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Feudal society. Population and social structure of the city Structure of society in the Middle Ages

The social structure of medieval society was quite simple. In the “dark” centuries, more than 90% of the population were peasants (colons, villans, litas, serfs), more or less personally dependent on the owner of the land - a spiritual or secular feudal lord. The share of the middle strata (artisans, soldiers, monks, servants, officials, merchants) was about 7-9%. The upper layer (feudal lords, nobles, high clergy) did not exceed 1.5-2%. For simplicity, we can assume that one hundred peasants could feed ten artisans and two idle people.

During the period of communal revolutions, the share of the middle strata quickly increases and reaches 15-20% of the population, and the share of peasants decreases to 80%. By the end of the Middle Ages, the share of peasants in the most developed countries was reduced to 75%, and the share of the middle strata increased to 25%. True, in the middle urban strata there is a significant stratification. A significant part of them gradually turns into the state of paupers - hired workers, whose situation is in some ways even worse than that of the peasants.

The social structure in the Middle Ages was very rigid. A person's position was determined by birth. It was extremely difficult to move from the peasant class to the craft class, and almost impossible to the upper class. Mixed marriages were practically excluded, especially since marriages took place, as a rule, within a workshop, guild or community. The only career ladder that a commoner could climb was the church hierarchy, and such cases were rare.

Medieval life

German emperors, from the Carolingians to the Franconians, remained faithful to Frankish customs and dress. On the other hand, as heirs of the Roman Empire, they adopted Roman-Byzantine clothing from late Antiquity for ceremonial occasions. Late antique elements in the clothing of men are, first of all, a long, toe-length, tunic or dalmatic with rich decorations; for women, a semi-long or free-falling tunic, and under it a long and wide undershirt. Traditionally, German men's clothing consisted of a wide, mostly belted jacket in the form of a blouse with long sleeves and long trousers tied at the calves - then windings went down to the feet. The nobility's rather modest clothing was made from expensive, brightly colored fabrics with decorative trimmings along the edges. Shoes were leather “peasant shoes” without heels, tightened with belts.

Headdresses were strictly differentiated: married women covered their hair with a scarf or veil; girls walked around with their heads uncovered.

Knightly poetry and norms of conduct from the era of the Crusades brought sophistication to personal and public relationships. Religion, the honor of arms and the cult of the lady - these are the three shrines that the knight served. It was considered especially important to master the seven knightly arts: horse riding, swimming, archery, fist fighting, birding, playing chess and writing poetry.

The combat equipment of a warrior and a knight complemented the picture of medieval men's attire. Before the Crusades began, the Normans had scaled and ringed shells. In the 12th century. chain mail appeared: thin iron rings were not sewn to each other, but were woven into one another and fastened together to form a dense, elastic mesh, more convenient and reliable. The costume was complemented by helmets of various shapes and camisoles with coats of arms.

In the middle of the 14th century. radical changes in clothing are taking place, and the true “dominance of scissors” is coming. The new trend was to shorten, taper and lace up clothing. Since the clothing, which was previously worn over the head, became very tight, it had to be cut at the front and provided with a fastener. Appeared jacket - tight-fitting outerwear with sleeves and fastenings, barely reaching the hips. Shoes became too long, so to make walking easier, they wore wooden shoes - clogs.

No sooner had the new fashion become widespread than the first laws on clothing appeared, aimed at curbing the passion for fashion and luxury and, in particular, at preserving differences between classes.

The architecture was distinguished by its harsh, “fortress” character. The use of stone as a building material has become almost universal. The weight of the stone vaults was supported by thick walls with sparsely cut narrow windows. According to their plan, the church buildings reproduced the cruciform type of the Roman basilica with its longitudinal and transverse naves and a portal at the western end. The new architectural style was named Romanesque

In France, the process of formation of Romanesque art, primarily architecture, especially monastic architecture, took place most consistently. The monasteries took care of the construction of bridges, the laying of new and restoration of old roads, along which monastery shelters and church bell towers stood. It was the monasteries that were the centers of education. The monastery schools taught ancient disciplines called the “seven liberal arts”: grammar, rhetoric and dialectics (the first stage of education); arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (second level). They learned to read by memorizing prayers, the psalter and the gospel. The medieval school did not have an age limit; children learned to read and write together with older boys. The merchants raised their children separately, as church moralists condemned trade and credit practices. The widespread spread of literacy led to the appearance in the 12th century. the first large private libraries. One of these libraries belonged to Robert de Sorbon, who donated it in 1253 to the college named after him.

