houses were rougher, simpler, more archaic and more conservative than urban ones. Usually they consisted of one dwelling, which served as a chamber, a kitchen and a bedroom. Premises for livestock and household needs were under the same roof with residential (Italy, France, Northern Germany) or apart from it (Southern Germany, Austria). Mixed-type houses appeared - villas.

Significantly more attention is being paid to interior design. The floor of the first floor is covered with stone or ceramic slabs. The floor of the second or subsequent floors was covered with boards. Parquet remained a great luxury even in palaces. During the Renaissance, there was a custom to sprinkle the floor of the first floor with herbs. This was approved by doctors. In the future, carpets or straw mats come to replace the vegetation cover.

Particular attention was paid to the walls. They were painted, imitating ancient images. Wallpaper fabrics appeared. They were made of velvet, silk, satin, damask fabric, brocade, embossed fabric, sometimes gilded. From Flanders, the fashion for tapestries began to spread. The plots for them were scenes from ancient and biblical mythology, historical events. Fabric tapestries were very popular. Few could afford such a luxury.

There were cheaper wallpapers. The material for them was coarse ribbed fabrics. Paper wallpapers appeared in the 15th century. The demand for them has become ubiquitous.

Lighting was a major problem. The windows were still small, because the problem of how to cover them was not solved. Over time, one-color glass was borrowed from the church. Such windows were very expensive and did not solve the problem of lighting, although more light and heat came into the house. The sources of artificial lighting were torches, oil lamps, a torch, wax - and more often greasy, heavily smoked - candles, the fire of a fireplace and a hearth. Glass lampshades appear. Such lighting made it difficult to maintain cleanliness, both at home and clothes and body.

Heat was provided by the kitchen hearth, fireplace, stoves, and braziers. Fireplaces were not available to everyone. During the Renaissance, fireplaces turned into real works of art, richly decorated with sculpture, bas-reliefs, frescoes. The chimney near the fireplace was designed in such a way that, due to strong draft, it took away a lot of heat. They tried to compensate for this shortcoming by using a brazier. Often only one bedroom was heated. The inhabitants of the house were warmly dressed, even in furs, and often caught colds.

There was no running water or sewerage in the houses. At this time, instead of washing in the morning, even in the upper strata of society, it was customary to wipe yourself with a wet towel. Public baths have become rarer since the 16th century. Researchers attribute this to the fear of syphilis or sharp criticism from the side of the church. At home, they washed in tubs, tubs, basins - usually in the kitchen, where steam rooms were arranged. Bathrooms appeared in the 16th century. The flush toilet appeared in England at the end of the 16th century. Toilets were not the rule even in royal courts.

Despite the improvements that have been made, amenities have been introduced into everyday life very slowly. During the Renaissance, more noticeable were the successes in the field of home furnishing.

2.2 Features of home furnishing.

Conservatism was more characteristic of furniture in houses of modest means than in the rich. The house ceased to be a lair, a fortress. From the 15th century the monotony, primitiveness, simplicity of the interior is replaced by ingenuity, comfort. Carpentry finally separated from carpentry, and cabinetmaking began to develop. The number of pieces of furniture has increased. It is decorated with sculpture, carving, painting, various upholstery. In rich houses, furniture is made from expensive and even rare types of wood: ebony imported from India, ash, walnut, etc. The aristocracy and the urban elite sometimes ordered furniture sketches from artists and architects, which is why furniture acquired an imprint, on the one hand , a pronounced individuality, on the other - the general artistic style of the era. The invention of the plywood machine led to the spread of veneer and wood inlay techniques. In addition to wood, inlaid silver and ivory came into fashion.

In the Renaissance, furniture, as before, was placed along the walls. The most important piece of furniture was the bed. For the rich, it was high, with a step, with lush headboards, canopies or curtains decorated with sculpture, carving or painting. They liked to place the image of the Mother of God on the headboard. The canopy was intended to protect against insects, but bedbugs and fleas accumulated in its folds, which threatened health. The bed was covered with a cloth bedspread or quilted blanket. The bed was very wide: the whole family was placed on it, sometimes the guests who stayed for the night slept on it. In poor houses, they slept on the floor or on bunks. The servants slept on straw.

The second piece of furniture after the bed, as in the old days, was the chest. A piece of furniture was gradually formed from the chest, resembling a modern sofa: a chest with backs and armrests. The chests were richly decorated with paintings, reliefs, upholstered with silver. Locksmiths excelled in the manufacture of all kinds of metal fasteners, keys, locks, including secret ones.

Wardrobes had not yet been invented, and chests, drawers under a tall bed, or hangers were used instead. But there were cupboards and secretaries. The secretary, or office, which appeared in the 16th century, was a small cabinet with many drawers and double doors. They were richly inlaid.

Tables and chairs, while retaining their previously established forms (rectangular, on x-shaped crossbars or four legs), changed their appearance due to a more thorough and refined finish.

Particular attention should be paid to the cabinets and libraries, which acquired great importance in the rich dwellings of the Renaissance. While the libraries of palaces and wealthy villas were more public, serving as a place for poetic, scientific meetings, the offices were more reserved for privacy.

The interior changed not only due to furniture, decoration of walls, ceilings and floors with carpets, tapestries, paintings, paintings, wallpaper, etc. Mirrors, clocks, candlesticks, candelabra, decorative vases, vessels, and a variety of other useful and useless items were designed to decorate and make home life more convenient and enjoyable.

The furnishings of the peasant house remained extremely poor and satisfied only basic needs. The furniture was very rough and heavy and was usually made by the owner of the house. Structural shortcomings of peasant furniture were tried to be compensated by carving, sometimes painting on wood - very traditional.

In the Renaissance, not only the kitchen, but also the feast itself became even more important than before: table setting, the order of serving dishes, rules of conduct at the table, manners, table entertainment, communication. Table etiquette is a kind of game in which the desire for the orderliness of human society was expressed in a ritualized form. The Renaissance environment, on the other hand, was especially conducive to maintaining a playful position in life as a striving for perfection.

Tableware was enriched with new items and became much more elegant. Various vessels were united under the common name "naves". There were ships in the form of chests, towers, buildings. They were intended for spices, wines, cutlery. Henry III of France in one of these naves clan glove and fan. Vessels for wine were called "fountain", had a different shape and necessarily taps at the bottom. Tripods served as coasters for dishes. The place of honor on the tables was occupied by salt and candy bowls made of precious metals, stone, crystal, glass, faience. The famous salt cellar made for Francis I by Benvenuto Cellini is kept in the Vienna Museum of Art and History.

Plates, dishes and drinking vessels were made of metal: among kings and nobility - from silver, gilded silver, and sometimes from gold. The Spanish aristocrat considered it beneath his dignity to have less than 200 silver plates in his house. From the 16th century the demand for pewter utensils increased, which they learned to process and decorate no worse than gold and silver. But a particularly important change can be considered distribution from the 15th century. faience dishes, the secret of which was discovered in the Italian city of Faenza. There were more dishes made of glass - one-color and colored.

Often, the vessels were shaped into animals, people, birds, shoes, etc. Individuals not burdened with morality ordered very frivolous and even erotic-shaped vessels for their cheerful companies. The fantasy of the daring craftsmen was inexhaustible: goblets were invented that moved around the table with the help of mechanisms or increased in volume, goblets with clocks, etc. Among the people, they used rough, simple wooden and earthenware dishes.

Europe has long been acquainted with the spoon; early information about the fork dates back to the 11th-12th centuries. But how did you use all this abundance of cutlery? The knife was still the main tool at the table. Large knives cut meat on common dishes, from which everyone took a piece for himself with his knife or hands. It is known that Anna of Austria took meat stew with her hands. And although the best houses served napkins and served dishes with flavored water for washing hands after almost every meal, the tablecloths had to be changed more than once during dinner. The venerable public did not hesitate to wipe their hands on them.

The fork took root first of all among the Italians. The use of forks by several guests at the court of the French king Henry II was the subject of gross ridicule. Things were no better with glasses and plates. It was still customary to put one plate for two guests. But it happened that they continued to scoop the soup with their spoon from the tureen.

In the feasts of the Renaissance, Greek and Roman traditions came to life. The companions enjoyed excellent food, deliciously prepared and beautifully served, music, theatrical performances, and conversation in a pleasant company. An important role was played by the entourage of festive meetings. Most of them took place at home, in the halls. The interior was specially designed for this occasion. The walls of the hall or loggia were hung with fabrics and tapestries, rich embroidery, flowers and laurel garlands entwined with ribbons. The walls were decorated with garlands and framed with family coats of arms. Near the main wall there was a stand with "ceremonial" dishes made of precious metals, stone, glass, crystal and faience.

In the hall, three tables were placed in the shape of the letter "P", leaving space in the middle for both peddlers of dishes and for entertainment. Tables were covered with beautiful, richly embroidered tablecloths in several layers.

The guests were seated on the outside of the table - sometimes in pairs, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes separately. The master of the house and distinguished guests were seated at the main table. While waiting for the meal, those present drank light wine, ate dry fruits, and listened to music.

The main idea pursued by the organizers of magnificent feasts was to show the splendor, wealth of the family, its power. The fate of an upcoming marriage with the goal of uniting prosperous families, or the fate of a business agreement, etc. could depend on the banquet. Wealth and power were demonstrated not only to equals, but also to common people. For this it was just convenient to arrange magnificent feasts in the loggia. Small people could not only stare at the magnificence of those in power, but also join it. You could listen to fun music, dance, take part in theater production. But the most important thing is to drink and eat “for free”, because it was customary to distribute the remaining food to the poor.

Spending time at the table in the company became a custom that spread widely in all sectors of society. Taverns, taverns, inns distracted visitors about; the monotony of home life.

The named forms of communication, no matter how different they are from each other, indicate that society has overcome its former relative isolation and has become more open and communicative.

2.4. Kitchen features.

XVI - beginning of the XVII century. did not radically change nutrition in comparison with the XIV-XV centuries, although the first consequences of the Great geographical discoveries had already begun to affect the food of Europeans. Western Europe has not yet freed itself from the fear of hunger. As before, there were great differences in the nutrition of the "tops" and "bottoms" of society, peasants and townspeople.

The food was pretty repetitive. About 60% of the diet was occupied by carbohydrates: bread, cakes, various cereals, soups. The main cereals were wheat and rye. The bread of the poor differed from the bread of the rich. The latter had wheat bread. The peasants hardly knew the taste of wheat bread. Their lot was rye bread made from poorly ground flour, sifted, with the addition of rice flour, which was shunned by the wealthy.

An important addition to the grain was legumes: beans, peas, lentils. They even baked bread from peas. Stews were usually prepared with peas or beans.

Until the 16th century the assortment of vegetables and fruits grown in the vegetable gardens and orchards of Europeans did not change significantly compared to the Roman era. Thanks to the Arabs, Europeans got acquainted with citrus fruits: oranges, lemons. Almonds came from Egypt, apricots from the East.

The results of the Great Geographical Discoveries during the Renaissance were just beginning to affect European cuisine. Pumpkin, zucchini, Mexican cucumber, sweet potatoes (yam), beans, tomatoes, peppers, cocoa, corn, and potatoes appeared in Europe. With unequal speed they spread in different regions and social strata.

Unleavened food was seasoned in large quantities with garlic and onions. Celery, dill, leek, coriander were widely used as seasonings.

