Most of our knowledge of the Middle Ages is based on fantasy books and TV shows, as well as books by Dan Brown. Therefore, some of the facts that come to our minds with the words "Middle Ages" are just replicated myths.

The Middle Ages is a very large historical period that began with the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 and lasted until about the 14th century. Perhaps some of our beliefs were true. But we still decided to debunk the most popular misconceptions.

Religiosity hindered technological progress

Many believe that strict religious beliefs, along with diseases like the plague in the Middle Ages, prevented the development of scientific thought and progress. This era is even called the Dark Ages.
In fact, thanks to the medieval church, curricula appeared that included mathematics and other sciences. The Bible was rethought as a guide to understanding the world, and the gap between the ancient level of science and the current one was shrinking. In the Middle Ages, typography, water and windmills, glasses, magnetic compass. Many of these discoveries involved the church in one way or another. So religion did not slow down progress and even accelerated it.

There was no dental care

Dentistry is still considered a form of torture, so it seems to have its place in the Middle Ages. However, we forget that our ancestors did not have such access to sugar, so their teeth were much healthier than ours. At the same time, scientists examined the jaws of people from the Middle Ages and found that they cleaned and extracted teeth using professional tools.
In the early 1400s, the Italian professor Giovanni de Arcoli wrote a treatise on dental care, where he proved that the main modern techniques dentists were used even then. He even told how to save a decaying tooth by filling it with gold.

Women tortured with chastity belts

Everyone knows the myth about warriors who, before a long campaign, left metal fetters like panties on their wives, so as not to doubt their fidelity. In fact, the image of the chastity belt appeared in 1405 as a joke. The author of the picture was referring to the ancient Roman wedding tradition of tying a belt around the bride's waist as a sign of chastity.

Everyone thought the earth was flat

A common misconception is that the inhabitants of the "Dark Ages" considered the Earth to be flat, and it was not until the Age of Enlightenment that people's views changed. In fact, people began to realize that the Earth is not a disk as early as the sixth century BC. And in the widespread modern myth the writer Washington Irving is to blame, in his "History of the life and travels of Christopher Columbus" he stated that people of the pre-Columbian era considered the earth to be flat.

The right of the first night was commonplace

The right of the first night is the right of a powerful person or authority to deflower the bride of his vassal, and is a frequent subject of films and books about the Middle Ages. In fact, there is no evidence for this tradition, and the myth first appeared in the Sumerian tales of Gilgamesh.

The women stayed at home and took care of the children.

In typical medieval films, women do nothing but give birth, cook, and die young. In fact, in the Middle Ages, women did not shun male work and were full members of society. They took care of the harvest, worked in industry - from weaving factories to confectionery factories, managed family shops, taverns and hotels. Even the main positions in power were available to them: women became queens and ruled monasteries - centers medieval life. When the population of London was halved after the plague, entrepreneurship, including brewing, was taken over by widows.

People lived only to 30 years

It is clear where this myth came from: life in the Middle Ages was much more dangerous than today. But there is a difference between life expectancy and life expectancy. The first number is the life of a particular person, and the second is the average statistic, and it was equal to only 30 years due to high infant mortality.
Imagine a family of two parents and four children. The first child dies shortly after birth, the second lives to 70, and the parents die at 35 and 60. Thus, the average life expectancy in this family is 41 years. But this does not mean that after 40 everyone died en masse. If a person survived in childhood, then he could well live to be 70 years old.

Because of the dirty water, everyone drank wine and beer

In fact, medieval people did not drink as much alcohol as we think. Most cities were then built near large sources of fresh water. Only industrial facilities that worked with dyes were dangerous, but their managers were forbidden to dump waste into water bodies. So the water was fine. Beer was also loved then, but it was much weaker than modern, and they drank it mainly in order to quench their thirst during hard work.

Medieval medicine was madness

It seems that the doctors of that time were completely inadequate and could saw off part of the skull to a person in order to rid him of an evil spirit. In fact, medical knowledge was quite reasonable, and we even now use some modified medieval practices - for example, to treat burns or kill viruses. It was in the Middle Ages that they came up with the idea of examining bodily fluids in order to diagnose a person.

People were tortured by the "Iron Maiden"

The word "Middle Ages" immediately brings to mind torture, and with it a device called the "Iron Maiden". Fortunately, this is just a fantasy. The “Virgin” was first written about in the 18th century, referring to the execution of 1515, although most of the stories about medieval torture date back to a later time, and there is practically no real evidence of them.

Traditions and legends of France

The first epic poems in France were called "gestures", or "songs of deeds". About ninety of them have survived to this day. They were created in the X century by jugglers, or itinerant singers. The poems were based on the most important historical events of the 8th-10th centuries, the era of the migration of peoples and the wars of Charlemagne. Initially, these were legends about some glorious event. Then a hero, an outstanding personality, began to come to the fore in them, and finally, individual such works began to take shape in cycles. The most popular was the cycle of stories connected with the name of Charlemagne, the famous emperor of the Franks. Widely known is the Song of Roland, a magnificent monument of the French heroic epic, which is part of this cycle. This is a poem about an unequal battle with a cruel enemy, imbued with love for one's land, motives of loyalty and self-sacrifice. "The Song of Roland" is the earliest work of French literature, which children get acquainted with in France and in other countries.

The most ancient edition of the song is considered to be the so-called Oxford list dating back to the 12th century. The poem is about a true historical event associated with the unsuccessful campaign of Charlemagne in Spain: when Charles and his army left this country in 778, the Basques attacked his rearguard in the gorge. The historical episode, transformed by the narrator's fantasy, turned into a heroic song about the battle of the Christian Franks with the infidels, the Saracens. Main character, the knight Roland, enters into a difficult and unequal battle and is praised for his unparalleled courage and loyalty to duty, and the treacherous Gwepelon, who betrayed the Franks, is condemned. The faithful friend of Roland, the noble and wise Olivier, is also vividly depicted. He asks the knight to blow his horn three times in order to call on the army of Charles to help.

Charlemagne is the defender of faith and peace, through his prayers God performs miracles. He cherishes the honor of France and is proud of her heroes - the knights Roland and Olivier. This is the image of a kind and wise ruler, while in Roland the French people embodied their heroic ideal.

"The Song of Roland" is the best work about medieval Christian chivalry, about the glorious peers of Emperor Charles and about beautiful France, which they defended from enemies.

Thus, in the Middle Ages, the ideal of honor and valor of chivalry developed. And a significant role in the creation of this ideal belonged to the French chivalric poetry and the novel of the XII-XIII centuries. Such literature was called courtly in France, from French word"hundred", i.e. "yard". This refers to the life of knights at the court of the feudal lord or the king whom they served. Knightly literature was also created at the court. Provence, the southern province of France, becomes the center of courtesy. The French poets of that time were called troubadours and trouvères, and the main theme of their poetry is love, which is understood as a feeling that embraces the whole person, ennobles him and attracts him to the beautiful and sublime. Love assumed chivalrous service to a lady. The legend of Tristan and Iseult became such an inspirational hymn of love.

Many poets have addressed this story.

Tristan and Isolde(A legend that arose in the region of Ireland and Celtic Scotland).

