// 6th century (Northern Italy, Rhine Valley)

This agricultural tool spread along with the development of northern European lands.

The light wooden plow traditionally used in the Mediterranean could not handle the heavier wet soils in the north. A heavy model of a plow was upholstered with such a valuable metal in the early Middle Ages as iron. The profession of a blacksmith at that time was on a par with a jeweler, so a technological novelty was fabulously expensive. That is why a heavy plow was usually bought for several families at once.

2. Three-field farming system

// 9th century (Western Europe)

The system of land use, in which each of the three parts of arable land was sown in turn with winter, spring or fallow, is first mentioned in the annals of the Carolingians.

For a long time, people simply abandoned impoverished plots of land and cleared new territory, arranging massive forest fires for this. The transition to a three-field system led to an unprecedented phenomenon - the appearance of excess food. They began to sell it to those who were engaged in crafts. The spread of the new system of agriculture was a necessary prerequisite for the emergence of cities. True, the three-field land also had its own costs: when the land was resting, it could be mistaken for ownerless and taken over by an enterprising neighbor. The number of "land hearings" at that time went off scale.

3. Rigid collar

// X century (France, England)

A special type of harness, which made it possible to increase the draft force of the animal four times.

Until the 10th century, the main animal in the economy was an unpretentious ox, and not expensive to maintain (oats were very expensive) and often sick horse. But when the area of ​​crops increased, a more mobile animal was needed. A new type of harness made it possible to redistribute the load from the trachea to the chest of the horse, and now in a day it could plow as much as 3-4 oxen.

4. Hygrometer wool

// X5th century (Italy)

A device that measures air humidity was invented by Nicholas of Cusa in 1440.

An outstanding thinker and scientist traded sheep wool. He noticed that on rainy days, wool weighs much more heavily, and began using stones that do not absorb moisture to accurately measure the weight. Later, this discovery led to the creation of a simple mechanism based on weights: on the one hand, a material like cotton wool was placed, on the other, a non-absorbent substance such as wax. When the air was dry, the plumb line remained vertical. When cotton wool absorbs moisture from the air, it becomes heavier than wax.

5. Mechanical watch

// XIII century (Central Europe)

They were ten-meter towers, crowned with a dial with a single hand that indicated the hours.

The first mechanical clock was the most complex medieval mechanism, consisting of approximately 2,000 parts. In order to correct the movement of a 200-kilogram weight, the watchmakers invented Bilyantsy - the regulators of the movement of the main, ratchet wheel, and then the spindle device. All this significantly increased the accuracy of the course. The oldest surviving mechanical clock (1386) is in England, on Salisbury Cathedral. And in French Rouen, the clock of 1389 still shows the correct time.

6. Music notation

// 11th century (Italy)

Notes in the form of squares located on four rulers were invented by the Italian monk Guido d'Arezzo.

Guido led an ensemble of boys who each day began their rehearsal with a hymn to St. John. The boys were out of tune so shamelessly that the monk decided to demonstrate how the sound rises and falls. And he laid the foundation for modern solfeggio. Today, the musical staff consists of five lines, but the principle of notation and the name of the notes re, mi, fa, salt, la have not changed since then.

7. Universities

// 11th century (Italy)

The first European university opened in Bologna in 1088.

The first scientific works, even in secular universities, bore names like “Why did Adam eat an apple and not a pear in Paradise?” or "How many angels can fit on the point of a needle?" The division into faculties gradually took shape: legal, medical, theological, philosophical. The students were, as a rule, adults and even old people who came here not so much to study as to exchange experiences. Universities were very popular: about 10 thousand students studied in Bologna, so many lectures had to be read in the open air.

8. Pharmacies

// XI–XIII century (Spain, Italy)

In 1224, the German King Frederick II Staufen issued a decree forbidding doctors to make medicines, and pharmacists to treat.

The first pharmacies at first were not much different from a grocery store. The impetus for the development of pharmaceutics was given by the division into a doctor and a pharmacist introduced by the German monarch. For example, only a pharmacist could buy such useful drugs as mosquito fat, wolf fur ash and theriac - a universal antidote. It is worth noting that the medicine of that time was experimental, so all recipes began with the optimistic Cum Deo! ("With God!").

9. Stained glass

// 12th century (Germany)

The first official instruction for the production of colored transparent glass was the monk Theophilus.

The creators of the stained glass windows were the most respected people in the city, because they conveyed the beauty and grandeur of the unearthly world. They even collected a special tax for their needs. Craftsmen boiled river sand, flux, lime and potash, and added metal oxides to create color. Interestingly, almost all glasses, except for green and blue, eventually underwent severe corrosion and turned into dirty brown. The head of Christ in Weissembourg Abbey in Alsace (Germany) is considered the oldest surviving example of stained glass art.