Of the fats in the south of Europe, vegetable origin was more common, in the north - of animal origin. Vegetable oil was made from olives, pistachios, almonds, walnuts and pine nuts, chestnuts, flax, hemp, mustard.

In Mediterranean Europe they consumed less meat than in Northern Europe. It's not just the hot climate of the Mediterranean. Due to the traditional lack of fodder, grazing, etc. there were fewer livestock. At the same time, in Hungary, rich in pastures and famous for meat cattle, meat consumption was the highest in Europe: an average of about 80 kg per person per year (against about 50 kg in Florence and 30 kg in Siena in the 15th century). ).

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of fish in the diet of that time. Fresh, but especially salted, smoked, dried fish noticeably complemented and diversified the table, especially during the days of numerous long fasts. For the inhabitants of the coast of the seas, fish and seafood were almost the main food.

For a long time, Europe was limited in sweets, since sugar appeared only with the Arabs and was very expensive, therefore it was available only to the wealthy sections of society.

Of the drinks, grape wine traditionally occupied the first place. The poor quality of the water forced its consumption. Wine was given even to children. Cypriot, Rhine, Moselle, Tokay wines, malvasia, and later - port wine, Madeira, sherry, Malaga enjoyed a high reputation. In the south, natural wines were preferred, in the north of Europe, in cooler climates, fortified ones; and over time they became addicted to vodka and alcohol, which for a long time belonged to medicines. The truly popular drink, especially north of the Alps, was beer, although the rich and the nobility did not refuse good beer either. In northern France, cider competed with beer. Cider was a success mainly among the common people.

Of the new drinks that spread during the Renaissance, chocolate should be mentioned first of all. Coffee and tea penetrate Europe only in the first half of the 17th century. Chocolate, on the other hand, found adherents in the upper strata, for example, of Spanish society, already in the second half of the 16th century. He was credited with healing properties, as a remedy for dysentery, cholera, insomnia, rheumatism. However, they were afraid. in France in the 17th century. rumors spread that black children were born from chocolate.

The main advantage of food in the Middle Ages was satiety and abundance. On a holiday, it was necessary to eat so that later on hungry days there was something to remember. Although wealthy people did not have to fear hunger, their table was not distinguished by sophistication.

The Renaissance brought significant changes to European cuisine. Unbridled gluttony is replaced by exquisite, subtly presented abundance. Caring not only for the spiritual, but also for the body, leads to the fact that food, drinks and their preparation attract more and more attention, and they are not ashamed of it. Poems glorifying the feast come into fashion, gastronomic books appear. Their authors were sometimes humanists. Educated people in society discuss old - ancient and modern recipes.

As before, a wide variety of sauces with all kinds of seasonings were prepared for meat dishes, they did not spare expensive oriental spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper, European saffron, etc. The use of spices was considered prestigious.

There are new recipes. Some directly point to a connection with geographical discoveries (for example, an Indian recipe for zucchini soup, which came to Spain in the 16th century). In others, echoes of modern events can be heard (for example, a dish called "Turk's Head", known in the same Spain in the 16th century).

In the XV century. in Italy, confectionery was prepared by pharmacists. In their establishments one could find a wide range of cakes, biscuits, pastries, all kinds of cakes, candied flowers and fruits, caramel. Marzipan products were figurines, triumphal arches, as well as entire scenes - bucolic and mythological.

From the 16th century the center of culinary arts gradually moved from Italy to France. The richness and sophistication of French cuisine was admired even by the Venetians, experienced in gastronomy. It was possible to eat tasty food not only in the chosen society, but also in a Parisian tavern, where, according to one foreigner, “for 25 ecu you will be served a stew of manna from heaven or a roast of a phoenix.”

It became important not only what to feed the guests, but also how to serve the cooked dish. The so-called "ostentatious dishes" became widespread. From various, often inedible materials, figures of real and fantastic animals and birds, castles, towers, pyramids were made, which served as a container for various foods, especially pies. Nuremberg confectioner Hans Schneider at the end of the 16th century. invented a huge pate, inside which they hid rabbits, hares, squirrels, small birds. At a solemn moment, the pate was opened, and all living creatures, to the amusement of the guests, scattered and flew out of it in different directions. However, in general, in the XVI century. rather, there is a tendency to replace "ostentatious" dishes with real ones.

Summing up this section, it should be noted that the life of European countries has changed significantly compared to the Middle Ages. The most rapidly developing external aspects of life: home improvement, its furnishing. So, for example, they begin to build brick houses, houses with courtyards appear, but much more attention is beginning to be paid to interior design. From the 15th century the monotony, primitiveness, simplicity of the interior is replaced by ingenuity, comfort. The interior changed not only due to furniture, decoration of walls, ceilings and floors with carpets, tapestries, paintings, paintings, wallpaper, etc. Mirrors, clocks, candlesticks, candelabra, decorative vases, vessels, and a variety of other useful and useless items were designed to decorate and make home life more convenient and enjoyable. Innovations, though arose, but, unfortunately, were introduced slowly. The Renaissance is the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, so changes were observed in the nutrition system. Pumpkin, zucchini, Mexican cucumber, sweet potatoes (yam), beans, tomatoes, peppers, cocoa, corn, potatoes appeared in Europe, thanks to the Arabs, Europeans also got acquainted with citrus fruits: oranges, lemons, but not all immediately entered the diet of Europeans .

3. Features of the worldview and worldview in the mentality of the layman in the Renaissance

3.1. features of city life.

The city was a stage on which, in front of all honest people, what was happening now in the silence of offices took place. Details striking in their variability caught the eye: the irregularity of buildings, the eccentric styles and variegation of costumes, the countless goods that were produced right on the streets - all this gave the Renaissance city a brightness that is absent in the monotonous monotony of modern cities. But there was also a certain homogeneity, a fusion of groups that proclaimed inner unity cities. In the 20th century, the eye was already accustomed to the division created by urban sprawl: the movement of pedestrians and cars takes place in different worlds, industry is separated from commerce, and both are separated by space from residential areas, which, in turn, are subdivided according to the wealth of their inhabitants. A city dweller can live his whole life without seeing how the bread he eats is baked or how the dead are buried. The larger the city became, the more a person moved away from his fellow citizens, until the paradox of loneliness in the midst of a crowd became an ordinary phenomenon.

In a walled city of, say, 50,000 people, where most of the houses were wretched shacks, the lack of space encouraged people to spend more time in public. The shopkeeper sold goods almost from the stall, through a small window. The shutters of the first floors were made on hinges in order to quickly recline, forming a shelf or table, that is, a counter. He lived with his family in the upper rooms of the house and, only having become significantly richer, could he keep a separate store with clerks, and live in a garden suburb.

A skilled craftsman also used the lower floor of the house as a workshop, sometimes putting his products up for sale right there on the spot. Craftsmen and merchants were very inclined to show herd behavior: each city had its own Tkatskaya Street, Myasnitsky Ryad, and its own Rybnikov Lane. Dishonest people were punished publicly, in the square, in the same place where they earned their living, that is, in public. They were tied to a pillory, and worthless goods were burned at their feet or hung around their necks. A vintner who sold bad wine was forced to drink a large amount of it, and the rest was poured over his head. Rybnik was forced to sniff rotten fish or even smeared his face and hair with it.

At night, the city was plunged into complete silence and darkness. A wise man tried not to go outside late and after dark. A passer-by, caught by the guards at night, had to prepare to convincingly explain the reason for his suspicious walk. There were no such temptations that could lure an honest person out of the house at night, because public amusements ended at sunset, and the townsfolk adhered to the hoarding habit of going to bed at sunset. The working day, which lasted from dawn to dusk, left little strength for a stormy night of fun. With the widespread development of printing, it became a custom in many homes to read the Bible. Another domestic entertainment was music-making for those who could afford to purchase a musical instrument: a lute, or a viol, or a flute, as well as singing for those who did not have money for it. Most people spent the brief hours of leisure between dinner and bedtime in conversation. However, the lack of evening and night entertainment was more than made up during the day at public expense. Frequent church holidays reduced the number of working days per year to a figure, perhaps lower than today.

Fasting days were strictly observed and supported by the force of law, but holidays were understood literally. They not only included the liturgy, but turned into wild fun. These days, the solidarity of the townspeople was clearly manifested in crowded religious processions, religious processions. There were few observers then, because everyone wanted to take part in them. Albrecht Dürer, an artist, witnessed a similar procession in Antwerp - it was on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin, “... and the whole city, regardless of rank and occupation, gathered there, each dressed in the best dress according to his rank. All guilds and estates had their own signs by which they could be recognized. In the intervals they carried huge expensive candles and three long old Frankish trumpets of silver. There were also drums and pipes made in the German style. They blew and beat loudly and noisily ... There were goldsmiths and embroiderers, painters, masons and sculptors, joiners and carpenters, sailors and fishermen, weavers and tailors, bakers and tanners ... truly workers of all kinds, as well as many artisans And different people who earn their own living. They were followed by archers with rifles and crossbows, horsemen and foot soldiers. But all of them were preceded by religious orders... A large crowd of widows also took part in this procession. They supported themselves by their labor and observed special rules. They were dressed from head to toe in white clothes, tailored specifically for this occasion, it was sad to look at them ... Twenty people carried the image of the Virgin Mary with our Lord Jesus, luxuriously dressed. In the course of the procession, many wonderful things were shown, magnificently presented. Wagons were pulled, on which stood ships and other structures full of masked people. They were followed by a troupe, depicting the prophets in order and scenes from the New Testament ... From beginning to end, the procession lasted more than two hours until it reached our house.

The miracles that so delighted Dürer in Antwerp would have fascinated him in Venice and Florence, because the Italians treated religious holidays as an art form. At the feast of Corpus Christi in Viterbo, in 1482, the whole procession was divided into sections, each of which was responsible for some cardinal or the highest dignitary of the church. And each strove to outdo the other by decorating his plot with costly draperies and providing it with a stage on which the mysteries were played, so that, as a whole, it formed into a series of plays about the death and resurrection of Christ. The stage used in Italy for the performance of the mysteries was the same as in all of Europe: a three-story building, where the upper and lower floors served respectively as Heaven and Hell, and the main middle platform depicted the Earth.

Another favorite idea is the three ages of man. Every earthly or supernatural event was played out in great detail. The Italians did not work on the literary content of these scenes, preferring to spend money on the pomp of the spectacle, so that all allegorical figures were straightforward and superficial creatures and only proclaimed high-sounding empty phrases without any conviction, thus passing from performance to performance. But the splendor of the scenery and costumes delighted the eye, and that was enough.

In no other city in Europe did civic pride manifest itself so brightly and with such brilliance as in the annual ritual of the wedding with the sea, which was performed by the ruler of Venice, a strange mixture of commercial arrogance, Christian gratitude and Eastern symbolism. This ritual festival begins in 997 after the birth of Christ, when the Doge of Venice before the battle made a libation of wine, pouring it into the sea. And after the victory, it was celebrated on the next Ascension Day. A huge state barge, called the Bucentaur, was rowed to the same point in the bay, and there the doge threw a ring into the sea, declaring that by this action the city was married to the sea, that is, to the elements that made it great.

The military competitions of the Middle Ages continued almost unchanged into the Renaissance, although the status of their participants somewhat decreased. So, for example, the fishmongers of Nuremberg staged their own tournament. Archery competitions were very popular, although the bow as a weapon disappeared from the battlefield. But the most beloved were the holidays, the roots of which went back to pre-Christian Europe. Failing to eradicate them, the Church, so to speak, christened some of them, that is, appropriated them, while others continued to live in an unchanged form, both in Catholic and Protestant countries. The greatest of these was May Day, the pagan welcome of spring.