The medieval city was characterized by cramped conditions, crowded buildings, unsanitary conditions and the constant danger of fires. Sewage and garbage, which were mostly dumped into rivers or city ditches, represented a source of infectious diseases. Throughout the Middle Ages, plague, cholera, and gastrointestinal diseases remained primarily urban diseases.

City houses were not much different from rural ones. They were erected from willow, coated with clay, wood plastered on top, or poorly hewn stone. Wooden buildings such as "shgpender-bau" from portable elements: pillars, from which the base of the building was made, and beams. Such a house was considered movable property, because in the event of termination of the land lease agreement, the structure could be dismantled and taken away by the tenant. However, in large cities such as Paris, London or Cologne, stone houses with 4-5 floors were also built. On the ground floor there was a workshop, a shop of a craftsman or merchant, on the second there was a living room, a refectory, above the master's bedroom, even higher - rooms for servants, apprentices, guests, closets and storage rooms.

From the 12th century cities become poles of attraction for pilgrimage - this “medieval prototype of tourism” (in the words of Le Goff). Pilgrims flocked to the city to venerate the holy relics kept in the city’s cathedrals and churches, as well as to gaze at the city’s attractions, various buildings and monuments.

People of the Middle Ages had a lot of free time, loved and appreciated holidays and amusements dedicated to numerous church holidays, on which it was forbidden to work, as well as on Sunday.

The nobility regularly organized knightly tournaments, feasts and balls, with the participation of musicians and minstrels, which lasted 3-5 days. The common people were content with fist fights, archery, performances by comedians and circus performers, free food and drinks provided by the workshop or guild. Church processions and services attracted the entire population of the city, without distinction of class, gender or age.

Ladies and gentlemen sometimes did not get up from the festive table for 36 hours. They slept behind him (and under him), relieved themselves, and had sex. The smells in the castle were very strong - a mixture of the aromas of the kitchen, sweat, urine, leather, dogs walking freely through the halls and chambers, as well as perfumes specially invented to somehow drown out this bouquet. However, the people of the Middle Ages were not squeamish. They washed rarely - from twice a month to twice a year. Cleanliness was generally suspect - after all, Muslims and Jews of other faiths washed themselves often and thoroughly. In the late Middle Ages, however, public baths came into fashion, in which men, women and children washed both separately and together. In the latter case, we are dealing with a prototype of a dating house.

Morality in the Middle Ages was low, as we understand it today. Men, of course, sought to limit the sexual freedom of their wives in order to ensure “legitimate” offspring, but they themselves enjoyed a fair amount of freedom. Ladies from the upper class could have official lovers, especially after the “invention” of courtly love.

Crisis of the 14th century

The fourteenth century was again very unsuccessful. For almost the entire century, bloody wars raged in the center of Europe, as usual accompanied by the destruction of herds and crops, as well as the migration of viruses. The most famous of them is the Hundred Years' War between England and France.

At the end of the second quarter of the century, gray rats migrating from Central Asia brought an epidemic of bubonic plague, which killed about a third of the population of Europe - about 25 million people. The urban population decreased by 4 times, and the population of individual cities decreased even by 10 times!

In addition, another local cooling occurred, the conditions for ripening grain worsened, which again led to famine.

As a result, the population of Europe decreased from 73 million people in 1300 to 42 million in 1400. There are no exact data, but there is reason to believe that in 1350 the population of Europe did not exceed 33 million people.

In the second half of the century, the period of “feudal reaction” begins. Landowners are trying to return to natural forms of rent collection, increase rent, and reconsider the terms of land lease. Due to the sharp decline in the working population, wages unexpectedly increased. Attempts to reduce it, along with the increased tax burden, lead to a series of powerful protests: Wat Tyler's rebellion in England, the Jacquerie in France.

