Culture of Europe in the 17th century. General characteristics. European culture of the 16th-18th centuries European culture of the 16th and 17th centuries


Lecture No. 18.

Topic: European culture of the 16th-18th centuries.

1. Culture of the Renaissance.

2. Literature of the Enlightenment.

3. Art XVII-XVIII centuries.


1.

The new period in the cultural development of Western and Central Europe was called the Renaissance, or Renaissance.

Renaissance (in French Renaissance) is a humanistic movement in the history of European culture during the period of the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of modern times. The Renaissance arose in Italy in the 14th century, spread to Western countries (Northern Renaissance) and reached its greatest flowering in the middle of the 16th century. The end of the 16th - the beginning of the 17th century: decline - mannerism.

The phenomenon of the Renaissance was determined by the fact that the ancient heritage turned into a weapon for the overthrow of church canons and prohibitions. Some culturologists, determining its significance, compare it with a grandiose cultural revolution, which lasted two and a half centuries and ended with the creation of a new type of worldview and a new type of culture. A revolution took place in art comparable to the discovery of Copernicus. At the center of the new worldview was man, and not God as the highest measure of all things. The new view of the world was called humanism.

Anthropocentrism is the main idea of ​​the Renaissance worldview. The birth of a new worldview is associated with the writer Francesco Petrarch. He contrasts scholasticism, based on the formal terminological method, with scientific knowledge; happiness in the “City of God” - earthly human happiness; spiritual love for God - sublime love for an earthly woman.

The ideas of humanism were expressed in the fact that what is important in a person is his personal qualities - intelligence, creative energy, enterprise, self-esteem, will and education, and not social status and origin.

During the Renaissance, the ideal of a harmonious, liberated, creative personality, beauty and harmony was established, an appeal to man as the highest principle of being, a feeling of integrity and harmonious patterns of the universe.

The Renaissance gave birth to geniuses and titans:


  • Italy - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Titian, the politician Machiavelli, the philosophers Alberti, Bruni, Vala, Ficino, Nicholas of Cusa, the architects Brunelleschi and Bramante;

  • France - Rabelais and Montaigne;

  • England - More, Bacon, Sidney, Shakespeare;

  • Spain - Cervantes;

  • Poland - Copernicus;

  • Germany - Boehme, Münzer, Kepler.
In the works of these authors there is the idea that the harmony of the created world is manifested everywhere: in the actions of the elements, the passage of time, the position of the stars, the nature of plants and animals.

Masterpieces of the Renaissance:


  • Leonardo da Vinci "La Gioconda", "The Last Supper";

  • Raphael "Sistine Madonna" and "Sleeping Venus", "Madonna Conestabile" and "Judith";

  • Titian "Danae" (Hermitage Museum).
The Renaissance is characterized by the universalism of masters, a wide exchange of knowledge (the Dutch borrow some of the coloristic features of the Italians, and they, in turn, borrow from them the work of oil paints on canvas).

The main feature of the art and culture of the Renaissance is the affirmation of human beauty and talent, the triumph of thought and high feelings, creative activity. Baroque and classicism styles are developing in fine arts, academicism and caravaggism in painting. New genres appear - landscape, still life, pictures of everyday life, hunting and holidays.


Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa

Raphael Sistine Madonna

Renaissance architecture is based on the revival of classical, mainly Roman architecture. The main requirements are balance and clarity of proportions, the use of an order system, sensitivity to the building material, its texture, and beauty.

The revival arose and was most clearly manifested in Italy.

The period from the last decade of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century (High Renaissance) becomes the “golden age” of Italian art. From him the solemn and majestic architecture of Bramante and Palladio remains as a souvenir for descendants, he gives the world the immortal masterpieces of Raphael and Michelangelo. The entire 16th century continues and only in early XVII century, the flowering of the culture of renaissance, born under the skies of Italy, is fading away.

The late Renaissance is characterized by the rapid development of such a synthetic art form as theater, the most prominent representatives of which were Lope de Vega, Calderon, Tirso de Molina (Spain), William Shakespeare (England).

Thus, the culture of the Renaissance reflects a synthesis of the features of antiquity and medieval Christianity; the ideological basis for the secularization of culture is humanism.

The Renaissance replaced religious ritual with secular ritual and elevated man to a heroic pedestal.

2.
People of the 17th-18th centuries called their time centuries of reason and enlightenment. Medieval ideas, sanctified by the authorities of the church and omnipotent tradition, were criticized. In the 18th century, the desire for knowledge based on reason, and not on faith, took possession of an entire generation. The consciousness that everything is subject to discussion, that everything must be clarified by means of reason, was a distinctive feature of the people of the 17th and 18th centuries.

During the Age of Enlightenment, the transition to modern culture. Was taking shape new image life and thinking, which means that the artistic self-awareness of a new type of culture also changed. The Enlightenment saw in ignorance, prejudice and superstition the main cause of human misfortunes and social evils, and in education, philosophical and scientific activity, in freedom of thought - the path of cultural and social progress.

The ideas of social equality and personal freedom took hold, first of all, of the third estate, from whose midst most of the humanists emerged. The middle class consisted of the wealthy bourgeoisie and people of liberal professions; it had capital, professional and scientific knowledge, general ideas, and spiritual aspirations. The worldview of the third estate was most clearly expressed in the educational movement - anti-feudal in content and revolutionary in spirit.

Radical changes also occurred at the level of aesthetic consciousness. The basic creative principles of the 17th century - classicism and baroque - acquired new qualities during the Enlightenment, because the art of the 18th century turned to depicting the real world. Artists, sculptors, writers recreated it in paintings and sculptures, stories and novels, plays and performances. The realistic orientation of art encouraged the creation of a new creative method.

Literature was based on public opinion, which was formed in circles and salons. The courtyard ceased to be the only center to which everyone strove. The philosophical salons of Paris, where Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Helvetius, Hume, and Smith attended, became fashionable. From 1717 to 1724, more than one and a half million volumes of Voltaire and about a million volumes of Rousseau were printed. Voltaire was truly a great writer - he knew how to comprehend and explain simply and publicly in a beautiful, elegant language the most serious topic that attracted the attention of his contemporaries. He had a tremendous influence on the minds of all enlightened Europe. His evil laughter, capable of destroying centuries-old traditions, was feared more than anyone else's accusations. He strongly emphasized the value of culture. He portrayed the history of society as the history of the development of culture and human education. Voltaire preached these same ideas in his dramatic works and philosophical stories (“Candide, or Optimism”, “The Simple-minded”, “Brutus”, “Tancred”, etc.).

The direction of educational realism was successfully developed in England. The entire group of ideas and dreams about a better natural order received artistic expression in the famous novel by Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) “Robinson Crusoe”. He wrote more than 200 works of various genres: poetry, novels, political essays, historical and ethnographic works. The book about Robinson is nothing more than the story of an isolated individual, left to the educational and corrective work of nature, a return to the natural state. Less known is the second part of the novel, which tells about spiritual rebirth on an island, far from civilization.

German writers, remaining in the position of enlightenment, looked for non-revolutionary methods of combating evil. They considered aesthetic education to be the main force of progress, and art to be the main means. From the ideals of social freedom, German writers and poets moved on to the ideals of moral and aesthetic freedom. This transition is characteristic of the work of the German poet, playwright and theorist of Enlightenment art Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805). In his early plays, which had enormous success, the author protested against despotism and class prejudices. “Against Tyrants” - the epigraph to his famous drama “Robbers” - directly speaks of its social orientation.

In addition to the generally accepted baroque and classicist styles in Europe, new ones appeared in the 17th-18th centuries: rococo, sentimentalism, and pre-romanticism. Unlike previous centuries, there is no single style of the era, unity artistic language. The art of the 18th century became a kind of encyclopedia of various stylistic forms that were widely used by artists, architects, and musicians of this era. In France, artistic culture was closely connected with the court environment. The Rococo style originated among the French aristocracy. The words of Louis XV (1715-1754) “After us, even a flood” can be considered a characteristic of the mood that reigned in court circles. Strict etiquette was replaced by a frivolous atmosphere, a thirst for pleasure and fun. The aristocracy was in a hurry to have fun before the flood in an atmosphere of gallant festivities, the soul of which was Madame Pompadour. The court environment partly itself shaped the Rococo style with its capricious, whimsical forms. The founder of Rococo in painting can be considered Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), a court painter. Watteau's heroes are actresses in wide silk dresses, dandies with languid movements, cupids frolicking in the air. Even the titles of his works speak for themselves: “The Capricious One”, “Feast of Love”, “Society in the Park”, “Predicament”.

Watteau "Predicament".

As a painter, Watteau was much deeper and more complex than his many followers. He diligently studied nature and wrote a lot from life. After Watteau's death, Francois Boucher (1704-1770) took his place at court. A very skilled craftsman, he worked a lot in the field of decorative painting, making sketches for tapestries and painting on porcelain. Typical subjects are “The Triumph of Venus”, “The Toilet of Venus”, “The Bathing of Diana”. In the works of Boucher, the mannerism and eroticism of the Rococo era were expressed with particular force, for which he was constantly accused by enlightenment moralists.

In the era French Revolution New classicism triumphed in art. Classicism of the 18th century is not a development of classicism of the previous century - it is a fundamentally new historical and artistic phenomenon. Common features: appeal to antiquity as a norm and artistic model, assertion of the superiority of duty over feeling, increased abstraction of style, pathos of reason, order and harmony. The exponent of classicism in painting was Jacques Louis David (life: 1748-1825). His painting “The Oath of the Horatii” became the battle banner of new aesthetic views. A plot from the history of Rome (the Horace brothers take an oath of fidelity to duty and readiness to fight their enemies to their father) became an expression of republican views in revolutionary France.


J.S.Bach
The 18th century brought a lot of new things to musical creativity. In the 18th century, music rose to the level of other arts that had flourished since the Renaissance. Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Christoph Gluck, Franz Joseph Haydn Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stands at the pinnacle of musical art in the 18th century. The flourishing of music as an independent art form at this time is explained by the need for poetic, emotional expression of the spiritual world of man. The work of Bach and Handel still preserved the continuity of musical traditions, but they were beginning a new stage in the history of music. Johann Sebastian Bach (life: 1685-1750) is considered consummate master polyphony. Working in all genres, he wrote about 200 cantatas, instrumental concerts, works for organ, clavier, etc. Bach was especially close to the democratic line of the German artistic tradition, associated with poetry and music of the Protestant chorale, with folk melody. Through the spiritual experience of his people, he felt the tragic beginning in human life and at the same time faith in final harmony. Bach is a musical thinker who professes the same humanistic principles as the enlighteners.


Mozart
Everything new that was characteristic of progressive trends in music was embodied in creativity Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (life years: 1756-1791). Together with Franz Joseph Haydn he represented the Vienna Classical School. Haydn's main genre was the symphony, Mozart's - opera. He changed traditional opera forms and introduced psychological individuality into genre types of symphonies. He owns about 20 operas: (“The Marriage of Figaro”, “Don Giovanni”, “ magical flute"); 50 symphony concerts, numerous sonatas, variations, masses, the famous “Requiem”, choral works.

