The literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance chronologically follows ancient literature and occupies a significant place in the global development of culture. This rich literature reflected important phenomena and events characteristic of the long period of its formation, covering about twelve centuries. The beginning of this period is conventionally considered to be 476, when the Western Roman Empire fell under the onslaught of barbarians, and the end is the first third of the 17th century. The modern point of view is somewhat different: the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages took several centuries, from approximately the 3rd to the 6th centuries. In the light of the historical-theoretical approach, it became obvious that late antiquity should be considered as a transitional period in the development of literature.
The literature of the Middle Ages (the concept of “Middle Ages” arose among the Italian humanists of the 15th century, who realized the past as history) is divided into two periods: 1) literature of the early Middle Ages (V-XI centuries); 2) the heyday of the Middle Ages (XII-XV centuries). During the first of these periods, When on the territory of Europe there was a transition from the slave system (within the former ancient states) and the communal-tribal system (among the “barbarian” peoples) to the feudal one, literature was composed of works of oral folk art in the languages of local peoples and works in Latin. In the second period, when the feudal formation in Europe becomes dominant, along with oral folk art, the creativity of writers in local languages and in Latin develops, in which a wealth of trends is manifested, reflecting the views and interests of various social strata in the era of feudalism. Finally, in the third period, When in the depths of feudalism a new capitalist formation, progressive for that time, matured and nations were formed, a great upsurge was observed in the field of culture, including literature, which gave grounds to call this stage in the development of European and, to a certain extent, world culture the Renaissance, or Renaissance.
The literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is characterized by a certain originality, depending on the factors that shaped literary development at that time: traditions of oral folk art, available to all European peoples without exception, cultural heritage of antiquity, Christian culture, knightly (clerical) and urban culture.
During the Renaissance, the creators of a new culture, directed with its bright ideals into the future, relied on literary creativity for all the best created before them, including the ancient heritage. With the “cheerful free-thinking” characteristic of the era, the foundations of modern literature were laid.
Literature of the early Middle Ages (V-XI centuries)
The literature of the early Middle Ages is composed from two groups of monuments, differing from each other primarily in language. The first of these includes monuments in local languages European nations that existed at that time, to the second - in Latin, in which, even after the collapse of the Roman Empire, the written tradition continued for some time, since they had not yet developed their own writing.
The most valuable and important for subsequent literary development were monuments of the first group, in particular, the heroic epic, various tales and songs about heroes who became famous for their exploits in the interests of their clan, tribe, and nationality. A number of epic monuments reflected a peculiar mythology of peoples Europe, their pre-Christian pagan beliefs. They also reflected something so characteristic of Europe in the first centuries AD. phenomenon, like a grandiose movement of nationalities with east to west, known as the “great migration of peoples” (IV-VI centuries).
The most important examples of the heroic epic, having the greatest artistic value, are Irish sagas (the epic of the Celts), the "Elder Edda" (the epic of the Scandinavian peoples) with the poetry of the skalds and Icelandic sagas adjacent to it; Anglo-Saxon "Poem of Beowulf", ancient German "Song of Hildebrant".
Introduction
During the early Middle Ages( V - XI centuries) literature in Western European countries varieswas written mainly in Latin,alien and incomprehensible to the people.
This was the time of the formation of feudalbuilding. With each century, the exploitation intensifiedation of the peasantry, aggravated by the unrestviolent internecine wars. Feudal lords trying to suppress popular discontenthood, instilled in the people the idea of submission andhearings. They relied on Christianchurch ideology with its preaching of humility,renunciation of earthly goods, hope in eternal blessingswomanhood in the afterlife. Culture, semi-inherited from the ancient world, cameat this time in the deepest decline. Christian-the church destroyed almost all of its treasuresthings. Monastic libraries containOnly a few handwritten books of antiquity have been preservedness. Church and monastery schools were the only center of education: after all, the saintsClerical ministers had to be able to read church books in Latin.
The Church fostered contempt for living thingsfolk language, cultivated the “sacred” Latin, incomprehensible to the people. We correspondedand the writings of the “church fathers” were distributed,spiritual poems, lives of saints.
However, the Christian worldview and auto-the authority of the church could not be completely subordinatedspiritual life of the people. During the early middle oral communication has existed and developed for centuries folk art. Unlike the scientific church kovny literature folk songs, fairy tales,legends were composed in the living languages of peoples,inhabiting European lands, reflected themlife, morals, beliefs.
When in the future these peoples began tohad its own written language, folk worksa lot of creativity were recorded. So they are up to came to us.
The topic of my essay is Western European literature of the Middle Ages, which particularly attracted my attention, since its main features are the process of formation of the European community of peoples and the formation of the phenomenon of the Western European Christian type of culture.
To the earliest works of oral folk art of medieval EuropeThe legends of the ancient Irish includecalled "Irish sagas", which arose in II - VI centuries and preserved by folk singers and bards. In the earliest of them, heroic sagas, reflects the life of the Irish clans (sowere called by the ancient Irish clan, familycommunity) in the era of the collapse of the tribal system, theircustoms, internecine wars.
The cycle of ancient Irish sagas is especially interesting of the Uladov tribe. The hero of these sagas is ska the luscious hero Cu Chulainn - gifted beyond belief natural strength, wisdom, nobility. For him, nothing is higher than duty to the clan. Cuchulainn dies defending Ireland from foreign invaders.Zemstvos who sailed from the North.
Fans belong to a later time tastic sagas - poetic tales aboutfearless Irish sailors plowingstern on their fragile boatsnorthern seas and oceans. Geographical fromroofs of the ancient Irish who knew the way toIceland and Greenland and, apparently, having reached extant to North America, depicted in ska the luscious world of fantastic sagas with their wondersnew islands and enchanted lands.
Celtic tribes to which he belongsreaped by the ancient Irish, inhabited in ancient timesfeatures of the British Isles and most of
present-day France, Belgium and Spain. Theyleft a rich poetic heritage. Noteimportant role in the further development of the Middle Ageshowl of literature played Celtic legendsabout the fairytale King Arthur and his knights,folded in Britain and then transferredto Northern France. They became known throughout Western Europe.
A great monument to early oral poetry the Middle Ages is also the “Elder Edda" - a collection of songs in Old Icelandic language that has come down to us in manuscript XIII century and so named in contrast to the Prose Edda,a slightly earlier found treatise on creativityhonor Icelandic skald singers.
In IX V. free Norwegian farmersunder the pressure of the growing feudaloppression began to move to Iceland, to an almost deserted island lost in the ocean. Here a kind of republic of free landowners arose, preserving its independence and ancient, pre-Christian culture.
The settlers also brought their poetry to Iceland. Works preserved on the islandancient Scandinavians and new ones aroseoptions closer to those existing heresocial conditions.
The most ancient songs of the Elder Eddaapparently arose in IX - X centuries, even before the crossinggoing to the island. They are closely related to traditionyami of continental Germanic tribes. In themthere are echoes of much more ancient traditions niy-VI V. The latest songs of the Edda were createdWe are already in Iceland, about XII - XIII centuries
The Elder Edda consists of mythological,heroic and morally instructive songs expounding the worldly wisdom of the early Middle Ages.
A cycle of mythological songs tells aboutgods of the ancient Scandinavians living in the heavenscity of Asgard, about the supreme deitywise Odin, his wife Frigga, about Thor -the god of thunder and lightning, the god of war Chu and co-varnom Loki - the god of fire. In the heavenly chamber -Valhalla is feasted by the gods, and with them the warriors,who died on the battlefield.
The mythology of the Edda reflected classstratification in the ancient Scandinavian tribes,change of religious cults in Old Icelandicsociety. One of the most powerful songs is “Pro-the seer's rebuke" conveys a tragic fore-feeling of disaster looming over the oldpagan world and tribal system - in itit speaks of the death of the gods, the end of the world.
The heroic songs of the Elder Edda are full ofsounds of the era of migration of peoples ( IV - VI centuries) and historical battles of this time. In laterthe songs "Edda" included memories of the "eraVikings" - ancient Scandinavian conquerorsbodies who carried out devastating raidson the coasts of Europe ( IX - XI centuries). The historical past in these songs is shrouded in hazefolk fantasy.
Of the heroic songs of the Edda, the most in-Interesting is the cycle of songs about the fairy-tale Niflungsdwarfs, blacksmiths and ore miners. Malicious-The great Loki took the treasure from them. Gold of the Niflungs,passing from hand to hand, it becomesnew bloody feud, death of heroes, deathentire tribes. The plot of this legend liesbased on the medieval German “Song of the Nibelungs”.
The songs of the Edda have developed and existed for centuries -mi in the folk environment of Iceland. Same era(X - XII centuries) at the Scandinavian courtOdals, the poetry of professional skald singers - poets-combatants, servants - flourished.who lived for their patron both by sword and by word.Among the skalds there were many people fromIceland, where poetic art stoodhigher than in other Scandinavian countries. Od-however, developing in isolation from the popular base,the poetry of the skalds gradually lost its majestythe genuine simplicity of the Edda.
Subject to a high artistic levelThe genre of prose sagas also developed in Iceland(mainly XII - XIII centuries). In them life is portrayed truthfully and comprehensivelyIcelandic people of the early medieval eraVya. Most often, such sagas were a kind offamily chronicle of a peasant family (“Sagaabout Niala"). Sometimes the saga represents the historyric narrative. For example, "The Saga ofEric the Red" talks about the Vikings, from covered in X V. way to America. Somethe sagas returned to ancient legends,famous for the songs of the Edda. In many Icelandicimportant evidence has been preserved in the sagasabout the close ties between the Scandinavian North and the ancientof Rus' (“The Saga of Olaf Trygvesen”, “The Saga of about Eymund").
Images of folk poetry of the early middlecenturies continued to live in the works of writingmodern people. Imitation of poetryCeltic poet D. Macpherson wrote in XVIII century his "Songs of Ossian". There are several wasps Sian's poems and A. S. Pushkin(“Kolna”, “Evlega”, “Osgar”).