1. Early Middle Ages, World History. T. 7. - Minsk, 1996.

2. Medieval culture and the city in the new historical science. - M., 1995.

3. Brun V., Tilke M. History of costume. - M, 1996.

4. Mozheiko II. B. 1185.

5. Le Goff J. Civilization of the medieval West. - M., 1992,

6. Theis Laurent. Carolingian heritage. - M.. 1993,

7. Lebek Stefan. Origin of the Franks. - M., 1993.

8. Eco Umberto. Name of the rose.

9. Follett Ken. Pillars of the earth.

10. Druon Maurice. Damn kings.

Chapter 4. INITIAL

The Middle Ages is the era of classification. In the era of the High Middle Ages, the passion to determine for every phenomenon its place in God's world reached its peak, but even before that, already in the Carolingian era, when feudal society was just taking shape, people sought to streamline the world around them. Theologians compiled descriptions of the heavenly hierarchy, at the head of which stood God, and below were various categories of angels (each category received an accurate description). Of course, the people themselves did not escape a similar fate. All kinds of textbooks, manuals, and grammars of medieval teachers have brought to this day a wide variety of descriptions of their contemporary society. What these descriptions have in common is, first of all, the passion to put everything and everyone on the shelves. Let us consider in general terms exactly what characteristics medieval man used to determine his place in the world.
Firstly, humanity was divided into Christians and pagans. This is the main dividing line that Western European civilization has strictly drawn since Christianity became the only religion. The people of the Middle Ages felt this division especially acutely. On the one hand, pagans who did not honor the law of Christ were doomed to the torments of hell. So the pagans could be treated like animals, and killing them not only was not considered a sin, but was sometimes openly encouraged. On the other hand, every Christian was obliged to follow the commandments of the Lord and bring the light of true faith to the pagans. Some became missionaries and preached
Christianity in a word. Others - they were the majority - relied on sword and fire. In Scandinavia, zealots of the new faith often resorted to terrible torture, forcing pagans to accept Christianity. The sin they committed by torturing a person was insignificant in the eyes of these missionaries: firstly, a pagan is not a person, and secondly, baptism is the greatest good, allowing a pagan to become a member of the Christian world and gain hope of salvation.
Christians were also divided into Catholics (“correct” Christians) and “Greeks,” whose faith in the eyes of Western European civilization was not far from paganism. The terrible defeat committed by the crusaders in Constantinople in 1204 is a clear confirmation of this.
But even within itself, the world of the Christian West did not cease to divide. The first boundary separated secular persons from clergy. The clergy included all the priesthood, monasticism and church nobility - from bishops ruling the flock in cities to the Roman Curia, the top of the church organization.
In the secular society of medieval Europe, there were three main classes: the nobility, the free and the serfs. Belonging to one or another class was determined primarily by a person’s origin, and the inheritance of a class proceeded differently in different cases. If a person whose father belonged to the nobility could be considered a nobleman, then in the other two classes a person’s position was determined by the class affiliation of his mother. The transition to the noble class was possible, as we see, almost exclusively for women - if they married nobles (however, this did not happen often).

Rice. 233 [Ill. - Three estates. Book miniature. (History of Europe, p. 126 fig. 2)]
The texts of medieval laws that have survived to this day determine the extent of a person’s responsibility for certain offenses, also based on his origin. And it would be at least incorrect to say that the laws were lenient in everything towards the nobles. In France, for example, a nobleman sentenced to pay a fine paid twenty times more than a commoner would be forced to pay for the same crime. A nobleman could personally punish an offender from a non-noble class - but if during a military campaign his subordinate from a non-noble class committed any offense, the nobleman himself was responsible for this offense. Of course, nobles in medieval society enjoyed a huge number of privileges. For example, only they (and even the church) in the Early Middle Ages had the right to buy land plots. A nobleman could pay a debt two to three times longer than an ignoble one; he could send a representative in his place to the court. But the kings, who since the time of the Merovingians understood the need to keep the nobles in check and ensure support for themselves among the ignoble, sought to limit the legal freedoms of the nobility as much as possible.

The vast majority of the European population in the Middle Ages

were peasants. All categories of feudal lords lived at their expense - church (bishops, abbots of monasteries - abbots, etc.) and secular (dukes, counts, barons, etc.).

Most of the lands on which peasants worked, by the 11th century. belonged to the feudal lords. During continuous internecine wars, peasants sought protection from a neighboring lord or monastery. Having found a powerful patron, the peasant was forced to admit his dependence on him and transfer his land plot to him. The dependent peasant continued to farm on his previous plot, but for the use of it the master demanded the fulfillment of corvee labor and the payment of dues. Corvée refers to all the work of peasants on the feudal lord's farm (cultivating the master's arable land, building houses and sheds, erecting defensive structures, fishing, collecting firewood, etc.). Quite is the payment of peasants to the owner of the land - products (grain, livestock, poultry, vegetables) and products of their farm (linen, leather). The power of the feudal lord over the peasant was manifested not only in the fact that he worked as a corvee and paid quitrent (land dependence), the peasant was personally subject to the feudal lord (personal dependence), the landowner tried him in his court, the peasant had no right to move without the permission of his master to another area.