On this day, both the poor and the rich traveled and went out of town to pick flowers, dance and feast. To become May Lord was a great honor, but also an expensive pleasure, because all the festive expenses fell on him: it happened that some men disappeared from the city for a while to evade this honorary role. The holiday brought to the city a particle of the countryside, life in nature, so close and so far away. Throughout Europe, the change of seasons was celebrated with festivities. They differed from each other in details and names, but the similarities were stronger than the differences.

3.2. Features of secular life.

The courtyards of Europe differed from each other, both in the luxury of the furnishings and in household items. The north lagged far behind the south, not only in the rules of etiquette and decorations, but even in ordinary hygiene. Back in 1608, the table fork was a surprise in England. “As I understand it, this way of feeding is used everywhere in Italy every day ... Because Italians hate to touch their food with their fingers, because people's fingers are not always equally clean.” In 1568, Thomas Sackville, an English lord, strongly objected to the obligation to host a cardinal, painting a pitiful picture of life in his dominions. He did not have precious dishes at all, the glasses presented to the royal representatives for inspection were rejected by them as low-quality, the table linen also caused ridicule, because "they wanted Damascus, and I had nothing but simple linen." He had only one spare bed, which was occupied by the cardinal, and in order to provide a bed for the bishop, the servants of the lord's wife were forced to sleep on the floor. He himself had to lend the cardinal his basin and jug for washing, and therefore went around unwashed. A very sad picture, when compared with the conditions in which a simple English nobleman lived, who was staying in Salerno with an Italian marquis. His room was hung with brocade and velvet. He and his companions were provided with separate beds, one made up of silver cloth and the other with velvet. Pillows, cushions and sheets were clean and beautifully embroidered. The lack of cleanliness is the first thing that an Italian who crossed the Alps paid attention to. A young Italian nobleman, Massimiano Sforza, brought up in Germany, acquired the most sloppy habits there, and neither the mockery of male friends, nor the entreaties of women could force him to change his underwear. Henry VII of England was famous for seeing his feet bare only once a year, on New Year's Eve. In a society where most people walked around unwashed, few complained or paid attention to the prevailing smells. However, the widespread and ubiquitous use of perfume indicates that the stench often exceeded all limits of tolerance. Perfume was used not only for the body, but also for those items that were passed from hand to hand. A bouquet of flowers presented as a gift had not only a symbolic meaning, but also a very real value.

The heavy, richly finished costume of the time also made personal hygiene difficult. Medieval attire was relatively simple. Of course, there were many options, depending on the taste and wealth of the owner, but, in essence, it consisted of a loose, one-color robe like a cassock. However, with the advent of the 15th and 16th centuries, the world of clothing flared up with a rainbow of bright colors and a fantastic variety of styles. Not satisfied with the luxury of brocade and velvet, the rich covered the outfits with pearls and gold embroidery, precious stones were seated on the fabric so tightly that it was not visible. Primary, primary colors, which were often combined in contrast, became favorite then. At the beginning of the 16th century, Europe was swept by a fashion for multi-colored, which logically followed from the habit of using contrasting colors for different items of clothing. Separate parts of one costume were cut from fabric of different colors. One leg of the stockings was red, the other was green. One sleeve is purple, the other is orange, and the robe itself could be even a third color. Each fashionista had his own personal tailor, who designed his styles, so that balls and meetings made it possible to admire the widest variety of outfits. Fashion has changed at an unprecedented pace. A London chronicler in his notes on the reign of Elizabeth I notes: “Forty years ago there were not even twelve haberdashers in London selling fancy hats, glasses, belts, swords and daggers, and now every street, from the Tower to Westminster, is crowded with them and their shops. , sparkling and shining glass. Moralists in every country lamented the decline of modern morals and the simian imitation of foreign fashions.

Take a look at the exquisite gentleman,

He just looks like Fashion's monkey.

He walks the streets, boasting

All poking in the nose from France doublet, German stockings

And a hat from Spain, a thick blade and a short cloak,

Your Italian collar and shoes

Arriving from Flanders.

There was no such article of clothing or accessory that would not be affected by the feverish desire for originality. It is not worth trying to list all the changes in fashion - it has changed continuously. The basis of the men's suit was a doublet and stockings. The first was a tight-fitting garment, somewhat reminiscent of a modern waistcoat, and the latter were trousers or breeches that turned into stockings. But this basic theme was played out in many variations. The sleeves became detachable, each costing a fortune. The modest one-inch strip of white linen at the collar had turned into ruffs, a monstrous frill the size of a wheel. Stockings were transformed into short bloomers, flared or padded, both of incredible size. There were cuts. It was a fashion that did not descend from above, but climbed the social ladder, because the Swiss mercenaries were the first to introduce it. The fabric of the doublet or bloomers was literally slashed with many cuts so that the fabric underneath was visible, and of a different color. The Germans took this fashion to the extreme, inventing unusually baggy harem pants, which were fabric 20 yards or more. They fell in loose stripes from hips to knees. The women were no less extravagant. Their dresses showed their entire breasts, but enclosed the rest of the body in some kind of cage. Court portraits of that time show noble ladies, frozen in inhuman fossils, with a waist tightened almost to the point of impossibility, and a skirt as magnificent as a tent.

The gennin, a yard-high framed headdress of hard paper or starched linen, covered with silk, brocade, or other expensive fabric, was still in use. It was complemented by a long veil that fell from head to toe. The most pretentious foppish veils dragged across the floor. In some palaces, the lintels had to be raised so that a fashionable lady could pass through the doors.

Predilection for panache spread to all strata of society. The rustic lumberjack threw off his gloomy homespun clothes for a cheap shine and became the subject of general ridicule. “Now you can’t tell a servant in a tavern from a lord, a dishwasher from a noble lady.” These kinds of complaints were all over the place.

There was some truth in this, because with the growing prosperity of the middle class and the increasing demands on the living conditions of the poor, boastful walks in the best clothes ceased to be the privilege of one class. In order to maintain clear social distinctions, attempts have been made to revitalize spending laws. They were scrupulously painted what could and could not be worn by various classes of society. Elizabeth of England forbade commoners to wear breeches and crinolines. In France, only persons of royal blood were allowed to wear clothes made of gold and silver brocade. In Florence, ordinary women were not allowed to wear furs and shaped buttons made from a range of materials. These laws immediately upon adoption were subjected to general reproach and were not implemented. They were accepted again, coming up with other types of prohibitions and punishments, but again they were not paid attention to. The only limiting factor was the size of the wallet. Entertainment courtiers reflected the moods and tastes of sovereigns. Unhurried intellectual conversations, according to Castiglione's memoirs, brought joy to the Urbino court, were by no means everywhere a favorite pastime. The Germans took pleasure in noisy drinking parties; drunkenness was national art. They also liked stormy dances, which caused annoyance and reproaches of teetotalers. However, such a connoisseur of good manners as Montaigne was pleasantly surprised by the cordial but well-bred manner of dancing, which he observed in Augsburg. “The gentleman kisses the lady's hand and puts his hand on her shoulder and pulls her so close that they are cheek to cheek.

The lady puts her hand on his shoulder, and in this manner they circle the room. The men have their own places, separate from the ladies, and they do not mix together.” In all likelihood, it was the participation of ladies in court festivities that softened morals.

The arrival of a courtesan, a beautiful, refined woman, ready (for a fee) to decorate any meeting, was quite common. Many of them were well educated and knew how to keep up a conversation on any topic. Often they kept their own court, which the greats of this world visited and found entertainment and rest from public affairs there, remaining in their circle. The courtesan did not supplant, but complemented his wife. Arranged marriages continued because no reasonable family could afford to expose valuable land and property to the threat of an accidental union. At the same time, the young aristocrat, having fulfilled his duty and sometimes entered into marriage with a person unknown to him, saw no reason at all to refuse pleasures on the side. Society agreed with him. However, since women have been better educated, they have been able to play a more active role in public life, and the wife has moved from a long-occupied background to the forefront.

It was an obligatory and generally accepted custom to arrange an exquisite meal in honor of an important guest. The Renaissance court accepted it with enthusiasm and even improved it, turning it into a kind of performance with accessories more appropriate on the stage than in the dining room. It is possible that it was precisely from such “table decorations” that the closely related arts of opera and ballet were born. They turned the meal itself into a kind of optional addition. They originated, apparently, in Italy, but again, it was in Burgundy that they turned into magnificent “staged” feasts that offended morality and delighted secular people.

The most luxurious of them was the Feast of the Pheasant (1454). A year earlier, Constantinople had fallen to the Turks, and this feast was to rekindle the spark of the last crusade. The new crusade never took place, and there is some irony in the fact that the famous Renaissance Pheasant Feast was supposed to revive the dream of the Middle Ages.

All details were kept strictly secret until the hour when, after three days of modest meals, the privileged guests were ushered into the huge Hotel dell'Salle. It was January, and the hall was filled with a sea of ​​light from countless candles and torches. Servants, dressed in gloomy black or gray liveries, set off the gold and scarlet, satin, velvet and brocade of the guests' outfits. There were three tables covered with silk Damascus, each of enormous size, because they were also supposed to serve as a stage. Long before the start of the feast itself, the diners strolled around the hall, admiring, so to speak, the accompanying spectacles. On the duke's table stood a model of a church with a bell tower, where there were four musicians. On the same table was a ship with full equipment and crew. It also had a fountain made of glass and precious stones. The huge pie could accommodate 28 musicians. Mechanical beasts slithered across the finely crafted scaffolding. Actors portrayed proverbs come to life. During the meal, refreshments were lowered from the ceiling, but it is unlikely that guests could enjoy at least one course without being distracted: each was accompanied by 16 interludes: performances of jugglers, singers, acrobats, and falconry with live birds was even played out in the middle of the hall. On the real stage, they presented a complex production of "The Story of Jason", with fire-breathing dragons, bulls and armed warriors. But all this was only a prologue to the central masterpiece: the plea of ​​Constantinople for help. A giant dressed as a Saracen appeared, leading an elephant, on whose back sat a woman in mourning. She portrayed the Church, who came to the duke to tearfully ask for help for her lost city. After the funeral chant, the herald came out with a live pheasant in his hands. The knights had a long-standing custom: to fix an unbreakable oath by eating a bird that was considered noble (peacock, heron or pheasant). The symbolic rite was somewhat changed in this case, and after an oath to liberate Constantinople, the bird was released into the wild. The solemn meeting ended with a ball.

Chess and dice, archery competitions, tennis, cards and ball games, singing and gambling were all favorite court entertainments of the time.

Even the most enlightened ruler seized large chunks of land for his own use without hesitation. The subjects of such a harsh sovereign had every reason to curse the remnants of barbarian pleasures. In order to preserve future prey for hunting, the princes enacted the most severe laws, even putting death to those who illegally killed protected game. Birds and beasts thrived by ruining or eating crops, causing much more harm than hunting alone. The sovereign did not hunt alone: ​​he could decide to spend several days in a corner of the country he had chosen, bringing with him a large retinue and solving state affairs right in the field.

