Dark century
feudality
Feudal manor
Western European cities
Urban influence
agricultural development
catalogue
1 summary
2 Basic information
3 Dark Century
4 feudal system
5 feudal manor
Six western European cities
Urban rise
State characteristics
Commercial guild
commodity market
7 urban impact
8 Agricultural development
9 the conflict between politics and religion
10 education
early stage
later stage
City school
Europe is called the Middle Ages from the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD to 1500 AD, and the early Middle Ages from the demise of the Western Roman Empire to the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire are considered to be the darkest period in Europe. The invasion and settlement of barbarians caused the collapse of the Roman Empire and almost caused the complete destruction of European culture at that time. In this context, the feudal system in western Europe was produced and developed on the ruins after the fall of Rome through the integration of Germanic, Roman and Christian factors. Chivalry system also came into being in medieval Europe, which was a feudal vassal system gradually produced and established in the process of feudalization in Europe. The European countries in the Middle Ages and early Middle Ages were a loose collection of territories.
Basic information
Chinese name
Medieval western Europe
time
In 476,
attribute
A period of cultural decline
produce
Chivalry
location
Western Europe
figure
Roman emperor
State characteristics
The territory of the feudal lords of cults
Commercial guild
Major economic organizations
commodity market
Jewish identity
agricultural development
Conducive to the progress of agricultural technology
bale
Dark century
In a country, emperors, kings, dukes, etc. Are the supreme lords, and other big noble swore allegiance to them in exchange for fiefs-"fiefs", thus becoming vassals of the supreme lords. These vassals can have their own vassals until knights with little or no land, thus forming a complete feudal hierarchy in Western Europe.
The Middle Ages in Western Europe are generally regarded as a period of cultural decline, even a period of "darkness", and the reasons for this "darkness" and "cultural retrogression" are entirely attributed to the Christian church. In fact, in the early Middle Ages of Western Europe (5- 1 1 century), church activities made great contributions to the development of Western European culture under specific historical conditions. Christianity is a classical culture.
Modern Europe has become the locomotive of world progress, and the modern civilization born from modern Europe has influenced the trend of modern world history with its great influence. Concepts such as human rights, democracy, legal system, republicanism and science have been widely accepted in today's world. Great geographical discoveries have brought the world closer together, and the eastern and western worlds have since become an inseparable whole. Modern European civilization developed on the soil of medieval Europe. The Middle Ages in Europe is a unique historical period. The Germanic kingdoms, which grew up from the ruins of the Roman Empire, gradually merged Germanic and Roman factors and formed a unique series of systems contained in the feudal system in Western Europe.
feudality
In 476 AD, the last Roman emperor was abolished by the Germans, and the Western Roman Empire finally perished under the invasion of barbarians. Many Germanic countries were established on the land of the former Western Roman Empire, and the feudal system in Western Europe developed under this background.
After the Franks entered Gaul, they confiscated the land of the Roman royal family and some slave owners and distributed it to the Franks' Kyle Commune. Many of them were also occupied by the king of Morovin dynasty and his soldiers, becoming a new feudal landlord class. As Franks continued to conquer new areas, kings presented the newly conquered land and its people to his subordinates, bishops and abbots, which was called "land donation". As a result of this unrestricted land grant, the local big noble's strength continued to increase, which ultimately greatly weakened the kingship, making successive kings of Mai Tam dynasty gradually become symbolic "co-owners". When Charles Martel of Caroline family served as a court minister, she began to implement the fief system for the sake of the long-term stability of the Frankish country and for the sake of consolidating her own strength. Charles Martel confiscated the land of rebel nobles and churches as fiefs and distributed it to nobles and churches. The recipient of the fief must provide cavalry service to the giver and swear allegiance to him; The giver of the fief has the obligation to protect the receiver from others. Feudal enfeoffment is limited to life and cannot be inherited.
In a sense, the feudal system in western Europe was developed by Franks during this period, and the "fief" system played a fundamental and decisive role.
The system of "fief" developed greatly during the period of Charlemagne. During this period, in addition to the old customs of the king, the earl, the earl of Mark and the duke who used to belong to state officials also became the vassals of the king and accepted the king's fiefs. At this time, fiefs gradually became hereditary. The king's bannermen can also absorb their own bannermen and give them some land as fiefs, thus becoming their bannermen again. After the 9th century, the word "fief" gradually replaced "fief"; It's called a pink map in the future. The king is the highest feudal Lord, under which there are big feudal lords such as duke, earl and bishop, and then there are small and medium feudal lords, thus forming a complete feudal hierarchy in Western Europe.
The medieval country was a loose land collection, and there was no clear concept of national boundaries. "Its property rights and sovereignty are mutually transformed everywhere" [1]
The feudal system in Europe is a system of political and economic integration. The feudal lords first clearly owned the ownership of the land in their fiefs, and then gradually acquired the local power of the kingship after the decline of the kingship, and transformed it into private power inherited with the fiefs, including administrative, judicial, taxation, coinage and other powers. Tracing the origin of European feudalism includes three main factors: Roman civilization, Germanic tradition and the influence of Christianity.
Note: ostrogoths, Visigoths and Vandals brought great pain to the Roman Empire. Under the background of immigration and settlement, it brought the destruction of civilization to the empire. Finally, they established many countries of different sizes on the territory of ancient Rome. Brought centuries of chaos to western Europe.