However, despite the land and personal dependence on the feudal lord, the peasant was not completely powerless. The lord could not execute him, drive him away from his allotment (if he fulfilled his duties), sell or exchange him without land and separately from his family. A huge role in the life of medieval people was played by custom, which was observed by both peasants and lords. The size of the quitrent, the types and duration of corvee work did not change from generation to generation. What was established once and for all was considered reasonable and fair. The lords could not voluntarily increase peasant duties. The lords and peasants needed each other: some were “universal breadwinners”; from others, working people expected protection and patronage.

In the Middle Ages, there was a widespread doctrine according to which the entire population of Europe, in accordance with God's will, is divided into three groups - three estates (included in

These classes of people have different rights and responsibilities). The ministers of the church (priests and monks) constituted a special layer of the population - the clergy, who were believed to guide the spiritual life of people - to take care of the salvation of the souls of Christians; knights protect the country from foreigners; Peasants and townspeople are engaged in agriculture and crafts.

The fact that the clergy came first is not at all accidental, because the main thing for a medieval European was his relationship with God, the need to save his soul after the end of earthly life. Church servants in general were more educated than knights and, especially, peasants. Almost all scientists, writers and poets, artists and musicians of that era were clergy; they often occupied the highest government positions, influencing their kings. The clergy was divided into white and black, or monasticism. The first monasteries - communities of monks - appeared in Europe after the fall of the Western Empire. Monks were mostly deeply religious Christians who wanted to devote their lives exclusively to serving God. They made vows (promises): to renounce the family, not to get married; give up property, live in poverty; unquestioningly obey the abbot of the monastery (in women's monasteries - the abbess^), pray and work. Many monasteries owned vast lands that were cultivated by dependent peasants. Schools, workshops for copying books, and libraries often arose at the monasteries; the monks created historical chronicles (chronicles). In the Middle Ages, monasteries were centers of education and culture.

The second estate consisted of secular feudal lords, or knighthood. The most important activities of knights were war and participation in military competitions - tournaments; The knights spent their leisure time hunting and at feasts. Teaching writing, reading and mathematics was not compulsory. Medieval literature describes the rules of worthy behavior that every knight had to follow: to be selflessly devoted to God, to faithfully serve his lord, to take care of the weak and defenseless; comply with all obligations and oaths. In reality, knights did not always follow

3. Zak. 606

rules of honor. During wars, they often committed all sorts of outrages. The feudal lords lived in strong stone castles (there were about 40 thousand of them in France alone). The castle was surrounded by a deep moat; it was possible to get inside only with the drawbridge lowered. Defensive towers rose above the castle walls; the main one, the donjon, consisted of several floors. The donjon contained the feudal lord's dwelling, a feast hall, a kitchen, and a room where supplies were stored in case of a long siege. In addition to the feudal lord, his family, warriors and servants lived in the castle. The bulk of the population of Europe in the Middle Ages was the peasantry, living in small villages of 10-15 households each. Peasant houses were built of wood, and in those places where there were few forests, of stone. The roofs were covered with straw, which served as food for livestock in times of famine. Small windows were covered with wooden shutters, leather, and bull's bladder. The open fireplace had no chimney; the chimney was replaced by a gaping hole in the ceiling. When the house was heated, smoke filled the room and soot settled on the walls. In cold weather, the cow and other livestock (if there were any) were transferred from the barn to a heated house, where the animals spent the winter with the peasant family.

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4. Social structure of late medieval society

Hungary, including the territory of Slovakia, was still a typically medieval kingdom in the 15th century; political, economic, social structures, despite some new elements, remained unchanged. It was still an agrarian country, the overwhelming majority of the population was the feudal-dependent peasantry, and the nobility was the determining social force.