Night feasts and dances gave way to daytime gambling, which was one of the most striking contrasts in the social life of that time. Not far from the hunting lodge sparkling with lights, where they had fun and sang, there was a wretched peasant's hut, from where, in essence, funds were taken for the joys of the rich.

3.3. features of home life.

The houses that today give the ancient cities of Europe a medieval flavor almost always belong to merchants. These are solid buildings, the appearance of which was supposed to demonstrate the wealth and reliability of their owners, and therefore outlive them. The huts of the poor disappear over the centuries, the rich man's palace becomes a museum or municipality, and the merchant's house often remains just a house. The owner was proud of him: it was clear evidence of his success. The artists who painted his portrait in luxurious clothes depicted the details of the situation in the background with the same care as the features of his face. And it is not at all accidental that most of the interiors belong to the houses of northern merchants. Even the Italians, accustomed to the extravagant luxury of the courts of their sovereigns, recognized that their fellow-professionals lived like princes, growing rich from the revenues of the ports along the Atlantic and Baltic coasts. And just as the princes sought glory and immortality by patronizing the artists, so did the merchants... even if, ironically, the forgotten names of the owners survived at home.

Buildings were usually built with two floors. Although in large cities or where land was too expensive, they could rise to three or more floors. The main door is a powerful barrier, bound with iron, equipped with a massive lock and bolts with chains.

Such a door was able to withstand and withstood, if necessary, a direct attack. Each person tried to protect himself and his property. The door opened directly into the main room, and the interior of the house - seen at first glance - was a single hall, divided into smaller rooms by wooden partitions. There was no possibility, and no need for personal solitude, some privacy. The rooms adjoined directly to each other - the space-eating corridor could only be used in very large buildings. The bedroom also served as a living room, it was customary, and family members or even guests casually walked around the bed, empty or occupied. In wealthy homes, the bed was a massive structure, almost a small room. The four-poster bed, which came into general use in the 16th century, was a significant step forward compared to the bulky and high, open beds of earlier days.

The bed was covered with curtains on all sides, not only protecting people from drafts, but also giving them a certain amount of privacy. Under it, a smaller bed was usually kept, which was pulled out at night for a child or servant.

The other rooms on the ground floor also played a double role. A separate dining room appeared much later and only in the homes of the rich. Both cooked and served food in the same room.

The simplicity of the meal was preserved until the end of the 16th century. They ate twice a day: lunch at 10 o'clock in the morning and dinner at 5 o'clock in the evening. The number of cutlery and cutlery was limited. The same plate, knife and spoon were used for all courses. Glass was a rarity, usually drinking from mugs and goblets made of metal. In the middle of the 16th century, drinking chocolate appeared, and a little later, coffee and tea, but it took a long time before they penetrated into the lower strata of society. Common drinks for women and men of all ages and classes were ale and light wine. A gallon a day was considered a reasonable amount to drink, and they were drunk more out of necessity than desire. In cities, as well as on ships, it was almost impossible to find good clean water.

According to modern concepts, home furnishings seem very poor, but unlike previous centuries, specialized exquisite furniture appeared. Instead of simple tables such as "boards on the goats" and benches, heavy elaborate carved tables and separate chairs, often upholstered in leather, began to be made. A simple chest became the main piece of furniture. In the absence of voluminous closets or wall cabinets, standing, freely movable container cabinets for clothes, linen and even dishes were needed. They took up a lot of space in the rooms, and it is natural that great importance was attached to their appearance. These cabinets were decorated with rich carvings, especially in Germany and England, in Italy they were painted. Remarkable works of the Renaissance are "cassonnes" - chests that the bride took with her as a dowry.

elaborately decorated necessary items and the useless, proudly paraded, were an indication of the new wealth that had overwhelmed society. After providing for life, the most necessary thing remained enough money for self-indulgence, wasteful consumption, which became a sign of the nascent mercantile society. The medieval homeowner was reluctantly content with a coffin as the only decoration of the house. His descendant scattered a wide variety of attractive expensive trinkets around the rooms. The tapestries that covered the walls were not just expensive, but had a practical value. However, jugs and vases made of precious metals, a couple of mirrors, wall plates and medallions, heavy, luxuriously bound books on carved tables ... all this was supposed to demonstrate to the world that the owner of the house managed to send part of the European gold flow into his pocket.

3.4. Religion.

Attempts to carry out local reforms have been made in Europe more than once. Some disappeared by themselves, some were branded as heresies, others found their way to the church and then received recognition there. Great movements have often arisen without a leader or leadership, as a spontaneous revolt of people driven to despair by natural or man-made disasters. They turned to God as their last hope. Such were the huge processions of flagellants that swept through Europe during the years of the Black Death. Such a huge number of people took part in them that the authorities did not have the opportunity to suppress them, and the church wisely did not go against the tide and sailed with it until it began to decline. The church could afford it, because these mass emotions had no purpose and could be directed in a harmless direction. However, movements arose again and again with a leader who was able to formulate the formless hopes and fears of those he led, which threatened the existing order, both spiritual and mundane. Two such leaders were born a generation apart. Both were monks. One is the Italian Girolamo Savonarola, the other is the German Martin Luther. The Italian for a brief moment achieved absolute political and spiritual power within the city of Florence, but ended up in the death of a criminal. The German almost reluctantly turned out to be a champion and defender of the faith for half of Europe.

Savonarola came to power in Florence during the next unrest. The Medici were expelled, the townspeople fought, and the threat of a French invasion hung over Italy. The people were in desperate need of some kind of leader to express their aspirations, and they found him in the person of a Dominican friar who had already done a great job of cleaning his monastery of San Marco from obscenities and vice, which now seemed to be an integral part of monastic life. . He was not attractive, either outwardly or in speech. The expressive portrait by Fra Angelico, whom he converted, shows us a strong but ugly face, with thick lips, a large hooked nose and burning eyes. Reviews of contemporaries about his sermons testify that they were ordinary, both in content and in execution. But Italians are accustomed to brilliant orators delivering impassioned sermons with cold perfection. These speeches made an impression on the listeners while they lasted, but were forgotten soon after they were delivered. However, no one could doubt the sincerity of Savonarola's speeches, the absolute conviction with which he warned Italy about the wrath of the Lord hanging over her. His prophecies and predictions brought him fame that spread far beyond the borders of Florence. Lorenzo di Medici clashed with him, was warned that he would die within a year... and died the same year. In distant Rome, Pope Alexander VI Borgia, who embodied all the vices and atrocities of the papacy, took note of the hot-tempered monk, as his attacks on corruption in the church grew sharper.

For the time being, however, Savonarola was safe among the inhabitants of Florence. He branded them for immorality, and they flocked in droves to his sermons. He ordered them to cleanse their homes of the devil's knick-knacks, and they burned precious ornaments in the main square. It was an auto-da-fe, but not of people, but of things. People piled up perfumes, mirrors, wigs, musical instruments, carnival masks ... Even books with poems not only by pagan poets, but also by the venerable Christian Petrarch. This huge pile was not just a section of Renaissance art, but also had significant monetary value. Reformist zeal turned into fanaticism. Moreover, one of its unpleasant sides was the gangs of "holy children" darting around the city, looking for hidden art objects and trinkets of the devil.

The Florentines abandoned their civil constitution, for which they had shed blood for centuries. Christ was declared king of the city, and Savonarola his vicar. The inevitable reaction followed: just a year after the triumphant auto-da-fé, his power collapsed. People betrayed him to powerful enemies who were just waiting for the moment. He admitted that he had fallen into error, that his visions and prophecies were false, and was first hanged and then burned in the same square where he believed that he had witnessed the triumph of the Lord over the whole world.

Nineteen years after Savonarola's ashes were thrown into the Arno River, another Dominican friar was touring Germany, acting as a peddler of spiritual goods. His name was Johann Tetzel, and he sold pieces of paper with a printed promise of salvation from sins in exchange for gold. The pope at that time was Leo X, one of the most brilliant personalities of the Renaissance: educated, cultured, benevolent, able to find pleasure in the countless satires that were written about him. It fell to his lot to complete the construction of the new St. Peter's, begun by his predecessors. Hundreds of thousands of gold coins were required to complete this work, and he sought them out wherever he could. It so happened that the bishop of Magdeburg desired to become the archbishop of Mainz. Leo agreed, on the condition that he raise the fee for the services, which in this case would go towards the construction of St. Peter's.

The bishop, in turn, borrowed money from the Fuggers and, in order to repay their debt, with the consent of Leo X, put Tetzel on the sale of indulgences. The teaching of the church on this issue was very complex, but Tetzel simplified it, reducing it to a simple formula: pay, and not only the souls of the dead will be forgiven, but the buyer of indulgence will be practically free to commit any sin he wants.

As soon as the coin in the casket rings,

The soul from purgatory will fly away.

This is how contemporaries interpreted Tetzel's cynical distortion of one of the postulates of faith. He walked through the cities of Germany in true triumph. Secular and ecclesiastical officials met him in every city, a solemn procession accompanied him to some public place, where he set up his kiosk and began sweet speeches, extorting money. Next to him, counting the gold pouring into the chest, stood a representative of Fugger. He was very busy: buyers pressed in from all sides. However, among the numerous buyers were people who were offended by this terrible sacrilege. It was from one of them that a copy of the indulgence fell into the hands of Martin Luther with a request to comment on it. On October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg.

Luther was then an Augustinian friar, and his act was in no way a defiant challenge to the pope. Church doors at that time were often used as a bulletin board. Luther simply intended (and was so understood) to show that he was ready to defend his theses in a public dispute with anyone who came to the debate. A year later, he appeared before the papal envoy in Augsburg, where he defended his position. He still had neither the desire nor the intention to lead any schismatic movement. In April of that year, he publicly acknowledged both the honesty of the pope and his devotion to him. “Now we finally have a wonderful Pope, Leo X, whose honesty and scholarship delight all believers... Most Blessed Father, I fall at the feet of Your Holiness. I recognize your voice as the voice of Christ himself, who is in you and speaks through you to us.” For his part, Leo X responded to what was happening with respectable gentleness, even issued a bull in which those who use indulgences for evil were cursed.

Luther was then challenged to a public debate by a certain John Eck of Leipzig. A contemporary who happened to be there gives the following description of the father of the Reformation: “Martin is of medium height and looks so exhausted from learning and cares that you can almost count all the bones of his skull through the skin. He is in his prime, has a clear and resonant voice. He is a learned man and knows the Old and New Testaments by heart. He has a whole forest of ideas and words at his disposal. He is outgoing and friendly, in no way arrogant or sullen. He can handle anything." No record remains of the outcome of the debate, but in the course of it Luther finally formulated his views. In June 1520, Leo X was forced to declare him a heretic and give him 60 days to change his mind or be excommunicated. Neither side could retreat. Leo X spoke for a vast and revered organization that, over the centuries of its existence, had seen rebels like Luther come and go by the hundreds. Luther demanded for an immeasurable number of believers the right to act in accordance with their conscience. It was an intellectual quarrel, but each side was deeply immersed in national and political interests. Both the pope and the monk were pushed by forces that they could set in motion, but then did not have the ability to control them. The drama in the parliament of Worms in April 1521, when a lone monk defended himself before the emperor of Christendom and was formally sentenced by him, had been in preparation for centuries. The City of God eventually divided itself.