The Renaissance is also called the Renaissance. This is a period of development of science, culture, morality and enlightenment. Central Asia experienced such a period in the 9th - 12th and 14th - 15th centuries.

In Western European countries, the heyday of the Renaissance occurred mainly in the 14th-17th centuries. Scientists consider the Renaissance to be the era of transition from medieval stagnation to the modern period. The Renaissance in Western Europe did not arise on its own.

The Central Asian Eastern Renaissance had a direct influence on the development of world culture and scientific thought. The Renaissance arose in Italy, since there the features characteristic of capitalist society arose earlier. Main distinctive features The Renaissance in Western Europe were:
- denial of ignorance, fanaticism, conservatism;
- affirmation of a humanistic worldview, faith in the limitless possibilities of man, his will and reason;
- appeal to cultural heritage antiquity, a kind of “revival” of it, hence the name of the era;
- glorification in literature and art of the beauty of earthly, and not the afterlife;
- the fight for human freedom and dignity.

Literature of the Renaissance.

The literature and art of the Renaissance produced outstanding talents.

One of the literary geniuses of this era was William Shakespeare (1564-1616). He believed that “man is the greatest miracle of nature!” Shakespeare was in love with the theater. He worked as an actor and playwright. The world around him seemed to be a stage, and people - actors. He deeply believed that the theater would become a school for people, which would teach them to resist the blows of fate, and awaken a feeling of hatred for betrayal, duplicity, and baseness. V. Shakespeare left to humanity such masterpieces as “Othello”, “Hamlet”, “King Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet” and other works.

Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616), Spanish writer, one of the largest representatives Renaissance. The main character of his famous novel “Don Quixote” is the last of the noble knights-errant in a world of injustice. Don Quixote fights injustice to the best of his ability. His actions are a reflection of his motto: “For freedom, as for glory, you need to put your life in danger.”

Art. Another outstanding representative of the Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519). He was at the same time an artist, a poet, an architect, a sculptor, a musician, and an inventor. Leonardo da Vinci called painting “the princess of the arts.”

The heroes of his paintings were not gods or angels, but ordinary people. This is his painting “Madonna and Child”, where the mother carefully presses the baby to her chest. Hugging him, she looks at him with a gentle half-smile. The earth reflects the infinite mother's love to the child. The wall painting “The Last Vespers” by Leonardo da Vinci is famous.

Another great artist of this period is Raphael Santi (1483 - 1520). He lived only 37 years. But during this short period he managed to create masterpieces of world painting, one of which is the Sistine Madonna.

The artist’s contemporaries praised this painting as “one of a kind.” In it, the barefoot Holy Mary does not seem to be standing on the clouds, but is floating on them towards her destiny.
The look of the baby Jesus is as serious as that of an adult. As if he feels future suffering and imminent death. There is also sadness and concern in the mother’s gaze. She knows everything in advance. Nevertheless, she goes towards people for whom the path of truth will be opened at the expense of the life of her son.

The most famous work of the Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606 - 1669) is the painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. He created it in the most difficult years for him - after the death of his son. The biblical legend tells how a son wandered around the world for many years and, having spent all his wealth, returns to his father’s house, where he is accepted back.
Rembrandt depicted in his work the moment of meeting between father and son. The lost son kneels at the threshold of the house. Worn clothes and a bald head indicate the sorrows of life endured. The frozen movement of the blind father's hands expresses the bright joy of a desperate man and his endless love.

Art studies.

Sculptors of this period considered sculpture the best form of fine art, glorifying man and his beauty like nothing else.

The most famous among the creators of this period was the Italian Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564).
With his immortal works, he left an indelible mark on history.

This is what he said about art in his tercet:

“What is life, what is being
Before the eternity of art,
No wise man can defeat him,
nor time."

He most powerfully expressed the deeply human ideals of the Renaissance, full of heroic pathos. The statue of David he created affirms the physical and spiritual beauty of man, his limitless creative possibilities. This work of the great sculptor reflects the image of the biblical hero, the shepherd David, who fought the mythical giant Goliath. According to legend, David kills Goliath in single combat and subsequently becomes king. The grandeur and beauty of this sculpture is unparalleled.
St. Peter's Basilica is the main Catholic church in Rome and Europe. Its construction was completed by Michelangelo. The temple was built over a hundred years.

Renaissance - term for the era of renaissance

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QUESTIONS

1. Name the prerequisites for the emergence of the Renaissance culture. What ideas underlay the work of the great writers and artists of the Renaissance?

The prerequisites for the emergence of a culture of revival were:

The rise of the Italian city-republics,

The emergence of new classes that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and artisans, traders, bankers. The hierarchical system of values ​​created by the medieval, largely church culture, and its ascetic, humble spirit, were alien to all of them.

The emergence of a culture of humanism, glorifying the human creator, who considered man, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value,

The development of printing

The activities of universities and the development of secular education.

The work of writers and artists of the Renaissance was based on the idea of ​​man - as the highest creation of nature, as the center of the universe. The philosophy of humanism affirmed the idea that the measure of all things is man with his earthly joys and sorrows

2. How did the art of the Italian Renaissance influence the culture of other European countries?

The art of the Italian Renaissance greatly influenced the culture of other European countries. Ideas of humanism, artistic principles Renaissance cultures crossed the borders of Italy and spread to many countries in Western Europe. Thanks to the embodiment in the works of the great masters of the Renaissance, the humanistic vision of the world penetrated into the palaces of rulers, into the walls of universities, and among educated citizens.

3. Name the characteristic features of Baroque, Rococo and Classicism. Give examples works of art these styles.

The Baroque style (the name comes from the Italian word meaning “bizarre”, “strange”) was characterized by grandeur, pomp and pretentiousness of forms, the creation of spatial illusion and optical effects. Examples of Baroque style:

in painting: the Sistine Madonna of the artist Raphael, the work of the Flemish artist P.P. Rubens, the work of the Dutch artist Rembrandt (“Return of the Prodigal Son”, “ Holy family", "Night Watch", etc.);

in architecture and sculpture - a colonnade on the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome by architect J.L. Bernini, sculpture "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa";

literature and theater - the works of W. Shakespeare.

The new direction, which took hold in Catholic countries, was a kind of aesthetic response to the Reformation. Baroque architecture and painting were supposed to glorify the greatness of God and assert the power of the Roman church. However, Baroque art was not limited solely to religious motifs.

The Rococo style (from French means “decoration in the shape of a shell”) is characterized by pretentiousness, decorativeness, splendor and luxury. But unlike Baroque, Rococo is more lightweight, chamber, and aristocratic. Particularly characteristic in this regard is the decoration of the interiors of the palaces of the French nobility. Elegant, light furniture with curved legs, sofas, armchairs, tables, wardrobes, canopy beds were decorated with molded asymmetrical details and inlay. Sofas and armchairs were upholstered with elegant tapestries. Rococo art reflected the tastes of the Versailles aristocracy.

The "Gallant Age" was also reflected in French painting XVIII V. It is characterized by escapism, appeal to human feelings, eroticism. These themes are present in the works of artists Antoine Watteau and Francois Boucher.

For the classicism style, the main thing was the depiction of majestic and noble deeds, the glorification of a sense of duty to society and the state. In imitation of the ancient Greeks and Romans, cultural figures had to depict the beautiful and sublime.

art – works by Nicolas Poussin. He lived for a long time in

literature - Pierre Corneille, the great poet and creator of the French theater.

architecture – country royal palace and park in Versailles

4. What evidenced that in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Has France become the center of European artistic life?

In the XVII–XVIII centuries. France has become the center of the artistic life of Europe, which is indicated by the fact that it is here that two styles arise - classicism and rococo. France had a significant influence on painting, architecture, and fashion throughout Europe. An example of a classic palace ensemble was Versailles. French industry specialized in the production of luxury goods: tapestries, furniture, lace, gloves, and costume jewelry were exported to all European countries from France. Every month two dolls, dressed in the latest Parisian fashion, were sent to England, Italy, Holland, and Russia. It was in France that the first fashion magazine appeared.

TASKS

1. How do you see the difference between the art of the Italian Renaissance and the art of France in the 18th century?

And the Italian Renaissance and the art of France in the 18th century. was turned to the ancient heritage. However, the main idea of ​​the Italian Renaissance was humanism and the depiction of Christian and mythological subjects. The art of France in the 18th century was more secular in nature. The main thing for the artist was the depiction of majestic and noble deeds, the glorification of a sense of duty to society and the state.

The 17th century is the initial period in the formation of the bourgeois mode of production. This is a complex and contradictory era in the life of European states: the era of early bourgeois revolutions (Netherlands - 1566-1609, England - 1640-1688) and the heyday of absolutist monarchies (France, “the century of Louis XIV”); the time of the scientific revolution and the final stage of the Counter-Reformation; the era of grandiose, expressive baroque and dry, rational classicism.

In industrial terms, Europe of the 17th century. - this is the Europe of manufactory and the water wheel - the engine of manufactory production. These are larger enterprises in comparison with craft workshops and more productive, based on the division and cooperation of manual labor. Manufactures predominated in the production of glass, sugar, paper, cloth, and silk in the Netherlands and England, and developed in France. The main sources of energy remained water and wind, but since the beginning of the century there has been a gradual transition to the use of coal in production. Technical inventions are being improved: in book printing and coin making, for example, a screw press began to be used. Mining production and military equipment are developing. The role of mechanisms is increasing; The main thing is still the clock mechanism, but improvements have also been made to it - spring and pendulum clocks have appeared.

Along with manufacturing, European life includes stock and commodity exchanges, banks, fairs and markets. The countryside is slowly being drawn into market relations (9/10 of the European population was employed in agriculture). Land becomes an object of purchase and sale. The wealth of colonial countries is involved in European trade. The system of colonial robbery acquires such proportions that it leads to trade wars in the 17th and 18th centuries. The social structure of European society is changing. Peasants who have lost their land turn into tenants; artisans - into factory workers. Part of the nobility is becoming bourgeois. Thus, in England, as a result of enclosure, new nobles and farmers appeared - representatives of the capitalist structure. The bourgeois class is growing and strengthening its position in economics and politics. The new capitalist way of life is manifested in the formation of the domestic market and the development of world trade, the institutions of entrepreneurship and wage labor, the displacement of the guild system by manufacturing, and the formation of a new bourgeois class grouping.

The political life of Europe is complex and heterogeneous XVII century. The tone for political processes is set by the small but very rich Netherlands, where the first bourgeois revolution takes place and a bourgeois republic arises in seven northern provinces, the largest of which was Holland. Like all early bourgeois revolutions, this one was limited in goals, forms and results: it took place under religious banners, liberated only part of the country from feudal reaction, and took the form of a national liberation war against the Spanish crown. But for the first time a new class came to power - the bourgeoisie. This event qualitatively changed European life in the field of international trade and colonial policy: the power and international prestige of Spain, the queen of the 16th century, were undermined. Spain, corrupted by cheap colonial gold, weakened by the struggle for “purity of faith,” is turning into a secondary European state. In Germany, the tragic outcome of the Peasants' War extended the existence of feudal orders for 100 years, preserving the personal dependence of the peasants and the political fragmentation of the country.