The population of all of Hungary, according to the latest demographic studies, ranged from 3-3.5 million at the beginning of the 15th century. to approximately 4-4.5 million people at the end of the century (together with Slavonia and Transylvania), the population of Slovakia is about 500-550 thousand people. These data, however, are very approximate; their sources are inventories of duties (urbaria), which have been preserved only in very rare cases and fragmentarily; moreover, they record only the number of tax units in a given area, and not the population. The vast majority of the population lived in rural areas, the number of residents of cities and towns was supposedly about 8.2% of the total population (in Western Europe a slightly larger percentage, as well as in neighboring countries - Poland, the Czech Kingdom - about 15% of the population). Even the most significant and large free royal cities (for example, Kosice, Bratislava) by European standards were cities of medium size (5-10 thousand inhabitants). In general, in Slovakia at the end of the 15th century there were about 200 urban-type settlements.

Assumptions regarding population density in the Kingdom of Hungary range on average from 10 to 32 people per square meter. km, but these are very approximate data, in the elevated regions of Slovakia, inhabited mainly by Vlachs who were engaged in cattle breeding, the population density is much lower, for example, in Liptov and Orava Župa - up to 5 people per square meter. km, in most of the territory of Slovakia 5-12, in Gontskaya and Abovskaya (in the vicinity of Kosice) counties there are even 15 people per sq. km. km. The size of the household, i.e. the number of people living in one house, within the borders of Hungary was supposed to be about 6.3 souls. Compared to the neighboring Czech Kingdom, the population of Hungary (and therefore Slovakia) was more sparse, as evidenced by some surviving monuments: for example, in 1471, the Hungarian embassy, which in the elections to the Sejm in Kutná Hora defended the right of Matthew Corvinus to the Czech crown , in his speech compared both kingdoms; They pictured Hungary as a country famous for the abundance of all things, and the Czech Republic as a country of outstanding numbers and fertility of the population.

Population density was determined by various factors during the 15th century. depopulation and even complete abandonment of some settlements or entire regions was common. The number of estates that paid taxes (taxes were paid from one “gate”, from one “entrance”), from the time of King Sigismund to the end of the 15th century, decreased by 1/3. The population decline was caused by various reasons - mass deaths from starvation due to sudden changes in weather conditions, for example, a long winter or excessive heat and drought (which befell Hungary, in particular, in 1473). The reason for the population decline was also plague epidemics, which recurred several times per decade, limited opportunities to obtain a livelihood (if, for example, a single estate owned too little land), violent actions and civil strife among individual landowners, invasions of foreign troops (for example, the invasion of the Hussites) troops on the territory of Slovakia in the first third of the century or attacks by Polish troops at the end of the 15th century). Despite all these negative factors, demographic development in Slovakia in the 15th century. tended to moderate growth.

The determining force of social development in medieval society was its elite - the nobility, although it constituted only a minimal percentage of the population. According to the latest hypotheses, throughout Hungary this was less than 5% of the total population, of which the wealthy (middle and high) nobility accounted for about 1.5% of the total population. The basis of the nobility was land ownership, the nobleman lived on his own land and his only duty was military service. Thus, as an owner (homopossessionatus) he was different from the rest of the population (homines impossessionati). In addition to owning land (even a piece of land or even just an estate), the nobles also enjoyed complete personal freedom, tax exemption and other privileges, the most important of which was the fact that without a legal order, trial and sentence, a nobleman could not be sent to prison , and the nobles were subject only to the king (they had the right to be tried only by the king himself or his dignitaries, that is, a regional judge or palatine).

The structure of the nobility throughout the 15th century did not undergo significant changes. Only the most powerful or richest group, often referred to as aristocracy, oligarchy, magnates or nobles, played a decisive role. Although formally all nobles were equal to each other (this principle was formulated in the decree of King Louis of Anjou in 1351), in reality this was not the case at all; the nobility as a class was divided into certain, relatively separate layers. The middle and especially the most numerous small nobility at that time were not allowed to take almost any part in power. The fate of the country was decided by a group of the aristocracy or its top - the barons, who, together with the church hierarchs - the prelates - constituted the royal council. The title of baron initially belonged exclusively to holders of the highest ranks in the royal service; formally, barons were separated from other magnates by title magnificus, magnificus dominus or dominus. During the reign of the Angevin dynasty, there was a group of magnates almost identical to the category of barons and prelates. Subsequently, however, the number of rich and influential magnates who did not get high-ranking positions increased, so there was an increasing tendency to expand the circle of barons. Already from the end of the 14th century, but especially in the 15th century. with the addition of the title magnificus Descendants or family members of the barons also began to be named. During the reign of Matthew Corvinus, such barons were called “barons by name” or “by birth”, in contrast to the “real” barons, i.e. dignitaries. The designation “tycoons” began to be used more and more often, which eventually prevailed. Thus, the decisive factor in belonging to this group was not rank, but the size of the estate; During the reign of King Matthew Corvinus, this group of magnates began to stand out as a special layer of the nobility, distinguished by formal characteristics (for example, the use of a red seal).