The split initially took the form of a violent war of words. In no other field has the enormous and immediate influence of the printing press manifested itself in such a way. And as this feud spread across the continent, the trickle of pamphlets and books turned into a flood. In Germany alone, the number of books produced rose from 150 in 1518 to 990 in 1524. Cursing was complemented by vicious caricatures. Artists of all stripes and levels of talent turned their abilities to mocking religious opponents. However, this war of words did not last long, and soon it came to swords. The mass of the common people, especially the German peasants, who could not put into words the feelings that overwhelmed them, believed that they had finally found a defender and champion of their ideas. As in any rebellion, the ignorant people attributed the blame for all the troubles to the authorities they attacked. The high cost of bread, the insolence of local officials, the monopolies of merchants - all this was now blamed on the papacy. If the power of the popes is destroyed, heavenly life will come, the proud will be cast down, the lowly will be exalted. So the peasants thought and huddled together in detachments to crush slavery. They were convinced that Luther would lead them to the promised land. Sympathizing with them at first, he, nevertheless, like all responsible people, was afraid of the ferocity of those who rushed into this new world, whose way of life had not yet had time to take shape. The peasants protested against the slave living conditions. “It was customary for these people to keep us for their property, and this is pitiable, because Christ has redeemed us with his blood. And therefore, in accordance with the Holy Scriptures, we are free. “No,” Luther answered them, “it is not so: even the prophets had slaves.” “Your words are going against the gospel… [because then] it would make all people equal, which is impossible.” They stigmatized him as a traitor and rushed across Europe in droves in a frenzy of violence, taking out on the nobility that turned up the thirst for revenge that had been accumulating for centuries.

A society that called itself Protestant or Reformed could not tolerate a threat to its existence. Luther himself vociferously condemned the peasant war, standing with all his authority on the side of those who suppressed them. Inevitably, the tide was replaced by an ebb. After all, the rebels were an undisciplined horde, a rabble, armed for the most part with tools, and people trained in war as an art opposed them. As a result, about 130 thousand peasants died in Germany. They christened the Reformation with their blood and were the first of many who died when the fabric of Christendom was torn in Europe, beginning with Germany.

Summing up this section, it should be noted that urban and secular life have changed significantly compared to the Middle Ages. The courtyards of Europe differed from each other, both in the luxury of the furnishings and in household items. It should be noted that the North lagged far behind the South, not only in the rules of etiquette and decorations, but even in ordinary hygiene. The lack of cleanliness is the first thing that an Italian who crossed the Alps paid attention to. The heavy, richly finished costume of that time also made personal hygiene difficult, although it was relatively simple. With the advent of the 15th and 16th centuries, the world of clothing flared up with a rainbow of bright colors and a fantastic variety of styles. And at the beginning of the 16th century, Europe was swept by a fashion for colors. Fashion changed at an unprecedented speed, and the taste for panache spread to all sections of society. Of course, attempts were made to revitalize the spending laws, which spelled out what different classes of society could and could not wear. But immediately upon adoption, they were subjected to general reproach and were not fulfilled. Chess and dice, archery competitions, tennis, cards and ball games, singing and gambling were all favorite court entertainments of the time. Fasting days were strictly observed and supported by the force of law, but holidays were understood literally. These days, the solidarity of the townspeople was clearly manifested in crowded religious processions, religious processions, which are an endless string of colors and shapes.

The time has come, and the holidays of a thousand years ago easily fit into the life of cities, where the roar of printing presses and the noise of wheeled carriages marked the beginning of a new world.

Conclusion

The most important discovery of the Renaissance is the discovery of man. It was during this era we saw a man incarnate - a man in his relationship to himself, to society, to the world. Man has become the center of the universe instead of God. This worldview was influenced by the teachings of the humanists. They not only believed in a renewed happy intellectual society, but also tried to build this society on their own by organizing schools and giving lectures, explaining their theories to ordinary people. Under the influence of this, the life of the people has changed significantly. There is a desire for luxury. In place of the monotony, primitiveness, simplicity of the interior comes ingenuity, comfort. The interior changed with furniture, decoration of walls, ceilings and floors with carpets, tapestries, paintings, paintings, wallpaper, etc. The Renaissance is the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, so new products and dishes appear on the layman's menu. The manner of dressing is also changing significantly, the world of clothing has flared up with a rainbow of bright colors and a fantastic variety of styles. From all this we can conclude that the society of the Renaissance overcame its former isolation.

But at the same time, people cease to be afraid of God, which leads to a fall in moral principles. This is especially evident in Italy: gambling, crime, the ruin of monasteries, blood feuds, etc.

So, common features Renaissance are:

• man is the center of the world;
• the teachings of the humanists;
• striving to improve your life;
• the appearance of new products in the diet;
• brightness and variegation in clothes;
• increase and the emergence of new pieces of furniture;
• lagging behind the Northern Renaissance from the Italian;
• split in the religious environment.

One Frenchman, with some self-satisfaction, listed what was achieved during this period, wanting to prove his superiority: “Ships went around the world, the largest continent of the Earth was discovered, the compass was invented, printing presses spread knowledge, gunpowder revolutionized the art of war, ancient manuscripts were saved, restored the education system is all a triumph of our New Age.”

List of studied literature

1. Ancient heritage in the culture of the Renaissance: [Sat. Art.] / USSR Academy of Sciences, Nauchn. council on the history of world culture; [Redcol. : Rutenburg V.I. (responsible editor) and others]. - M.: Nauka, 1984. - 285 p.
2. Bragina L.M., The formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy and its pan-European significance. History of Europe. From the Middle Ages to the new time. - M .: Nauka, 1993. - 532 p.
3. Renaissance: culture, education, social thought: Interuniversity. Sat. scientific tr., [Ed.: N. V. Revyakina (Ed.), etc.]. - Ivanovo: IvGU, 1985. - 144p.
4. From the history of culture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: [Sat. Art.] Scientific. council on the history of world culture; [Resp. ed. V. A. Karpushin]. - M.: Nauka, 1976. - 316 p.
5. History of culture of the countries of Western Europe / L.M. Bragina, O.I. Varyash, V.M. Vagodarsky and others; Ed. L.M. Bragina. — M.: Vyssh.shk., 2001. — 479p.
6. Culture of the Renaissance: encyclopedia: in 2 volumes, vol. 1: [Editorial staff: N. V. Revyakina (Editor-in-chief) and others]. - M.: ROSSPEN, 2007. - 864 p.: ill.
7. Culture of the Renaissance of the XVI century: [Sat. Art.]. - M.: Nauka, 1997. - 302 p.
8. Culture of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages: [Sat. Art.]. - M.: Nauka, 1993. - 228s.
9. Typology and periodization of Renaissance culture: [Sat. Art.] / USSR Academy of Sciences, Nauchn. council on the history of world culture; [Under. ed. V. I. Rutenburg]. - M.: Nauka, 1978. - 280s.
10. Chamberlin E., Renaissance: life, religion, culture. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006. - 237p.: ill.
11. Bukgardt J., Italian culture in the Renaissance. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2002. - 448s.

Application

Ground floor room with bed Living room of rich family

under the canopy

Part of the main room in the house of a middle-class family.

From an engraving by Albrecht Dürer. 1503

Kitchen with covered stove Carved "casson" from Florence, 15th century.

City Merchants: Clothing Merchant and Religious Procession

manufactory (left), barber

(center) and confectioner (right)

May Day Celebration Colorful Renaissance Outfit

English nobleman costume, French court attire,

about 1600 about 1555

Masquerade at the Imperial Court Banquet at the French Court

Renaissance: culture, education, social thought: Interuniversity. Sat. scientific tr., [Ed.: N. V. Revyakina (Ed.), etc.]. - Ivanovo: IvGU, 1985. - 144p.

Chamberlin E., Renaissance: life, religion, culture. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006. - 237p.: ill.

Chamberlin E., Renaissance: life, religion, culture. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006. - 237p.: ill.

Chamberlin E., Renaissance: life, religion, culture. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2006. - 237p.: ill.

rebirth, state, humanists, human dignity, family, life

Annotation:

The article deals with the main directions of everyday culture of the Renaissance.

Article text:

The Renaissance began in Italy in the 13th century, then in the 15th century the countries of northern Europe, such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands, entered it. This period was called the Northern Renaissance.

In the Middle Ages, the dominance of Christian ideology was observed. During the Renaissance, man moved to the center of the world. The ideology of the Renaissance was humanism. In a narrow sense, this term denoted secular education, in contrast to theological-scholastic education. In a broad sense, renaissance humanism is a spiritual movement aimed at liberating a person from medieval corporate morality, from the power of religious dogmas and church authorities, to affirm earthly values, real life(the cult of human sensuality and secular life), the greatness of the mind and creative abilities of a person, to the exaltation of his individuality, self-esteem, personal qualities and principles.

Revival is thus anthropocentric; in the first place or plane here is man as a natural being with all his worries and hopes, interests and rights.

A new social stratum is being formed - humanists - where there was no class sign, where, first of all, individual abilities were valued. Representatives of the new secular intelligentsia - humanists - protect the dignity of man in their works; affirm the value of a person regardless of his social status; substantiate and justify his desire for wealth, fame, power, secular titles, enjoyment of life; bring into the spiritual culture freedom of judgment, independence in relation to authorities.

The task of educating the "new man" is recognized as the main task of the era. The Greek word ("education") is the clearest analogue of the Latin humanitas (where "humanism" originates).

The teachings of the humanists, of course, influenced the consciousness of a person of the Renaissance. With the Renaissance comes a new vision of man, it is suggested that one of the reasons for the transformation of medieval ideas about man lies in the features of urban life, dictating new forms of behavior, other ways of thinking.

In conditions of intense social life and business activity, a general spiritual atmosphere is created in which individuality and originality were highly valued. An active, energetic, active person enters the historical forefront, owing his position not so much to the nobility of his ancestors, but to his own efforts, enterprise, intelligence, knowledge, and luck. A person begins to see himself and the world of nature in a new way, his aesthetic tastes, his attitude towards the surrounding reality and the past change.

The Renaissance is a time when Europe suddenly rediscovers antiquity, Greco-Roman culture and, inspired by its models, itself achieves an unprecedented flourishing of the arts and sciences. The revival was actually the revival of antiquity as an ideal model. Revived on an ancient basis, humanitarian knowledge, including ethics, rhetoric, philology, history, turned out to be the main area in the formation and development of humanism, the ideological core of which was the doctrine of man, his place and role in nature and society. This doctrine developed mainly in ethics and was enriched in various areas of the Renaissance culture. Humanistic ethics brought to the fore the problem of man's earthly destiny, the achievement of happiness through his own efforts. Humanists approached the issue of social ethics in a new way, in the solution of which they relied on ideas about the power of man's creative abilities and will, about his wide possibilities for building happiness on earth. They considered the harmony of the interests of the individual and society to be an important prerequisite for success, they put forward the ideal of the free development of the individual and the improvement of the social organism and political orders, which is inextricably linked with it.

Renaissance culture arose earlier than other countries in Italy. Its origin and rapid progressive development in the 15th century is due to the historical features of the country. At this time, Italy reached a very high level of development compared to other countries in Europe. The free cities of Italy gained economic power. The independent cities of northern and central Italy, rich and prosperous, extremely active economically and politically, became the main base for the formation of a new, renaissance culture, secular in its general direction.

Here, the freedom of full-fledged citizens, their equality before the law, valor and enterprise were valued, which opened the way to social and economic prosperity. The formation of new social relations was expressed in the emancipation of the individual.