The motives of the Edda were widely used by the Germancue composer Wagnerin his musical drama "The Ring"Nibelungs." Plots borrowed from the Eddamany works of literature, among themplot of Ibsen's drama"Warriors in Helgeland".
In the cultural history of the Middle Ages, a short-lived but very remarkable episode was the so-called Carolingian Renaissance. Its main representatives were scholar-poets of various nationalities, gathered at the court of Charlemagne.
“The leading role in the court learned society was played by the Anglo-Saxon Alcuin. Prominent writers were also those at the imperial court: Paul the Deacon of Lambardia (Paul’s main work “History of the Lombards”, “For the Glory of Lake Lara”). Theodulf is a Visigoth from Spain who wrote a number of messages and poems of scientific, theological and moral content (“Against the Judges”, “About the Lost Horse”). Valahfrid Strabane - wrote poetic lives of saints, also many epistles, hymns (“To Liutger the Cleric”). Cedulius Scott was an Irish poet, grammarian and theologian. He wrote numerous messages and epigrams (“The Book of Christian Rulers,” “The Fable of the Lion and the Fox,” “The Verse of Abbot Adam”).”
“A very significant phenomenon in the literary work of medieval Europe was the poetry of the vagants, whose homeland is considered to be France. Along with the emergence of non-church schools in XII V. And this subculture arises - in the form of poetic creativity of students of these schools, wandering around cities and villages. A peculiarity of the Vagants’ work was its strong anti-clerical orientation, which, of course, caused retaliatory measures from the church. The French vagante François Villon became most famous for his poetry; Modern composers also compose music for his works.”
In XI V. the formation of feudalnogo building. The next century was a centurytrade development and urban growth. To thattime oral folk art in the WestNew Europe has already reached a high level of development. Folk songs and legends spreadtraveling artists: in France they calledThey were jugglers, in Germany - spielmans.The jugglers' repertoire was very diverse.zen They sang satirical and love songs, told funny stories about clever schoolchildren.larks, stupid peasants, cunning go-births and greedy priests. Special honor used in France by jugglers who knew howperform so-called songs about exploits - poems about battles and exploits of knights. Theselong songs were sung in recitative on pro-stop tune to the accompaniment of a viola - self- efficient violin.
In most of the songs about the exploits of depiction huddled together, transformed by folk imagination, dramatic episodes from the wars that were fought during times of the early Middle Ages. Such poems andtales about the exploits of knights were created inthe era of the Crusades in all European countriespy. Sometimes these epic poems are poetic adaptations of older oneslegends. For example, the German “Song ofNibelungs", dedicated to the exploits of Siegfri-yes, - a reworking of the Scandinavian sagas about Sigurd. Songs about exploits were especially widespread country in Northern France. It has reached usabout eighty such songs. Many ofthey are associated with the image of Emperor Charles Ve-face. The most famous of them is the wonderfulnaya "Song of Roland", which arose around1100Its plot is connected with the actual historical Chinese event.
“The Song of Roland immediately introduces the events many years of war between the Franks and the Spanish capa Tsinami (Arabs). It tells about the heroic death of Count Roland's detachment during the retreat of Charlemagne from Spain and about the revenge of the Frankish king for the death of his nephew. The conquest of Spain is depicted in the poem as a religious war of Christians against Muslims. Roland is endowed with all the traits of an impeccable knight: he is fair, generous and insanely brave, performs feats and dies so as not to break the oath of allegiance to his lord.”
In all the “songs about exploits”reflects the ideals of the knightly erahi - military valor and honor,military friendship, loyalty of a knightto your king. But in “Song of Ro-Land" for the first time in Western Europeof poetry is expressed and generallynative view of historical events.
At the same time when in the North poems were created in Franceabout exploits in the South, independent from the North - in Provence, which differed from the North both in language and inway of life, the lyrical ical poetry.
There were many ancientchildbirth and had a stronger effectunderstanding the traditions of Roman culture.In connection with the development of the Mediterraneanmaritime trade expandedpeople's outlook, and therefore spiritual culture was higher here than in the North.
Provençal poetry, which flourished in the feudal courtsseniors, began to serve in XII - XIII centuries an unattainable exampleonly for Romance peoples, butand for the Germans and English.
The themes of Provençal poetry were varied, but the mosthad greater significance and successlove songs that reflectthe ideal of the sublime, blessednative love of the poet-knight for the red lady. Lyric poets in the south of France were called troubadours, and in the north they were called trouvères. Among the troubadours there were people of very different backgrounds. Famous trumpet-dur William of Aquitaine was the ruler of the Ger- tsog, Jaufre Rudol - feudal lordrum, and Marcabrun as a simple juggler.
Under the influence of French lyric poets poetic poetry in the 13th century V. blossoms in Germany,Italy and Spain.
In the north of France in XII – XIII centuries appeared There were also the first knightly novels - poeticand prosaic works. Like knightly poetry, knightly romance is associated with a new, courtly culture that arose at the courts of large feudal lords in XII V. Rich lords then kept professional minstrel poets in their service.
The court knightly culture was secular in nature and distinguished by a certain sophistication. Women – noble ladies – played a significant role in its formation. The knight now required not only valor, but also courtesy and subtlety of feelings.
The chivalric romance and chivalric poetry, designed for the tastes of feudal lords, embellished chivalry. Their content is sometimes conditional. Elements of convention and artificiality can befound in the poetry of the troubadours. At the same timeI must say that it is these genres that are againstasserted the importance of church sermons interest in earthly life, natural feelingsyou people. They contributed to the development of new,realistic literature, the flowering of whichcomes during the Renaissance.
Unlike the heroic feudal epic(“songs about exploits”) the main place in the knightIn romance novels, the theme is love and that’s allpossible, often fantastic, featsknights. The knight performs his exploits inhonor of the “lady of the heart” or only for the purposeto gain fame for yourself. Although most chivalric romances written in verse, creatingThey were trained not for singing, but for reading.
The plots of chivalric novels were drawn fromtori from ancient legends or from books sources.
The most interesting series of works by the groupfeasts around the legendary Britishthe role of Arthur (“Knights of the Round Table”). Naimore gifted authors of chivalric novels -Frenchman Benoit de Saint-Maur, who converted intoin the spirit of chivalric romances, the plots of Homer's poemsand Virgil; his illustrious compatriotNick, a wonderful poet Chrétiende Troyes, author of a number of novels, including one about a knightLancelot; Wolfram von Eschenbach, GermanMinnesinger, author of a huge poem in 25,000lines - “Parsifal”; his compatriot Gottfried of Strasbourg, author of highly artisticthorough processing of the plot of Tristan and Isolde.
“One of the most popular reworkings of thisThe plot belongs to the pen of a French scholar nogo XX V. J. Bedier. It talks about lifeknight Tristan and his love for the beautifulQueen Isolde. A magical love potion they drank by mistake bound them together.eternally high and irresistible feeling of lovein and. Everything interferes with the feelings of lovers, but notdangers and the laws of the feudal world cannot kill the love of Tristan and Isolde.
It is characteristic that, showing the moral torment of Tristan, who violated the duty of a vassal and fell in love with the wife of his king, the medievalGreat authors give all their sympathy to the lovers.It was in knightly literature that for the first time in the eraMiddle Ages, a statement was made highly the first human feeling – love.”
“At the beginning of XIII V. was built like a charmerThis is the story “Aucassin and Nicolet”, which tells about the love of the noble young man Aucassin and the captive Saracen woman Nicolet. The story begins with the words:
Who wants to hear a poem
For the young lovers,
A Tale of Joys and Troubles
"Aucassin and Nicolet"?
In the story there is no usual glorification of the knight -valor. The author sympathizes with Aucassin, who prefers a peaceful life to battles.”
Already in XII V. due to the growth of citiesUrban literature is also evolving. The literature of the townspeople, born in a working environment, wasconnected with real life and fermented withyeast of folk art. Heroes of thisliterature - a smart city dweller and awhat a peasant - with his cunning deedskami leave arrogant seniors in the coldand greedy priests. Urban genres, mostlythe property of satirical literature is very differentnovel. This is a fable, a story, and a drama.ical works.
The greatest distribution then was semi-read short poetic stories withinteresting plot. In France they were calledThey were called “fablio”, in Germany – “schwanks”.
Close to fabliaux in style and content“The Novel about the Fox,” which combines manyfables and fairy tales. Created in France in XII – XIII centuries, it soon became widespreadopinion in other countries as well. Charactershere are animals: the resourceful fox Renard, the rude and stupid Isengrim, the bear Bren, the cat Tiber and others.
Literature of the Middle Ages
The formation of medieval culture
The term "Middle Ages" arose during the Renaissance. The thinkers of the Italian Renaissance understood it as the dark “middle” centuries in the development of European culture, a time of general decline, lying in the middle between the brilliant era of antiquity and the Renaissance itself, a new flowering of European culture, a revival of ancient ideals. And although later, in the era of romanticism, a “bright image” of the Middle Ages arose, both of these assessments of the Middle Ages created extremely one-sided images of this most important stage in the development of Western European culture.
In reality, everything was much more complicated. It was a complex, diverse, contradictory culture, just as medieval society was a complex hierarchical formation.
Western European medieval culture represents a qualitatively new stage in the development of European culture, following antiquity and covering more than a thousand-year period (V - XV centuries).
The transition from ancient civilization to the Middle Ages was due, firstly, to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.