Among the many novels about Tristan and Iseult, the versions of the trouveurs Bierut and Thomas are considered the most interesting. In this work there is a sharp conflict between the feelings of the main characters and the circumstances of their lives, the suffering of love appears. "A man's heart is worth the gold of an entire country," says Tristan. A beautiful and fearless knight, he serves his master, King Mark. But just as selflessly Tristan serves the lady of his heart, Isolde. The novel glorifies love, which is stronger than death. And the king himself, having learned about the death of those who love, orders to bury them nearby. A miracle happened when a green thorn with fragrant flowers grew on the grave of Tristan and spread to the grave of Isolde, embodying the triumph of love.

The 13th century is the time of the decline of the chivalric romance and Provençal lyrics, which became the ancestor of European poetry. They are being replaced by urban literature. Its main feature is satire, a parody of chivalry and warlike feudal lords, and it depicts everyday life, praising ingenuity and prudence. It reflected the process of growth of medieval cities, when new hero- a cunning city merchant.

A significant monument of the urban literature of France was the "Romance of the Fox". This old French poetic novel, which arose at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries, is a medieval animal epic. It contains funny and instructive stories about animals, told in a satirical way and transparently alluding to the world of people. In the formation of the "Roman of the Fox" played an important role fable tradition, going back to antiquity. After the main body of the novel was formed, its continuations, alterations and translations into German, Flemish, English and other languages began to appear.

Based on this medieval novel, the great German classic Goethe wrote his famous poem "Reinecke the Fox" at the end of the 18th century.

Tales of Spain.

The first beginnings of the epic in Spain, as well as in France, are due to a long and stubborn struggle with the Arabs. The invasion of the Arabs into Spain, which had long since completely “romanized”, since the 8th century, took on a very threatening character, and the local Christian population could only leave their lands and flee, fleeing the persecution of the enemy.

A small part of it managed to hide in the impregnable and wild mountains of Biscay and Asturias. Here, in the absence of any means of communication, the Arabs could not penetrate, and the remnants of the Christian population of the country enjoyed comparative peace and security here. Living alone, among impregnable mountains, these Christians of Spain, who fled from the Arabs, inspired by a common hatred for the conquerors, completely lost the idea of the difference between Goths and Romans, winners and vanquished, masters and slaves; here they also lost the Latin language, which had been spoken for so many centuries, and began to develop their own language.

Thus, among the impregnable mountains of Biscay and Asturias, a new people was born - the Spaniards - who spoke a new language.

As the Christians rallied into one whole, hatred for the common enemy, the Moors, seemed to only grow, and soon heroes began to appear who, taking advantage of the impregnable position of their "camp" among the mountains, began to emerge from inaccessible gorges and valleys and attack the Moors, who by that time had already calmed down and even started internecine wars. So, slowly and gradually, from the first years of the 9th century, they began to take away from the Moors the lands they had once conquered.

But it must be said that this "reverse" conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by Christians was carried out extremely slowly. So, after two hundred years of Muslim rule, three hundred years passed before the Moors were pushed south - to where they first appeared in Spain and where, despite everything, they managed to hold out for about three hundred more years. As in the mountains of Biscay and Asturias a new nation was created and new language, and Spanish literature began to emerge there. When an event struck the imagination of the people, after it a story about it was composed in the form of a folk song. These songs, composed in the newly formed language, were called romances.

Romances, preserving folk traditions, served as a kind of "archive" of history. So, when chronicles began to be written on the orders of the kings, romances served as material for them. The same romances served as material for a special kind of literary works, the first appearance of which dates back to a somewhat later time - these are the so-called gotapsego, or collections of romances united by one common hero, whose history is transmitted in separate romances located in chronological order according to the sequence of events in his life. The special conditions of the history of Spain, which prevented the formation of large poems, such as, for example, the French Song of Roland, favored the appearance of this kind of gotapsego, and they appeared in myriad numbers and constituted very extensive and voluminous collections.

The centuries-old struggle with the enemy, who was right there, on the spot, should have focused on itself all the attention and all the interest of contemporaries, and therefore almost all folk heroes Spain is celebrated mainly for their exploits in the fight against the Moors. In most cases, these are historical faces. The beloved Spanish hero, Don Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, nicknamed Campeador, was such a historical person. Warrior, for the victories he won over the Moors; the Moors themselves, according to legend, called him Sid, i.e. sir, winner.

"The Song of Cude" - the heroic epic of the Spanish Middle Ages - was composed by an unknown huglar storyteller around 1140.

Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar, Sid the Warrior is a real hero who lived in the 11th century. In the "Song of Side" the action takes place in the era of the reconquista - the return of the lands of Spain, conquered by the Moors in 711. Last fortress Muslim Granada - fell in 1492. Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar became famous for his exploits in this struggle, and in 1094 he conquered the beautiful city of Valencia from the Moors, where he lived the rest of his life with his beloved wife Jimena. Sid died in 1099, and within forty years after the death of the hero, songs began to be composed about him and his exploits.

The story of Sid served as material for many gothapsego and chronicles. The main poetic tales about Sid that have come down to us are:

a cycle of poems about King Sancho II and the siege of Samara in the 13th-14th centuries, according to the historian of Spanish literature F. Kelyin, “serving as a kind of prologue to the Song of My Side”;
the “Song of My Sid” itself, created around 1140, probably by one of Sid’s warriors, and preserved in a single copy of the 14th century with heavy losses;
and the poem, or rhymed chronicle, "Rodrigo" in 1125 verses and adjoining romances about Side.
When, in the 11th and 12th centuries, all of Europe was carried away by the idea of the Crusades and crowds of pilgrimage warriors flocked from all sides under the banner of the crusaders, Christian Spain remained aloof from this movement: Spanish Christians had no reason to look for Muslims in distant Asia - they had their own enemy -Muslim, at home, the struggle with which absorbed all their attention and all their strength. One should not, however, think that the chivalry that appeared in Europe in the era of the Crusades remained alien and incomprehensible to the Spaniards. On the contrary, chivalry may not have taken such deep roots anywhere as in Spain.

When, in the fourteenth century, French chivalric romances in retellings and alterations penetrated into Spain, they found a prepared soil there and at the same time underwent a completely peculiar processing.

The most famous and most beloved Spanish chivalric novel was Amadis of Galicia, which appeared at the end of the 14th century and aroused such enthusiasm not only in Spain, but throughout Europe, that for almost two centuries it remained the favorite book to read. Who is the author of this famous chivalric romance - unknown. They say that it originated in Portugal and that the Portuguese nobleman Vasco de Lobeiro was its author, but this novel has come down to us, at least in the Spanish version. It is most likely that this wonderful romance of chivalry, composed by Vasco de Lobeiro, was constantly supplemented, changed and altered by every scribe and storyteller. Thus, it completely lost its original form and became a truly popular Spanish work.

In "Amadis" all events and persons are fictional from beginning to end. Amadis himself is the son of a king who never existed in the fabulous Gali kingdom and was taken first to England and then to Scotland. Then his parents will have another son, Galaor, and the adventures of these two knights, partly in England, France, Germany and Turkey, partly in unknown and even magical countries, fill the whole book.