Italy had an extensive education system, from primary and secondary schools to numerous universities. Unlike other countries, they were early open to teaching disciplines that expanded the scope of traditional liberal arts education. The close historical connection of its culture with Roman civilization played a significant role in Italy - one should not forget about the numerous monuments of antiquity preserved in the country. The new attitude to the ancient heritage has become here the problem of resurrecting the traditions of the ancestors. The worldview of a Renaissance man is characterized by free-thinking, the desire to create new ideas about society and the universe. However, for the development of new concepts, there was still not enough extensive information about the world. In this regard, the Renaissance man's worldview is characterized by a combination of real ideas with poetic conjectures; often new ideas appear in the form of medieval mystical ideas, and real knowledge is inseparable from fantasy. The art of the Renaissance is folk in its spirit. The revival of the pagan poetry of antiquity is combined with an appeal to the motives of modern folk art, to full-blooded folklore images. In this era, the formation of the literary language and national culture takes place.

During the Renaissance in European countries, there is a transition from the feudal Middle Ages to the new time, marked by the initial period of development of capitalism.

The ideological guidelines of the Renaissance culture of Italy were influenced by the psychological climate of urban life, which changed in the mentality of various strata of society. New maxims began to prevail in merchant morality oriented towards secular affairs - the ideal of human activity, energetic personal efforts, without which it was impossible to achieve professional success, and this step by step led away from church ascetic ethics, which sharply condemned acquisitiveness, the desire for hoarding. The life of the nobility, who had long since moved to the city, included trade and financial entrepreneurship, which gave rise to practical rationalism, prudence, and a new attitude towards wealth. The desire of nobles to play a leading role in urban politics intensified not only personal ambitions in the sphere of power, but also patriotic sentiments - serving the state in the administrative field relegated military prowess to the background. The bulk of the traditional intellectual professions stood up for the preservation of social peace and the prosperity of the city-state. Grassroots urban environment was the most conservative, it was in it that the traditions of medieval folk culture were firmly preserved, which had a certain impact on the culture of the Renaissance.

The formation of a new culture has become a matter, first of all, of the humanistic intelligentsia, which is very diverse and heterogeneous in its origin and social status. The ideas put forward by humanists are difficult to characterize as "bourgeois" or "early bourgeois". In the culture of the Italian Renaissance, the core of a single new worldview was formed, the specific features of which determine its "Renaissance". It was generated by the new needs of life itself, as well as the task set by the humanists to achieve a higher level of education for a fairly wide section of society.

The crisis of medieval social foundations and scholastic culture was sharply outlined in connection with the agrarian revolution, the development of cities, the emergence of manufactories, and the establishment of extensive trade relations. It was the era of great geographical discoveries (discovery of America), bold sea ​​voyages(the opening of the sea route to India), which contributed to the formation of relations between the countries. It was the era of the formation of national states, the emergence of a new culture that broke with religious dogmas, the era of the rapid development of science, art and literature, which revived the ideals of antiquity and turned to the study of nature.

In the Renaissance, the processes of inter-class and intra-class stratification accelerated. Part of the nobility turns into a service in the naval (Spain, Portugal) and military-administrative (Holland, England, France) part. This facilitates the task of capturing and exploiting colonial possessions. The stratification also affected the peasant mass, a smaller part of which, about 20%, turned into freeholders - farmers and tenants - the rural bourgeoisie, and the rest, gradually going bankrupt, began from copyholders - hereditary tenants - to turn into short-term tenants - lease holders, cotters - farm laborers and day laborers , paupers - the poor, beggars, vagrants, who, if they did not fall on the gallows, then joined the ranks of sailors and hired workers.

But the processes of stratification took place most rapidly in the cities. Here, from the environment of wealthy craftsmen, merchants and small financiers, a layer of manufacturers is formed - owners of large workshops who are not employed. physical labor, future capitalists. And small artisans are gradually losing their independence and property rights, first to products, and then to the economy itself and the instruments of production. Homework, or “scattered” manufacture, developed especially rapidly where the guild restrictions were weaker. The guild masters, increasing the scale of their production and the degree of division of labor, created centralized manufactories. Manufactories were especially effective in industries with expensive, complex means of production and stable mass sales: mining, weapons, shipbuilding, printing, weaving.

City life, production and exchanges are becoming more and more active. Weekly city bazaars become daily. Markets are growing along with cities. Selling on the market becomes the responsibility of peasants, merchants and artisans, as it is easier to control.

But in the interval between market days, artisans begin to trade right in the shop. Then the shops begin to specialize in wine, durable and colonial goods, as well as non-food products and services. This is how taverns appear: gambling, drinking establishments and inns. Gradually shopkeepers become customers of goods and creditors of artisans.

Credit is developing rapidly, money circulation is accelerating. Fairs, revived in the XI century, in the XIV-XVII centuries. experiencing rapid growth. permanent place the meeting of bankers, merchants, merchants, brokers, bank agents, commissioners becomes an exchange that appears in almost every major city and in itself testifies to the revival of economic life.

The rise of secular, entertainment-oriented court culture is invariably associated with the European Renaissance, and within that era, with Italy and courts such as the Medici, d'Este, Gonzago and Sforza courts. The lifestyle that had developed in these centers of eternal entertainment required new personal patterns. New needs stimulate the appearance of a huge number of manuals on court manners and good education. Among them, B. Castiglione's The Courtier takes the most exalted tone; this pattern received a huge response in Italy and beyond.

The only occupation worthy of a court, Castiglione says, is that of a knight, but in essence Castiglione's pattern is a "demilitarized" pattern. It is enough to participate in tournaments, ride a horse, throw a spear, play ball. The nobleman is not a bully and will not seek out reasons for a duel. He will throw down the gauntlet only when necessary, and then he will not allow himself an unworthy weakness. Although it is not fitting for a courtier to engage in any trade other than chivalry, he excels in everything he undertakes. He will not inspire horror with his appearance, but he will not become like a woman, like those who curl their hair and pluck their eyebrows.

Elegance and a certain negligence, which hides art and makes one assume that everything comes easy to him, are especially appropriate for the courtier. Our negligence enhances the respect of others around us: what would happen, they think, if this person took up the matter seriously! However, it should not be feigned.

Humanistic culture adorns anyone. Therefore, a perfect courtier speaks Latin and Greek, reads poets, orators, historians, writes in verse and prose, plays various instruments, and draws. But he can play music only by succumbing to persuasion, in an aristocratic way, as if condescending to his art, in which he is completely confident. Of course, he will not dance at any popular entertainment, nor demonstrate miracles of dexterity in dance, decent only for hired dancers.

In conversation, the courtier avoids malicious and poisonous allusions; indulgent towards the weak, with the exception of those who are too arrogant; will not laugh at those who deserve punishment rather than ridicule, at people who are powerful and rich, and also at defenseless women.

The final polishing of all these virtues is given by women with their softness and delicacy. A woman at court must to a certain extent master humanistic culture, painting, be able to dance and play, shyly excuse herself if she is offered to show off her skills. She must tactfully maintain a conversation and even be able to listen to comments. What man would not want to earn the friendship of such a virtuous and charming person? An unmarried woman can bestow her favor only on someone with whom she could marry. If she is married, she can only offer her heart to a fan. Men should always remember their duty to defend the honor of women.

Family. The Renaissance, essentially a revolutionary era, became "a completely exceptional age of fiery sensuality." Together with the ideal of physical beauty, and as a result of it, productivity, fertility was elevated to the ideal.

In the Renaissance, the philosophy of love is widely developed; the love of husband and wife tends to take its rightful place in the family. Marriages based on a voluntary union became possible, new spiritual trends appeared. However, as before, most marriages were determined by monetary and class relations.

Traditionally, many researchers are unambiguously confident in the biological, natural nature of the reproductive culture of the family. Indeed, the reproductive function is biologically predetermined. But if we turn to a historical retrospective, it becomes obvious how great is the human intervention in this originally biological process.

The reproductive culture of the early Renaissance determines that among the first humanists, marriage and the family do not yet find unconditional recognition and support. For example, for Petrarch, family and children are a source of anxiety, a burden that complicates life. But Petrarch was, perhaps, the only representative of the culture of the early and high renaissance who gave a similar assessment of family values.

But Salutati's views on reproductive values ​​clearly represent the beginning of a new type of culture, which is clearly indicated by the unconditional predominance of the rational component over the sensual.

Defining the purpose of marriage to have children, Salutati considers this social institution as a natural obligation that every person must fulfill. This humanist believes that by refusing to procreate, people destroy what nature has produced in them; they become unfair towards themselves, their loved ones, evil towards the race, man, and extremely ungrateful towards nature. Without leaving children, a person will be unfair to his ancestors, because. destroy the name and glory of the family. He will be unfair to the motherland, leaving no defender behind him, malicious (malicious) towards the human race, which will perish if it is not supported by the continuous succession of generations.

The values ​​of the reproductive culture of the early Renaissance are based primarily on duty. The love that binds the spouses is absent at this time, and extramarital relationships are not recognized.

The social consciousness of the culture of the early Renaissance reveals a propensity for childhood, which also penetrates into social policy epoch: in France in 1421, an orphanage for foundling children was built - an Orphanage, one of the first in Europe.

Alberti in his treatise "On the Family" already, to a greater extent than it was with the early humanists, represents the balance of the rational and sensual components in his reproductive views. On the one hand, he notes the need for each family to continue its lineage, to reproduce children. On the other hand, it indicates that children are the greatest joy for fathers. And joy is an emotion, and thus an expression of the sensual component of culture.

Erasmus of Rotterdam is a representative of the High Renaissance with corresponding views on reproductive culture, in which the rational and sensual components are maximally balanced. In his work “On the upbringing of children”, this humanist unequivocally states that a child is a value, more expensive than which a person has practically nothing. Infertility of spouses is recognized as anti-value. The value of a child is manifested, on the one hand, in the obligation of the parent to society, to himself and the child to reproduce him into the world, on the other hand, in the maximum of positive emotions experienced by the current and future parent in connection with the birth and further upbringing of the child. E. Rotterdamsky points out that the obligation of a person to give birth and raise a child is a duty in which a person differs from animals and is most likened to a deity.

In addition, Erasmus criticizes the one-sided, from his point of view, attitude towards the child, when parents try to see him, first of all, as physically complete. E. Rotterdam calls on parents in particular and modern society in general, to see in the child the harmony of body and soul, material and spiritual.

In general, there are a large number of documents that record many touching stories about selfless and affectionate mothers and attentive caregivers.

In the art of this period, the child becomes one of the most frequent heroes of small stories: a child in a family circle; the child and his playmates, often adults; a child in the crowd, but not merging with it; the child is an apprentice of an artist, a jeweler.

The well-known utopians of the Renaissance T. Mora and T. Campanella somewhat level the theme of the value of the child, the ideas of upbringing and education become more important for them. But, for example, the poem by T. More, dedicated to his children and named Margaret, Elizabeth, Cecilia and John, the sweetest children, wishes to always be healthy, is an example of an attitude towards children that is already more sensual than rational.

Reproductive culture of the late Renaissance (2nd half of the 16th early XVII centuries) represents a change in the reproductive views of the family, the values ​​of the child. A child is already valued not of any age, as it was before, but somewhat grown up, as if deserving a positive attitude towards himself from adults by the presence of valuable personal qualities. The spokesman for such opinions of this period is M. Montaigne, who believes that one should not kiss newborn children who are still deprived of mental or certain physical qualities with which they could inspire us to love ourselves. Genuine and reasonable love would have to appear and grow as we get to know them.