Secondly, the Great Migration of Peoples (from the 4th to the 7th centuries), during which dozens of tribes rushed to conquer new lands. From 375, when the first Visigoth troops crossed the Danube border of the empire, until 455 (the capture of Rome by the Vandals), the painful process of extinction of the greatest civilization continued. The Western Roman Empire, experiencing a deep internal crisis, was unable to withstand the waves of barbarian invasions and ceased to exist in 476. As a result of barbarian conquests, dozens of barbarian kingdoms arose on its territory.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the history of the Western European Middle Ages begins (the Eastern Roman Empire - Byzantium - existed for another 1000 years - until the middle of the 15th century)
The formation of medieval culture occurred as a result of a dramatic and contradictory process of collision between two cultures - ancient and barbarian, accompanied, on the one hand, by violence, the destruction of ancient cities, and the loss of outstanding achievements of ancient culture (thus, the capture of Rome by the Vandals in 455 became a symbol of the destruction of cultural values – “vandalism”), on the other hand, – the interaction and gradual merging of Roman and barbarian cultures.
The formation of medieval culture occurred as a result of the interaction of two principles: the culture of barbarian tribes (Germanic beginning) and ancient culture (Romanesque beginning). The third and most important factor that determined the process of formation of European culture was Christianity. Christianity became not only its spiritual basis, but also the integrating principle that allows us to talk about Western European culture as a single integral culture.
Medieval culture is the result of a complex, contradictory synthesis of ancient traditions, the culture of barbarian peoples and Christianity.
Periodization of medieval culture
There are the early Middle Ages - V-IX centuries, mature or high (classical) Middle Ages - X-XIII centuries. and later Middle Ages - XIV-XV centuries. Medieval literature is divided into clerical and secular.
Features of medieval literature
1. Medieval literature was literature of the traditionalist type. Throughout its existence, it developed on the basis of the constant reproduction of a limited set of figurative, ideological, compositional and other structures - topoi (commonplaces) or cliches, expressed in the constancy of epithets, pictorial cliches, the stability of motives and themes, the constancy of canons for depicting all figurative systems (be it a young man in love, a Christian martyr, a knight, a beauty, an emperor, a townsman, etc.). On the basis of these clichés, genre topoi were formed that had their own semantic, thematic and visual-expressive canon (for example, the genre of hagiography or “visions” in clerical literature or the genre of courtly novel in knightly literature).
Medieval people found in literature a generally accepted, traditional model, a ready-made universal formula for describing the hero, his feelings, appearance, etc. (beauties are always golden-headed and blue-eyed, rich people are stingy, saints have a traditional set of virtues, etc.).
2. The formation of medieval topics was significantly influenced by the literature of antiquity. In episcopal schools of the early Middle Ages, students, in particular, read “exemplary” works of ancient authors (Aesop’s fables, works of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Juvenal, etc.), learned ancient topics and used them in their own writings.
The ambivalent attitude of the Middle Ages towards ancient culture as primarily pagan led to the selective assimilation of ancient cultural traditions and their adaptation to express Christian spiritual values and ideals. In literature, this was expressed in the overlay of ancient topics on the topics of the Bible, the main source of the figurative system of medieval literature, which sanctified the spiritual values and ideals of medieval society.
3. A pronounced moral and didactic character. Medieval people expected morality from literature; without morality, the whole meaning of the work was lost for him.
4. The literature of the Middle Ages is based on Christian ideals and values and strives for aesthetic perfection.
Official clerical literature
In clerical literature, didacticism is clearly expressed. It widely uses ancient and biblical topics.
Throughout the centuries-long development of the Middle Ages, hagiography—ecclesiastical literature describing the lives of saints—was especially popular. By the 10th century the canon of this literary genre was formed: the indestructible, strong spirit of the hero (martyr, missionary, fighter for the Christian faith), a classic set of virtues, constant formulas of praise. The life of the saint offered the highest moral lesson and captivated people with examples of righteous life. Hagiographic literature is characterized by the motif of a miracle, which corresponded to popular ideas about holiness. The popularity of the lives led to the fact that excerpts from them - “legends” (for example, the famous legends about St. Francis of Assisi /1181/1182 - 1226/, who founded the mendicant order of Franciscans) began to be read in church, and the lives themselves were collected into extensive collections. The “Golden Legend” of Jacob of Voragin (13th century), a collection of the lives of Catholic saints, became widely known in medieval Europe.
The penchant of the Middle Ages for allegory and allegory was expressed by the genre of visions. According to medieval ideas, the highest meaning is revealed only by revelation - vision. In the genre of visions, the fate of people and the world was revealed to the author in a dream. Visions often told about real historical figures, which contributed to the popularity of the genre. Visions had a significant influence on the development of later medieval literature, starting from the famous French “Roman of the Rose” (13th century), in which the motif of visions (“revelations in a dream”) is clearly expressed, to Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.
The genre of didactic-allegorical poem (about the Last Judgment, the Fall, etc.) is adjacent to visions.
Didactic genres also include sermons, various kinds of maxims (moralizing sayings), borrowed both from the Bible and from ancient satirical poets. Sentences were collected in special collections, original textbooks of worldly wisdom.
Among the lyrical genres of clerical literature, the dominant position was occupied by hymns glorifying the patron saints of monasteries and church holidays. The hymns had their own canon. The composition of a hymn about saints, for example, included an opening, a panegyric to the saint, a description of his exploits, a prayer to him asking for intercession, etc.
Liturgy is the main Christian service, known since the 2nd century, and is strictly canonical and symbolic in nature. The origins of liturgical drama date back to the early Middle Ages. Its origins are dialogic insertions into the canonical text of the liturgy, the so-called tropes, which arose at the end of the 9th – 10th centuries. Initially, these dialogues were accompanied by pantomime, gradually turning into skits, and then into small plays based on biblical scenes, performed by priests or singers near the altar. The Catholic Church supported liturgical drama with its pronounced didacticism. By the end of the 11th century. liturgical drama has lost touch with liturgy. In addition to dramatizing biblical episodes, she began to act out the lives of saints and use elements of the theater itself - scenery. The intensification of the entertainment and spectacle of drama, the penetration of the worldly principle into it forced the church to take dramatic performances outside the temple - first to the porch, and then to the city square. Liturgical drama became the basis for the emergence of medieval city theater.
Clerical lyrics
Clerical lyrics originate from the work of vagantes (from Latin - “wandering”) (XI - XIII centuries). Their music was addressed to the spiritual elite of medieval society - the educated part of it, who knew how to appreciate poetic creativity. The songs were written in Latin. The creators of the vagant lyrics were wandering clergy, mainly half-educated students who had not found a place for themselves in the church hierarchy. The vagantes were educated people, personally independent, as if they had “fallen out” of the social structure of medieval society, and were financially insecure - these features of their position contributed to the development of the thematic and stylistic unity of their lyrics.
Like all Latin literature of this period, the lyrics of the vagantes are based on ancient and Christian traditions (the sources of the satire of the vagantes are Juvenal and the biblical prophets, the sources of erotic themes are Ovid and the Song of Songs). The poetic heritage of the Vagants is wide and varied: these include poems glorifying sensual love, taverns and wine, and works exposing the sins of monks and priests, parodies of liturgical texts, flattering and even impudent petitionary poems. The Vagantes also composed religious chants, didactic and allegorical poems, but this theme occupied an insignificant place in their work.
The creativity of vagants is mostly anonymous. Few names are known, among them – Hugon, nicknamed “Primate (Elder) of Orleans” (late 11th – mid-12th centuries), Archipite (12th century), Walter of Chatillon (second half of the 12th century). The anti-ascetic, anti-church literature of the Vagants was persecuted by the Catholic Church. By the end of the 13th century. Vagant poetry came to naught due to repression imposed by the church, and unable to withstand competition from secular rivals - with the new language poetry of the Provençal troubadours, French trouvères and German minnesingers.
Secular culture
Although medieval culture had ideological, spiritual and artistic integrity, the dominance of Christianity did not make it completely homogeneous. One of its essential features was the emergence of a secular culture in it, which reflected the cultural self-awareness and spiritual ideals of the military-aristocratic class of medieval society - knighthood and the new social stratum that emerged in the mature Middle Ages - the townspeople.
Secular culture, being one of the components of Western European medieval culture, remained Christian in nature. At the same time, the very image and lifestyle of the knights and townspeople predetermined their focus on earthly things, developed special views, ethical standards, traditions, and cultural values.
Before the urban culture itself was formed, secular spirituality began to establish itself in knightly culture.
Knightly culture as a component of secular culture
The creator and bearer of knightly culture was the military class, which originated in the 7th – 8th centuries, when conventional forms of feudal land tenure developed. Chivalry, a special privileged layer of medieval society, over the centuries developed its own traditions and unique ethical standards, its own views on all life relationships. The formation of the ideas, customs, and morality of chivalry was largely facilitated by the Crusades and his acquaintance with the Eastern tradition.
The heyday of knightly culture occurred in the 12th-13th centuries, which was due, firstly, to its final formation into an independent and powerful class, and secondly, to the introduction of knighthood to education (in the previous period, most of it was illiterate).
If in the early Middle Ages knightly values were mainly of a military-heroic nature, then by the 12th century specifically knightly ideals and knightly culture were being formed.
The duties of a knight included not only protecting the honor and dignity of the overlord. Tradition required the knight to follow certain “rules of honor,” the so-called “code of knightly honor.” The basis of the code is the idea of fidelity to duty, the code regulated the rules of combat, etc. Knightly virtues included noble behavior in battle, duel, generosity, and courage. Tradition required the knight to know the rules of court etiquette, to be able to behave in society, to court a lady in a refined manner, to treat a woman nobly, and to protect the humiliated and insulted. The “seven knightly virtues,” along with horse riding, fencing, swimming, playing checkers, and skillful handling of a spear, also included worshiping and serving the lady of the heart, writing and singing poems in her honor.