German heroic tales and legends.
Dietrich of Bern

Dietrich of Bern is one of the most popular heroes of the German folk epic. By the beginning of our era, the Germanic tribes occupied a vast territory between the Rhine and the Elbe, the Scandinavian Peninsula and the Danube, raided the possessions of the Roman Empire, mixed with each other and with representatives of other ethnic groups. The beginning of the Early Middle Ages in Europe coincides with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. At this time, the so-called "great migration of peoples" (V-VI centuries), the seizure of the imperial possessions of Rome by the barbarians, was basically completed. This tense and turbulent era historical development the peoples of Europe was accompanied by the flourishing of epic creativity.

The oldest group of heroic songs is connected with the history of the Ostrogothic people, with the fall of the Black Sea Ostrogothic state and the death of the Ostrogothic king Ermanerix. Later (not earlier than the 6th century) a group of epic works was formed connected with the history of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great (471-526), who defeated the ruler of the Western Roman Empire Odoacer (493) and founded the state of the Ostrogoths in Italy, which existed until the middle of the sixth century. The cities of Ravenna (in German Rabep) and Verona (Berry) became the residence of the winner. Over time, in folk poetry, Theodoric Verona turned into Dietrich of Bern and became the most popular personality German heroic epic of the Middle Ages. As is known from history, Theodoric expelled Odoacer from his possessions, and then treacherously killed him. But in the "Song of Hildebrapd" (circa 800), the enemy has already changed places: Deotrich (Theodoric) is forced to flee from the wrath of the insidious Otakhr (Odoacer). In the future, Ermaneric, the king of the Ostrogoths, becomes the oppressor of Dietrich, who committed suicide in 375 after the Huns defeated the Gothic union of tribes, at the head of which he stood. Folk songs tell how, fleeing from the malice of Ermaneric, Dietrich of Bern finds refuge at the court of the Hun king Etzel, that is, Attila, who died in 453.

Thus, in the poems about Dietrich that have come down to us, only the most general, rather vague memories of people and events of the 4th-6th centuries have been preserved. Shpilmans, who told heroic tales and sang heroic songs, cared more about the truth of human life than about the truth of history. Dietrich occupied a prominent place in the Nibelungenlied, threads of various legends stretched to Dietrich. In the 13th century, the poems about Dietrich formed a rather extensive epic cycle: "The Flight of Dietrich" (or "The Book of Bern"), "The Battle of Ravenna", "The Death of Alphart", "The Song of Ecke", "Lauria". And later, in the XV-XVI centuries, the legends about Dietrich continue to attract the attention of readers. They also became famous outside of Germany. This is evidenced by the Norwegian "Saga of Tidrek" (circa 1250), which is an extensive prose collection of various legends about Dietrich of Bern, which existed in the 13th century in northwestern Germany.

Song of the Nibelungs

The Song of the Nibelungs" is the largest monument of the German folk heroic epic. The "Song of the Nibelungs" is based on ancient German legends dating back to the events of the period of the barbarian invasions, the historical basis of the epic is the death of the Burgundian kingdom, destroyed in 437 by the Huns. In the battle with the Huns, the leader of which was, of course, not Attila, then King Gundahar and his squad died. The death of the king, Attila the Huns, who married a German girl named Hildiko in 453, occurred on their wedding night. This event gave rise to many rumors. Subsequently, historians reported that the bride killed Attila. In the folk epic, these facts received a new understanding, and all the everyday flavor in it is more connected with the feudal-knightly Germany of the XII century than with the life of the barbarian tribes of the V century.

The facts related to the life of Siegfried are vague, some historians see in Siegfried the incarnation of the god of the ancient Germans Baldr. Others believe that its prototype was the leader of the Kherusci Arminius, who defeated a detachment of Roman troops in the Teutoburg Forest. Still others point to King Siegibert of the Franks, who was killed at the instigation of his daughter-in-law in 575.

In the epic, the Netherlands is called Siegfried's homeland, fabulous feats are attributed to him: the victory over the dragon and the conquest of the treasure of the Nibelungs (possibly from the word: Nebel - fog, Nibelungs - children of the fogs). The influence was exerted by the chivalric novel, which was widespread at that time, describing court life, loving service, and the norms of knightly honor. The unknown poet combined the prose narratives and legends that existed before him and reworked them in his own way. Various assumptions were made regarding the personality of the author. Some considered him a shpilman and a wanderer, a singer, others were inclined to think that he was a clergyman, others that he was an educated knight of a low family.

The Nibelungenlied was very popular. Probably, thanks to this, numerous lists of it have survived to our time. The majestic creation of antiquity subsequently inspired the outstanding masters of German culture more than once. The romantics turned to him, Richard Wagner wrote the musical tetralogy "Ring of the Nibelungs" (1842-1862), the artists P. Cornelius, J. Schnorr von Karolsfeld reflected it in the paintings.

Blacksmith Wieland

The Germanic saga about the blacksmith Wieland (among the Scandinavians Völupde) also testifies to the highest respect that people had for the master, at the same time being surprised and afraid of his deeds.

The legend of Wieland most likely arose among the Franks or Burguids. Since the 8th century, it has been close to many German peoples. The legend existed in numerous poetic transcriptions. Völupd is found in the great monument of ancient Slandic poetry - "Elder Edda". But we find the most detailed biography of him in the Norwegian "Tidrek Saga" (circa 1250), associated with the name and deeds of Dietrich of Bern. One thing is clear: the fame of Wieland, as a blacksmith and gunsmith, was undeniable throughout Europe.

Kudrun

The birthplace of the outstanding monument of the German heroic epic "Kudruna" is the coast of the Baltic Sea (the island of Rugei and Pomerania). How literary work the poem "Kudruna" has come down to us in a list of the 16th century, which reproduces the poetic text of the 13th century. It is believed that the poem was written in Austria by an unknown author in 1230-1240. In addition, there are other options related to the story of Hilda. It speaks of a battle on the island of Vülfipverde, during which Hilda's father, Hagen, and Vate were killed. The legend of Hilda, originally formed in Northern Germany, has long been widely spread among various Germanic peoples, including the Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Icelanders, and here it also existed in various editions. So, in the “Younger Edda” by Siorri Sturlusoia (mid-13th century), it is told how He-din (Hetel) kidnapped Hilda, the daughter of King Hegni (Hagen), how the enraged Hegni chased the kidnapper, and how a great battle flared up, which did not end, even to this day. For Hilda by the power of magic at night resurrected the fallen warriors, and with the coming of the day, they again rushed into battle; and, as the songs say, it will continue until the end of time.

The German legend about Hilda changed its appearance more than once over the centuries and, finally, turned into the prehistory of Kudruna. From the legend of Hilda, the battle on the island of Vulpsizapde passed, and some characters also passed, for example, the warlike Vathe, who was once a mythical sea giant of extraordinary strength.

The question of the historical roots of "Kudruna" is vague, its geography is unclear, and its chronology is also unclear. It should only be recognized that the historical background of "Kudruiy" is the raids of the Vikings, who, even under Charlemagne, devastated the bergs of France and other European lands. At the same time, the pictures of devastation and bloody raids fully corresponded to the cruel practice of feudal wars of the XII-XIII centuries.

Some researchers tend to identify the Moorish king Siegfried with the Danish king Siegfried, who lived in the 9th century.