But mainly the political fate of Europe depended on the relationship between the two leading powers - England and France. It is difficult to overestimate the role that the English bourgeois revolution (1640-1688) played in the life of European society. Coup of 1688 led to the restoration of the monarchy, but it was already a limited monarchy with a strong parliament that passed laws promoting the development of the capitalist system. The principles of political structure and economic order proclaimed by the English revolution had an impact on all European countries. England became an advanced industrial and powerful colonial power.

The period of the English Revolution coincided in France with the rise of the absolute monarchy. This was the century of Louis XIV (1643-1715), Louis the Great, the Sun King, as his contemporaries flatteringly called him. The Versailles courtyard thundered - the standard of luxury and taste throughout Europe. Balls of unparalleled splendor were given here. France replaces Spain as the trendsetter of fashion and etiquette. Although absolutism as a form of government is established in most European states, classic example France was an absolutist state for two centuries. “One monarch, one law, one religion” - in accordance with this principle, the French kings exercised unlimited rule. All economic, political and social life in the state were under the control of the monarch, and this situation suited all classes. The nobility could no longer do without a monarch-benefactor; need drove the impoverished aristocrats under the royal banners. The court, treasury and army guaranteed the protection of privileges and nurtured hopes for a career. The nascent bourgeoisie of France also could not do without the sovereign, who embodied the centuries-old struggle for the unity of the country and for the suppression of separatism. The royal authorities often pursued a protectionist policy towards manufacturing. Thus, the product of the decomposition of feudalism - absolutism - to a certain extent contributed to the development of capitalist relations. A strong absolutist state, with clear national borders that restrained internecine wars, guaranteed a peaceful life and the protection of the king to all segments of the population.

Absolutism also played a positive role in overcoming religious wars in Western Europe in the 16th-18th centuries. (the Thirty Years' War, which delayed the development of Germany, the wars of the Calvinist-Huguenots and Catholics in France at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, with the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Night; constant clashes between the Puritans and supporters of the “high” church in the English history of the 17th century). Absolutism sought to rely on the church, to strengthen religious foundations: the church proclaimed that the monarch was God’s anointed, and his dominion on earth was like a heavenly autocracy.

But still, the role of religion in the worldview is declining. Religious wars, the split in Western Christianity as a result of the Reformation, and the persecution of dissidents testified to the inability of the church to ensure social peace. The organic inclusion of the Christian church in socio-political feudal structures with their ideological and semantic center “God - Pope - King” undermined its authority in the era of the overthrow of the old order. Finally, the progress of science and experimental knowledge gradually convinced of the truth scientific picture of the universe.

The development of the bourgeois mode of production gave rise to the need for applied sciences. Since the Renaissance, the role of natural sciences in culture has increased. Leading place Mechanics took over in natural science. Science ceased to be an armchair activity of lone scientists. New forms of organizing research work have emerged - scientific societies, academies of sciences. In 1635, the French Academy was created, and in 1660, the Royal Society of London. The scientific revolution was based on a fundamentally new assessment of the capabilities of the human mind and the sources of knowledge. Even before Rene Descartes (1596-1650) in his Discourse on Method declared the human mind to be the main instrument of knowledge of the world, Francis Bacon (1561-1626) declared that knowledge is power, its source is experience, not divine revelation, and the measure of value is the practical benefit it brings. The most important methods scientific knowledge an experiment (Galileo, Bacon, Newton), a mechanical hypothesis, a mechanical model (Descartes) were announced.

Antonio van Leeuwenhoek's microscope made it possible to study the structure of living organisms down to the smallest physiological processes. And the telescope made it possible for Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) to develop the heliocentric teaching of Nicolaus Copernicus and discover the laws of planetary motion. Using a telescope he designed with 30x magnification, Galileo discovered volcanoes and craters on the Moon, and saw the satellites of Jupiter. Milky Way appeared before him as a countless cluster of stars, confirming Giordano Bruno’s thought about the inexhaustibility of worlds in the Universe. All this brought Galileo the well-deserved fame of “Columbus of Heaven” and turned the biblical picture of the universe upside down.

The development of earth mechanics (Galileo, Torricelli, Boyle, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz) showed the inconsistency of the medieval understanding of nature, based on Aristotelian physics. In the works of Isaac Newton (1643-1727), mathematical science reached its peak. Newton's discoveries in the field of optics (dispersion of light) made it possible to construct a more powerful reflecting telescope. Newton (simultaneously with Leibniz and independently of him) discovered differential and integral calculus. He also formulates a number of the most important laws in physics. Newton's predecessor, Rene Descartes, was one of the creators of mechanics, algebra and analytical geometry. He combined the genius of a natural scientist and a philosopher. Having become interested in physiology, he was able to understand and appreciate the importance of blood circulation. Having deeply studied the laws of optics, he discovered the refraction of light. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), based on Torricelli's assumptions, firmly proved the existence of atmospheric pressure. The theory of probability was developed in the works of Pascal, Fermat and Huygens. William Harvey (1578-1657) discovered the secret of blood circulation and the role of the heart, and came closer to revealing the secret of the origin of human life.

In the 17th century a huge number of discoveries and inventions were made, and this allows us to talk about the scientific revolution of the “age of geniuses,” as the 17th century is sometimes called. But the main result of the scientific revolution was the creation of a new image of the Universe. The geocentric cosmos collapsed, and the Earth took its true place in the picture of the universe. The world appeared as a result of the evolution of matter, governed by mechanical laws, and not by divine providence, and ceased to be a physical emanation of the spiritual providence of God.

But the scientific worldview in the 17th century. has not yet broken the ties connecting it with more ancient - esoteric and religious - ideas. The leaders of the scientific revolution were deeply religious people. Faith was the source of their creative inspiration. The laws of nature discovered by natural scientists were presented as a new acquisition of divine knowledge, lost at the time of the Fall. The mechanical models of the world created by scientists found a logical complement in the ideas of an impersonal creator who laid the foundation for the world, gave it a complete form and harmony, and then removed himself from it. Both Descartes and Newton built their systems of the universe based on the divine principle. Newton believed that matter could not be explained from itself, that “the most graceful combination of the Sun, Planets and comets could not have happened except by the intention and authority of a powerful and wise being.” The greatest harmony, consistency and beauty of the universe, believed Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, is a consequence of the miracle that occurred during the creation of things, “it is a constant miracle in the same way as the multitude of natural things.” Benedict Spinoza speaks of God as the first principle of being, the first cause of all things, and also the first cause of himself.

But despite the “assumptions” of divine intervention, the image of the Copernican-Newtonian Universe was simple and understandable in comparison with the cumbersome Ptolemaic system.

They tried to apply the principles of knowledge of nature to the sphere of public life. This is exactly how D. Locke and the French enlighteners understood Newton’s teaching: the outdated structures of feudalism with their class, church hierarchies must give way to the rationality of a mutually beneficial social order and the recognition of individual rights. This is how natural law theories of modern times emerge, which soon turned into a weapon in the fight against feudal class privileges. The founders of the theories of natural law were Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), who made the transition to the positions of human behavior and vital interest and laid the foundation for utilitarianism and pragmatism. The abstract mind of the rationalists turned into the common sense of the bourgeois.

The starting premise of Hobbes's natural law theory is the concept of human nature. Human nature is evil and selfish: “Man is a wolf to man.” The state of nature - the initial stage of human history - is characterized by a “war of all against all”, in which man is guided by “natural law” - the law of force. Natural law is opposed to “natural laws” - the rational and moral principles of human nature. Among them are the law of self-preservation and the law of satisfying needs. Since the “war of all against all” threatens a person with self-destruction, there is a need to change the “state of nature” to a civil one, which is what people do through the conclusion of a social contract, voluntarily ceding some of their rights and freedoms to the state and agreeing to comply with the laws. The natural law of force is replaced by the harmony of natural and civil laws, gaining real life in the state. Hobbes views the state as a work of human hands, the most important of the artificial bodies it creates. The state is a necessary condition for culture; outside it there is war, fear, abomination, barbarism, poverty, ignorance. In the state there is peace, security, wealth, the rule of reason, decency, knowledge. The practical basis for such ideas was the endless wars between feudal estates and the devastation, fear for their lives and for the lives of their loved ones that these wars brought with them. XVII century permeated with a feeling of tragic loneliness in the human world - a toy in the hands of fate. From these feelings and sentiments grew the ideas of the need for a strong state capable of protecting its citizens.

Locke believed that the truth of social life lies not in the state, but in the individual himself. People unite in society to guarantee the individual his natural rights. Locke considered the main natural rights not the right of force, but the right to life, liberty and property. The state, through its laws, protects the natural rights and free private life of every person. Individual rights are best ensured by the principle of separation of powers. The philosopher considered it necessary to assign legislative power to parliament, federal power (relations with other states) to the king and ministers, and executive power- for the court and the army.

The theory of natural law had an anti-theological and anti-feudal orientation. Emphasizing the “natural” origin of law, she opposed the theory of “divine” law, which turned God into the source of the laws of the feudal-absolutist state. Insisting on the inalienability of the most important “natural rights” of the individual, this theory also opposed the practice of their constant violation in feudal society, being an instrument of his criticism.

XVII century rich in utopias in which criticism of the foundations of feudal absolutism is combined with the development of projects for a perfect society. Thus, an admirer of Descartes' philosophy, Cyrano de Bergerac, developed ideas of progress in his science fiction novels. Showering a hail of ridicule to contemporary society, he enriched the traditions of Rabelais' humanism. Set out in the form of travel novels, the utopian programs of the Italian Campanella (“City of the Sun”) and the French author Denis Veras (“History of the Sevarams”) oriented public consciousness towards the search for a harmonious social order. Utopians discovered it on distant islands, other planets, or attributed it to the distant future, seeing no possibility of changing the state of things in their contemporary world.

Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, which absorbed the spirit of the times of the scientific revolution, differs from these utopias in its techno- and sciencecratic orientation. The wise men who sit in the “House of Solomon” are scholars, high priests, politicians, - they know very well that “knowledge is power.” Scientific and technical achievements are regarded as the main wealth of the nation, and their secrets are carefully guarded. The Bensalemites can desalinate water and condition air, regulate weather and simulate human behavior, they produce synthetic food and know the secret of eternal life. Similar ideas in Europe in the 17th century. were in the air (thus, the dream of a collective organization of scientists’ activities, which soon came to life in the activities of the Royal Society of London, the Paris Academy, etc.) In part, these fantasies can also be considered as a kind of mind game: in the culture of this serious scientific, sometimes tragic century, significant game component. As I. Huizinga notes, the 17th century was passionate about playing with Baroque forms.

Culture XVII V. created the necessary preconditions for the cultures of subsequent eras. The 17th century is the beginning of the formation of bourgeois society, the development of a new bourgeois worldview, the foundation of which was Newtonian-Cartesian cosmology. The Earth ceased to be the center of the Universe and became one of the planets moving around the Sun, which in turn became just one of a great many stars. The Universe took on the appearance of a complex system consisting of material particles, subject to mechanical laws. Social life also became an integral part of this system; the spread of Newtonian-Cartesian conclusions to it gave rise to natural law theories of modern times. The role of God in this worldview still remained significant: since the world is like a giant clockwork, it must have its own Master. The Creator, who created the world and then disappeared from it, appeared in the images of the Divine Architect, Mathematician and Watchmaker.