These ideals formed the basis of the idea of specifically knightly behavior - courtoisie (from the French court - yard). COURTYOSITY, courtliness is a medieval concept of love, according to which the relationship between a lover and his Lady is similar to the relationship between a vassal and his master. The most important influence on the formation of the ideal of courtly love was the Roman poet Ovid (1st century), whose poetic “treatise” - “The Art of Love” - became a kind of encyclopedia of the behavior of a knight in love with a Beautiful Lady: he trembles with love, does not sleep, he is pale, may die from the unrequited feeling. Ideas about such a model of behavior became more complicated due to Christian ideas about the cult of the Virgin Mary - in this case, the Beautiful Lady whom the knight served became the image of his spiritual love. The influence of Arab mystical philosophy, which developed the concept of Platonic feeling, was also significant.
Thus, by the 12th century. knightly values were systematized and universalized, they were given a broad ethical meaning. These new values formed the basis of secular, so-called courtly literature - knightly lyrics and knightly romance. It arose in the 12th century. simultaneously with the medieval heroic epic. However, if the latter expressed a national ideal, then courtly literature was oriented toward a specific class environment.
It should be noted that during the high Middle Ages, along with the separation of literature from historical, religious, scientific, etc. works, the gap between folk culture and elite culture is widening (in the previous period, the entire sphere of poetic creativity predominantly reflected the national ideal). The classical Middle Ages contrasted the folk heroic epic with the chivalric romance, and the folk lyric poetry with the poetry of trouvères, troubadours and minningers.
Knightly poetry
At the end of the 11th century. in Provence, the lyrical chivalric poetry of the troubadours (approximate translation - “composing verses”) arose. The next two centuries were the time of the highest flowering of troubadour poetry, which became the first secular lyric poetry of the Middle Ages and marked the end of the dominance of church poetry. The themes of the troubadours' poetic creativity are extensive - poems were dedicated to knightly virtues, but the main theme is courtly love (the very concept of "courtiness", the cult of a beautiful lady as a new aesthetic ideal, were first developed in the poetry of the troubadours).
Among the troubadours, lyrical works were first heard in the popular language (before them, Western European medieval literature was written only in Latin, while folk culture was unwritten). For the first time, poetic creativity became the work of the laity, and not exclusively of clergy. The troubadours' lyrics incorporated literary elements of church Latin poetry, folklore, and Arabic influences are also noticeable in it. The troubadours also created a new image of the author - a person who serves only Beauty.
The most famous courtly poet was Bernard de Ventadorn (12th century). Among the troubadours are Bertrand de Born (died in 1210), Peire Vidal (XII century), Guillaume de Cabestany (late 12th century), Guillaume IX, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitiers (1071 - 1127). Poems were also written by noble women, the most famous of them being the Duchess of Aquitaine Alienora.
The traditions of Provençal lyricism were continued by German poets - minnesingers (“singers of love”) - authors of German secular poetry. German knightly lyrics - minnesang - were strongly influenced by Provençal lyrics. At the same time, the work of the Minnesingers has a number of features.
The Minnesingers themselves composed music for their works, but they were, as a rule, distributed by traveling singers - shpilmans. Although the main theme of the Minnesingers’ work was the celebration of refined feelings for a beautiful lady, like their Provençal predecessors, their poetry is more restrained, sad, prone to didacticism, and often painted in religious tones (while remaining mostly secular). The most prominent Minnesingers were Heinrich von Feldeke, Friedrich von Hausen, Wolfram von Eschenbach and others.
Creativity of the Minnesingers of the 13th – 14th centuries. reflects the emerging crisis of knightly culture. This is especially noticeable in the poetry of Neidhart von Reienthal, where everyday sketches and scenes of common people’s life (alien to knightly lyrics) are not uncommon. Followers of Neidhart von Reienthal gravitate toward the forms of folk dance songs and ridicule “courtiness” as a style of behavior and life. In the XIV – XV centuries. The decline of the Minnesang begins, associated with the crisis of knightly ideology. Chivalry begins to lose its significance as the main military force of the state due to the formation of combat-ready infantry.
In the XIV century. in the ideology of chivalry, the gap between dreams, ideals and reality begins to widen. The chivalric ethics with its principles of loyalty to duty, suzerain, and lady is experiencing a deep crisis. In the new conditions, “courtiness” itself becomes an anachronism, and the knights themselves, in the changed historical conditions, turn to poetry less and less. Courtly poetry is giving way to literature, becoming increasingly an object of ridicule and parody.
Romance
Contrary to religious works glorifying asceticism, knightly literature sang of earthly joys and expressed hope for the triumph of justice already in this earthly life. Knightly literature did not reflect reality, but embodied only ideal ideas about a knight. The image of a chivalric novel is a hero striving for glory, performing miraculous feats (knights in them often fought with dragons and sorcerers). The novel heavily features complex symbolism and allegories, although there is also a realistic element to it. The plot often contains real information on history, geography, etc. The author of a courtly novel was most often a cleric, as a rule, a citizen of humble origin or a poor knight.
Romances of chivalry first appeared in France. Perhaps their most famous author was Chrétien de Troyes (12th century), who used ancient tradition and the Celtic heroic epic in his works.
One of the three most extensive epic cycles developed in medieval literature was the so-called Arthurian cycle. Arthur is a semi-mythical figure, apparently one of the heroes of the struggle of the Celts against the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The chronicle of Arthur was first recorded in the 12th century. Arthur and his twelve loyal knights defeat the Anglo-Saxons in many battles. Another legend is closely connected with the legend about the kingdom of Arthur - about the Holy Grail - the communion cup in which the blood of Christ was collected. The Grail became a symbol of the mystical knightly principle, the personification of the highest ethical perfection.
Although adaptations of the Celtic Arthurian legends were common themes in many chivalric romances, Chrétien de Troyes composed the first adaptations of these famous tales. The fairytale King Arthur and his court became a model of courtliness. Among Arthur's 12 knights, Percival and Lancelot stood out especially for their exploits. The legends of the Arthurian cycle formed the basis for the novels of Chretien de Troyes “Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart”, “Percival, or the Tale of the Grail”, etc. During the same period, Mary of France composed her songs. Celtic legends about King Arthur inspired Wolfram von Eschenbach (12th century) to create the extensive novel Parzival, glorifying true chivalry and high ethical ideals.
The tale of the love of Tristan and Isolde (12th century) became the plot for numerous chivalric romances, of which only fragments have reached us. The novel was restored by the French scientist J. Bedier at the beginning of the 20th century. The plot goes back to Irish legends. Knight Tristan ends up in Ireland in search of a bride for his relative, King Mark. In the king's daughter Isolde Golden-haired, he recognizes Mark's destined bride. On the ship, Tristan and Isolde accidentally drink a love potion prepared by Isolde's mother and intended for Isolde and her husband. Love breaks out between Tristan and Isolde. True to his duty, Tristan leaves for Brittany and gets married there. At the end of the novel, the mortally wounded hero asks to meet his beloved, who alone can heal him. He is waiting for a ship with a white sail - Isolde's ship. However, a jealous wife tells Tristan that a ship with a black sail is sailing. Tristan dies. Isolde, who arrived to him, dies of despair.
By the 14th century In connection with the onset of the crisis of knightly ideology, the courtly novel gradually declines, losing touch with reality, increasingly becoming the object of parodies.
Urban culture
In the X-XI centuries. In Western Europe, old cities begin to grow and new ones emerge. A new way of life, a new vision of the world, a new type of people was emerging in the cities. Based on the emergence of the city, new social strata of medieval society were formed - townspeople, guild artisans and merchants. They unite in guilds and workshops that protect the interests of their members. With the emergence of cities, the craft itself becomes more complex; it requires special training. New social relations are being formed in the cities - the artisan is personally free, protected from arbitrariness by the workshop. Gradually, large cities, as a rule, managed to overthrow the power of the lord, and urban self-government arose in such cities. Cities were centers of trade, including foreign trade, which contributed to greater awareness among citizens and broadening their horizons. The city dweller, independent of any authority other than the magistrate, saw the world differently from the peasant. Striving for success, he became a new type of personality.
The formation of new social strata of society had a huge impact on the further development of medieval culture, the nation, and the formation of the education system.
The freedom-loving orientation of urban culture and its connections with folk art are most clearly reflected in urban literature. Although at the early stage of the development of urban culture there was a demand for clerical literature - lives of saints, stories of miracles, etc. – was still great, these works themselves changed: psychologism increased, artistic elements intensified.
In urban freedom-loving, anti-church literature, an independent layer is being formed, parodying the main points of church cult and doctrine (both in Latin and in folk languages). Numerous parodic liturgies have been preserved (for example, the “Liturgy of Drunkards”), parodies of prayers, psalms, and church hymns.
In parodic literature in folk languages, the main place is occupied by secular parodies that ridicule knightly heroics (for example, a comic double of Roland appears). Parody romances of chivalry, parody epics of the Middle Ages are created - animal, picaresque, stupid. So, in the 13th century. Numerous stories about animals - the cunning fox Renan, the stupid wolf Isengrin and the simple lion Noble, in whose behavior human traits were easily discernible, were brought together and translated into poetry. This is how the extensive epic poem “The Romance of the Fox” appeared.
One of the most popular genres of French urban medieval literature of the 12th – 14th centuries. were fabliaux (from the French - fable - fable). Fabliaux are short funny stories in verse, comic everyday stories. The anonymous authors of this genre of urban literature were townspeople and traveling singers and musicians. The hero of these short stories was most often a commoner. Fabliaux are closely connected with folk culture (folk figures of speech, an abundance of folklore motifs, comedy and speed of action). Fabliaux entertained, taught, praised townspeople and peasants, and condemned the vices of the rich and priests. Often the plot of fabliaux was love stories. Fabliaux reflected the love of life of the townspeople, their faith in the triumph of justice.
Thematically, fabliaux is related to schwank (from German - joke) - a genre of German urban medieval literature. Schwank, like the fabliau, is a short humorous story in verse, later in prose. Originating in the 13th century, Schwank was very loved by German burghers not only in the Middle Ages, but also in the Renaissance. The plot of the Schwank was often based on folklore, and later on the short story of the early Renaissance. Schwank had an anti-clerical character, ridiculing the vices of the Catholic Church. Anonymous authors of fabliaux and schwanks contrasted their works with elite knightly literature. Cheerfulness, rudeness, and satirical ridicule of the knights were a kind of response to the spiritual elite and its sophisticated culture.