Parzival and Lohengrin

Parzival's name has been known since the 12th century. Chretien de Troyes was the first to tell about him in the unfinished novel Perceval, or the Tale of the Grail.

Wolfram von Eschenbach (circa 1170-1220) was born in Bavaria, in the small provincial town of Eschenbach (modern Ansbach), halfway between Stuttgart and Nuremberg. By origin, he was a poor knight, so he had to be in the service of noble lords. One of Wolfram von Eschenbach's patrons was Hermann Türiig, known for his interest in courtly poetry. At his court, Wolfram was recognized as an outstanding lyric poet. But his main work - the monumental novel "Parzival" (about 25 thousand poetic lines) was completed in 1210. The novel told about the fate of the simple-minded knight Parsifal, who was raised by his mother in the forest. Having passed many tests, the valiant knight became the keeper of the mysterious Grail, and the head of the knightly brotherhood of the Templars (templars), who protect the Christian shrine.

In Chretien de Troyes, the Grail is described as a sacred vessel, in Wolfram as gem, which, like a self-assembled tablecloth, saturates everyone according to his desire, gives people strength and bliss. Lohengrin - the son of Parzival first appeared in the novel "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach (circa 1170-1220). Prior to this, the image of Lohengrin appeared more than once in ancient legends and traditions, telling about the love of wonderful creatures for mortal people, provided that they do not violate any prohibition. If the ban was violated, the wonderful spouse disappeared forever, turning into a swan, or, as in this case, he was taken away by a boat with a swan.

The legend also describes one of the medieval customs - God's judgment, which was appointed in cases where it was difficult to determine who was right and who was wrong. Most often, the matter was decided by a duel, it was believed that higher power will always ensure the victory of the right over the liar and the criminal.

The legend also reminds of King Heinrich I of Germany (919-936). They say that the signs of royal power were solemnly presented to him when he was on his favorite falconry - hence his nickname birder.

The son of Parzival Lohengria became the hero of Albrecht's poem "The Younger Titgurel" (circa 1270), the novel "The Knight with the Swan" by Konrad of Würzburg (second half of the 13th century) and the poem of the end of the 13th century "Lohengrii" are dedicated to him.

On the plot of the legend of Lohengrin, the composer Wagner created one of his best operas, Lohengrin (1848).

tankhäuser

During the reign of the illustrious King Frederick II, grandson of Emperor Rothbars, lord of the German principalities of Italy, all kinds of art flourished, especially poetry, especially encouraged and revered, as they would say today, the author's song. That was the great era of minnesinger singers: Walther von der Vogelweide, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Kürepberg and many, many other outstanding poets. Wandering singers enjoyed the patronage of noble princes, owners of castles and were welcome guests everywhere, especially welcome, of course, by the ladies whom they sang in their poetic creations.

Landgrave Hermann, the ruler of the Wartburg, also belonged to the patrons of poetry. Wandering singers were constantly at his court, singing the praises of female beauty and virtuous bashful love, telling of male virtues, the ringing of weapons and glory.

There also lived at that time a modest knight named Tankhäuser (1240-1270), who earned the right to accompany the king during the crusades to the Holy Land. A lot of life's hardships and all sorts of adventures fell to his lot. Although he came from a knightly family, he nevertheless did not inherit the warlike ardor of his ancestors. In the depths of his soul, Tankhäuser did not particularly value the so-called military prowess, but preferred to wander the earth with songs, and where he appeared, he was always a welcome guest.

German romantics often turned to the image of Taichhäuser as a vivid expression of individuality, the inner freedom of a person. L Tieck wrote the story “Verny Eckhart and Tankhoisf”, G. Heine - a poem, R Wagner - the opera “Tahnhäuser and the Competition of Singers in the Wartburg” In the 20th century, the image of Tankhäuser , a prisoner of Venus, was used as a metaphor by T Mann in Magic Mountain

Rubetzal

In the Giant Mountains, on the border of Bohemia and Silesia, lives a mountain spirit, nicknamed Rübetsal. His land possessions are not so extensive, but under the earth the power of the mountain spirit extends to the depths the globe. Sometimes the underground lord inspects the inexhaustible storerooms of earthly treasures, encourages the dwarves-miners to hold the power of fiery rivers inside the earth with strong dams, turn mineral fumes into gold ore. And sometimes he leaves the cares of the underworld, appears to rest on the Giant mountains and amuses himself with people, like some kind of naughty.

Many legends and traditions are dedicated to this mountain spirit. There is a version that his name comes from a combination of two words - “count turnips”, according to another version, Ryubetsal - “hard tail”. The cycle of legends about Rübetzal was elaborated by Johann Museus (1735-1787), author of parody novels, gymnasium teacher, and home teacher at the court of the Duchess of Weimar. One of the legends is the basis of K. Weber's opera "Ryubetsal" (1804-1805).

The image of Rübetzal inspired the famous modern writer Otfried Preusler, a native of the places where the mountain spirit lives, to write the book "My Rübetzal" (1993).

TillOilenspiegel

A mischievous journeyman and vagabond, famous for his buffoonery, Til Eulenspiegel was born about 1300 in Knaitlingen, near Braunschweig, and died of smallpox in 1350 in Mellie, near Lübeck. Over time, Til's biography has become legendary. His image became collective, anecdotes and funny stories gleaned from various sources began to be attributed to him. This is how the book about the peasant son Til Eulenspiegel was born, the huge success of which eclipsed the popularity of other comic collections and stories. The edition of 1515, which was published in Strasbourg, has survived to our time. There are about a hundred funny stories in the book, from which the reader will learn about the birth, childhood, years of wandering and the endless adventures of the restless Til.

The success of the book was enormous, not only in Germany. In the 19th century, the Belgian writer Charles de Coster immortalized the image of the quick and free-spirited Thiel in The Legend of Thiel Eulenspiegel and Lamm Gudzak. The legend of Thiel has repeatedly become the basis of theatrical performances and films. To this day, in Germany, a popular humorous magazine bears the name of Eulenspiegel. In Mellie, the figure of Thiel adorns the fountain in the town square.

For a long time, the book about Til Eulenspiegel was considered folk. But in 1971, the Zurich judge Peter Honegger irrefutably proved that the author of it was the Brunswick customs officer Hermann Bothe (circa 1467-1520).

Faust

The legend of the warlock magician, Dr. Faust, who sold his soul to the devil, arose in the 16th century in Germany and soon spread throughout Europe. In Germany, the story of Dr. Faust, his student Wagner, the funny servant Kasperl, and the demon Mephistopheles became famous thanks to the puppet theater. On this plot, the English playwright Christopher Marlo (1564-1593) created the drama The Tragic History of Doctor Faust.

At the same time, a book by Jochain Spies "The Story of Dr. Jochain Faust, the famous sorcerer and warlock" was published in Frankfurt am Main, in which many folk legends were collected.

The great German poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) wrote a brilliant dramatic poem"Faust". Inspired by Goethe's poem, A.S. Pushkin created "Scene from Faust" (1825). Goethe got acquainted with the creation of the Russian genius and sent his pen, with which he wrote Faust, as a gift to Pushkin.

The famous plot inspired the French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893) to create the opera Faust (1859).