10. Mirror

// XIII century (Holland, Venetian Republic)

The first mention of glass mirrors is found in the famous work on optics Perspectiva communis, written by the Archbishop of Canterbury John Peckham in the second half of the 13th century.

Medieval craftsmen came up with the idea of ​​covering glass with a thin layer of lead-antimony alloy - mirrors were obtained, similar to modern ones. Many people think that the mass production of mirrors began in Venice. However, the first were the Flemings and the Dutch. Flemish mirrors can be seen in the paintings of Jan van Eyck. They were carved from hollow glass spheres, inside of which molten lead was poured. The alloy of lead and antimony quickly dimmed in air, and the convex surface gave a noticeably distorted image. A century later, the title of chief glazier passed to Venice on the island of Murano, where sheet glass was invented.

11. Kulevrina

// 15th century (England, France)

The ancestor of the modern cannon, pierced knight's armor at a distance of 25–30 m.

Shooting with such a weapon was a rather dubious pleasure. To fire a shot, one person had to raise the wick, and the other to point the barrel at the target. The culverin weighed from 5 to 28 kg. If it rained or snowed, the war had to be stopped, because the wick did not burn. In the 16th century, it was supplanted by the arquebus.

12. Quarantine

// XIV century (Republic of Venice)

In 1377, in the port of the Venetian city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), for the first time, ships returning from the "plague countries" were detained for 40 days.

These measures caused fierce controversy, since, from the point of view of contemporaries, they had no scientific basis. The disease, which exterminated about a quarter of the entire population, was treated with cauterization, lizard skins and dried herbs - it was believed that it was transmitted by “plague cattle” invisible to the eye, which were carried along with the smell. The quarantine led to mass starvation in Europe, but stopped the spread of the disease. Foreign merchants who wished to challenge the preventive measures were burned. The Venetian quarantine system served as the basis for the organization of the modern sanitary service.

13. Blast furnace

// X4th century (Switzerland, Sweden, France)

It was a tower with a height of 4.5 m and a diameter of 1.8 m. Ore and coal with a high carbon content were laid there, and cast iron was obtained.

Cast iron was invented almost by accident, by increasing the size of the forge and the force of the blast. The new substance was first considered a marriage and was called "pig iron". True, they soon noticed that it fills the molds well and high-quality castings can be obtained from it, before that iron was only forged. The blast furnace was the most efficient invention of the Middle Ages. It made it possible to obtain 1.6 tons of products per day, while 8 kg came out of a conventional melting furnace during this time.

14. Distillation apparatus

// XIV (Italy)

The alchemist monk Valentius is credited with a radical improvement of the ancient moonshine still, which made it possible to carry out a double distillation.

Distillation, as well as fermentation, were the favorite pastimes of medieval alchemists trying to find the philosopher's stone. According to one version, this is how Valentius got alcohol from wine. He called the liquid formed during the experiment aqua vitae living water. It soon began to be sold in pharmacies as a remedy for bad breath, colds and sullenness.

15. First chemical production

// 14th century(Germany, France, England)

In the 1300s, the first enterprises for the production of sulfuric, hydrochloric and nitric acid appeared in different places in Europe. Sulfur and saltpeter began to be mined.

Experiments with chemicals from the laboratories of alchemists moved to the laboratories of chemists - scientists who realized the futility of trying to turn one substance into another and paid attention to the needs of the time. With the beginning of the production of gunpowder, saltpeter acquired special significance - it was scraped off the walls of cowsheds. Cowsheds in the Middle Ages were made from animal waste and earth mixed with lime, clay and straw. Over time, white deposits of saltpeter appeared on the walls - potassium nitrate, formed as a result of the decomposition of organic matter by bacteria. Swedish peasants, for example, paid part of the dues in saltpeter. The invention of gunpowder itself in Europe is attributed to the German monk Berthold Schwartz (circa 1330).

16. Glasses

// XIII century (England)

The famous scientist of the Middle Ages, Roger Bacon, is considered the benefactor of all bespectacled people. In 1268 he wrote about the use of lenses for optical purposes.

Although Bacon himself is often depicted wearing glasses, this invention most likely gained popularity only a hundred years later, when it came to continental Europe. The first glasses were convex lenses fastened with a shackle for far-sighted people. Glasses to correct myopia were first seen in a portrait of Pope Leo the Tenth by Raphael in 1517.

17. Toilet

// XVI century (England)

John Harrington gave the first barrel flush device to his godmother, Queen Elizabeth I of England.

The nobleman Harrington was a gifted man of letters and inventor, and as was often the case with discoveries, his toilet was well ahead of its time. The novelty, named by Harrington after the ancient Greek hero Ajax, did not take root, because there was no running water in England at that time, and rather quickly the device began to stink terribly. Finest hour of toilet bowls struck only in the XIX century.

18. Printing press

// 15th century (Germany)

The jeweler Johannes Gutenberg in 1445 developed the final version of the press with typesetting metal types, a long lever and a wooden screw, which allowed printing 250 pages per hour.