Urban literature XIV – XV centuries. reflected the growth of social self-awareness of the townspeople, who increasingly became the subject of spiritual life. German poets appeared in urban poetry - singers from the craft-guild environment - Meistersinger (literally - master singer). They learned in their singing schools the canonical manner of performing the songs of the Minnesingers, whom they replaced. Religious and didactic motives were not completely alien to the poetry of the Mastersingers, although their work was mainly of a secular nature. The most famous Mastersingers were G. Sachs, H. Folz, G. Vogel and others.
During the same period, a new genre of urban literature appeared - a prose short story, in which the townspeople appear as independent, shrewd, success-seeking, and life-loving people.
City Theater
By the 13th century. refers to the emergence of the city theater.
Medieval folk theater has its roots in the liturgical drama of the Catholic Church. As already noted, by the time of the late Middle Ages, entertainment and spectacle began to prevail in it, and the church was forced to move dramatic performances to the city square, which further strengthened the secular element in them.
Around the same period, secular farces spread - humorous scenes in which the life of townspeople was realistically depicted. Later, farce began to be called an independent form of medieval performance - satirical, often frivolous content, the characters of which represented certain social types. Farce became the main folk genre of medieval theater. At this time, folk plays and pastorals appeared, mostly by anonymous authors.
From the 13th century A special genre of drama in verse - a morality play - is becoming widespread - an allegorical play with a moralizing character. The characters in the morality play personified Christian virtues and vices. By the 15th century morality plays have undergone great changes. Although their plots remained based on Christian themes, they became allegorical dramas performed by professional actors. The straightforwardness and edifying morality were preserved, but the strengthening of the comic element and the introduction of music into the performance created a form of folk drama.
XIV-XV centuries - the heyday of urban civil architecture. Rich townspeople build big, beautiful houses. Feudal castles are gradually turning into country houses, losing their function as military fortresses. The production of luxury goods is growing, and the clothing of noble citizens is becoming richer and more colorful. As the importance of capital grows, class differences between aristocrats and burghers begin to gradually disappear. At the same time, the social position of the third estate was also undergoing changes. The medieval social structure of society is increasingly destroyed. All this reflects the deep crisis of the Middle Ages. The decline of medieval culture is gradually coming.
Folk culture of medieval western Europe
Throughout the Middle Ages, remnants of paganism and elements of folk religion were preserved in folk culture. Centuries after the adoption of Christianity, Western European peasants continued to secretly pray and make sacrifices to the old pagan shrines. Under the influence of Christianity, many pagan deities were transformed into evil demons. Special magical rituals were performed in case of crop failure, drought, etc. Ancient beliefs in sorcerers and werewolves persisted among peasants throughout the Middle Ages. To combat evil spirits, various amulets were widely used, both verbal (all kinds of spells) and material (amulets, talismans). In almost every medieval village one could meet a witch who could not only cause damage, but also heal.
Heroic epic
The collective memory of the people was a heroic epic, which reflected their spiritual life, ideals and values. The origins of the Western European heroic epic lie in the depths of the barbarian era. Only by the VIII - IX centuries. The first records of epic works were compiled. The early stage of epic poetry, associated with the formation of early feudal war poetry - Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Old Scandinavian - has reached us only in fragments.
The early epic of Western European peoples arose as a result of the interaction of a heroic fairy tale-song and a primitive mythological epic about the first ancestors - “cultural heroes”, who were considered the ancestors of the tribe.
The heroic epic has come to us in the form of grandiose epics, songs, in mixed poetic and song form, and less often in prose.
The oldest Icelandic literature by time of origin includes skaldic poetry, Eddic songs and Icelandic sagas (prose tales). The most ancient songs of the skalds have been preserved only in the form of quotations from the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century. According to Icelandic tradition, skalds had social and religious influence, and were brave and strong people. The poetry of the skalds is dedicated to the praise of some feat and the gift received for it. Skaldic poetry is unknown to lyricism; it is heroic poetry in the literal sense of the word. The poems of about 250 skalds have survived to this day. The first of the Icelandic sagas, “Egil’s Saga,” tells about one of them, the famous warrior poet Egil Skallagrimson (10th century).
Along with the original poetry of the skalds in Iceland during the same period, songs about gods and heroes, which were works of an impersonal tradition, were also widely known. Their main content is the main mythological subjects - the exploits of gods and heroes, tales of the origin of the world, its end and rebirth, etc. These songs were recorded approximately in the middle of the 13th century. and are conventionally united by the title “Elder Edda”. The date of origin of one or another of the Eddic songs has not been established; some of them go back to the Viking Age (IX - XI centuries).
The Icelandic sagas are dedicated to events that took place a century after the settlement of Iceland by the Norwegians (“the age of the sagas” - 930 - 1030). Compiled in prose form, they tell about the most famous representatives of individual clans, about tribal feuds, military campaigns, fights, etc. The number of heroes of the sagas is very significant, as is their volume. The huge body of sagas is like a vast epic, the heroes of which are thousands of Icelanders acting at approximately the same time. The unnamed authors of the Icelandic sagas describe not only events, but also the morals, psychology, and faith of their time, expressing the collective opinion of the people.
Celtic epic is the oldest European literature. Irish sagas originated in the 1st century. AD and took shape over several centuries. They have existed in written form since the 7th century. – (came down to us in the records of the 12th century). The early Irish sagas are mythological and heroic. Their content is the pagan beliefs of the ancient Celts, the mythical history of the settlement of Ireland. In the heroic sagas, the main character Cuchulainn reflected the national ideal of the people - a fearless warrior, honest, strong, generous. In the heroic sagas, a lot of space is devoted to the description of the fights of Cuchulainn.
The Fenian cycle dates back to the 12th century. His hero is Finn MacCool, his son the singer Oisin and their army. This cycle existed in many editions, a number of them tell about Oisin’s wanderings to wonderful countries and about his return to Ireland after its Christianization. In the dialogues between Oisin and St. Patrick compares the life of the people before and after Christianization.
Although the ancient Irish sagas were recorded already in the 12th century, up to the 17th century. they continued to exist in the form of oral tradition, eventually taking the form of Irish folk tales and ballads.
The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, dating back to the late 7th and early 8th centuries, was formed on the basis of earlier oral heroic songs. The hero of the epic is a brave knight from the South Scandinavian tribe of Gauts, who saves the Danish king Hrothgar who is in trouble. The hero performs three miraculous feats. He defeats the monster Grendal, who exterminated the king's warriors. Having mortally wounded Grendal and defeated his mother, who was avenging her son, Beowulf becomes king of the Gauts. Being already old, he accomplishes his last feat - he destroys the terrible dragon, taking revenge on the Gauts for the golden cup stolen from him. The hero dies in a duel with the dragon.
Beowulf is a bizarre interweaving of mythology, folklore and historical events. Snake fighting, three wonderful duels are elements of a folk tale. At the same time, the hero himself, fighting for the interests of his tribe, his tragic death are characteristic features of a heroic epic, historical in its core (some names and events described in the epic are found in the history of the ancient Germans). Since the formation of the epic dates back to the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th centuries, i.e. more than a century after the adoption of Christianity by the Anglo-Saxons, Christian elements are also found in Beowulf.
In the 12th century. The first written monuments of the medieval heroic epic appear in adaptations. Being original, they are based on the folk heroic epic. The images of the medieval epic are in many ways similar to the images of traditional epic heroes - they are fearless warriors, valiantly defending their country, brave, faithful to their duty.
The heroic medieval epic in an idealized form reflects the popular norms of heroic behavior; it reflects, in a synthesized form, the people's ideas about royal power, the squad, and heroes; it is permeated with the spirit of popular patriotism.
At the same time, since the medieval heroic epic in its adaptations was created during a period of already quite developed culture of its time, traces of the influence of knightly and religious ideas of the era of its creation are obvious in it. The heroes of the medieval epic are faithful defenders of the Christian faith (Sid, Roland), vassals devoted to their lords.
In medieval literature, three extensive epic cycles were developed - about Alexander the Great, about King Arthur and about Charlemagne. The last two were the most popular, because... Alexander the Great lived in the pre-Christian era.
The Carolingian epic centers on the Spanish war. Unlike King Arthur, the hero of the Carolingian epic is a real historical figure - Charlemagne. At the center of the epic about the Spanish War is the glorification of the feat of Charlemagne’s nephew Roland, which served as the basis for one of the early monuments of the medieval heroic epic - the French “Song of Roland”. The poem was composed during the era of the Crusades. (In the middle of the 11th century, it was widely known - it was sung by the troops of William the Conqueror before the battle of Hastings in 1066.) Its earliest manuscript dates back to the 12th century. The historical basis of the “Song” is Charlemagne’s campaign in Spain in 778 with the goal of forcefully introducing Christianity among the Moors. (The folk tale connected the events of 778 with the struggle of the Franks against the Arab invasion of Europe.) However, Charlemagne’s attempt was unsuccessful - the Moors destroyed the retreating Franks in the Roncesvalles Gorge. This event became the plot of the heroic song, and later it was literary processed and formed the basis of the “Song of Roland” (although the poem is based on historical events and personalities, there is a lot of fiction in it). The main character of the “Song” is a historical figure; he is mentioned in the chronicle of Charlemagne as a noble feudal lord.
The hero of the poem, Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne, advises the king to send his stepfather Ganelon to negotiate with the Saracen king Marsilius. However, the latter betrays the Franks by concluding a secret agreement with Marsilius. Seeking revenge on his stepson for the risky mission, Ganelon advises Charles to leave the Roncesvalles Gorge, leaving only Roland's warriors there. The Moors destroy the hero's detachment, Roland himself dies last, remembering his fallen warriors. Ganelon, who betrayed the hero, was condemned to a shameful death.