THE LEGEND ABOUT SHILDBURGERS ("LITERATURE ABOUT FOOLS")
The so-called "literature about fools" was born in Germany during the Renaissance. A vivid example of it is a set of legends about the inhabitants of the city of Schilda, who, in protest, decided to become stupid, turned into jesters and began to seriously fool around, amusing themselves and those around them, but they got rid of wars and taxes - what a fool you take!

The "People's Book about Schildburgers", echoing the world-famous edition of the great humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam "Eulogy of Stupidity" (1509), was published in 1598. A long series of amazing in their absurdity and bizarre "adventures and deeds of the Schildburgers" (about how the inhabitants of Schilda mixed up the yogis and no one could recognize their own; about how they were going to use a cow to remove the grass from the ancient wall, about how they built town hall without windows, how they sowed salt, etc.)

and in our days is subjected to interpretation and interpretation (E. Kestner, O. Preusler). Apparently, the motive of "nonsense willy-nilly" is inexhaustible.

Serbian legends.

KRABAT
In Germany, between the Elbe, Oder and Neisse, on both sides of the Spree River, the Lusatian Serbs, or Sorbs, live - a small East Slavic people, with their own culture, language, history, and traditions. Among the variety of Serbian folklore, legends and traditions associated with a popular hero named Krabat stand out. For the Lusatian peasant, Krabat was a sorcerer, a wizard, or rather, an ordinary guy, who, thanks to his natural ingenuity, mastered the heights of witchcraft wisdom.

The legend of Krabat is based on stories about a real-life person - Johain Shadovitz, a Croat colonel (compare: Croat-Krabat, isn't there a clue to the name here?). In 1691, the Elector of Saxony, August, presented him with the Grossärchen estate for the merits of the knight-colonel in the war with the Turks.

These are a few historical facts, confirmed by documents. Then the legends begin. The identity of the Croat colonel has been comprehended by Serbian and German folklore for centuries.

In the minds of the Serbian people, the knight-colonel turned into a shepherd boy who defeated the evil sorcerer-miller with the help of a magic book. In folk fantasy, Krabat became a friend and benefactor of the district, who turned the art of magical magic for the benefit of the peasants.

The German legend of Faust, also a real person, influenced the legend of Krabat. Krabat, like Faust, uses his knowledge of magic and sorcery for higher purposes, not only for his own needs or jokes with the elector. He tries to overcome the need, to help the poor: he makes the fields fertile, drains the swamps, saves crops from drought, etc.

The popular story about Krabat was repeatedly used by writers, then theatrical, operatic, cinematic interpretations followed. This plot attracted the modern German writer Otfried Preusler, who wrote his most famous book "Krabat" (1976).

Andrey Dmitrievich Mikhailov

Medieval legends and Western European literature

On the complex paths from myth to literature, at least within the framework of medieval culture, legends took their place. It is safe to say that almost all the literature of the Middle Ages is legendary. All of its plots are, in one way or another, developed, meaningful, and expounded legends. Moreover, for the most part, these legends are their own, local, local, that is, they are also exclusively medieval. They are in no way a retelling of archaic myths, they take from such myths only individual motives, only a certain view of reality, only an attitude towards this reality. So, among the literary monuments of the Middle Ages, we will not find any replication of cosmogonic myths, nor stories, simple and uncomplicated, about the ancestors of cultural heroes, about spirits interfering in the fate of people, in the fate of a tribe or society. But individual traits of the first ancestors, and cultural heroes, and, especially, restless spirits in the characters of medieval legends are easily found. For medieval legends, individual plots and motifs of archaic myths are a grateful construction material. So there is no frontier, no confrontation. Even opposite. From myths came into medieval legends the motifs of confrontation with giants, with semi-fantastic monsters, generally with supernatural powers, motifs of sailing at random on a stormy sea without oars and a sail, or dangerous wandering in the wilds of the forest. True, these features are sometimes barely noticeable, since they are not the basis of the plot, but the methods of its design. It's more like just traces. They may be vague remnants of past myths, somehow stuck in the narrative, in the exposition of the legend, and play no part in the development of the plot; such, for example, are the horse ears of King Mark in a number of versions of the legend of Tristan and Iseult. The fact is that, unlike legends, myths reveal and explain the deep processes of being - the creation of a person, the formation of a tribe or clan, their relationship with the surrounding nature, with higher, transcendental forces, often taking anthropomorphic forms. Legends are different. Unlike rather static, laconic myths, legends are mobile, changeable and in their terms can describe both the cardinal moments of the existence of medieval society and medieval man - state building, "collecting lands", rebuffing too persistent foreigners, and more private, more personal situations. - relationships within not only the tribe or clan, but also within the family, chivalrous twinning, chivalrous "love from afar", the search for any cherished objects, including the search for a bride (in this case, the influence of myths, the "memory" of them is still quite palpable ), and just an essentially aimless adventure.

The roots of myths go deep into the archaic, the roots of legends are here, in front of us, for the most part they lie on the surface. Myths are universal, medieval legends are concrete and historical in their own way. They are historical in two ways - they tell about some historical fact, giving it a fairly impressive scale (after all, historical fact it may be quite insignificant, like the battle in the Ronceval Gorge; the battle, apparently, really took place, but did not decide anything, and its main participant, the knight Roland, was too insignificant a historical character). But the historicism of the legend may be different. Some legends paint in mysterious, enchanting tones the story of the fate of one or another noble family, such as the fascinating story of the seductive snake-maiden, or the bird-maiden Melusine, who played a prominent role in strengthening the Lusignan family.

Let us repeat: the basis of medieval legends is, as a rule, some historical event that can be lost in the mists of time, or be relatively recent. In any case, a story about such an event or about some significant character is formed in the legend according to certain standards, often borrowed from the mythological archaic. And this is not contradicted by the main ideological setting of medieval legends: in most of them, either as an indispensable background or as the main meaning of the legend, there is the idea of confrontation between two worlds that are in irreconcilable antagonism. The heroes of so many legends turn out to be fighters for the faith, which is tantamount to heroes defending the interests of their native country, its strength, its statehood. Confessional conflicts underlie so many medieval narratives. That is why Christian ideas play such a large role in medieval legends (and this is a reflection of the real-life irreconcilable clash between the Christian world and the world of "infidels"). A number of legends that do not have distant, deep roots are dedicated to the open and uncomplicated confrontation of the Christian world with the non-Christian world. First, the Christian world in such legends certainly triumphs, its most striking opponents eventually go over to the camp of their recent opponents and themselves, like all neophytes usually, become even more convinced fighters for a new faith for them. By the way, this struggle for the triumph of Christianity is quite logically combined with the strengthening of Christian statehood. In other legends, the Christian beginning is present in a different form. It spiritualizes such legends and forms their ideological basis. In such legends, we usually talk about the exploits of piety (monasticism, hermitism, charity), the culmination of which is the search for the Holy Grail (as the chalice of the Eucharist), which are crowned with success only if certain moral rules are observed and a number of vows are fulfilled.

It is quite clear that both the opposition to the invasions of the pagans (the so-called "Saracens"), and the search for the Grail (both of which are completely heroic deeds) are interconnected. When the Christian statehood is protected and strengthened, one can think about joining the Christian shrine, that is, go in search of the mysterious Grail. But as if preparation for them, these searches, and sometimes completely unconscious preparation, were numerous knightly wanderings in search of unknown and unpredictable adventures - to acquire the appropriate skills, test their strength, dexterity and resourcefulness, confirm their right to enter the knightly brotherhood, which is about to , usually on the feast of the Trinity, to the Round Table of King Arthur and take the place proper to this knight.