Thus, we can conclude that the relationship of the Renaissance man to reproductive and family values ​​over time was ambiguous. And the dynamics of the reproductive culture of the indicated era is schematically a certain cycle, the stages of which are characterized by one or another ratio of rational and sensual, spiritual and material principles.

Humanists have also written extensively on family relationships and home economics. Family relations were built patriarchally, family ties were revered. Love was valued much lower than marriage. True, quite significant sections of the population remained outside the marriage: soldiers, laborers, apprentices and lumpen, before the Reformation - clergymen. But for a layman, marriage was necessary not only for economic reasons, but also for social prestige. The absence of relatives pushed a person beyond the limits of group protection. Therefore, widows and widowers quickly entered into new marriages - as usual, by calculation. Came into fashion family portraits, where relatives standing strictly by status and age silently testified to the strength of family ties. Women received a strict upbringing: from childhood they were engaged in housekeeping, they did not dare to wander around the city, along the pier.

In the Renaissance, there were many socially active and very independent women in different segments of the population. An increasing number of women from wealthy families sought to learn and arrange their own destiny.

The children were very dependent. In principle, childhood was not singled out as a special period in a person's life, requiring its own attitude, clothing, food, etc.; The vast majority of children were educated in the process of family activities - industrial and domestic. Other skills were given to teach on the side. The main thing was for the children to reproduce the status, behavioral model and connections of their parents, to prepare for marriage, independent housekeeping or living in the owner's house. At school, the main subject was religion, the main means of education was the rod. With their help, they were taught to obey the owner and authorities. Wealthy people invited a home priest teacher or university professor for their children. The youths of the noble and burgher-patrician circles knew foreign languages, fiction and history, wrote poetry in Latin.

Costume. The Renaissance was a time of extreme diversity in clothing. With the improvement of weaving techniques, the consumption of expensive fabrics increased. From the 15th century manufactories in Lucca, Venice, Genoa, Florence and Milan, begin to produce in abundance brocade, patterned silk, flower-painted velvet, satin and other magnificent fabrics rich in colors. With all the variety of patterns and colors, the Italian fashion of the early Renaissance was distinguished by simplicity and harmony of form. Often, the entire head decoration consisted of only elegantly arranged braids or curls intertwined with thin strands of pearls, or small oval caps (berretta). A particularly strong impression was made by a high, completely open forehead, artificially enlarged by removing part of the hair in front, as well as eyebrows.

Over a simple lower dress with long sleeves, a more elegant, highly belted, richly patterned outer garment with a long train and decorative sleeves hanging from the shoulders was worn. Young people preferred short, tight-fitting clothes in bright colors. Silk tights, or stockings, became widespread (in 1589, a knitting machine was invented). However, in Italy the ancient tradition still remains influential, especially when it comes to the shape and cut of clothing and the manner of wearing it. So, for example, in the XV century. members of the magistrates, dignitaries, for the most part wore long outerwear with pleats and very wide sleeves.

Almost from the beginning of the XVI century. in Italy, a new ideal of beauty is being developed, which manifests itself in the nature of the perception of the human body and in the manner of dressing and moving.

The High Renaissance was bound to come with heavy and soft fabrics, wide cascading sleeves, majestic trains and massive corsages with wide cutouts at the chest and shoulders, which gave the women of that time a dignified and significant look. Emphasizing everything "hanging and dragging" in this era makes movements more calm and slow, while the 15th century emphasized everything flexible and mobile. Everything loose and fluttering in the hair gave way to tight and bound. The image was completed by a newfangled handkerchief, decorative “flea fur” around the neck, a fan of feathers and gloves, often perfumed. It was at this time that a new word appeared - “grandezza”, meaning a majestic, noble appearance.

Antiquity became an ideal for Italian humanists, and they sought to revive the images of antiquity in everyday life. This also influenced the costume, despite the fact that elements of the medieval knightly ideal were preserved in Italian culture. The harmony of proportions, a completely different image of a person, the desire to emphasize the individuality of a person in a suit - all this has become completely new in comparison with the strictly regulated costume of the Middle Ages. The Italian male costume was almost not influenced by military armor, since the leading social force in the XIV-XV centuries. were popolany (merchants and artisans). This costume was more voluminous than in other European countries. Officials and representatives of some professions (doctors, lawyers, merchants), as in other countries, wore long clothes. The originality of the Italian costume was also in the fact that the clothes had cuts along the constructive lines (armholes, elbow seams, on the chest), through which a white linen undershirt was let out, which created a special decorative effect. Harmonious proportions and constructive cuts of Italian clothes will be borrowed by tailors of other countries at the end of the 15th - the first half of the 16th centuries.

The main items of clothing for men and women consisted of an upper and lower dress, a raincoat, a headdress, and shoes. Men also wore pants or those items of clothing that gradually turned into pants. Underwear was not yet known. To some extent, it was replaced by shirts, but there were very few of them even in the wardrobe of the nobility.

In 1527, Italy came under the rule of Spain, and gradually the Italian costume began to lose its originality, obeying the Spanish fashion. The women's costume, especially in Venice in the 16th century, retained its individuality and fidelity to the Italian ideas of beauty longer than the men's: the silhouette of dresses worn by Italian women was more voluminous than that of Spanish women, despite the fact that since the late 1540s gg. in Italy, a metal corset spread. It was the Italians who were the first to put on dresses with a bodice ending at an acute angle (cape) in front, shoes on high wooden stands - soccoli, so as not to distort the proportions of the figure. It is impossible not to pay attention to the diligent efforts of women to transform themselves with the help of various toilet products.

First of all, it is necessary to mention false hair and fakes made of white and yellow silk, which were very common at that time. Blond and golden was considered the ideal hair color, and women tried to achieve it. different ways. Many believed that hair brightened under the influence of sunlight, and therefore women tried to stay in the sun for a long time. Dyes and hair growth products were widely used. To this we must add a whole arsenal of products for brightening the skin of the face, patches and blush for every single part of the face, even for the eyelids and teeth.

Young people sometimes dyed their hair and beards, although they themselves advocated the naturalness of women.

Italy became the birthplace of lace, which appeared at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Prior to that, there were various types of openwork embroidery, including “seam along the slot” embroidery - on a grid of sparse fabric, which became the prototype of real lace.

In addition to lace, the costume was also decorated with applique, silk embroidery, wool, gold and silver thread, beads, beads, gold and silver braid, galloons, pearls, precious stones, jewelry rosettes.

It was during the Renaissance that glasses and pocket watches became widespread, and the carriage came into use. But these, of course, were already clear signs of wealth.

Housing. During the Renaissance, housing construction was actively carried out - and first of all, in the city and its environs. Demand for housing exceeded supply. Therefore, the city authorities encouraged construction.

The revival of construction was explained not only by the need for housing, but also by the fact that old houses did not satisfy the tastes and demands of the era. Eminent citizens erected new magnificent palaces, for the sake of which entire quarters were demolished, sometimes not only dilapidated houses fell under the demolition.

Urban development in Europe was chaotic. Because of this, the city had narrow streets, often ending in dead ends, the houses were in contact with each other roofs. However, when the old quarters were demolished, the city authorities were given the opportunity to introduce an element of regularity into the city's layout. Then the streets expanded and straightened, new squares appeared.

In urban construction, aesthetic ideas were intertwined with practical considerations. Cities throughout Europe remained dirty. Paved streets were rare. The inhabitants of only a few cities could boast of running water. Fountains not only delighted the eye, but were also a source of drinking water. The moon usually served as illumination at night and in the evening.

The windows were still small, because the problem of how to cover them was not solved. Over time, one-color glass was borrowed from the church. Such windows were very expensive and did not solve the problem of lighting, although more light and heat came into the house. The sources of artificial lighting were torches, oil lamps, a torch, wax - and more often greasy, heavily smoked - candles, the fire of a fireplace and a hearth. Glass lampshades appear. Such lighting made it difficult to maintain cleanliness, both at home and clothes and body.

Heat was provided by the kitchen hearth, fireplace, stoves, and braziers. Fireplaces were not available to everyone. During the Renaissance, fireplaces turned into real works of art, richly decorated with sculpture, bas-reliefs, frescoes. The chimney near the fireplace was designed in such a way that, due to strong draft, it took away a lot of heat. They tried to compensate for this shortcoming by using a brazier. Often only one bedroom was heated. The inhabitants of the house were warmly dressed, even in furs, and often caught colds.

Until the 18th century, the furnishings of housing were limited to a small set: a bench, a table, a stool, a plank bed and a mattress stuffed with straw. The bathroom was at that time the greatest rarity. In the XIV, parquet and patterned floor tiles appear. Oil and glue paint on the walls gives way to wallpaper fabrics, and then paper wallpaper, which was called "dominoes". On occasion, the walls were sheathed with wooden panels. Windows were made from stained-glass windows, previously the privilege of a church building, from turpentine cloth or oiled paper. And only in the 16th century did real transparent glass appear. The hearth, located in the middle of the kitchen, is being replaced by a stove.

Table. In the Renaissance, she had not yet freed herself from the fear of hunger. There were great differences in the nutrition of the "tops" and "bottoms" of society, peasants and townspeople.

The food was pretty repetitive. About 60% of the diet was occupied by carbohydrates: bread, cakes, various cereals, soups. The main cereals were wheat and rye. The bread of the poor differed from the bread of the rich. The latter had wheat bread. The peasants hardly knew the taste of wheat bread. Their lot was rye bread made from poorly ground flour, sifted, with the addition of rice flour, which was shunned by the wealthy.

An important addition to the grain was legumes: beans, peas, lentils. They even baked bread from peas. Stews were usually prepared with peas and beans.

Thanks to the Arabs, Europeans got acquainted with citrus fruits: oranges, lemons. Almonds came from Egypt, apricots from the East. Pumpkin, zucchini, Mexican cucumber, sweet potatoes, beans, tomatoes, peppers, corn, potatoes appeared in Europe.

Unleavened food was seasoned in large quantities with garlic and onions. Celery, dill, leek, coriander were widely used as seasoning.

Of the fats in the south of Europe, vegetable origin is more common, in the north - of animal origin. In Mediterranean Europe they consumed less meat than in Northern Europe. The Central and Eastern ate more beef and pork; in England, Spain, southern France and Italy - mutton. The meat ration was replenished with game and poultry. The townspeople ate more meat than the peasants. They also ate fish.

For a long time, Europe was limited in sweets, since sugar appeared only with the Arabs and was very expensive, therefore it was available only to the wealthy sections of society.

Of the drinks, grape wine traditionally occupied the first place. The poor quality of the water forced its consumption. Wine was given even to children. Cypriot, Rhine, Moselle, Tokay wines, malvasia, and later - port wine, Madeira, sherry, Malaga enjoyed a high reputation.

The main advantage of food in the Middle Ages was satiety and abundance. On a holiday, it was necessary to eat so that later on hungry days there was something to remember. Although wealthy people did not have to fear hunger, their table was not distinguished by sophistication. The Renaissance brought significant changes to European cuisine. Unbridled appetite is replaced by exquisite, subtly presented abundance.

As before, a wide variety of sauces with all kinds of seasonings were prepared for meat dishes, they did not spare expensive oriental spices: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper, European saffron, etc. The use of spices was considered prestigious.