The Spanish epic - “The Song of My Cid” - was composed during the period of the “Reconquista” (12th century), the time of the Spaniards’ struggle to return the lands captured by the Moors. The prototype of the hero of the poem was a historical figure - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (the Moors called him “Sid”, i.e. master).
The Song tells how the Cid, exiled by King Alfonso of Castile, wages a brave fight against the Moors. As a reward for his victories, Alphonse wooed Sid's daughters to noble infantes from Carrion. The second part of the “Song” tells about the treachery of Sid’s sons-in-law and his revenge for the desecrated honor of his daughters.
The absence of fiction, the realistic depiction of the life and customs of the Spaniards of that time, the very language of the “song”, close to the folk language, make “The Song of My Cid” the most realistic epic in medieval literature.
An outstanding monument of the German epic - “The Song of the Nibelungs” - was written down around 1225. The plot of the “Song” is based on ancient German legends from the time of the Great Migration of Peoples - the death of one of the German kingdoms - the Burgundian - as a result of the invasion of the Huns (437). However, it is extremely difficult to recognize this historical episode from the era of nomad invasions in the Song. Only a distant echo of those distant events can be heard.
The Dutch prince Siegfried woos the Burgundian queen Kriemhilde and helps her brother Gunther deceive the Queen of Iceland Brunhilde as his wife. Years later, Brünnhilde discovers the deception and orders Siegfried to be killed (the brother of his wife Krimhilda is involved in the conspiracy against Siegfried). The kings lure the golden treasure of the fabulous Nibelungs from Kriemgilda, and Siegfried's killer hides it in the Rhine. Krimgilda vows to take revenge for the treacherous death of her husband (killed by a stab in the back). She marries the king of the Huns, Attila, and after some time invites all her relatives with their warriors to the Hunnic land (in the “Song” the Burgundians appear under the name of the Nibelungs). During the feast, Krimgilda deliberately starts a quarrel, during which the entire Burgundian family dies. Krimgilda herself dies at the hands of the only surviving warrior...
Folklore of Western European peoples
The bearers of folklore traditions were the peasantry. The folklore tradition, ritual in origin, had a huge influence on the formation of medieval literature, incl. clerical. Although folk poetry was not written down in the Middle Ages, its themes, images, and rhythm had a huge influence on later genres of medieval poetry (knightly and urban lyrics).
Traces of pagan beliefs of peasants can be traced in folklore, especially in fairy tales and sayings. Peasant folklore expresses a negative attitude towards the rich. The favorite hero of Western European fairy tales is the poor man. Heroes of folk tales often became Jean the Fool in France, Stupid Hans in Germany, and the Great Fool in England.
Secular and ecclesiastical literature used fairy-tale material from the Middle Ages quite widely. Around 1100, the Spaniard Petrus of Alphonse compiled a whole collection, which included 34 stories, including a number of tales about animals - “common stories”. The clergy compilers gave these stories a moralistic interpretation.
Fairy tale-narrative material was widely used in chivalric novels, in the short stories of Mary of France (12th century), in urban short stories of the 14th – 15th centuries, and in individual works of the Mastersingers.
However, in all cases, this is only material; often only individual episodes, motives and details are used. Only from the middle of the 16th century. we can talk about the introduction of fairy tales themselves into literature.
Various kinds of evil spirits are a frequent hero of Western European folk tales. In many stories, the characters are animals with human abilities. In the 13th century These numerous stories were combined and translated into poetry - this is how the already mentioned famous medieval folk poem “The Romance of the Fox” arose.
Peasant ideas about a just life, about nobility and honor are heard in tales about noble robbers protecting the orphans and the disadvantaged.
Anglo-Scottish ballads based on this subject became a genre of medieval folk art. Their anonymous authors were peasants, artisans, and sometimes the ballads were composed by professional minstrel singers. These works circulated among the people. The time of the birth of the ballad as a genre of folk art is unknown. The earliest ballad dates back to the 13th century.
English and Scottish ballads are divided into several groups: ballads of epic content, which are based on real historical events, so-called robber ballads, lyrical-dramatic love ballads, fantastic and everyday ones.
The hero of the robber ballads is the noble Robin Hood, the folk hero of England, and his army. The first ballads about Robin Hood were recorded in the 15th century. In the ballad it is easy to trace the sympathy of the people for the forest shooters who went into the forest as a result of oppression. For the first time in European poetry, a person of ignoble origin became the ideal. Unlike the knights, Robin Hood fights against the oppressors of the people. All the good feelings and deeds of the brave archer extend only to the people.
The main thing in the plot of love ballads is the celebration not of a feat in the name of a beautiful lady (as in chivalric poetry), but of a genuine feeling, the emotional experiences of lovers.
Fantastic ballads reflected the beliefs of the people. The supernatural world with its fairies, elves and other fantastic characters appears in these ballads as a real, actual world.
In a later period, everyday ballads appeared, characterized by greater prosaicism and a predominance of the comic element.
The ballad often uses artistic techniques of folk art. The language of ballads is peculiar - concrete words, without pompous metaphors and rhetorical figures. Another feature of ballads is their clear rhythm.
Peasant work and rest were associated with songs - ritual, labor, festive, folk dances.
In the countries of French and German culture, at fairs and in villages, joggers (players) and shpilmans (literally - a player) - wandering poet-singers, bearers of folk culture - often performed. They performed spiritual poems, folk songs, heroic poems, etc. to musical accompaniment. The singing was accompanied by dancing, puppet theater, and various kinds of magic tricks. Folk singers often performed in the castles of feudal lords and in monasteries, making folk culture the property of all layers of medieval society. Later, from the 12th century, they began to perform various genres of knightly and urban literature. The folk art of jugglers and shpilmans became the basis of secular knightly and urban musical and poetic culture.
Carried out by Jerome of Stridon (before 410) and other works of the Latin Church Fathers and philosophers of early scholasticism.
The origin and development of literature of the Middle Ages is determined by three main factors: traditions of folk art, the cultural influence of the ancient world and Christianity.
Medieval art reached its culmination in the XII-XIII centuries. At this time, his most important achievements were Gothic architecture (Notre Dame Cathedral), chivalric literature, and heroic epic. The extinction of medieval culture and its transition to a qualitatively new stage - the Renaissance (Renaissance) - took place in [Italy|Italy] in the 14th century, in other countries of Western Europe - in the 15th century. This transition was carried out through the so-called literature of the medieval city, which, aesthetically, has a completely medieval character and experienced its heyday in the 14th and 16th centuries.
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Subtitles
Latin and folk literature
The mythological nature of early national literatures (Irish, Icelandic) is expressed in fabulousness- beautiful and adventurous elements of courtly literature. At the same time, there is a change in the affective motivation of the heroes’ actions to a more complex one - moral and psychological.
Until the end of the 12th century, only legal documents were written in prose in vernacular languages. All “fiction” literature is poetic, which is associated with performance to music. Starting from the middle of the 12th century, the octosyllabic, assigned to narrative genres, gradually became autonomous from the melody and began to be perceived as a poetic convention. Baudouin VIII orders the chronicle of the pseudo-Turpin to be translated into prose for him, and the first works written or dictated in prose are the chronicles and “Memoirs” of Villehardouin and Robert de Clary. The novel immediately seized on the prose.
However, verse has by no means faded into the background in all genres. Throughout the XIII-XIV centuries, prose remained a relatively marginal phenomenon. In the XIV-XV centuries, a mixture of poetry and prose is often found - from Machaut’s “True Story” to Jean Marot’s “Textbook of Princesses and Noble Ladies.”
Medieval poetry
In the lyrics of Walter von der Vogelweide and Dante Alighieri, the greatest lyric poets of the Middle Ages, we find a fully formed new poetry. There has been a complete update of the vocabulary. Thought was enriched with abstract concepts. Poetic comparisons refer us not to the everyday, as in Homer, but to the meaning of the infinite, ideal, “romantic.” Although the abstract does not absorb the real, and in the knightly epic the element of low reality is revealed quite expressively (Tristan and Isolde), a new technique is discovered: reality finds its hidden content.
BY SUBJECT
WORLD ART
COMPLETED _____________
MOSCOW 2003
· Introduction
· Heroic epic
· "Beowulf" (excerpts)
· Elder Edda (songs about the gods, Speeches by Vysotsky)
· Call for a crusade
· Chivalric literature
· Alba, pastoral, canson
· Urban literature
· Poetry of the Vagants
INTRODUCTION
The spirit of knowledge lived, hidden in the secret elixir,
Singing healingly the vague darkness of centuries.
Let life be a continuous struggle of enemies,
Let the sword ring in battle and in the tournament -
The alchemist was looking for the stone of the sages,
The mind became refined in discussions about the vampire,
The theologian tried to know the creator -
And thought shook the world's weights.
Monk, judge, knight, minstrel -
Everyone dimly saw the holy goal,
Even though they didn’t take the same road to get there.
In days of horror, fire, murder, anxiety
That target shone like a star;
In all centuries the vein has been hidden.
Valery Bryusov
Starting from the 12th century, a rich literature appeared in Western Europe in Latin and in national languages. Medieval literature is characterized by a variety of genres - this is the heroic epic, and chivalric literature, and the sunny poetry of troubadours and minnesingers, and the fables and poetry of vagantes.
The most important component of the emerging written culture was the heroic epic, recorded in the 12th – 12th centuries. In the heroic epic of Western Europe, there are two varieties: historical epic, and fantastic epic, closer to folklore.
The epic works of the 12th century were called “poems of deeds.” At first they were oral poems, performed, as a rule, by wandering singers and jugglers. The famous “Song of Roland”, “Song of My Sid”, in which the main ones are patriotic motives and purely “Knightly spirit”.