Most of the representatives of the middle and small nobility found employment in the service of high-ranking feudal lords as familiars. The institution of familiars is to a certain extent reminiscent of the Western European fief system. Nobles are familiars of some feudal lord (in familiaritate et comitiva, in sequela et familiaritate), like vassals in Western European countries, they carried out military service for their lord and fought in his banderia (sub eius vexillo), were his castellans, clerks, subjupans, exercised judicial power over his serfs during his absence, and so on. To the category of the most serious crimes of the Middle Ages - betrayal, treason (nota infidelitatis), for which the punishment was applied in the form of deprivation of head and property, included not only treason against the king, but also betrayal of one’s master. Each nobleman sought to find himself the richest and most influential master possible, because surname led the way to the top. The height of aspiration was service at the royal court, there were unlimited opportunities, and from a representative of the petty nobility (under Matvey Corvinus, even from the ranks of the feudal-dependent peasantry) one could become a magnate. For the most part, however, this path was open only to the more or less wealthy nobility. At the royal court, men began their careers from childhood, becoming pages, and later court knights. But the group of court knights was not homogeneous. In addition to ordinary knights, among the nobles there was a group of confidants, royal familiars, advisers, table mates at feasts, zhupans (heads of comitat), castellans, as well as representatives of prominent magnate families who were still awaiting their appointment to office. These people called themselves strenuus miles or strenuus vir, from the 15th century the title was also used very often egregius. This group of nobles could be classified as the middle and high nobility, and in sources they are sometimes referred to as proceres. As a rule, they owned 10-25 villages and one castle as a residence and administrative center.

The largest stratum of the nobility (about 2/3 of the total) had one estate and several dependent peasants. For this reason, the vast majority of nobles led the same lifestyle as feudal-dependent peasants; their situation was better in the sense that they did not pay taxes to their master. The impoverishment of many noble families was due to the principle of inheritance (aviticitas), which operated in Hungary and according to which all male descendants of the family inherited (not only the eldest son, as was customary in other countries). The complete loss of the estate, this basis of the nobility, meant living under someone else’s roof, therefore, falling into the category of non-nobles and leading life on the land of one’s master in the position of a worker, in complete dependence on him. The solution to the problem was to become a hired soldier, to trade, to seek happiness in the city, and the like. In the worst case, such impoverished nobles became robbers, as evidenced by the lists of criminals, the so-called proscriptions, compiled at meetings of various committees, where nobles were represented in large numbers.

The greatest opportunities for the small and middle nobility opened up during the accession of a new king to the throne. In most cases, he first had to win the struggle for power with influential magnate families, so he looked for allies and created his own aristocracy, loyal to him. This situation arose with the accession of Sigismund of Luxembourg, as well as Matthew Corvinus. Many representatives of the petty nobility and even the philistinism then penetrated into the relatively closed layer of the aristocracy; under Matvey Corvinus this path was not closed even to feudal-dependent peasants.

The fifteenth century gave birth (not only in Hungary) to a new type of nobleman, the nobleman entrepreneur. An illustrative example of such nobility were Thurzo. Juraj Turzo, a nobleman from Betlanovec in Spiš, said goodbye to the lifestyle of a village nobleman and settled in Levoča, where he achieved great success in trade. His son Jan became a businessman and entrepreneur on a European scale. He first founded a branch of the company in Krakow (he himself became a Krakow tradesman) and gradually turned it into an international enterprise with branches in Levoc and Kosice. Abroad, he successfully worked on new technologies for pumping water from mines, so he received permission for similar activities in Hungary. Over time, Thurzo managed to lease copper mining in the vicinity of Banska Bystrica from the king, he teamed up with the southern German banking house of the Fuggers from Augsburg and created the Thurzo-Fugger company, which exported Banska Bystrica copper to many European countries. But most of the nobles belonged to the Middle Ages in their way of thinking and lifestyle. In that era, one of the attributes of the noble class was still a castle. In addition to its defensive and economic functions (possession of villages and land was associated with the castle), the castle also performed a representative function, serving as a symbol of the status of its owner. But only the richest could own a castle; the vast majority of the nobility lived in small castles or noble estates. Number of castles during the 15th century. did not change significantly, but the number of small castles (castellum - fortresses) and fortresses grew with amazing speed, which was due to the turbulent period of the civil war.