Arthurian legends were in the era of the Middle Ages not only the most popular, but also the most productive. Firstly, they had a mythological and legendary basis already removed into the past, secondly, they corresponded both to the utopian moods of medieval chivalry and the political aspirations of the highest circles of the then society, thirdly, with their openness and narrative constructiveness, they gave the broadest scope for creating on their basis and according to their models more and more private legends, woven into the universal legend of a just, majestic and heroic society, which is Arthur's kingdom (or rather, a world empire). It goes without saying that in this society, so to speak, “local” conflicts, rivalries, confrontations that did not affect society as a whole could arise. It was extremely rare for King Arthur to intervene in these clashes of opposing interests and to restore order with his supreme power. Sometimes the story of such conflicts became itself an autonomous and somewhat universal legend, as happened with the story of the love of Tristan of Leonoi and Iseult Blond.

Middle Ages. The most controversial and controversial era in the history of mankind. Some perceive it as the times of beautiful ladies and noble knights, minstrels and buffoons, when spears were broken, feasts were noisy, serenades were sung and sermons sounded. For others, the Middle Ages is a time of fanatics and executioners, the fires of the Inquisition, stinking cities, epidemics, cruel customs, unsanitary conditions, general darkness and savagery.

Moreover, fans of the first option are often embarrassed by their admiration for the Middle Ages, they say that they understand that everything was not like that, but they love the outward side of knightly culture. While the supporters of the second option are sincerely sure that the Middle Ages were not called the Dark Ages for nothing, it was the most terrible time in the history of mankind.

The fashion to scold the Middle Ages appeared back in the Renaissance, when there was a sharp denial of everything that had to do with the recent past (as we know it), and then, with the light hand of historians of the 19th century, this most dirty, cruel and rude Middle Ages began to be considered ... times since the fall of ancient states and until the 19th century, declared the triumph of reason, culture and justice. Then myths developed, which now wander from article to article, frightening fans of chivalry, the sun king, pirate novels, and in general all romantics from history.

Myth 1. All knights were stupid, dirty, uneducated dorks.
This is probably the most fashionable myth. Every second article about the horrors of Medieval customs ends with an unobtrusive morality - look, they say, dear women, how lucky you are, no matter what modern men are, they are definitely better than the knights you dream of.

Let's leave the dirt for later, there will be a separate discussion about this myth. As for ignorance and stupidity ... I thought recently how it would be funny if our time was studied according to the culture of "brothers". One can imagine what a typical representative of modern men would be like then. And you can’t prove that men are all different, there is always a universal answer to this - “this is an exception.”

In the Middle Ages, men, oddly enough, were also all different. Charlemagne collected folk songs, built schools, and knew several languages himself. Richard the Lionheart, considered a typical representative of chivalry, wrote poems in two languages. Karl the Bold, whom literature likes to display as a kind of boor-macho, knew Latin very well and loved to read ancient authors. Francis I patronized Benvenuto Cellini and Leonardo da Vinci.

The polygamist Henry VIII knew four languages, played the lute and loved the theatre. And this list can be continued. But the main thing is that they were all sovereigns, models for their subjects, and even for smaller rulers. They were guided by them, they were imitated, and those who could, like his sovereign, could knock down an enemy from a horse and write an ode to the Beautiful Lady enjoyed respect.
Yeah, they will tell me - we know these Beautiful Ladies, they had nothing to do with their wives. So let's move on to the next myth.

Myth 2. To the wives noble knights"were treated like property, beaten and not worth a penny
To begin with, I will repeat what I have already said - the men were different. And in order not to be unfounded, I will remember the noble seigneur from the XII century, Etienne II de Blois. This knight was married to a certain Adele of Norman, daughter of William the Conqueror and his beloved wife Matilda. Etienne, as befits a zealous Christian, went on a crusade, and his wife remained to wait for him at home and manage the estate.

A seemingly banal story. But its peculiarity is that Etienne's letters to Adele have come down to us. Tender, passionate, yearning. Detailed, smart, analytical. These letters are a valuable source on the Crusades, but they are also evidence of how much a medieval knight could love not some mythical Lady, but his own wife.

We can recall Edward I, whom the death of his adored wife knocked down and brought to the grave. His grandson Edward III lived in love and harmony with his wife for over forty years. Louis XII, having married, turned from the first debauchee of France into a faithful husband. Whatever the skeptics say, love is a phenomenon independent of the era. And always, at all times, they tried to marry their beloved women.

Now let's move on to more practical myths that are actively promoted in the cinema and greatly confuse the romantic mood among fans of the Middle Ages.

Myth 3. Cities were sewage dumps.
Oh, what they just do not write about medieval cities. To the point that I came across the assertion that the walls of Paris had to be completed so that the sewage poured outside the city wall would not pour back. Effective, isn't it? And in the same article it was stated that since in London human waste was poured into the Thames, it was also a continuous stream of sewage. My fertile imagination immediately thrashed in hysterics, because I just couldn’t imagine where so much sewage could come from in a medieval city.

This is not a modern multi-million metropolis - 40-50 thousand people lived in medieval London, and not much more in Paris. Let's leave it aside fairy tale with a wall and imagine the Thames. This not the smallest river splashes 260 cubic meters of water per second into the sea. If you measure this in baths, you get more than 370 baths. Per second. I think further comments are unnecessary.

However, no one denies that medieval cities were by no means fragrant with roses. And now one has only to turn off the sparkling avenue and look into the dirty streets and dark gateways, as you understand - the washed and lit city is very different from its dirty and smelly inside.

Myth 4. People haven't washed for many years.
Talking about washing is also very fashionable. Moreover, absolutely real examples are given here - monks who did not wash themselves from excess “holiness” for years, a nobleman, who also did not wash himself from religiosity, almost died and was washed by servants. And they also like to remember Princess Isabella of Castile (many saw her in the recently released film The Golden Age), who vowed not to change her linen until victory was won. And poor Isabella kept her word for three years.

But again, strange conclusions are drawn - the lack of hygiene is declared the norm. The fact that all the examples are about people who vowed not to wash, that is, they saw in this some kind of feat, asceticism, is not taken into account. By the way, Isabella's act caused a great resonance throughout Europe, a new color was even invented in her honor, so everyone was shocked by the vow given by the princess.

And if you read the history of baths, and even better - go to the appropriate museum, you can be amazed at the variety of shapes, sizes, materials from which the baths were made, as well as ways to heat water. At the beginning of the 18th century, which they also like to call the age of dirty, one English count even got a marble bathtub with taps for hot and cold water in his house. cold water- the envy of all the acquaintances who went to his house as if on a tour.

Queen Elizabeth I took a bath once a week and demanded that all courtiers also bathe more often. Louis XIII generally soaked in the bath every day. And his son Louis XIV, whom they like to cite as an example of a dirty king, because he just didn’t like baths, wiped himself with alcohol lotions and loved to swim in the river (but there will be a separate story about him).