There are new recipes. Along with recipes, the number of changes to dishes is growing. In the 15th century in Italy, confectionery was prepared by pharmacists. These were cakes, pastries, cakes, caramel, etc.

It became important not only what to feed the guests, but also how to serve the prepared dishes. The so-called "ostentatious dishes" have become widespread. From various, often inedible materials, figures of real and fantastic animals and birds, castles, towers, pyramids were made, which served as a container for various foods, especially pies. At the end of the 16th century, the Nuremberg confectioner Hans Schneider invented a huge pate, inside of which rabbits, hares, squirrels, and small birds were hidden. At a solemn moment, the pate was opened, and all living creatures, to the amusement of the guests, scattered and flew out of it in different directions.

In the Renaissance, not only the kitchen, but also the feast itself became even more important than before: table setting, the order of serving dishes, rules of conduct at the table, manners, table entertainment, communication.

Tableware was enriched with new items and became much more elegant. Various vessels were united under the common name "naves". There were ships in the form of chests, towers, buildings. They were intended for spices, wines, cutlery. Henry III of France in one of these naves clan glove and fan. Vessels for wine were called "fountain", had a different shape and necessarily taps at the bottom. Tripods served as coasters for dishes. The place of honor on the tables was occupied by salt and candy bowls made of precious metals, stone, crystal, glass, faience.

Flat plates appeared in 1538 by order of King Francis 1. Sugar was a luxury until the middle of the 16th century. If in the “dark” centuries festive feasts only interrupted the monotony and lack of everyday food, then starting from the 15th century, meat, previously considered a sign of luxury, has firmly entered the daily diet of the average European. True, in the XVI-XVII centuries. this rate again decreased significantly, especially in areas poor in livestock. At the table and in life, good manners were gradually inculcated. It took 200 years to learn how to use a fork.

Plates, dishes and drinking vessels were made of metal: among kings and nobility - from silver, gilded silver, and sometimes from gold. The demand for pewter utensils increased, which they learned to process and decorate no worse than gold and silver. But a particularly important change can be considered distribution from the 15th century. faience dishes, the secret of which was discovered in the Italian city of Faenza. There were more dishes made of glass - one-color and colored.

The knife was still the main tool at the table. Large knives cut meat on common dishes, from which everyone took a piece for himself with his knife or hands. And although the best houses served napkins and served dishes with flavored water for washing hands after almost every meal, the tablecloths had to be changed more than once during dinner. The venerable public did not hesitate to wipe their hands on them. They tried to provide each of those sitting at the table with a tablespoon. But there were houses in which there were not enough spoons for everyone - and the guests either brought a spoon with them, or, as in the old days, they took solid food with their hands, and dipped their piece of bread into the sauce or stew. The fork took root first of all among the Italians.

The use of forks by several guests at the court of the French king Henry II was the subject of gross ridicule. Things were no better with glasses and plates. It was still customary to put one plate for two guests. But it happened that they continued to scoop the soup with their spoon from the tureen.

On the occasion of the banquet, the interior was specially designed. The walls of the hall or loggia were hung with fabrics and tapestries, rich embroidery, flowers and laurel garlands entwined with ribbons. The walls were decorated with garlands and framed with family coats of arms.

Three tables were placed in the hall in the shape of the letter "P", leaving space in the middle, both for peddlers of dishes and for entertainment.

The guests were seated on the outside of the table - sometimes in pairs, ladies and gentlemen, sometimes separately. The master of the house and distinguished guests were seated at the main table. While waiting for the meal, those present drank light wine, ate dry fruits, and listened to music.

The main idea pursued by the organizers of magnificent feasts was to show the splendor, wealth of the family, its power. The fate of an upcoming marriage with the goal of uniting prosperous families, or the fate of a business agreement, etc. could depend on the banquet. Wealth and power were demonstrated not only to equals, but also to common people. For this it was just convenient to arrange magnificent feasts in the loggia. Small people could not only look at the splendor of those in power, but also join it. You could listen to cheerful music, dance, take part in a theatrical production. But most importantly, there was a tradition to distribute leftover food to the poor.

Spending time at the table in the company became a custom that spread widely in all sectors of society. Taverns, taverns, inns distracted visitors from the monotony of home life.

The named forms of communication, no matter how different they are from each other, indicate that society has overcome its former relative isolation and has become more open and communicative.

Literature.
1. Alberti Leon Battista. About the family // The image of a person in the mirror of humanism: thinkers and teachers of the Renaissance on the formation of personality (XIV-XVII centuries). - M.: Publishing house of URAO, 1999. - S. 140-179.
2. Batkin L.M. Italian Renaissance in search of individuality. -M.: Nauka, 1989.-272p.
3. Bragina L.M. The formation of the Renaissance culture in Italy and its pan-European significance. History of Europe. From the Middle Ages to the New Age.- M.: Nauka, 1993.-532p.
4.Bukgardt J. Culture of Italy in the Renaissance / Per. with him. S. Brilliant. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2002.-448s.
5. Vejo M. On the upbringing of children and their worthy morals / / The image of a person in the mirror of humanism: thinkers and teachers of the Renaissance on the formation of personality (XIV-XVII centuries). - M .: Publishing house of URAO, 1999. - S. 199-214.
6. Losev A.F. Aesthetics of the revival.- M, 1997.-304p.
7. Lyubimova L. Art of Western Europe. - M., 1976. -319s.
8. Ossovskaya M. Knight and bourgeois. - M.: Progress, 1987. - 108s.

The history of everyday culture primarily involves the study of the material conditions of society and the forms of everyday communication in a particular era. At the center of such research is a person, a family, a home.

The first group of questions is related to the residential building. It includes the organization of the interior, furnishings, utensils, technical equipment - everything that provided the needs of the daily life of the inhabitants of the house, their comfort, hygiene.

The second group of questions lies in the field of nutrition. How did people eat while living in different geographical conditions? What was the difference between the food of townspeople and peasants, rich and poor? How have the food system, food, drinks changed over time? The object of attention of the historian of everyday life is also clothing: its main types, components, cut, accessories, fabrics, etc.

The history of the costume is necessarily complemented by the history of hairstyles, cosmetics, perfumes and other ways of decorating the appearance. Personal hygiene and elementary concerns about maintaining health were included in the circle of everyday concerns of the family and the individual and thus expand the scope of the problems of the history of everyday life, although they often intersect with the history of medicine and health care proper.

It is difficult to draw a dividing line between the history of everyday life and other aspects of the history of society. Home life was regulated by the material and technical capabilities of society. Therefore, without studying the productive forces, including the techniques and technologies in handicraft, agriculture, extractive industries, without taking into account the natural factor, the history of everyday culture will lose its basis.

In fact, it is difficult to talk about what a medieval city dweller ate without imagining what crops were grown in his area. On the other hand, outside of his home, a person daily encounters the conditions of social life, of which he himself is a part and in the creation of which he took one or another part.

This applies to street improvement (lighting, sewerage, water supply), construction and operation of public places, food supply, etc.

However, material conditions do not exhaust the state, content and development trends of everyday life. To no lesser extent, we can talk about its socio-cultural fullness. Thus, medieval everyday culture was distinguished by a pronounced stratification. At the same time, we are talking not only about the inaccessibility for some layers of those things, benefits, conveniences and pleasures that were available to others, because of the difference in their property status. Various aspects of everyday life - clothing, jewelry, home decoration, food structure, table setting, and much more - were, among other things, a means of expressing social functions and a person's status, the desire to approve or change them.

In medieval society, with its conservatism and traditionalism, corporatism and strict regulations of life, strict norms were also established, within which a person, according to his abilities and status, had the right to self-expression and self-affirmation through the external forms of everyday life - through life and things.

In the organization of everyday life, things reflect the norms and stereotypes of behavior, religious and ethical conditioning, the aesthetic aspirations of a single person and the society to which he belonged. They, in turn, depended on the social psychology and mentality, on the dominant worldview of the era.

Indeed, the negative attitude to the worldly vocation of man, to carnal joys, preached by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, its condemnation of wealth could not but affect the attitude of people of that time to life, the arrangement of the hearth, and the manner of dressing.

And, on the contrary, a person’s awareness of his individuality and his own significance, the recognition by himself and society of the necessity and usefulness of his earthly labors and the joyful feeling of this is something that medieval society slowly went to understand, which was fully experienced by the Renaissance man and formulated in concepts humanists - could not leave the domestic side of life unchanged. The Reformation again - but in a new way - limited the individual's ability to express himself at the everyday level.

Changes in stereotypes of behavior formed fashion: it manifested itself in hairstyle, clothing; house planning, meals, etc. The fashion of the aristocracy over time, in one form or another, became the property of wider social strata. Prohibitions on luxury were well managed. The influence of fashion did not only extend from the top down the social ladder.

Separate elements of folk life, in particular clothing, were perceived in the upper strata. Imitation was an integral part of the mechanism by which the everyday culture of the era and culture in a broader sense were formed.

At the same time, general artistic trends and styles of the era, late Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque were reflected in everyday life. But along with the pan-European, regional and national trends in the artistic style in everyday culture were formed.

Questions of the history of domestic life and its organization were chosen for this chapter from all the diversity and richness of the history of domestic culture not by chance. It is not only about providing the essential needs of a person, adding comfort, which made everyday life easier and more enjoyable.

The significance of these aspects is emphasized by the attention that began to be paid during the Renaissance and Reformation to the issues of the family, home, and home leisure. Despite the complication of social life and the enrichment of its forms, life has become more "domestic", and the house as the focus of inner life, personal interests comes to the fore. The interest of everyone and everyone - from the sovereign to the mere mortal - to their possessions, home, the arrangement of which becomes a matter of honor, prestige, a manifestation of individuality, has increased.

When covering the history of everyday life, one should take into account the fact that although life became more dynamic during the Renaissance, technical innovations nevertheless happened rarely, changes in everyday life occurred extremely slowly, and it is difficult to associate them with a given, specific topic.

It consisted in the fact that for the first time she drew attention to the inner world of a person in its entirety. Attention to the human personality and its unique individuality was manifested literally in everything: in lyric poetry and new literature, in painting and sculpture. In the visual arts, the portrait and the self-portrait became more popular than ever before. In literature, such genres as biography and autobiography have been widely developed. The entire Renaissance culture as a whole formed a new type of personality, the hallmark of which was individualism.

However, affirming the high dignity of the human personality, Renaissance individualism also contributed to the liberation of its negative sides. Humanism, having given unlimited freedom to the development of the natural abilities of an individual, at the same time deprived him of spiritual, moral support.

J. Burckhardt about the culture of Italy in the Renaissance

“The Italy of that time becomes a school of vices, the like of which we have not seen anywhere since, even in the era of Voltaire in France.”

“If we dwell on the main features of the then Italian character, we will come to the following conclusion: its main drawback was at the same time a necessary condition for its greatness; it is a highly developed individuality. Thus, the personality comes into conflict with the state system, mostly tyrannical and based on capture, a person seeks to protect his rights through personal revenge and thus falls under the influence of dark forces.

“Despite all sorts of laws and restrictions, a person-personality retains faith in his superiority and makes an independent decision in accordance with how they get along and what place a sense of honor and self-interest, cold calculation and passion, self-denial and revenge occupy in his soul.”

“In a country where every kind of individuality reaches extreme levels, people appear for whom crime has a peculiar charm in itself, not as a means to achieve some goal, but ... as something that goes beyond psychological norms.” material from the site