Medieval Culture | Meaning & Concept [Explained]

We explain what medieval culture is, what society and its political regime were. In addition, what are its characteristics and medieval art.

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What is medieval culture?

Medieval culture is understood as the set of social, political, economic and cultural manifestations that characterized the historical period called Middle Ages or Middle Ages in Europe.

Said period It took place between the 5 and XV centuries And it was traditionally considered as a period of darkness and cultural setback, as an era in the midst of the splendor of Greco -Roman antiquity that preceded it and the rebirth of the classical western culture that happened.

At present it is usually recognized that medieval culture was a much more complex phenomenon and that, despite being characterized by the strict religious surveillance of Christian institutions and by important levels of poverty (especially rural), inequality and illiteracy, also left varied cultural and artistic manifestations .

Characteristics of medieval culture

Medieval culture was deployed between the 5 and 15th centuries in Europe. Although it used to be considered a dark and decadent era today is recognized as a much more complex and varied phenomenon.
The medieval culture was mainly rural and was formed in the agricultural lands that had feudal gentlemen tied to vassalage links with other lords or with a king.
The clergy and the nobility constituted the privileged estates of society and had their own norms of conduct. The servants and peasants had to work the fields and had their own customs.
Medieval culture gave rise to a resurgence of urban life and the birth of commercial bourgeoisie that extended commercial relations throughout the Mediterranean Sea.
During the Middle Ages some philosophical, technical and scientific innovations took place but under the watchful eye of the Church and the Inquisition.
The role of the Church and religion was central to medieval culture. It ruled a theocentric conception of society that legitimized social inequalities.
Medieval art was mostly determined by Christian doctrine but allowed the development of important styles such as Romanesque and Gothic.

Historical context

The Half was A long period, almost a thousand years which began after the fall of the Roman Empire of the West caused by migrations and invasions in the 5th century and culminated in the fall of Constantinople at the hands of Ottoman troops in 1453.

It is usually subdivided into three phases:

High Middle Ages (between the 5th and X centuries)
Full average age (between the 11th and XIII centuries)
Low average age (between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries)

General characteristics of these periods are usually recognized in the different regions of Europe but differences are also highlighted, which is why descriptions on medieval culture should be understood as generalizations.

Medieval society

Classes-Age-Media — Medieval society was characterized by low class mobility.

During much of the Middle Ages in Western Europe The company was organized in a feudal regime of land tenure and vassalage relations . The lands were possessed by “feudal lords” (kings or nobles) that gave portions of them (called “fiefs”) to their vassals in exchange for loyalty and military benefits. The lands were worked at peasants generally subjected to servitude ties. This system is known as feudalism.

This society was fundamentally rural and was ideologically sustained by the Church (whose clergy could also be feudal lords). Ecclesiastical ideology stated that the difference between the three levels of medieval society had been determined by God: the clergy had the function of praying, the nobility had the function of fighting and the servants and other popular sectors of the countryside and the city had the function of working.

Medieval society generally prevented social mobility . Anyway, in some periods of the Middle Ages certain sectors of the low nobility could aspire to greater wealth, and the fourteenth century crisis favored the liberation of servants and improvement in the working conditions of the peasants. Also the growth of the cities promoted the prosperity of the commercial bourgeoisies and the expansion of commercial relations through the Mediterranean Sea from the middle ages.

Political fragmentation and cultural diversity

During most of the time covered by the Middle Ages, Western Europe was characterized by political fragmentation . The kings often had less factual power than their vassals and these were constituted as feudal lords with authority on land, servants and peasants. The defense against external invasions and the conflicts between feudal lords encouraged the construction of walls and castles that highlighted the differences.

In addition to political fragmentation there was a cultural diversity according to life forms in the different regions of Europe. Migrations were one of the characteristic elements since the fall of the Roman Empire of the West. For this reason, Christian Europe It was composed of Hispanic populations Visigodes, Roman, Briton, Normanas, Anglo -Saxon, Free, Lombardas, among others.

Despite the differences, the Christian religion and the recognition of the author’s authority (not exempt from tensions and conflicts with noble and kings) granted a general identity as a Christianity that was consolidated during the crusades as opposition to Islamic populations and who were considered pagan.

The Church and Theocentrism

The Middle Ages was an era characterized by theocentrism. The kingdoms and nobles of Western Europe They identified as belonging to the same Christianity that responded to the Pope’s authority although this did not prevent the existence of conflicts. The kings were theoretically under the authority of the Supreme Pontiff and could be enshrined by ecclesiastical authorities, but in practice there were tensions between kings or emperors and the Pope.