The concept of “knight” in Western Europe became synonymous with nobility and nobility and was contrasted, first of all, with the lower classes - peasants and townspeople. The growth of class self-awareness of knighthood strengthens their sharply negative attitude towards commoners. Their political ambitions also grew, their claims to place themselves on an unattainable and moral height.
Gradually in Europe, an image of an ideal knight and a code of knightly honor are emerging, according to which “a knight without fear or reproach” must come from a noble family, be a brave warrior, and constantly care about his glory. The knight was required to be courteous, to be able to play musical instruments and write poetry, and to follow the rules of “KUTUAZIA” - impeccable upbringing and behavior at court. A knight must be a devoted lover of his chosen “LADY”. Thus, the code of knightly honor of military squads is intertwined with the moral values of Christianity and the aesthetic norms of the feudal environment.
Of course, the image of the ideal knight often diverges from reality, but still he played a big role in Western European medieval culture.
Within the framework of knightly culture in the 12th century, such literary genres as knightly romance and knightly poetry appeared. The term "novel" originally meant only a poetic text in the pictorial Romance language, as opposed to Latin, and then it came to be used to name a specific genre.
The first chivalric romances appeared in the Anglo-Norman cultural environment in 1066. Geoffrey of Monmouth is traditionally considered to be the originator of the legends about the exploits of King Arthur, about his glorious knights of the Round Table, and about their struggle with the Anglo-Saxons. The Arthurian romance series is based on the Celtic heroic epic. His heroes - Lancelot and Perceval, Palmerin - embodied the highest chivalric virtues. A common motif in chivalric romances, especially the Breton cycle, was the search for the Holy Grail - the cup in which, according to legend, the blood of the crucified Christ was collected. The Breton cycle of novels also includes “the beautiful story of Tristan and Isolde” - a poem about the eternal undying passion that flares up in the main characters after they mistakenly drink a love potion.
The largest representatives of the genre of the 11th century were the French project of Chrestien de Troyes. He even predicted the legends of the Arthurian cycle and embodied them in his “novels and poems.”
The works of Chrestien de Troyes “Erec and Enida”, Yvain, or the Knight of the Lion”, “Lacelot, or the Knight of the Cart”, etc. are among the best examples of courtly Western European literature. The plots of the works of K. De Troyes were processed by the authors of German chivalric novels, for example, Rartman Von Aue. His best work was “Poor Henry” - a short poetic story. Another famous author of knightly courtly novels was WOLFRAM VON ESCHENBACH, whose poem “Parsi-fal” (one of the knights of the Round Table) later inspired the great German composer R. Wagner. The chivalric romance reflected the growth of secular trends in literature, as well as an increased interest in human feelings and experiences. He passed on to subsequent eras the idea of what came to be called chivalry.
The chivalric romance reflected the growth of secular trends in literature, as well as an increased interest in human experiences. He passed on to subsequent generations the idea of what came to be called chivalry.
Sunny French Provence became the birthplace of troubadour poetry, which arose at the courts of feudal lords. In this type of courtly poetry, the cult of the lady occupied a central place. Among the troubadours, knights of middle income predominated, but there were also representatives of the feudal nobility and people from the plebeian environment. The main features of poetry were elitism and intimacy, and love for a beautiful lady appeared in the form of a kind of religion or cultural action.
The most famous troubadours of the 22nd century were Bernard Deventarion, Herout de Bornel, and Bertrand de Born. The poetry of the Trouvères flourished in the north of France, the poetry of the Minnesingers flourished in Germany, and the poets of the “new voluptuous style” flourished in Italy.
Urban literature of the 12th–13th centuries was anti-feudal and anti-church. Urban poets sang the diligence, practical ingenuity, cunning and cunning of artisans and traders.
The most popular genre of urban literature was the poetic short story, fable or joke. All of these genres were characterized by realistic features, satirical sharpness, and a little rough humor. They ridiculed the rudeness and ignorance of the feudal lords, their greed and treachery. Another work of medieval literature has become widespread - “The Romance of the Rose”, which consists of two dissimilar and different parts. In the first part, various human qualities appear in the form of characters: reason, hypocrisy. The second part of the novel is satirical in nature and decisively attacks the federal-church order, asserting the need for universal equality.
Another direction of urban culture of the Middle Ages was carnival - laughter theatrical art. The culture of laughter dominated the carnival and the work of folk traveling actors, jugglers, acrobats, and singers. The highest manifestation of folk square culture was the carnival.
The phenomenon of folk culture of laughter allows us to reconsider the cultural world of the Middle Ages and discover that the “dark” Middle Ages were characterized by a festively poetic perception of the world.
The principle of laughter in folk culture could not find responses in the church-feudal culture, which contrasted it with “holy sorrow.” The Church taught that laughter and fun corrupt the soul and are inherent only in evil spirits. They included traveling artists and buffoons, and shows with their participation were branded as “godless abomination.” In the eyes of the clergy, buffoons served demonic glory.
The poetry of vagants - wandering schoolchildren - is close to urban culture.
The poetry of the vagants, wandering throughout Europe in search of better teachers and a better life, was very daring, condemning the church and clergy and praising the joys of earthly and free life. In the poetry of the Vagants, two main themes were intertwined: love and satire. The poems are mostly anonymous; they are plebeian in essence and in this way they differ from the aristocratic creativity of the troubadours.
The Vagantes were persecuted and condemned by the Catholic Church.
One of the most famous heroes of medieval world literature was Robin Hood, the protagonist of numerous ballads and literary monuments of the 13th century.
HEROIC EPIC
The literature of the Western Early Middle Ages was created by new peoples inhabiting the western part of Europe: the Celts (Brits, Gauls, Belgians, Helvetians) and the ancient Germans living between the Danube and the Rhine, near the North Sea and in the south of Scandinavia (Sevi, Goths, Burgundians, Cherusci, Angles, Saxons, etc.).
These peoples first worshiped pagan tribal gods and later adopted Christianity and became believers, but eventually the Germanic tribes conquered the Celts and occupied what is now France, England and Scandinavia. The literature of these peoples is represented by the following works:
1. Stories about the lives of saints - hagiographies.
"Lives of Saints", visions and spells
2. Encyclopedic, scientific and historiographical works.
Isidore of Seville (c.560-636) – “etymology, or beginning”; Bede the Venerable (c.637-735) - “about the nature of things” and “ecclesiastical history of the English people”, Jordan - “about the origin of the acts of the Goths”; Alcuin (c.732-804) – treatises on rhetoric, grammar, dialectics; Einhard (c.770-840) “Lives of Charlemagne”
3. Mythology and heroic-epic poems, sagas and songs of Celtic and Germanic tribes. Icelandic sagas, Irish epic, "Elder Edda", Younger Edda", "Beowulf", Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala".
The heroic epic as a holistic picture of people's life was the most significant legacy of literature of the early Middle Ages and occupied an important place in the artistic culture of Western Europe. According to Tacitus, songs about gods and heroes replaced history for the barbarians. The oldest is the Irish epic. It is formed from the 3rd to the 8th century. Created by the people back in the pagan period, epic poems about warrior heroes first existed in oral form and were passed on from mouth to mouth. They were sung and recited by folk storytellers. Later, in the 7th and 8th centuries, after Christianization, they were revised and written down by scholar-poets, whose names remained unchanged. Epic works are characterized by glorification of the exploits of heroes; interweaving historical background and fiction; glorification of the heroic strength and exploits of the main characters; idealization of the feudal state.
The heroic epic was greatly influenced by Celtic and German-Scandinavian mythology. Often epics and myths are so connected and intertwined with each other that
the boundary between them is quite difficult. This connection is reflected in a special form of epic tales - sagas - Old Icelandic prose narratives (the Icelandic word “saga” comes from the verb “to say”). Scandinavian poets composed sagas from the 9th to the 12th centuries. - skalds. The Old Icelandic sagas are very diverse: sagas about kings, saga about Icelanders, sagas about ancient times (“Välsunga Saga”).
The collection of these sagas has come to us in the form of two Eddas: the “Elder Edda” and the “Younger Edda”. The Younger Edda is a prose retelling of ancient Germanic myths and tales, written by the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sjurluson in 1222-1223. The Elder Edda is a collection of twelve poetic songs about gods and heroes. The compressed and dynamic songs of the Elder Edda, dating back to the 5th century and apparently written down in the 10th-11th centuries, are divided into two groups: tales of gods and tales of heroes. The main god is the one-eyed Odin, who was originally the god of war. Second in importance after Odin is the god of thunder and fertility, Thor. The third is the malevolent god Loki. And the most significant hero is the hero Sigurd. The heroic songs of the Elder Edda are based on the pan-German epic tales about the gold of the Nibelungs, on which lies a curse and which brings misfortune to everyone. Sagas also became widespread in Ireland, the largest center of Celtic culture in the Middle Ages. This was the only country in Western Europe where no Roman legionnaire had set foot. Irish legends were created and passed on to descendants by druids (priests), bards (singer-poets) and felides (soothsayers). The clear and concise Irish epic was written not in verse, but in prose. It can be divided into heroic sagas and fantastic sagas. The main hero of the heroic sagas was the noble, fair and brave Cu Chulainn. His mother is the king's sister, and his father is the god of light. Cuchulainn had three shortcomings: he was too young, too brave and too beautiful. In the image of Cuchulainn, ancient Ireland embodied its ideal of valor and moral perfection.
Epic works often intertwine real historical events and fairy-tale fiction. Thus, “The Song of Hildenbrand” was created on a historical basis - the struggle of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric with Odoacer. This ancient Germanic epic of the era of migration of peoples originated in the pagan era and was found in a manuscript of the 9th century. This is the only monument of the German epic that has come down to us in song form.