The power of man lies in the fact that by the power of his Mind he can penetrate into the heart of the universal order and then turn the acquired knowledge to his benefit. Realizing himself as a cognizing subject and creator of culture, a person masters the role of ruler of the world. Reason became the slogan of the new world (just as God was the slogan of the old world). Rationalism has become the dominant culture; science - the main instrument of Reason - acquired a worldview status, knowledge - a social orientation.

XVI century passed under the sign humanism, which covered Italy, R.V., Germany, Hungary, France, England, Spain, Portugal, Poland, and partly Scandinavia. There were various currents of humanism, from Epicurean-hedonistic to civil. The centers of Renaissance culture, along with burgher-patrician cities, became the courts of nobles, sovereigns, and nobles, where exquisite artistic creativity was encouraged, which often gave the culture features of elitism. The role of patronage of the arts increased, the social status of artists and scientists changed, who were forced to work on orders from the nobility, obtaining positions at courts. Prices for works of art in Italy of the 15th century. - marble statue in life size- 100-120 florins; bronze statue of the Apostle Matthew - 945 florins + 93 for the architectural design of the niche; marble bas-relief - 30-50 florins; Michelangelo - for the Pietà - 150 Roman ducats; Donatello for the monument to Gattamelatta - 1650 crown. Lear; curtain painting - 1.25 florins; altar image of the Siena family - 120 florins; altarpiece by Benozzo Gozzoli - 75 florins; in papal Rome for every fresco in Sistine Chapel at the end of the 15th century. They paid the masters 250 florins, and the authors of the works were Botticelli, Rossellino, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Ghirlandaio; in general, painting the walls cost Sixtus IV 3000 florins. For comparison, an ordinary house cost 100-200 florins; “improved layout” - 300-400 florins (with 3 floors, but not a palazzo); Donatello paid 14-15 florins a year to rent the house; but it was possible to rent housing for a smaller amount from 6 to 35 florins. Rent of land (43.6 m2) - 3-4 florins; a pair of oxen - 25-27 florins; horse - 70-85 florins; cow - 15 -20 florins; the cost of a minimum set of products (bread, meat, olive oil, wine, vegetables, fruits) for a family of 4 people in the first quarter of the 15th century. = 30 florins per year. A visiting maid (helping with housework) received 7-8 florins a year; decent outerwear - 4-7 florins; but the rich dressed well, so Pitti mentions a caftan worth 100 florins; women's dress- 75 florins. The price of a work of art included the cost of the material, which in marble items = 1/3, in bronze items - ½ of the amount paid by the customer, i.e. fee = ½ of the total amount. The craftsmen demanded an advance. Mantegna at the Gonzaga court received 50 ducats (600 per year) monthly, + housing, grain, firewood, + gifts and bonuses. When Leonardo da Vinci left for Milan in 1482, he was promised 2,000 ducats a year; but with Lodovico Moro’s income of 650,000 Milanese ducats, Leonardo was not only an artist, but also a wide-ranging military engineer. True, it is unknown whether da Vinci received the promised amount.

The Reformation, and then the Counter-Reformation, led to a crisis of humanism, hitting the cheerful Renaissance worldview, leading to its weakening (40s of the 16th century), calling into question the feasibility of many of its ideals and emphasizing their illusory nature.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. great success did natural science in Western Europe. This was associated with a radical change in the development of science, the rise of production and material culture in general. The development of industry and numerous inventions gave impetus to the theoretical development of many scientific issues. The increasingly widespread use of certain mechanisms (water, wheel) expands the range of phenomena available for study in the field of mechanics and requires the solution of some problems of mechanics and mathematics. For example, the practical needs of art required determining the flight trajectory of a cannonball fired from a cannon, this led to the study of the laws of fall and movement of bodies in general, etc. The rise of material production armed the natural scientist with new tools and means of scientific work. The development of craft technology prepared inventions in the 16th-17th centuries. many precision instruments essential for the development of science. More advanced clocks, microscopes, telescopes, thermometers, hygrometers, and mercury barometers appear. Parchment was replaced by paper in the 15th century. Book printing is developing.

The first branch of natural science in which the new scientific spirit manifested itself was astronomy , where the geocentric theory was replaced by the heliocentric one. The foundations of the geocentric system were substantiated by Aristotle, mathematically developed by Hipparchus (II century BC), Ptolemy (II century AD), and adopted by the Catholic Church. The author of the heliocentric system was Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), who proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun (in 1507). He devoted the rest of his life to developing this doctrine. He created the work “On the Circulation of Heavenly Circles”, published in the year of his death (shortly) in 1543. He received the first copy on the day of his death. The Catholic Church spoke out. Luther: “As the scriptures indicate, Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, not the earth.” Copernicus' ideas were continued in the works of Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) (burned in Rome in the Piazza des Flowers in 1600), who created a picture of the universe, the world is infinite and filled with many celestial bodies, and the Sun is one of the stars. These star-suns have planets orbiting around them, similar to the Earth and even inhabited by living beings. For which Bruno became a heretic and, after 8 years of imprisonment, torture, was burned. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) (Pisan), lived in Florence, taught at the universities of Pisa, Padua, in 1610 in Florence, where he became the “first philosopher and mathematician” of the Duke of Tuscany. Galileo invented (used) the telescope; in 1608 in Holland, he published what he saw through the telescope in the Starry Messenger (1610). In 1632, Galileo published “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, Ptolemaic and Copernican.” In 1633, Galileo was summoned to trial in Rome (Inquisition), where he renounced his views (“But, after all, she is spinning!”). He was found guilty of supporting doctrines "false and contrary to holy and divine scripture" and sentenced to imprisonment, commuted to stay in a place assigned to him. Until his death, Galileo remained under the supervision of the Inquisition and was deprived of the right to publish his works. In 1638, in Holland, he managed to publish the book “Conversations and Mathematical Proofs Concerning Two New Branches of Science Relating to Mechanics and Local Motion,” which summarized the results of his researchers in the field of mechanics. The final point in the victory of the heliocentric theory was put by Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) (compiled horoscopes for Wallenstein), studied in Tübingen, lived in Graz, Prague, Linz, Regensburg. Studying the works of Tycho Brahe's observations of the movement of the planet Mars, Kepler came to the conclusion that the planets move in ellipses, at one of the foci of which the Sun is located (Kepler's 1st law), and that the speed of the planets increases as they approach the Sun (2- Kepler's law). First, these laws were established for Mars, and later for other planets. Kepler's discoveries were published in 1609 in the work "New Astronomy, Causally Based, or Celestial Physics, Set forth in Researches on the Motions of the Star Mars, According to the Observations of the Most Noble Husband Tycho Brahe." In his work “The Harmony of the World” (1619), Kepler formulated the 3rd law, which establishes a connection between the periods of revolution of the planets and their distance from the Sun. In 1627, Kepler published new, more accurate tables of planetary motion (“Rudolph’s Tables”).

A turning point in development physicists came later than in astronomy. Throughout the 16th century. Individual studies appear that reveal an approach to the study of the surrounding person, alien to scholasticism, to the study of the surrounding material world. These include the studies of Leonardo da Vinci, the Dutch engineer Stevin, who developed some problems of hydrostatistics (“Principles of Equilibrium” (1586), the English scientist William Herbert (1540-1603), who in his work “On the Magnet” gave a description of the phenomena magnetism and electrical phenomena.

Leonardo was the first to propose the use of a cylinder with a piston, using air as the driving force. And he made a working model of a wind weapon that fired at a distance of 800 meters. He expected to fly from Monte Cecheri (Swan Mountain). The lifebuoy invented by Leonardo was a truly necessary invention. What material Leonardo intended to use is unknown, but the counterpart of his invention later became a traditional part of the ship and took the form of a cortical circle covered with canvas.

A turning point in physics came in the 17th century. and was associated with the activities of Galileo, his physics was based on experience and the use of precise mathematical methods for analysis and generalization of experimental data. Galileo - conducted a series of experiments and proved that all bodies under the influence of gravity fall with the same acceleration. To do this, he dropped balls of different weights from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, formulated (not in its final form) the law of inertia, the law of independence of the action of forces, derived the equation of uniform accelerated motion, determined the trajectory of the thrown body, began studying the oscillations of the pendulum, etc. All this gives reason to consider Galileo the founder of kinematics and dynamics. A student of Torricelli (1608-1647) developed some questions of hydrodynamics, began the study of atmospheric pressure and created a mercury barometer. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) continued his study of atmospheric pressure and proved that the column of mercury in the barometer is maintained precisely by atmospheric pressure. He also discovered the law on the transfer of pressure in liquids and gases. Optics is developing. In addition to the invention of the telescope and microscope, the development of theoretical optics (the law of light refraction) is underway.

At this time, the foundations of modern algebra. Several Italian mathematicians, including Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576), by the middle of the 16th century. will develop a method for solving 3rd degree equations (Cardano formula). One of Cardano's students discovers a way to solve 4th degree equations. At the beginning of the 17th century. logarithms are invented, the first tables of which (by Napier) were published in 1614. A system of mathematical symbols is developed for writing algebraic expressions (signs for addition, subtraction, exponentiation, root extraction, equality, parentheses, etc.), this was especially evident in the works Rene Descartes, who gave them almost modern look. Trigonometry is developing. Rene Descartes created analytical geometry.

In area botany and zoology Multi-volume descriptions of plants and animals are created, complete with sketches. For example, the work of the Swiss botanist, zoologist, philologist Konrad Gesner (1516-1565) “History of Animals”. Botanical gardens were organized, first in Italy, then in other European countries. In the XV-XVI centuries. a passion for gardens comes, in Rome - with the popes, in Florence - with the Medici, with d'Este - in Tivoli (the outskirts of Rome), where there were 100 fountains, alleys, a garden of sculptures, stairs, trees and herbs grew. Architects who worked on gardens - Pirro Ligorio (1500-1583), he loved to create secret gardens, something reminiscent of a “green cabinet”; Giacomo da Vignola, who built Villa Giulia (Rome), Villa Lante. They made labyrinths from trees, which were in demand in England, and the labyrinths were carved from grass. This was done by Leonardo under Francis I. The height of the labyrinths was knee-high in the 17th century. became taller. There were also comic fountains (traps). But in 1543 there were no flowers in the gardens, only trees grew - beech, yew, stone and marble forms. As interest in botany grew, gardens consisting of ornamental grasses began to appear. The first was defeated in 1543 in Pisa, then in Padua (1545), in Florence (1550). Humanists began to observe the growth of plants and established their geographical origin. There were amateurs, for example, Michele Antonio, a Venetian patrician, collected herbariums, and then donated his treasures to the Marciana library. Palladio created gardens in Brenta that were an extension of architecture. Many Italian masters of gardening art worked throughout Europe at that time. King Charles VIII and his army were amazed by the villas and gardens of the Kingdom of Naples, which they captured in 1495. The artisans who followed them on their return to France that same year helped spread these ideas widely. None other than the French Huguenot Salomon de Caus (c. 1576-1626) became the link between the horticultural tradition of Italy and the rest of Europe. He traveled in 1605 to Italy before going to Brussels to create a garden for Archduke Albert. After 1610, Cowes went to England, where he worked for the royal family - Prince Henry at Richmond, the Queen at Somerset House and Greenwich, and at Hatfield House. In 1613, Kaus followed Princess Elisabeth, who was married to Frederick V, to Heidelberg. There the master designed the magnificent Hortus Palatinus gardens, which, unfortunately, have not survived.