However, to understand the failure of this myth, it is not necessary to read historical works. It is enough to look at pictures of different eras. Even from the sanctimonious Middle Ages, there are many engravings depicting bathing, washing in baths and baths. And in later times, they especially liked to portray half-dressed beauties in baths.

Well, the most important argument. It is worth looking at the statistics of soap production in the Middle Ages to understand that everything that is said about the general unwillingness to wash is a lie. Otherwise, why would it be necessary to produce such a quantity of soap?

Myth 5. Everyone smelled terrible
This myth follows directly from the previous one. And he also has real proof - the Russian ambassadors at the French court complained in letters that the French "stink terribly." From which it was concluded that the French did not wash, stank and tried to drown out the smell with perfume (about perfume is a well-known fact).

This myth flashed even in Tolstoy's novel "Peter I". Explaining to him couldn't be easier. In Russia, it was not customary to wear perfume heavily, while in France they simply poured perfume. And for a Russian person, the Frenchman, who profusely stinks of perfume, was “stinking like wild animal". Who traveled to public transport next to a heavily perfumed lady, he will understand them well.

True, there is one more evidence regarding the same long-suffering Louis XIV. His favorite, Madame Montespan, once, in a fit of a quarrel, shouted that the king stinks. The king was offended and soon after that parted with the favorite completely. It seems strange - if the king was offended by the fact that he stinks, then why shouldn't he wash himself? Yes, because the smell was not coming from the body. Ludovic had serious health problems, and with age, he began to smell bad from his mouth. It was impossible to do anything, and naturally the king was very worried about this, so Montespan's words were a blow to a sore spot for him.

By the way, we must not forget that in those days there was no industrial production, the air was clean, and the food may not be very healthy, but at least without chemistry. And therefore, on the one hand, hair and skin did not get greasy for longer (remember our air of megacities, which quickly makes washed hair dirty), so people, in principle, did not need washing for longer. And with human sweat, water, salts were released, but not all those chemicals that are full in the body of a modern person.

Myth 6. Clothes and hairstyles were infested with lice and fleas.
This is a very popular myth. And he has a lot of evidence - flea traps that noble ladies and gentlemen really wore, references to insects in literature as something taken for granted, fascinating stories about monks almost eaten alive by fleas. All this really testifies - yes, there were fleas and lice in medieval Europe. Only now the conclusions are made more than strange. Let's think logically. What does a flea trap testify to? Or an animal on which these fleas should jump? It doesn’t even take a special imagination to understand - this indicates a long war going on with varying success between people and insects.

Myth 7. No one cared about hygiene
Perhaps this myth can be considered the most offensive for people who lived in the Middle Ages. Not only are they accused of being stupid, dirty and smelly, they also claim that they all liked it.

What was it that had to happen to humanity at the beginning of the 19th century, so that before that it liked everything to be dirty and lousy, and then suddenly it suddenly stopped liking it?

If you look through the instructions on the construction of castle toilets, you can find curious notes that the drain should be built so that everything goes into the river, and does not lie on the shore, spoiling the air. Apparently people didn't really like the smell.

Let's go further. Eat famous history about how one noble Englishwoman was remarked about her dirty hands. The lady retorted: “You call this dirt? You should have seen my feet." This is also cited as a lack of hygiene. And did anyone think about strict English etiquette, according to which it is not even possible to tell a person that he spilled wine on his clothes - this is impolite. And suddenly the lady is told that her hands are dirty. This is to what extent other guests should have been outraged in order to violate the rules of good taste and make such a remark.

And the laws that the authorities of different countries issued every now and then - for example, bans on pouring slop into the street, or regulation of the construction of toilets.

The main problem of the Middle Ages was that it was really difficult to wash then. Summer does not last that long, and in winter not everyone can swim in the hole. Firewood for heating water was very expensive, not every nobleman could afford a weekly bath. And besides, not everyone understood that illnesses come from hypothermia or insufficiently clean water, and under the influence of fanatics they attributed them to washing.

And now we are smoothly approaching the next myth.

Myth 8. Medicine was practically non-existent.
What can you not hear enough about medieval medicine. And there were no means other than bloodletting. And they all gave birth on their own, and without doctors it’s even better. And all medicine was controlled by priests alone, who left everything at the mercy of God's will and only prayed.

Indeed, in the first centuries of Christianity, medicine, as well as other sciences, was mainly practiced in monasteries. There were hospitals and scientific literature. The monks contributed little to medicine, but they made good use of the achievements of ancient physicians. But already in 1215, surgery was recognized as a non-ecclesiastical business and passed into the hands of barbers.

Of course, the whole history of European medicine simply does not fit into the scope of the article, so I will focus on one person, whose name is known to all readers of Dumas. We are talking about Ambroise Pare, the personal physician of Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. A simple enumeration of what this surgeon contributed to medicine is enough to understand at what level surgery was in the middle of the 16th century.

Ambroise Pare introduced a new method of treating then new gunshot wounds, invented prosthetic limbs, began to perform operations to correct the "cleft lip", improved medical instruments, wrote medical works, which surgeons throughout Europe later studied. And childbirth is still accepted according to his method. But most importantly, Pare invented a way to amputate limbs so that a person would not die from blood loss. And surgeons still use this method.

But he did not even have an academic education, he was simply a student of another doctor. Not bad for "dark" times?

Conclusion
Needless to say, the real Middle Ages is very different from the fairy-tale world of chivalric novels. But it is no closer to the dirty stories that are still in fashion. The truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. People were different, they lived differently. The concepts of hygiene were indeed quite wild for a modern look, but they were, and medieval people took care of cleanliness and health, as far as their understanding was.

And all these stories ... someone wants to show how modern people“cooler” than the medieval ones, someone simply asserts himself, and someone does not understand the topic at all and repeats other people's words.

And finally - about memoirs. Talking about terrible morals, lovers of the "dirty Middle Ages" especially like to refer to memoirs. Only for some reason not on Commines or La Rochefoucauld, but on memoirists like Brantome, who probably published the largest collection of gossip in history, seasoned with his own rich imagination.

On this occasion, I propose to recall the post-perestroika anecdote about the trip of a Russian farmer to visit an English one. He showed the farmer Ivan a bidet and said that his Mary was washing there. Ivan thought - but where is his Masha washing? Came home and asked. She answers:
- Yes, in the river.
- And in winter?
- How long is that winter?
And now let's get an idea of hygiene in Russia according to this anecdote.

I think if we focus on such sources, then our society will turn out to be no cleaner than the medieval one. Or remember the program about the parties of our bohemia. We supplement this with our impressions, gossip, fantasies and you can write a book about the life of society in modern Russia(we are worse than Brantoma - also contemporaries of events). And the descendants will study the manners in Russia according to them early XXI century, to be horrified and say what terrible times were ...

P.S. From the comments to this post: Just yesterday I was re-reading the legend of Thiel Ulenspiegel. There Phillip I says to Phillip II: - Have you spent time with an indecent girl again, when noble ladies are at your service, refreshing themselves with fragrant baths? And you preferred a girl who has not yet had time to wash off the traces of the embrace of some soldier? Just the most unbridled Middle Ages.