The nobility and clergy were the two fundamental classes that made decisions about the fate of the country. The hierarchy of the clergy was almost identical to the hierarchy of the nobility, representatives of the upper layer - prelates, i.e. archbishops and bishops, and abbots of some order communities - almost always came from magnate families (this situation changed only during the reign of Matthew Corvinus), the middle layer - The canons and priests of profitable parishes actually coincided with the middle nobility, and even their lifestyle was the same. The lowest layer was represented by village priests, chaplains, who often came from families of dependent people or from impoverished nobles.

The third estate, the formation of which began during the 15th century, was the inhabitants of cities. However, their political significance did not match the pace of their evolution. The number of cities grew rapidly during the 15th century, but for the most part they were small towns of feudal lords, and they received their privileges thanks to the petitions of their landowners. At the end of the 15th century. 90% of all towns and cities were in the hands of feudal lords. Legally, only free royal cities remained cities in the full sense of the word.

The urban population was also differentiated, but it did not lead to more or less serious conflicts and struggles for power. The highest stratum of the philistinism was the wealthy patriciate - merchants and property owners. Members of the city council and the burgomaster were elected exclusively from their ranks. Craftsmen and small traders made up the middle stratum, the very bottom of the urban population consisted of very heterogeneous elements, this included journeymen who were waiting for the opportunity to become masters, servants, day laborers, those whose occupation was considered unworthy (executioners, comedians), as well as marginal elements ( prostitutes, thieves, tramps). The number of the urban lower classes (plebs) supposedly amounted to about 1/3 of the urban population. The fifteenth century was still a period of internal stability in the cities, power was firmly in the hands of the patriciate, and there was no internal struggle or unrest. The only exception was, probably, interethnic tensions in some cities, caused by the dominance of the German patriciate (for example, under 1468, a message was preserved about the rivalry between Slovaks and Germans for the place of burgomaster in Trnava).

The vast majority of the population (as much as 80%) were unfree. These were those whose destiny, according to the medieval political doctrine about people of three kinds, was to work (people of three kinds are those who fight, bellatores,- nobility, those who pray, orators,- clergy and working people - laboratores). But the category of dependent population was not homogeneous; in legal terms, they included residents of privately owned towns, as well as the rural population, from wealthy peasants to farm laborers who did not have any land ownership. According to research by Hungarian historians, for every 100 dependents there were 25 farm laborers, of which 10 had a house, 15 did not have their own home. The rural population also included servants who worked on the estate of a feudal lord or a more or less wealthy peasant. Among the dependents there were also freemen who were exempt from paying taxes to the feudal lord - for merits in the lord's service, millers of the feudal lords, etc.

There was also a significant stratification of property between dependents. Each feudal lord was interested in keeping as many successful dependent people as possible, because each dependent brought him income. Throughout the Middle Ages, the main problem was the lack of population, so the feudal lords tried, on the one hand, to retain their own dependents, and on the other hand, to lure residents of other regions to themselves. Housekeeping by the feudal lord himself, that is, on his own estate, in the 15th century. had not yet become widespread, the economic activity of the landowner consisted in the fact that he gave the land to his dependents for use under certain conditions. Until the middle of the 15th century. dependent peasants had the right to freely move from one feudal lord to another (in those days, amendments to laws sometimes appeared that limited the resettlement of dependents for one year), that is, if they were dissatisfied with their situation, they could, after paying a certain amount, go to where they were more conditions acceptable to them. This the circumstance could entail serious economic consequences, especially for poor nobles. Therefore, disputes between feudal lords over dependent people in that period were one of the most common causes of conflict.