For the first time, herbariums began to be compiled. The first natural science museums appeared. Successes are also emerging in the study human body. Physician Paracelsus (1493-1541), Girolamo Fracastoro (1480-1559), his work on infectious diseases was a milestone in epidemiology. Systematic and careful anatomical dissections begin. The forerunner of these ideas was Andrea Vesalius (1513-1564), the son of a Brussels pharmacist, court physician and surgeon, and from 1527 professor of anatomy in Padua, Pisa, Bologna, Basel; from 1543 the first surgeon at the court of Charles V, then Philip II. Accused of allegedly dissecting the body of a Spanish hidalgo who was not dead, but only in a lethargic state. For this he fell into the hands of the Inquisition, in the form of repentance he had to go to Jerusalem and atone for his sin - on the other hand, the ship was destroyed by a storm near Zant in 1564. Vesalius published the work “On the Structure human body" The foundations of a correct theory of human blood circulation are created. This discovery was laid down by the works of Miguel Servetus and continued in the works of the English physician William Harvey (1578-1657). A famous surgeon was Ambroise Pare, who put an end to the terrible suffering of patients who had to endure the pain of cauterization with a hot iron after amputation, with the help of a simple dressing he invented. He came up with prosthetics and tried them on soldiers. He discovered that gunshot wounds were not poisonous and therefore did not need to be treated with boiling oil, as was then widely practiced. It is better to relieve pain with healing ointments and balms. He also advocated the need, in exceptional cases, to turn the baby over in the womb before giving birth. In England, Thomas Gale wrote a book on the treatment of gunshot wounds, John Woodwall dealt with the problem of amputation. In 1602, John Harvey began his practice; in 1628, he published a treatise on the activity of the heart and blood circulation. He was also one of the founders of embryology. He suggested that animals during the period of embryonic development go through the stages of development of the animal world. One of the founders of microscopic anatomy was the Italian Marcello Malpighi. Complementing Harvey, he completed the development of the scientific theory of blood circulation.

At the beginning of the 16th century. replaced, and sometimes in addition to, medieval alchemy comes iatrochemistry, i.e. medicinal chemistry. One of its founders was the physician and naturalist Theophrastus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus). Iatrochemists, believing that the processes occurring in a living organism are essentially chemical processes, were engaged in the search for new chemical preparations suitable for the treatment of various diseases. In matters of chemical theory, iatrochemists have made little progress compared to their predecessors. As before, in their works the elements of all substances were called according to the ancient 4 elements (fire, air, water, earth), alchemically - “sulfur”, “mercury” (in the 16th century “salt” was added). In the second half of the 17th and early 18th centuries. some new substances were discovered. Thus, in 1669, the Hamburg amateur alchemist Brand discovered phosphorus (in 1680, R. Boyle independently obtained it).

The founders of the new chemical science are scientists of the 17th century. Holland Ya.B. Van Helmont and R. Boyle. Helmont was the first to correctly explain a number of chemical reactions of combination, decomposition, substitution, discovered carbon dioxide, calling it “forest gas” and introduced into scientific circulation the very concept of “gas” from the Greek. "chaos".

Typography. In the 16th century Printing capabilities began to be widely used. In 1518, Luther's letter against Eck, published in 1,400 copies, sold out in 2 days at the Frankfurt Fair. The works of W. von Hutten and Münzer were popular. In 1525, peasants distributed “12 articles”, which went through 25 editions. From 1522 to 1534, Luther's translation of the New Testament went through 85 editions. In total, during Luther’s lifetime, his translation of the Bible, in whole or in parts, was published 430 times. The dynamics of the growth of book production can be traced according to the following data: if before 1500 books of 35-45,000 titles were published in various countries of the world, then in the 16th century. - more than 242,000; in the 17th century - 972.300. From the invention of printing to 1700, 1,245,000 titles were published, and circulations increased from 300-350 in the 15th century. up to 1000-1200 in the 17th century. Printing has become firmly established throughout the world. In 1503, the first printing house appeared in Constantinople, then in Poland, Edinburgh (1508), Targovishte (1508). A book was published in Armenian in 1512 in Venice, in Ethiopian in 1513 in Rome, etc. Before 1500, about 77% of books were published in Latin, only in England and Spain at the beginning of the 16th century. More books were published in local languages ​​than in Latin. Half a century later the situation changed, in 1541-1550. of the 86 books in Spain, 14 were in Latin. An example of a large publishing manufactory can be called the enterprises of Anton Koberger. By the beginning of the 16th century. he became a prominent bookseller and publisher, and his enterprise in Nuremberg grew greatly. Large enterprises in the XVI-XVII centuries. there were few, small or medium-sized workshops, often family-owned, predominated. Their products are cheap prayer books, alphabet books, etc. Book fairs began to take shape - Lyon, Amsterdam, Frankfurt am Main (twice a year - on Easter and on St. Michael's Day), book catalogs began to be compiled, the initiator was Georg Willer. Later, the center of bookselling from the second half of the 16th century. becomes Leipzig. Gradually, book publishing in Germany began to lag behind Italian, French, and Dutch. In Basel in 1491, Johann Froben founded a printing house, and he was the first to pay royalties to authors. A special place in the 16th century. occupied by 4 entrepreneurs - Aldus Manutius, Henri Etienne, Christophe Plantin, Lodewijk Elsevier.

Aldus Pius Manutius(1446-1515) - “prince of printers”, head of a whole generation of printers. Born in Bassano, studied here, then in Ferrara. Having studied Greek, he founded a printing house in 1488 in Venice. He was killed here in 1515. He used antiqua fonts and invented the Italian italic - Aldino (Italica). Aldus Manutius arrived in Venice either in 1488 or 1489, after completing his studies in Rome and Ferrara. Under the influence of the ideas of humanism, he became inspired by the desire to revive ancient antiquity by publishing the works of Greek classics in the original language. In those days, many Greeks lived in Venice, fleeing there from the Ottoman invasion. That is why it was there that Ald took up the implementation of his plans and created a kind of printing and publishing complex in the very center of the city. The first book published in this printing house was Musaeus' poem about Hero and Leander. (1494). It was followed by the publication of Erotemata (1495), a Greek grammar that became a guide for several generations of students and scholars.

The most significant act of Aldus Manutius was the publication of the works of Aristotle in five volumes (1495-1498) and other Greek classics - Plato, Thucydides, Hesiod, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Xenophon, Euripides, Sophocles, Demosthenes. These publications created enormous fame for Aldus Manutius. They have been scientifically edited and tastefully presented. Following the example of the Platonic Academy and the Florentine Academy, founded by the Medici, the publisher rallied a circle of highly educated people around himself, calling it the New Aldian Academy. The circle provided assistance to the enlightened entrepreneur in the preparation of manuscripts.

For the publication of Roman authors, Aldus decided to use the original font - italics, which was made for Aldus by the Bolognese carver Francesco Raibolini, who then lived in Venice. famous family jewelers Griffo. The Italians called this font Aldino, and the French - Italica.

In November 1502, the Venetian Senate, by a special decree, recognized Aldus as having the exclusive right to use his new fonts. An attempt on this patent threatened with a fine and confiscation of the printing house. He was perhaps the first publisher who dared to publish books with a circulation of up to 1000 copies. Being also a practical man, Ald did not want the books he published to serve only as amusement for the educated rich, but he strove to ensure that the books he published were in wide demand. To this end, he tried to reduce the cost of the book itself by cutting costs. The path to this lay through the creation of small-format volumes typed in compact font. A typical aldine (every major library has and is proud of such publications, at least in small quantities) is a small, convenient volume bound in wood and covered with leather. When packing for a trip, the owner could put a dozen of these books into his cash.

Despite all efforts to make the book accessible to a wide circle readers, its dissemination encountered significant difficulties. In Venice alone in 1481-1501. There were about one hundred printing houses, the total output of which was about 2 million copies. Having been a scarce commodity before the invention of printing, books, as a result of the widespread use of new technology, were thrown onto the market in larger quantities than could be bought up. Ald was not the only one suffering from overproduction at that time. This became the common scourge of printers and publishers.

After the death of Alda in 1515 and until the moment when his son Paolo came of age and could already manage affairs, the enterprise was run by his closest relatives - the Azolanos. With great ambitions but little education, they took editing into their own hands, firing their best editors. The publishing house's affairs deteriorated sharply, and in 1529 it suspended work altogether for four years. The publishing house resumed its activities only in 1533, when Paolo Manuzio decided to restore the prestige of his father's enterprise. In the same year he published about ten books and maintained this level until 1539. The treasury of Greek literature was almost exhausted by Aldus himself, and therefore his son directed all his attention to the Roman classics. A huge contribution to science was his carefully edited editions of Cicero’s works and letters.

In 1540, Paolo Manuzio separated from the Azolano family and began to conduct publishing independently. Then the company was continued by his son Ald the Younger; after his death in 1597, the publishing house existed for some time by inertia, and then fell into decline and died out. The sign of this famous company - a dolphin and an anchor - was sometimes used later by other publishers.

Aldus Manutius the Elder was a man of humanistic views and tried to remain independent in relation to political and religious influences. His son and grandson were not distinguished by such principles and willingly offered their services to the Roman Curia. Pope Pius IV, aware of Paolo Manuzio's financial difficulties, invited him in 1561 as a technical adviser to the Vatican printing house, which he intended to make the center of Catholic propaganda. Paolo did not have the talent of an organizer, and under his leadership the papal printing house operated at first without much success. Only thanks to the persistence of Pope Sixtus V did it avoid complete collapse. After Paolo's death, Aldo Manuzio the Younger was brought in to lead it. The books that came out of Alda's printing house were called Aldines.

Henri Etienne(Stephanus) in 1504 or 1505 in Paris, not far from the university, he opened a printing house, where he began printing philosophical and theological treatises Etienne was a supporter of the new style of book design characteristic of the Renaissance, as evidenced by the frontispieces and initials in his publications, which are independent works of art. In 1520, the enterprise was headed by Simon de Colin, since Etienne's children were small, having married Etienne's widow. In the printed publications of Simon de Colin from 1522, J. Tory's frames of the frontispiece and pages, as well as initials, appeared with remarkable subtlety. Particularly remarkable are the initials with floral patterns - they were used in the 16th century. copied by many printers. Books designed by Tory bear the sign of the double cross of Lorraine.

In 1524, the publishing house of de Colin and Tory began publishing a series of Books of Hours. These elegant prayer books, designed with great taste, represent the highest achievement of the book art of that time.