Retelling by S. Prokofieva

Dream Knight. legends medieval Europe retelling for children

Editorial

The book you opened is a collection of legends about lovers. These legends come from the Middle Ages. And the first thing that comes to mind with the words "Middle Ages" is the majestic cathedrals of European cities, impregnable castles, noble knights and beautiful ladies. But modern ideas based on legends and traditions are far from reality. For us, the heroes of those distant eras are similar to the characters of "Tales", the favorite book of the pioneer Olya, the heroine of the book "The Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors" by V. Gubarev. There, “kings, various princes and court ladies are so kind, fair, beautiful and generally so sugary-sweet, as if smeared with honey.” This happens because legends create pictures of an ideal world, to which real people who lived then should strive. In fact, in those distant and cruel times, when there were no modern states on the maps yet, and relations and life were regulated by strict rules of estates, people perceived such concepts as life, death, love, differently than we are now.

For a medieval person, there were two types of love: low (love in everyday life, love of spouses) and high, courtly, love for an ideal beautiful lady. Courtly love can be called "love-service", since the knight served the woman he chose as his lady, just as he served his master and God. The emergence of such love was a real revolution in the minds of medieval man. The essence of service for him was the worship of the strongest before the weakest. And suddenly this strongest becomes a woman, who until then was considered an unworthy creature, the cause of the fall. The vessel of sin turns into a Lady (or Donna), that is, a Lady. Before that, in no world culture, women were so exalted.

In fact, courtly love was not a manifestation of feelings, but a kind of ritual, an action in which both participants play the prescribed roles. Truver Andrey Kaplain, to help knights and ladies in love, wrote a kind of manual - A Treatise on Love. According to this treatise, a knight, in order to earn the favor of his chosen one, must go through four stages of love-service: a knight "sighing", "noticed", "recognized" and "beloved". And a lady, in order to become the object of such love, must be the embodiment of spiritual and bodily beauty. And she doesn't have to be unmarried. And if the lady was married, then the husband was strictly forbidden to show his jealousy.

Courtly love was sung by troubadour poets. The poetry of the troubadours relied on various sources: folklore, folk songs (ritual, "May", wedding); Eastern lyrics (especially Arab-Muslim Spain, which reached its highest peak in the 11th-12th centuries); ancient love lyrics (primarily the works of Ovid, a recognized mentor in the art of love).

Courtly doctrine acted as a kind of chivalrous ideology necessary for Western European society, which was in a state of continuous war, presented as a war for faith, that is, for spiritual values. However, the knights of different countries, although they accepted the rules of courtly love, understood its meaning differently. In the south of France, in Provence, they believed that a perfect lady should be inaccessible, and serving her was a reward in itself. Southerners called such relationships "true" or "perfect" love. If these relationships have a bodily completion, then they are “vulgar, base” love. But the northerners, the Germans, precisely this "low" love was mixed with proper courtly love. In literary criticism, the terms “high courtesy” and “low courtesy” have been established to designate these two models of behavior. In literature, high courtesy was expressed in chivalrous lyrics, and low - in chivalric romance.

You can see the difference in this understanding of courtly love in the legends collected in this book. The north is represented in it by legends from Germany, and the south by legends from France and Italy.

The legends included in the collection are not genuine works of medieval authors, but retellings. Nevertheless, the narrator of these stories, Sofya Prokofieva, managed to preserve their style and originality, to convey the characters of the characters and the flavor of the era.

dream knight

Vineta - the sunken city

It happened in ancient times, now no one really remembers when it was.

One clear spring morning, the young shepherd Peter drove the flock to a green meadow near the river. It was quiet. Wings windmills darkened in the distance as motionless crosses. An old wooden shoe floated lazily and slowly past the shore, otherwise no one would have noticed that the water was moving.

The shepherd was from this area. Every day he saw the same thing: these fields and meadows and a leisurely, sleepily flowing river. He wanted to climb to the top of the cliff and look at the sea. The cows nibbled on the lush tall grass, and the little dog vigilantly guarded the herd.

The young shepherd went to the distant rocks, singing a song along the way:

The wave is quiet, the wave is light,
Like transparent glass.
The bells are ringing at the bottom
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!

At the foot of a green hill nestled the house of an old fisherman. The old man was resting on a bench, smoking his pipe. He nodded affectionately at Peter. The old man's face was the color of dark copper, and his eyes seemed to be burnt out from the sun.

- Nice song! - he said. “I used to sing it myself when I was young. They say everything in it is true, every word, but who knows?

The shepherd waved his hand to the old fisherman and began to climb up the rocky ledges. Crooked branches of bushes clung to the skirts of the jacket. But here he is at the top. The shepherd looked around.

There was no wind, but wide gentle waves rolled along the sea all the time.

Here one crashed below, hissed, fell silent. Behind it is the second ... And suddenly, in the silence, a distant muffled ringing of bells was heard. This ringing came from somewhere below, as if climbing an invisible staircase. Louder and louder the bells sounded, and the sound of the surf could no longer drown them out.

“So, indeed, bells ring at the bottom of the sea! Peter wondered. “It’s like they’re enjoying a festive morning.”

Boom! - the mighty bell hummed dully, and others hurriedly and loudly echoed it in different voices.

At that moment, in the distance, beyond the surf, something brightly bright sparkled in the waves. The sun disappeared behind a cloud, and it became clear: it was a golden rooster emerging from the waves. What a marvel! There is a rooster on a golden ball, and the golden ball is fixed on the tip of a golden spire. A golden spire grows and stretches to the sky, and a bright path runs from it across the water.

Here two more golden roosters appeared from the sea, and now the roof of a high house is already visible above the waves, so richly decorated, as if a precious crown was put on the house.

Peter looked to the right, looked to the left... Where just a minute ago the desert waves rolled, now one could see a dense forest of lancet spiers, bell towers and turrets. So many that you can't even count!

Boom! - the big bell rattled, and the ringing silver voices of the small bells sang along with it: “We are glad for the sun, we are glad for the light! We came out of the sea, we came out of the sea ... "

Flocks of swifts took off from the towers and swirled in the sky, as if they could not get enough of the blue expanse.

Looks Peter - does not believe his eyes. Peaked roofs emerge from the waves one after another.

A few more moments - and a round island rose from the depths of the sea. And on it shines a beautiful city decorated with golden statues.

“Am I dreaming? Peter thought. “Or maybe it was the rainbow that rose over the sea and blinded me? Oh, if my beloved Magdalena were here, side by side, and saw this miracle!

The shepherd rubbed his eyes and pinched himself painfully to make sure he was not asleep. But no, the city did not disappear like a dream.

Here are the streets, here are the houses, dozens, hundreds of houses! They stand in close rows and look like golden beehives. Here is the tall cathedral.

Three watchtowers guarded the entrance to the city: one, the largest, in the middle and on both sides, two others, smaller. In the main tower there are heavy copper gates, and above them is a shield with a coat of arms: a casket full of gold and a lion with open mouth.

The sound of the surf subsided. The sea seemed to have become shallow, and from the very shore a sand spit rose from the bottom and stretched to the gate, three hundred paces long.

“Like a drawbridge,” the shepherd wondered. He hastily descended from the cliff, scratching his palms in the blood, and went to the city, bogging his feet in the wet sand.

Myths of the Middle Ages, which are still believed. Collection - Dream Knight. Legends of medieval Europe in the retelling for children Medieval legends