Feudal manor
Aristocratic and Peasant Life in the Middle Ages
Manor is the economic manifestation of feudal system in western Europe. The aristocratic fief may be a manor, or it may be a dozen or dozens. A manor includes one or several villages. The cultivated land of the manor is divided into two categories, one is aristocratic direct territory (self-operated land) and the other is serf land. In the 1 1 century, most residents of the fief were serfs. They were bound and no one was allowed to leave the fief without the permission of the Lord. In fact, when the world outside the village is still strange and dangerous, and the same fiefs are everywhere, few people intend to leave. Because the villages in the fief provide more sense of security and family ties, it is also easier for people to find blacksmiths and priests. The villagers took turns working in the Lord's field and gave some of their agricultural products to the Lord. In addition, there are poll tax, annual tribute, mill use fee, etc.
According to the farming system, cultivated land is divided into three parts: spring cultivated land, autumn cultivated land, fallow cultivated land and annual rotation. This is a three nursery system. Every serf has a piece of land, usually a long piece. When breeding, 4 ~ 8 cows need to pull heavy plows and cooperate with each other. Because every family is a long and narrow piece of land, what to plant and when to plant it need to be coordinated with each other, so rural communes often exist in manors. There are forests, pastures and water sources in the manor, which are all used by farmers.
As for the Lord, he can't deprive farmers of their property, nor can he drive them out of their land. This is a recognized feudal law.
Different from the feudal manor in western Europe, the feudal manor in China is a landlord economy, not a Lord economy; The land ownership of China landlords is separated from political sovereignty, and there is no administrative and judicial privilege of western European lords in the manor; China Manor engages in service rent; Tenants and customers do not have as strong personal feelings as in western Europe.
Western European cities
Urban rise
Cities are political, cultural and economic centers. There are many theories about the origin of western European cities in the Middle Ages: Roman city theory, Marquez origin theory, market origin theory, manor origin theory and fortress origin theory, each with its own merits. Of course, the oldest city is left over from Roman times, but it is mostly a political and religious center. Historians usually call it Bishop City, which has little economic significance.
Emerging cities in western Europe first developed in Italy, such as Venice, Genoa, Milan and Florence. Venice was originally a vassal state of Byzantium and became independent in the 9th century. In Europe, which is dominated by agriculture, it is the first country to rely on commercial trade to survive. A prosperous triangle trade developed between Venice and Constantinople and Muslim North Africa, and goods from the East were trafficked. Then Genoa, Pisa, Naples and other ports followed suit, thus promoting the development of inland cities such as Italy, Milan and Florence.
However, the emergence of a large number of cities in western Europe is still from 1 1 century to13rd century. Bruges and Ghent in Flanders imported wool from Britain, forming the industrial center of northern Europe. Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck and other cities also appeared along the Rhine, Baltic Sea and North Sea. There is a fixed big market on the trade route of the mainland. Among them, the market of champagne earl territory is the most famous. In the Middle Ages, western European cities were small and sparsely populated. Most of the biggest cities are in southern Europe. It is said that Palermo, a city in Sicily, had 300,000 people in its heyday, but this was mainly laid by Muslims. The population of other famous Italian cities such as Venice, Milan and Florence is generally above100000. Paris had a population of 240,000 in the13rd century, and London had a population of 30,600 in the13rd century. By today's standards, the city of London at that time was small and dirty, and it was a stinking garbage dump: wooden houses, unpaved streets, the only sewer system in Britain and only a public toilet. However, Londoners in 12 century were proud of London and thought it was radiant.
State characteristics
Cities in medieval western Europe generally rose on the territory of kings or secular feudal lords. They regard the city as their own manor and exercise the rights of lords. Even in the best of circumstances, well-meaning feudal lords would not manage the affairs of businessmen, because feudal laws and customary laws did not understand commercial issues. In addition, feudal lords were likely to extort money on the pretext of providing protection. Businessmen have formed their own business customary law in their business activities. To deal with currency and currency exchange, debt and bankruptcy, contracts and other affairs, so they want to have their own laws and courts, that is, they want to manage their own cities. As a result, the contradiction and struggle between the city and the feudal lords came into being. This kind of struggle is sometimes very sharp and even develops into armed conflicts, such as Cheng Lang and France. However, it is generally through economic redemption to obtain a charter from the king or feudal lords, thus having autonomy. Every city is a collective. Citizens have no individual rights. These concessions generally include personal freedom, citizens cannot become serfs, serfs are free to enter the city for one year and one day, and judicial and financial independence. The mayors of some cities are appointed by the king, and their autonomy is incomplete. Some cities have city councils, which can elect mayors or municipal officials and have complete autonomy. Some cities, such as Venice and Florence, became city republics. Of course, some small cities still obey feudalism.
Compared with eastern cities, western European cities are characterized by fighting against feudal lords, gaining a certain degree of autonomy and having independent administrative, judicial and financial functions. Generally, China city is the center of political rule first, and the city is concentric with autocratic rule, while western European cities play a centrifugal role in feudal system. There are many reasons for the formation of urban characteristics in western Europe: ① Western Europe is politically divided, the laws are not unified, the feudal lords are independent, and all feudal lords are independent entities with administrative and judicial functions. A city, for example, is like a territory that has obtained privileged rights. This kind of situation will not appear in the unified imperial structure, so it will neither appear in the East nor in the Roman emperor.