This religious identity intensified from episodes such as the “reconquest” in the Iberian Peninsula and the Crusades, facts that contributed to marking an opposition between the Christian West and the Muslim and Pagan East. Following these episodes The orders of warrior monks were born, such as the Knights Templar . In the Middle Ages, monastic and mendicant orders also emerged.

Medieval art

The pages of a medieval bible are illustrated. — During the Middle Ages art was subordinated to the Church.

Medieval art was strongly influenced by the Christian religion and was promoted and guarded by the Church . The artistic manifestations of the Middle Ages are usually grouped into three stages or styles:

The pre -Romanesque (between the 5th and X centuries)
The Romanesque (between the XI and XII centuries)
The Gothic (between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries).

Each of these styles had its own characteristics and also differentiated the classic Greco -Roman art and the works of the Renaissance, both in architecture and in painting and sculpture. Unlike the Renaissance, in which the patron were private individuals, during the Middle Ages the art was subordinated to the Church.

As medieval society was mostly illiterate, Literary pieces used to be produced by ecclesiastics . For this reason, hagiographies (Saints’ lives), theological or Christian philosophy reflections and mystical poetry abounded.

Anyway, They were also compound songs and epic cavalry stories like the songs of Gesta focused on heroic figures such as the Cid Campeador (who had fought against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula) or Roldán (a commander of the Franks during the Carolingian Empire), always bearers of the Christian symbology.

Many pagan popular stories and songs were prohibited and supplanted by “correct” versions according to Christianity, although in many cases this simply consisted of covering Celtic and Germanic stories with some Catholic sense. Thus, much of the oral tradition of non -Christian European peoples survived to this day. Another important literary form were the bestiaries, in which the different existing and fabulous creatures were described in more or less religious terms, leaking hand in large doses of fantasy and imagination.

Popular culture in the Middle Ages

The popular classes celebrated festivities, games and dances in which the body was released and unleashed to the grotesque. These activities were differentiated from both the religious festivities carried out by the Church and the profane parties of the aristocracy.

In particular, Carnival was interpreted by some historians as a form of resistance against ecclesiastical oppression and the domination and refinement of privileged classes. Other popular celebrations had a religious sense linked to the life of the village, such as births or weddings.

Also The minstrels and wandering bards prevailed that they went from town to town singing romances and poetry, often inspired by folk traditions and an imaginary away from Christian rigor. Some of these traditions were subsequently incorporated into literary works that adapted them to official religious beliefs.

Medieval science

Medieval Culture - Alchemy — The alchemists and sorcerers were very popular in medieval culture.

Although the scientific method is an invention of Renaissance humanism, the Middle Ages was not a period outside of scientific and technological innovations. Some of these novelties had practical purposes (for example, the increase in agricultural production, a better military performance or navigation) but used to be subject to the scrutiny of the Church and the Inquisition which could lead to accusations of sorcery or heresy.

Some technical innovations were introduced by the path of Arab or Byzantine populations such as the manufacture of gunpowder that had been explored for the first time in China.

The figure of the alchemist, who at some point in the Middle Ages acquired the fame of a sorcerer who managed to handle the elements and discover arcane secrets of nature, seems to have received some Arab influence and contributed to the subsequent development of the experimental method in areas such as chemistry (it was the alchemist Roger Bacon who probably introduced the manufacture of gunpowder in Europe). Some theologians like Guillermo de Ockham also marked the way to the subsequent scientific method.

Universities were born in the Middle Ages as places for teaching and the study of theology often linked to philosophical ideas such as those of Aristotle, who were accommodated to Christian doctrine (in this integration Tomás de Aquinas stood out). But they also dealt with law, rhetoric, medicine, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy. Anyway, religious dogma limited the possibilities of reaching conclusions such as the Earth was not the center of the universe.

Medieval Latin

Latin, a language that had spread through Europe during the years of the Roman Empire, survived as a cultured language in the Middle Ages . It was the free language with which the Courts were communicated, with which it was taught in the universities and with which it was written in the Christian kingdoms of Western Europe, in contrast to the Greek that was used in the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Church. Latin gave rise to romance languages such as Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

From the fourteenth century, the use of vernacular languages in written works was extended but Latin continued in use until at least the end of the Modern Age . At present, the Catholic Church maintains the liturgical use of Latin in some opportunities, although from the celebration of the Second Vatican Council in 1962 its use is no longer mandatory.

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References

“Universal History of the Middle Ages” Akal. Álvarez Palenzuela, VA (coord.) (2002).
“Medieval History Manual” Alliance. García de Cortázar, Ja & Sesma Muñoz, Ja (2014).
“Middle Ages” Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2022) at https://www.britannica.com/