In 1529, Tory published a unique book in which he examines the problems of type and writing, it is called “The Blooming Meadow.” Despite the allegorical and vague manner of presentation, this book, richly decorated with wood engravings, was a huge success. King Francis I awarded the author the title of royal printer in 1530. However, Tory did not rejoice at the honorary title for long: in 1533 he died.

In 1525, Simon de Colin handed over the printing house to Henri Etienne's son, Robert, and thanks to energetic efforts, he achieved the prosperity of the printing house in a short time. In this, a significant role was played by the excellent punch carver Claude Garamon - a great connoisseur, like his teacher Tory, of all varieties of antiquities. The elegant Romanesque typeface he developed on the basis of the Aldo serif quickly surpassed those used in Venice. Punchmakers throughout Europe readily used it for at least 150 years.

Garamon also developed a Greek typeface, called royal, because it was made in 1540 by order of King Francis I. The Parisian school of sign carvers had such prestige that in 1529 the king issued a decree by which he separated this craft from the printers' workshop. However, despite all his merits, Garamon died in 1561 in dire poverty. Thanks to the efforts of Garamon, the serif replaced the Gothic font in Western Europe and dominated for almost two centuries. Of course, this happened gradually and not so easily, since a type of Gothic type, the bastard, was used in France to produce luxuriously illustrated and highly readable chivalric novels. The Gothic font lasted the longest in Germany.

Another prominent puncher and printer, Robert Granjon, who provided Lyon printing houses with original typefaces, unsuccessfully tried to create a national French font based on Gothic italic with some elements of the italic version of Italica. But publishers in France abandoned this font.

Henri Etienne had three sons: Francois, Robert and Charles. All devoted themselves to the printed book and the art of printing, but the most fruitful was the activity of the middle one - Robert. He was 21 years old when he took over the family business, and, like his father, Robert was not an ordinary artisan typographer. He was distinguished by the breadth of his educational interests and was especially fond of classical philology. His main work was a large etymological dictionary of the Latin language, published in 1532, which was subsequently published in several more editions and improved each time. Robert Etienne considered his main task to be the publication of carefully verified and well-designed works of the classics of antiquity. He started with Apuleius and Cicero. For publications in Greek, he used the already mentioned royal script; in 1550, he printed a luxurious tome containing the New Testament. The Greek script of Garamon and Etienne aroused surprise and admiration in those days.

Robert Etienne published the Bible more than once in Latin, Ancient Greek and Hebrew languages. In addition, he dared to use the critical method and commentaries of Erasmus of Rotterdam and other humanists in restoring texts and clarifying obscure passages in the Bible. This angered theologians from the Sorbonne, who immediately accused the publisher of heresy. Fearing persecution, Etienne fled to Geneva in 1550, where many scientists from Catholic countries found shelter. There he founded a new printing house and worked in it until his death in 1559. In total, Robert published 600 books - much more than his father. He also introduced a new sign for the company - a philosopher under the tree of wisdom with falling dried branches - and the motto “Do not be philosophic, but be afraid.” Various versions of this sign were used by other printers and publishers. The fate of the remaining scions of the Etienne dynasty was not so glorious. Of the sons of Robert Etienne, the eldest, named after Henri's grandfather, was the most active. But after the death of his father, he inherited his enterprise in Geneva and began publishing Greek books, editing them himself. Some of these texts were discovered by him. In 1556 he published an anthology of Greek poetry “Greek Poets. The Most Important Heroic Songs,” which was highly praised as an example of scientific editing and excellent design.

In 1575, Henri Etienne the Younger published a huge etymological dictionary of the Greek language, Thesaurus linguae Graecae, which has not lost its scientific value to this day. To prepare it took many years of work. Being a man of open minds, alien fanaticism and bigotry, Henri Etienne soon fell out of favor with the consistory of the local Calvinist church and was forced to return to France, where King Henry III, seeking reconciliation with the Huguenots, provided them with tolerable living conditions. There is almost nothing to tell about the further fate of the Etienne descendants. Not a single heir to this dynasty played a significant role in the history of the book.

One of the most prominent printers of that time was Christophe Plantin(1514-1589). He was born in France in the village of Saint-Aventine near Tours into a poor family; he studied printing and bookbinding in Caen, from where he moved to Paris to open an independent business. According to his religious beliefs, C. Plantin was close to the Huguenots, which forced him to leave for Antwerp in 1548. Perhaps the final impetus for this was the burning at the stake of the free-thinking typographer Etienne-Dole. In Antwerp, Plantin opened a printing house and shop in 1555, after his apprentice printed a Protestant prayer book without the master’s knowledge, and at that time religious intolerance reigned in Antwerp. Warned in time about the reprisals threatening him, Plantin considered it best to hide in Paris and spend more than a year and a half there. Returning to Antwerp, he learned that his workshop was destroyed and his property was sold under the hammer. Everything had to start all over again. Plantin set to work with ardor and in a few years surpassed all competitors. The success of his publications was ensured primarily by their exemplary design. Plantin ordered fonts from the best specialists in this field of that time - Garamon, Granjon, and later from Guillaume Le Baie. Plantin's prestige was unusually high. In 1570, King Philip II of Spain (Flanders at the time belonged to the Spanish crown) honored him with the title of chief royal printer with the right to supervise all printing houses in Flanders and the Netherlands. Thanks to Philip, who also had influence in the Roman Curia, Plantin received from the pope a monopoly on the printing of liturgical books in the domain of the Spanish monarch. For publications in Flemish, instead of the usual Gothic, he used a new civil font developed by Granjon. A book of type specimens published in 1557 shows how well Plantin's printing house was equipped with fonts and equipment.

Plantin's wide publishing program covered a wide variety of genres. From his first experiments, Plantin specialized in the production of illustrated books. In the first decade of his work he published many books, richly decorated with woodcuts. His publications are characterized by a luxurious frontispiece in the Renaissance style. The greatest merit His publishing house also used copper engravings and spread this method in Holland and other European countries. In Italy, copper engraving has been known since the 50s. XVI century In particular, in 1556, “Anatomy of the Human Body” by Juan de Valverde was published in Rome, abundantly supplied with copper engravings. But Plantin's engravings were better.

Plantin continuously expanded the scope of his activities. In 1567 he opened a business in Paris that within three years brought in thousands of florins. Another branch - in Salamanca (Spain) annually sold plantin editions for 5-15 thousand florins. In 1579, Plantin sent 67 titles to the Frankfurt Book Fair and sold 5,212 copies there. In terms of production and trade, it surpassed all well-known publishing companies, including the famous Etienne enterprise.

The French king invited him to Paris, the Duke of Savoy offered him the privilege of opening a printing house in Turin. However, Plantin made every effort to expand the Antwerp enterprise, trying to make it the largest publishing house in Europe. For this purpose, the entire Plantin family was mobilized. Eyewitnesses claim that even his 12-year-old daughter also read the rules of proofreading, often these were books in foreign languages. Already by 1570, Plantin achieved his goal, and his printing house became a model for all European enterprises of this type. It had 25 printing presses and 150 employees working without interruption. The owner paid the workers 2,200 crowns daily. The manufactory no longer fit in four buildings, and Plantin had to buy another house next door (by the way, it has survived to this day).

However, at its peak, Plantin's enterprise was destined to survive new catastrophe. During the Dutch uprising against Spanish absolutism, Atwerp experienced a long siege and destruction. The printing house did not stop working during the siege, but in the end only one printing press remained operational. And again Plantin had to restore everything, which, thanks to his indefatigable energy and the help of friends, he eventually succeeded in doing.

Plantin himself considered the Multilingual Bible (Biblia Poliglotta) to be a source of pride and the pinnacle of his activity, where the text was written in parallel in four languages ​​- Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, and the New Testament was also in Syriac. The book was carefully edited and richly illustrated with magnificent copper engravings that belonged to the chisel of the greatest masters of that time. It was published in separate volumes in 1568-1573, its total circulation was 1212 copies. Twelve of them, printed on parchment, were intended as a gift to the Spanish king, another ten copies on excellent Italian paper - to other patrons and patrons of Plantin. One set of the Bible on the best Italian paper cost Plantin 200 florins, on Lyon paper - 100 florins, on Trois paper - 70 florins. At that time, these were significant sums, and therefore the publication of the Multilingual Bible exhausted the publisher’s material resources. In order for the funds to implement this large-scale plan to be replenished more quickly, Plantin began to produce prayer books in large quantities, also well illustrated.

The difficulties with publishing the Bible were not only of a material nature: the king allowed the publication to be distributed before receiving permission from the pope, but the pope did not give such permission. The matter was settled only with the accession to the papal throne of a more lenient spiritual ruler. And yet, the clergy continued to treat this book with suspicion, and one learned theologian even declared it heretical; final permission to distribute the book was received only in 1580. All this red tape brought Plantin to the brink of bankruptcy, and until his death he could not extricate himself from financial difficulties.

Plantin's trademark is a hand lowered from the clouds, holding a compass, and the inscription “Constantia et labore” (“By constancy and labor”). This inscription in its own way characterizes the personality of the publisher, who was not an enlightenment scientist, but a typical entrepreneur of the era of manufacturing capitalism. Plantin published at least 981 books (this is the number of registered titles). Some believe that the actual number of its publications exceeds 1000.

After Plantin's death in 1589, his presses in Antwerp and Leiden left 14 printing presses, 103 sets of matrices, 48,647 pounds of type, 2,302 copper engravings and 7,493 wood engravings, besides a huge stock of initials carved on wood and copper.

Plantin's work was continued by members of his family; Plantin's son-in-law Balthazar Moret became the head of the enterprise; the publishing house produced mainly Catholic religious literature. The great Peter Paul Rubens provided this enterprise with copper engravings. It flourished for more than three centuries - until 1871, and in 1876 the city authorities of Antwerp bought it along with its inventory for 1 million 200 thousand francs to open one of the most interesting museums of books and printing in Europe - the Plantin Museum.

Plantin's account books mention the name of a bookbinder Lodewijk Elsevier from Louvain. Subsequently, this bookbinder, who studied typography from Plantin, became the founder of the venerable Elsevier publishing dynasty. Lodewijk Elsevier was born around 1546 in Louvain into the family of a printer. Fate led him to Antwerp, where he opened a bookbinding workshop. When Spanish troops under the command of the Duke of Alba captured Antwerp, many of the Protestant inhabitants were forced to flee. Lodewijk Elsevier also fled. However, when the situation in the northern Netherlands turned in favor of Protestantism, he moved to Leiden - ancient city, founded by the Romans. Gradually Leiden became an important center of trade. A university was founded here, which soon became one of the leading educational institutions in Europe. All this opened up wide opportunities for organizing a large book publishing enterprise; when Elsevier settled in Leiden, there were many publishers and booksellers there, so the competition was very serious. Not having the means to create a publishing house, Lodewijk Elsevier decided to first accumulate large capital in the book trade, and, being a man of scale, he took up wholesale brokerage rather than small trade. He was one of the first book auction organizers in Europe. In 1604, Elsevier began to buy books in entire libraries and sell them publicly by auction. Auctions of book collections have been a special specialty of the Elseviers firm for a century. Success in trading operations soon allowed Lodewijk to move on to publishing. At first he published one book a year, and by the end of his life, 10 books with his brand name appeared on the market annually. The proximity to enlightened circles was reflected in the fact that L. Elsevier published special literature for scientists and students. Most of its publications were written in the language of science - Latin, by the then most prominent professors of Leiden and some other universities.