Despite the fact that there were also wealthy dependent peasants, the majority of the population was forced to get their piece of bread through a difficult struggle. The harvest itself, from which the dependent still had to give obligatory shares to the church and his feudal lord, was not enough to feed the family. Weather conditions, on which medieval people were completely dependent, often left them without crops and became the cause of widespread famine. Therefore, peasants found other ways to earn a living - they raised livestock, uprooted new lands, on which (if natural conditions allowed) they cultivated grapes, planted orchards or grew vegetables. A significant source of food near rivers was fishing, in forests - forest products, and almost everywhere - hunting. The fact is that feudal-dependent peasants in Hungary, unlike other countries, until the beginning of the 16th century. (1504) had an unrestricted right to hunt.

So, neither in the structure of the population, nor in the economic and political structure of the Hungarian Kingdom in the 15th century, more or less noticeable changes occurred. Despite the quantitative growth of urban settlements, Hungary still remained an agricultural country with relatively underdeveloped trade and crafts. This does not mean that the development process has completely stalled; simply quantitative, let alone qualitative, growth in production was not able to saturate domestic markets (during the 15th century their network expanded significantly; almost all more or less large settlements and towns had the right to trade). Therefore, exports were minimal, only about 10% of total foreign trade, while imports accounted for almost 90%. The export items were primarily cattle, sheep, animal skins, and after the creation of the Thurzo-Fugger company - copper. Wine was also an important export item in the 15th century. viticulture gained significant momentum. Cities played a major role in wine production (in Slovakia - in the southwestern region: Bratislava, Trnava, Pezinok, Modra, as well as Kosice in the southeast), which rented vineyards outside their territories. In southwestern Slovakia during this period, about 100 thousand barrels of wine were produced per year, some of the wine was exported (to Poland, the Czech Kingdom and Northern Germany), but most of it went to the domestic market, because wine was the main drink of the medieval people (especially in cities - for hygienic reasons drinking water was rarely consumed).

High-quality handicrafts and luxury goods had to be imported into Hungary. These were, first of all, high-quality cloth and other fabrics, iron products, clerk supplies - parchment and paper, spices and the fruits of southern plants. The largest centers of foreign trade throughout the 15th century were the cities of Bratislava and Kosice.

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Headdresses were strictly differentiated: married women covered their hair with a scarf or veil; girls walked around with their heads uncovered.

In the middle of the 14th century. radical changes in clothing are taking place, the true “dominance of scissors” is coming. The new trend was to shorten, taper and lace up clothing. Since the clothing, which was previously worn over the head, became very tight, it had to be cut at the front and provided with a fastener. A jacket appeared - a tight-fitting outer garment with sleeves and fastenings, barely reaching the hips. Shoes became too long, so to make walking easier, they wore wooden shoes - clogs.

In France, the process of formation of Romanesque art, primarily architecture, especially monastic architecture, took place most consistently. The monasteries took care of the construction of bridges, the laying of new and restoration of old roads, along which monastery shelters and church bell towers stood. It was the monasteries that were the centers of education. The monastic schools taught ancient disciplines called the “seven liberal arts”: grammar, rhetoric and dialectics (the first stage of education); arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music (second level). They learned to read by memorizing prayers, the psalter and the gospel. The medieval school did not have an age limit; children learned to read and write together with older boys. The merchants raised their children separately, as church moralists condemned trade and credit practices. The widespread spread of literacy led to the appearance in the 12th century. the first large private libraries. One of these libraries belonged to Robert de Sorbon, who donated it in 1253 to the college named after him.

The medieval city was characterized by cramped conditions, crowded buildings, unsanitary conditions and a constant danger of fires. Sewage and garbage, which were mostly dumped into rivers or city ditches, represented a source of infectious diseases. Throughout the Middle Ages, plague, cholera, and gastrointestinal diseases remained primarily urban diseases.

City houses were not much different from rural ones. They were erected from willow, coated with clay, wood plastered on top, or poorly hewn stone. Wooden buildings of the “Ständerbau” type were widespread, made from portable elements: pillars, from which the base of the building was made, and beams. Such a house was considered movable property, because in the event of termination of the land lease agreement, the structure could be dismantled and taken away by the tenant. However, in large cities such as Paris, London or Cologne, stone houses with 4-5 floors were also built. On the ground floor there was a workshop, a shop of a craftsman or merchant, on the second there was a living room, a refectory, above the master's bedroom, even higher - rooms for servants, apprentices, guests, closets and storage rooms.

People of the Middle Ages had a lot of free time, loved and appreciated holidays and amusements dedicated to numerous church holidays, on which it was forbidden to work, as well as on Sunday.

Feudal society. Population and social structure of the city Structure of society in the Middle Ages

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