In the poem "Beowulf" - the heroic epic of the Anglo-Saxons, which came down to us in a manuscript of the early 10th century, the fantastic adventures of the heroes also take place against the backdrop of historical events. The world of Beowulf is a world of kings and warriors, a world of feasts, battles and duels. The hero of the poem is a brave and generous warrior from the Gaut people, Beowulf, who performs great feats and is always ready to help people. Beowulf is generous, merciful, loyal to the leader and greedy for glory and rewards, he accomplished many feats, opposed the monster named Gr^delo and destroyed him; defeated another monster in an underwater dwelling - Grendel's mother; entered into battle with a fire-breathing dragon, who was enraged by the attempt on the ancient treasure he protected and was devastating the country. At the cost of his own life, Beowulf managed to defeat the dragon. The song ends with a scene of the solemn burning of the hero's body on a funeral pyre and the construction of a mound over his ashes. Thus the familiar theme of gold bringing misfortune appears in the poem. This theme will be used later in knightly literature.
An immortal monument of folk art is “Kalevala” - a Karelian-Finnish epic about the exploits and adventures of the heroes of the fairy-tale country of Kalev. “Kalevala” is composed of folk songs (runes) collected and recorded by Elias Lönnrot, a native of a Finnish peasant family, and published in 1835 and 1849. runes are letters of the alphabet carved on wood or stone, used by Scandinavian and other Germanic peoples for religious and memorial inscriptions. The entire “Kalevala” is a tireless praise of human labor; there is not even a hint of “court” poetry in it. According to Marietta Shaginyan, “powerful images of people, forever memorable to you, grandiose pictures of nature, accurate descriptions of the processes of labor, clothing, peasant life - all this embodied the high
The French epic poem “The Song of Roland,” which came down to us in a 12th-century manuscript, tells the story of the Spanish campaign of Charlemagne in 778, and the main character of the poem, Roland, has his own historical prototype. True, the campaign against the Basques turned in the poem into a seven-year war with the “infidels,” and Charles himself turned from a 36-year-old man into a gray-haired old man. The central episode of the poem, the Battle of Roncesvalles, glorifies the courage of people faithful to duty and “dear France.”
The Spanish heroic epic “The Song of Cid” reflected the events of the Reconquista - the conquest of their country by the Spaniards from the Arabs. The main character of the poem is the famous figure of the reconquista Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar (1040 - 1099), whom the Arabs called Cid (lord).
In the German epic “Song of the Nibelungs,” which was finally formed from individual songs into an epic tale in the 12th-13th centuries, there is both a historical basis and a fairy tale-fiction. The epic reflects the events of the Great Migration of Peoples of the 4th-5th centuries. there is also a real historical figure - the formidable leader Attila, who turned into the kind, weak-willed Etzel. The poem consists of 39 songs - “adventures”. The action of the poem takes us into the world of court festivities, knightly tournaments and beautiful ladies. The main character of the poem is the Dutch prince Siegfried, a young knight who performed many wonderful feats. He is bold and courageous, young and handsome, daring and arrogant. But the fate of Siegfried and his future wife Kriemhild was tragic, for whom the treasure of Nibelungen gold became fatal.
CALL FOR A CRUSADE
Love is a good power
She inspired us timid.
The campaign inspired:
We are right with the Lord.
So let's hurry to the lands.
Where, I listen to the call of the sky.
The impulse is acceptable to the soul.
We are the sons of the Lord!
The Lord fights with us.
With heroic hands,
And the strangers themselves
All of them are crushed!
For us, Christ, filled with Love,
He died in the land that was given to the Turks. Let us flood the fields with a stream of enemy blood, Or our honor will be forever disgraced!
Is it easy for us to fight?
In a distant battlefield?
Lord, we are in your will.
We want to beat our enemies!
There will be no death. For those who have regained their sight,
Blessed times will come
And he will prepare glory, honor and happiness
Those returning to their home country.
KNIGHT LITERATURE
The main themes of secular knightly, or courtly literature, which arose in the courts of feudal lords, were love for a beautiful lady, glorification of exploits and reflection of the rituals of knightly honor. The words “courtly literature” mean refined secular literature corresponding to the general concepts of knightly loyalty, valor, generosity and courtesy. Courtly literature (from the French soygyms - polite), which was created not in Latin, but in national languages, is represented by the lyrics of troubadours and trouvères in France, minnesingers in Germany and chivalric romances.
The knight of the 12th century - the era of the High Middle Ages - was no longer only a warrior, but also a person with a rich and complex inner life. In the foreground in his experiences, selfless love for the Beautiful Lady, whom he was ready to selflessly and joyfully serve, came more and more into the foreground. In this service, the first European lyricists found an inexhaustible source of inspiration, so that the words “lover” and “poet” became synonymous in a courtly environment, in the sphere of the feudal court. Since then, there has been an idea that a poet is a lover, and a lover is a person who writes poetry. The Virgin Mary was a special object of love and service.
It was believed that the object of worship must necessarily be a married lady, moreover, more noble than the poet himself. In order to get closer to the Lady and become a “legitimate” singer of her virtues, the poet needed to go through several stages of initiation: first he had to appease his love, then, having opened up, wait for a signal from the Lady that he had been accepted into her service (such a sign could be giving a ring). But even after this, the poet should not have sought intimacy. Ideal love, according to the courtly code, is unrequited love. It gives rise to suffering, which in creativity is melted into a perfect word; his beauty returns light and joy to the soul of the lover. Therefore, sadness and despondency in the eyes of courtly ethics are the greatest sin. Love could also be reckless, rude, and base.
A characteristic feature of courtly poetry, which challenged medieval asceticism, can be considered an increased interest in the world of man, who is capable of not only praying and fighting, but also loving tenderly and admiring the beauty of nature. The lyrical poetry of the troubadours originated in the south of France in Provence and was divided into the following forms: Alba - a poetic story about the separation of lovers in the morning after a secret night meeting; pastourel - a lyrical song about the meeting of a knight with a shepherdess; canson - the most complex poetic structure
A work that combines different poetic meters, sirventa - a poem on a moral and political theme, and tenson - poetic debates. The master of pastourelle was Bertrand de Born. Bernard de Ventadorn and Jauffre Rudel wrote in the canton genre, and in the Alba genre - the “master of poets” Giraut de Borneil.
The troubadours treated the writing of poetry as a conscious, serf-like work, as a craft that needed to be learned, but at the same time they understood that this was a measure that followed certain rules. Poets showed individuality and tried to invent new forms and dimensions of verse.
At the end of the 12th century, the example of the troubadours was followed by the French court poets-singers Trouvères and the German love singers Minnesingers. Now poets were no longer interested in lyrical poems, but in verse poems full of all sorts of adventures - knightly novels. For many of them, the material was the legends of the Breton cycle, in which the Knights of the Round Table act at the court of King Arthur. There were a lot of chivalric romances. These are “Parzival” by Wolfram von Eschenbach, “Le Morte d’Arthur” by Thomas Malory, “Lancelot, or the Knight of the Cart” by Chrétien de Troyes. But the most popular was the novel about tragic love - Tristan and Isolde. The novel about Tristan, which has come down to us in a secondary version, has many versions (Joseph Bedier, Béroul, Gottfried of Strasbourg), and each author contributed his own details to the novel.
The hawthorn leaves drooped in the garden,
Where Don and his friend capture every moment:
The first cry is about to sound from the horn!
Alas. Dawn, you were too hasty!
Oh, if God would grant night forever,
And my darling never left me,
And the guard forgot his morning signal...
Alas, dawn, you were too hasty!
Pastoral
I met a shepherdess yesterday,
Here at the fence wandering.
Brisk, albeit simple,
I met a girl.
She's wearing a fur coat
And colored katsaveyka,
A cap - to cover yourself from the wind.
Love will sweep away all barriers,
Since two people have one soul.
Love lives in reciprocity
Cannot serve as a replacement here
The most precious gift!
After all, it’s stupid to waste pleasure
The one who hates them!
I look forward with hope
Breathing tender love for that one,
Who blooms with pure beauty,
To that noble, non-arrogant one,
Who was taken from a humble fate,
Whose perfection they say
And kings are honored everywhere.
URBAN LITERATURE
During the Gothic period, literature, music and theatrical performances developed as part of urban culture.
Secular urban literature of the late Middle Ages is represented, firstly, by realistic poetic short stories (fabliaux and schwanks), secondly, by the lyrics of vagants - wandering students, schoolchildren, the lower clergy, and thirdly, by folk epic.
Unlike courtly poetry, urban poetry gravitated towards everyday life, towards everyday life. Realistic poetic short stories, which in France were called fabliaux, and in Germany - schwank, were a secular genre, and their plots were comic and satirical in nature, and the main characters were, as a rule, cunning commoners, not devoid of adventurism (fablio “About Burenka, the priest’s queen").
The lyrical poetry of the vagantes (from the Latin vagrandes - wandering people), glorifying the generous gifts of nature, carnal love, the joy of drinking wine and gambling, was created in Latin. Its authors were mischievous schoolchildren, cheerful clerics and impoverished knights. Fans of Bacchus and Venus, they led a wandering lifestyle and in their creativity willingly turned to folklore, using motifs and forms of folk songs. The Vagants knew what poverty and humiliation were, but their poems, glorifying free brotherhood, were imbued with joy, freedom, and earthly love. The creativity of the vagants can be judged from the collection of nameless poets “Sagtsha Vigapa” and the poems of the Archipit of Cologne, Walter of Chatillon and Hugh of Orleans.
In the 12th century folk poems appear, created on the basis of oral folk art - folklore. In many of them, the main characters were distant relatives of our Ivan the Fool and animals, in whose behavior human traits were discernible (“The Novel about the Fox”). The treasury of spiritual food for the townspeople, which was revered “as a worldly liturgy, teaching and legend,” was the “Roman of the Rose,” the authors of which were Guillaume de Loris and Jean de Maine.
In England, ballads about Robin Hood, a noble robber and protector of the poor and disadvantaged, were popular.
ON THE SUBJECT WORLD ART CULTURE ON THE TOPIC COMPLETED BY _____________ MOSCOW 2