In 1617, Elzevir died, leaving his sons a financially reliable and prestigious publishing and bookselling enterprise.

Lodewijk's eldest son Matthias (1565-1640) and the youngest Bonaventure (1583-1652) helped his father expand the Leiden enterprise, but it was not they, but Matthias's son Isaac (1596-1651) who gave it a special shine. Having married a bride with a large dowry, with the blessing of his grandfather, he bought a large printing house. When, after the death of their father, Matthias and Bonaventure inherited his enterprise, it turned out to be very convenient for them to print all the books in the printing house of Isaac Elzevir. This printing house became famous for the speed and impeccable quality of order fulfillment. In 1620, Isaac Elsevier received the title of university printer, but five years later, for reasons unknown to us, he sold his thriving printing house to his uncle Bonaventure and older brother Abraham (1592-1652). Bonaventura took over the sale of the printing house's products, and Abraham took over the printing business. This partnership continued for twenty-seven years. They published approximately 18 books annually. At the beginning of their careers, Bonaventure and Abraham were mainly engaged in the publication of scientific literature and the works of Roman classics. Then they began to publish books in French, Dutch, and on the history of Holland. It is difficult to determine in which area of ​​book production the Elseviers' contribution was most significant. These were publishers, printers, booksellers, and even second-hand book dealers. Constant and close contacts with the book market and readers brought them considerable benefit: they knew better than others the needs of the market and purchasing power clientele, felt the intellectual demand of the era.

And yet their main merit is the distribution of excellent and relatively cheap books. Elseviers can rightfully be considered “pioneers of the popularization of the book.” They tried to give the reader a well-edited book, but since neither they themselves nor most of their proofreaders and the editors were not scientists; there were publications that were sloppily edited. However, this did not harm the prestige of Elzevir - the scientists and writers of that time considered it an honor if the company undertook to publish their works; many authors were proud of their personal acquaintance with Elseviers. Publishers “discovered” such luminaries of science and literature as Rabelais, Calvin, Bacon, Descartes, Gassendi, Pascal, Milton, Racine, Corneille, Moliere. Elseviers published books in different formats; a series of literary classics was published in quarto format. They also took on folios, but mainly small-format books of a twelfth or twenty-fourth of a sheet, printed in a clear, filigree thin, but sometimes monotonous font and decorated with excellent copper engraving with a frontispiece, intricate vignettes and initials, are associated with the name of the Elzevirs. It was Elseviers who established the small format on the book market and thereby gave book publishing and bookselling a new powerful impetus, making books accessible to wide sections of the population.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. experiencing success cartography. In the first half of the 16th century. The centers of cartography were the cities of Italy - Venice, Genoa, Florence, Rome. From the middle of the 16th century. the center for the development of cartography moves from Italy to R.V., Flanders. Prominent cartographers include Gerard Mercator, Abraham Ortelius and Willem Janszoon Blaeu, and the Frenchman Nicolas Sanson. Mercator coined the term “atlas” - a collection of maps (1585). Mercator’s friend and competitor Aram Ortelius (1527-1598) published a map of the world in 1564, and then “The Theater of the Earth’s Circle,” where references were made for the first time to the geographers whose works he used. The first attempt at compiling a work on general geography was undertaken by the Dutchman B. Varenius in 1650. If Varenius paid primary attention to issues of physical geography, the Frenchman Davinius in the book “The World” (1660) for the first time gave economic information about European states.

Until the beginning of the 16th century. urban libraries did not have. They began to emerge thanks to the Reformation. These were city, school, university. There were good libraries in Jesuit schools, as well as in the Sorbonne, Oxford, and Cambridge in 1638-1639. John Harvard founded the first college in North America, and he had a scientific library. The library of Uppsala University was replenished in the 17th century. trophies from Germany (XXX war), so Ulfila’s Bible ended up here. The nobility also collected books. It was a prestigious hobby. For example, Philip II collected books, but did not allow anyone to access the treasures of Escorial. To which the Archbishop of Tarragona wrote to his correspondent: “There are so many good books collected there, and making them inaccessible means doing more harm than good.” (“book cemetery”) Monarchs of the 16th-17th centuries, following the spirit of the times, opened the doors of museums and book collections to scientists. In Germany, the library in Heidelberg (“princely”) was popular - “the mother of all libraries in Germany.” In 1622, during the XXX War, troops of the Catholic League under the command of Tilly took Heidelberg by storm, the entire library fell into the hands of Maximilian of Bavaria, who decided to donate it to the pope. The richest libraries were those of the French king and the Mazarin library. The Royal Library was founded in 1518 by Francis I. In the 17th century. it contained about 16,000 handwritten and 1,000 printed books at the beginning of the 18th century. - 70,000 printed and 15,000 manuscripts. Then in Paris it was decided to create a public library, the idea belonged to Richelieu, and was embodied by Mazarin. Librarian (fanatic of his work) Gabriel Naudet (1600-1653). In January 1652, the library was confiscated from Mazarin, Naudet was in deep depression, and Queen Christina invited him to Sweden to be with her library. After Mazarin came to power again in 1653, Naudet returned to France, but died as soon as he set foot on French soil. Dad's library was good. In 1690, it was replenished by the receipt of the book treasure of Christina, who moved to Rome. In the XVI-XVII centuries. deceiving the vigilant censorship has become a kind of art. They used anonymous publications, fictitious addresses, pseudonyms, and changed the year of publication. Thus, “Letters of Dark People”, published in Germany, were provided with references to Ald. In 1616, Theodore Agrippa d'Aubigné anonymously printed "Tragic Poems" in his own printing house and, under an empty cartouche, instead of a publisher's mark, indicated the place of publication of "In the Desert".

Sphere of everyday existence has always attracted the attention of scientists. Until recently, attention was paid mainly to the living conditions and way of life of the higher social strata; modern science strives to reconstruct the mass structures of everyday life. Although even now the life of the city is better known than the villages, the lifestyle of the rich is better than that of the lower classes, some regions are more fully studied than others. But in the XVI-XVII centuries. everyday life has much in common with the Middle Ages proper. Nutrition is determined by the natural seasonal rhythm and depends on the climate. XVI-XVII centuries - a time of sharp improvement in the quality of life, but the needs of people and the nature of their consumption were largely determined by climatic conditions. Life was easier and cheaper in areas with a mild climate (the Mediterranean) than north of the Alps, not to mention the northern and eastern regions of Europe. Life was more difficult in the mountainous regions than in the valleys and plains. The principle of self-sufficiency continued to prevail. The influence of the market was more pronounced where luxury goods, overseas rarities, provision of raw materials for export crafts, etc. were involved. It was more noticeable in Western and Central Europe, where the centers of economic and political life of the European world moved. In crafts related to the production of food and basic necessities, small traditional forms of organization were especially stable. The shops of bakers and butchers were small, but specialized (baking white, black, gray bread, confectioners, cake makers). Where there was demand, large-scale food and beverage production arose (for example, Lisbon, where there were bakeries that made sea biscuits). At this time, the vast majority of the population consumed or spent more than half of what it produced or earned on food. Thus, E. Cholier, who studied the standard of living in Antwerp in the 15th-16th centuries (the highest in Europe at that time), provides data on the distribution of expenses for a mason’s family of 5 people: for food - 78.5% (of which - for “ bread" - 49.4%)); for renting housing, lighting, fuel - 11.4%; clothes and other - 10.1%.

The most important food product for the general population were grains - rye, barley, millet, oats, wheat (Mediterranean), in the 16th century. - rice, maize, buckwheat (in Northern Europe). They prepared soups, porridges, and bread. Next came the legumes. There were “seasonal additions” - vegetables and herbs: spinach, lettuce, parsley, garlic, pumpkin, carrots, turnips, cabbage, nuts, berries, fruits.

A complement to plant foods was fish and seafood (especially in coastal and coastal areas). The fish were bred in a special ponds, kept in cages. Trade in sea fish (herring, cod, sardines, etc.) live, salted, smoked, dried, has acquired the nature of entrepreneurial activity. Fish was eaten during fasting days (166 (or more, according to other sources) days a year). The Church forbade eating meat and animal fats for more than 150 “fast” days a year.

On these same days, trade in meat, butter, and eggs was prohibited, with exceptions made for the sick and Jews. The ban was violated. Meat is an important component of nutrition in many regions and countries of early modern Europe. Pork, beef, but sheep and goats were also bred for meat, and lamb was appreciated in England. Game and poultry were consumed more in cities than in the countryside.

The daily diet included intoxicating drinks: beer, wine, “honey”, kvass (in Eastern Europe). From the 16th century Beer began to be consumed more than honey. Beer was produced in households, but there were also professional brewers. Some regions turned into areas where beer was produced for export (Central Europe, R.V., England). Moreover, each region specialized in a special type of beer. From the 16th century commercial production of strong alcoholic beverages - “hot wine” - began. Its centers were Southern France (Bordeaux, Cognac), Andalusia, Catalonia. In R.V., Northern Germany, schnapps was made by distilling grain. In Germany, aquavita was produced in Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia, in Denmark - in Aalborg. New varieties of grape wines have appeared - Alsace, Neckar, Mainz, Moselwein, Rheinwein, Osterwein, Tokay. In the 17th century - champagne. Their drinks were in the areas of fruit gardening - from apples - Apfelmost - in Swabia; cider - in Brittany, Normandy, Galicia; from pears - Birnenmost (Bavaria), from cherries - in Hildesheim, etc. Wine and intoxicating drinks still perform various functions in everyday life: simply drunk, components of culinary recipes, medicines. As a means of communication - at feasts and official ceremonies. Wine consumption was high: in Provence - in the 15th century. - from 1 to 2 liters per person per day; in the army of Charles VII - 2 years, in Narbonne - at the beginning of the 16th century. - 1.7 l. Contemporaries believed that the 16th century. in Germany - “a century of drunkenness.” In the 17th century Europe begins to drink chocolate, coffee and tea.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. Sugar consumption has increased. Sugar cane plantations and processing plants are expanding. Along with the traditional centers of sugar production - Genoa, Venice, Barcelona, ​​Valencia - sugar factories appeared in Lisbon, Seville, and Antwerp after 1500.

The nutritional structure still varied by region and social class. Johann Bemus (beginning of the 16th century) wrote in his “Eating Customs in Germany” that “the nobility have expensive food, the burghers live moderately. Workers eat 4 times a day, idle people - 2. Peasant food - bread, oatmeal, boiled beans, drink - water or whey. In Saxony they bake white bread, drink beer, and their food is heavy. Westphalians eat black bread and drink beer. Wine is consumed only by the rich, as it is brought from the Rhine and is very expensive.”

Culinary literature, which had a strong Slavic and Italian influence, began to be in demand. In 1530, a cookbook by the Italian humanist Platina (15th century) was published in Augsburg. There are also manuals for housewives, which talk about how to store strategic family reserves. Calorie content of the daily diet: in the XIV-XV centuries. - from 2500 to 6000-7000 calories for the rich. In general, researchers note that for the general public, the population of Central and Western Europe is declining compared to the end of the 15th century. - consumption of meat and a diet of the type - porridge-mess (mousse-bray) is established. Nutritional imbalance is especially noticeable during famine years.

Such frequent periods of famine led to the fact that the people had a dream of a country where there is no place for hunger and problems (the most important thing is that there is no need to work). The people's utopia has many names, it appears under different images. The English have the country of Cockayne, the French have Cocaigne, the Italians have Kukanya, the Germans have Schlarafenland, as well as the Country of Youth, Luberland, the Poor Man's Paradise, Candy Mountain. Bruegel depicted it with characteristic features - roofs made of pies; a roast pig running away with a knife in its side; mountain of dumplings; people lounging in comfortable positions, waiting for tasty morsels to fall into their mouths. The gingerbread house that Hans and Gretchen found in the forest also belongs to utopia. This is the Abbey of Tellem Rabelais, with the motto: “Do what you want.” The country of Cockayne is in the west: “In the sea to the west of the country of Spain, / There is an island that the people call Cockayne,” according to Celtic mythology, heaven is in the west, but the Christian church has always taught that heaven is in the east. A. Morton suggests that the dream of Cockayne led to the search for a way to America.

Costume. In 1614, a pamphlet appeared in France, which condemned the luxury of the nobility, written by a prominent Huguenot. There have always been prohibitions on bourgeois wearing what the nobility wear. Clothing was strictly social in nature. Royal orders on this matter were known from the end of the 15th-16th-17th centuries, then they faded away. There were prohibitions on wearing precious stones on clothes, on fingers, various jewelry, and also prescribed what should be worn and what should not be worn. This existed until the revolution. It was assumed that there were no restrictions on clothing for kings and (almost) courtiers. They were allowed to wear clothes made of silk, linen, and wool. Usually kings wore woolen drape with a pattern, taffeta, velor, camelot, more often these were fabrics brought from England, China, Holland, and India. But the need for good fabrics led to the promotion of domestic textile production. Color regulation was maintained - for the upper classes - black, red, blue, purple, pink grey, blue, drape and scarlet - bright red. In the 15th century comes into use White color, at first rarely, then increasingly used in clothing, but these fabrics and draperies were forbidden to the bourgeoisie. The bans were not enforced. Although wearing ties, embroidery, and jewelry was considered a privilege of the nobility.

It was fashionable to wear fur. Ermine fur is a sign of royal power. Social status was recognized by the width of the fur. The furs of squirrel, marten, beaver, muskrat, fox, sheepskin, and red squirrel could be worn by the bourgeoisie.

Precious and semi-precious stones - diamond, ruby, carnelian, coral, sapphire, emerald, agate - are the privilege of the nobility. Stones were also worn because they were given a magical meaning. At first, buttons served a purely decorative function; it was fashionable to sew on bells. Cuffs, scarves, gloves, and collars were made from lace. They still wore several dresses at the same time. In addition to dresses, the nobles wore a cloak, a coat made of silk, wool, decorated with embroidery, and draped. For a simple nobleman, a short cloak was required; a sign of special dignity was a long cloak, dragging along the floor.

Headdress - military - helmet - for the king, either made of gold or gilded, princes of the blood, dukes - silver, commoners - iron; in normal times - they wore a mortier - a small short cap worn by the king, his retinue, princes of the blood, the chancellor, peers, the president of parliament, his mortier was with two rows of galloons; the king's mortier was trimmed with ermine. By the beginning of the 18th century. goes out of fashion, was worn only on special occasions, during the exit of the king, queen, mortier they put it on their weapons. A cap - a bonnet - of small volume was worn by barons, decorated with pearls; in addition, they wore a baret and a tok. The nobles wore hats trimmed with braid, precious stones, and ostrich feathers. The custom of removing the headdress appears at the end of the 17th century. in all cases indoors, an exception was made for the king. 12 dukes on stools had the right to sit in the presence of the king, the rest stood. (right of the stool).

Shoes. The nobles wore shoes and boots in the 15th-16th centuries. they wore shoes with long toes, and the regulations determined the length of the shoe toes - for nobles 24-25 inches, 14 inches was allotted to townspeople. There were differences between secular and military boots; secular boots had bells, ribbons, and lace; shoes were tied with bows at the knees. There were several pairs of socks, the fashionistas had woolen and silk ones.

An indispensable accessory to the costume were gloves - leather with decorations, lace, patterns, and soaked in perfume. Maria de Medici bought expensive gloves that cost several villages. For now, Italian and oriental perfumes were used; French ones appeared at the end of the 16th century. A man from high society - associated with gloves.

Collars of the 16th century. - flat cutters. The skirts were fluffy, made on a frame, and reached several meters in diameter. You had to know how to wear them; the skirt was accompanied by a long train - a manteau de cour. But not every noblewoman could afford a long train. In 1710 it was said that the queen had a train 11 cubits long, for her daughter - 9, granddaughter - 7, princess - 5, duchess - 3. The high cap - ennen was replaced in the 16th century. small, in the XVI-XVII centuries. walked with their heads open, but with complex hairstyles. Shoes were made of velvet and brocade, clothing was complemented by a muff and fan, and a small mirror.

Rapid change of fashion in the 16th-17th centuries. was explained by the fact that the ruling class sought to close itself in its own circle, since the bourgeoisie tried to penetrate the higher nobility by purchasing estates and annoblization.

From the end of the 16th century. with the advent of mercantilism, the state prohibited spending on a suit, the church also advocated this. The pope himself issues a series of bulls threatening fashionistas with excommunication. They were echoed by royal instructions. Thus, ordinances against luxury were issued in 1613, 1624, 1634, 1636, 1639, 1644, 1656, 1660, 1679. It was forbidden for all subjects to wear imported things, except public women and swindlers who did not comply with the order were fined, and sometimes their clothes were confiscated.

The Huguenot costume was strict, dark in color, without decoration. Sully's costume was made of magnificent drape, velor, and velvet. From the end of the 17th century. fashion was dictated by the king's court. With the strengthening of the bourgeoisie, the nobles' adherence to fashion begins to be ridiculed. Fashionable clothes = idleness. “The nobleman carries all his income on his shoulders.”

The highest clergy used the most expensive fabrics for their robes. The cardinals and bishops had the most luxurious vestments; their clothes were decorated with embroidery, precious stones, and furs. Cardinals wore a red robe, bishops wore white or lilac, and their hair was cut short. Each order had its own costume, members of the monastic orders were recognizable by their hooded robe, sandals on thick clothes and varied in color - Franciscans - brown, Dominicans - white, Jesuits, Capuchins could wear secular dress. Since 1549, a royal order ordered the clergy to dress modestly, not to wear an arquebus, not to go where they were not supposed to, etc. in taverns, etc.

From the middle of the 15th century. The bourgeois class is formed, its costume differs from that of the nobility until the bourgeoisie recognizes itself as a class. The nobility of the robe, the bourgeoisie, who acquired the fief, wore robes (robens). In 1614, the Estates General prohibited bourgeois from wearing noble clothes under a fine of 1000 ecus. From the end of the 17th century. bourgeois who wore noble robes were ridiculed. See Moliere's plays. Bourgeois dress - made of inexpensive fabrics, linen, dark colors. Bourgeois women wore dresses made of grisette fabric (gray color) (grisette = poor bourgeoisie), no decorations except lace - gez. On the head there was a chaperon - a cap or mantilla; the neck was covered with scarves. Full skirts, (several), the top one is the most expensive, to keep it, it was pinned up and everyone else was visible. Shoes - leather shoes.

The peasant costume is functional. To make it convenient to work. The fabrics that were used for the costume were canvas, homespun linen; artisans used drape for sewing clothes. Colors - dim, gray, blue. Festive clothes were made of velor and silk. The wedding dress was extremely good, it was made from expensive fabric and was passed down from generation to generation. The woman's chest was described, her wedding suit was included in the inventory. The wedding cap - chapo de roses - was given by the father, and it was obligatory. In some provinces, girls did not receive land, but received chapeau de roses. Men wore short pants and a linen shirt, women wore short dresses. The headdress for men is a felt hat, for ladies - a cap. For winter clothes Rabbit, sheep, and dog fur were used. Shoes - bare feet, clogs, rope shoes, rough leather shoes. (See Lehnen brothers). Callot's engravings give an idea of ​​the clothing of the urban poor.

There were livery suits - the people of the king, duke, prince, baron were dressed in the same suits, often from the lord's shoulder. On the occasion of religious holidays, the clientele is usually given cloth or dresses. Members of the royal and city council, pages, and government officials also wore the same suit. The king and his relatives had a suit made of silk or velor in black or red. The courtiers wore a gray suit. An official suit appears - for everyday wear - black, for holidays - red. Judges, lawyers, doctors, and scientists dressed all in black. The king's advisers wear black lower clothing and red upper clothing. The President of the Royal Council wore a black jacket and a long black cloak. Members of the city municipality dressed in city colors. For France - red-white, blue. The Parisian echevins wore black robes, scarlet robes, and white collars. The Dijon municipality preferred clothes with a predominant color of lilac - the color of Burgundy.

The rector of the University of Paris wore a blue cape trimmed with ermine. Deans - red, with expensive fur, masters - black capes. Doctors of theology wore a cap - baret (bonnet). Students wore a black jacket and purple pants, but could dress differently. Students of senior faculties wore a bonet kare - a 4-corner cap.

Color continued to be of enormous importance. The preferred layers are red, as well as black combined with red. The colors of dishonor are green and yellow. A green headdress distinguished the debtor. The color yellow meant belonging to the Jews, who were required to wear circles on their sleeves from the age of 12; for women, a coral was made of yellow on their heads. Only Jewish doctors were not required to wear these signs. Courtesans wore black gloves and a white ribbon or circle of another fabric on the sleeve. They had no right to wear a dress with a collar, a veil or fur. But, of course, all this is in theory...

Since the 17th century Fashion itself has been appearing since 1672, when the first fashion magazine was published. Moreover, to be dressed like a king means to express one’s loyalty.

From the middle of the XV-XVI centuries. there is an increase beggary, vagrancy. There was a hierarchy among the poor and beggars - the privileged, the domestic poor, the inhabitants of shelters, hospitals, and conventions. Then came those who had the privileges of collecting alms - pilgrims, monks of mendicant orders, guild apprentices, schoolchildren, students, vagabonds were Landsknechts returning from service, from Turkish captivity. The most united organization were the blind, who had their own “king”. Alms were collected on the streets, near the temple, in the temple itself, and “at the doors.” The process of pauperization, the growth of beggary, and vagrancy led to the fact that the authorities viewed vagrants as a dangerous element that needed to be fought: control over the poor, limiting the influx of newcomers, and a system of charity.

Holidays. Religious. Winter cycle. Pre-Christmas - November 11th - St. Martina (Martin's goose), December 25. - Christmas - Christmastide, processions, mysteries, games; 2.

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