Pretty quickly, the “mystery of artificial writing,” as the documents said, spread throughout Europe. For fifty years, 40 thousand editions were printed with a circulation of over 10 million copies. Gutenberg's role is known from documents from property courts. It repeatedly mentions an invention that changed the course of history in Europe.

19. Looms

// 14th century (England)

A new type of horizontal loom with a block system greatly facilitated and accelerated the work of weavers.

The more primitive vertical looms did an excellent job with small amounts of raw materials from flax, nettle, hemp and wool. But production volumes grew, and the old equipment did not keep up with them.

20. Foot lathes

// XIV century (Germany)

The mechanism included a pedal, a crank and a connecting rod. The principle of operation of the foot drive of this machine is easy to understand by presenting a foot sewing machine.

Foot pedal devices freed the hands of the craftsmen, which greatly accelerated the production of parts. Cars were a rarity, so the profession of a turner was considered one of the most prestigious. Some emperors of those years kept lathes in their castles in order to hone their skills at their leisure.

21. Gothic architecture

// 12th century (Western Europe)

The invention of the Gothic vault - a stable frame system in which cross-rib arched vaults and arches play a constructive role - made it possible to create a fundamentally new type of building.

The very word "Gothic" for a long time was abusive, as it was associated with the Goths - the barbarian tribes that destroyed the great Rome. Nevertheless, gradually the term began to correlate with a new direction, primarily in architecture. Openwork buildings, fantastic for their time, appeared, which were supposed to remind of a person's aspiration to heaven.

22. Tide mills

// VII1st century (Northern Ireland)

In 787, tidal power mills appeared in Northern Ireland.

Over time, the water wheel has become a full-fledged participant in a number of vital technologies - the engine in the fuller workshops, turning and blacksmith shops, sawmills and ore crushers.

23. Buttonhole

// XIII century (Germany)

Slits appeared on tight-fitting clothes where a button could be inserted.

For a long time, people knotted the ends of their clothes or used lacing, special ties and pins made from plant thorns, bone and other materials. The buttons themselves have been used as decoration for centuries. The appearance of a reliable system of fasteners was so liked by the Europeans that soon, in order to put on a suit, a noble person had to fasten about a hundred buttons.

on "Schrödinger's Cat"

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The most important discoveries of the Middle Ages in the field of science and technology

Introduction

1. Science and technology

Chronology and structure of the Middle Ages

Discoverers

Genius da Vinci

5. Biological knowledge in the Middle Ages

6. Achievements in medicine

In the language of mathematics

Forward to progress

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Introduction

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the scientific and technological progress of the Middle Ages. Tasks:

Consider the Middle Ages as an era.

Consider the main discoveries of science and technology V-XVII centuries.

The relevance of this topic is due to the fact that since the beginning of the 5th century, science began its difficult path into the age of knowledge and inventions. In its most important areas, amazing discoveries have taken place, various studies have been carried out on the basis of combining science with technology.

In our modern life, electricity, cars, and what can I say, a book - what could be simpler, sheets of paper with typed text have become commonplace. But a few centuries ago, it took a lot of effort and time to print a book. The Middle Ages is what this era is called. The era began leading advances in science and technology. From this era, poetic works have come down to us, in which peoples captured their genius, wonderful monuments of folk art, magnificent masses of Gothic architecture, wonderful, beautiful artistic and poetic creations of the Renaissance, the first successes of awakening scientific thought. This era has given us a number of great people who are proud of humanity. Such as Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, Brahe, Newton. All these and many other outstanding personalities, whose lives and activities accelerated the progress of mankind, belong to the Middle Ages. The great technical inventions made in the Middle Ages had a huge impact on all areas of the economy and culture, including the development of science. Thus, the Middle Ages contributed their own, and considerable, share to the common treasury of material and spiritual values ​​of all mankind.

1. Science and technology

Science as knowledge and activity for the production of knowledge arose from the beginning of human culture and formed part of the spiritual culture of society, although the word "science" itself is of relatively recent origin. Translated from Latin "scientia" (science) means knowledge.

The word "technique" comes from the Greek "techne" - art, skill, skill. The main meaning of this word today is the means of labor, production.

Historically, technology has gone from primitive tools to the most complex modern automatic machines, developing on the basis of the achievements of science.

Science and technology throughout the history of mankind have been walking hand in hand and have become especially inseparable in our days, when science is a direct productive force, when it is impossible to create samples of new technology without scientific research. The development of a model of new technology, as a rule, begins with scientific research - with the conduct of research work (R&D). Radical improvement of technology is possible only thanks to science. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to separate the spheres of influence of science and technology. Not a single significant modern scientific discovery is practically impossible on a sheet of paper, that is, without the involvement of technology, experimental equipment. At the same time, the functions of science are wider. The main ones are: descriptive, systematizing, explanatory, production-practical, prognostic, ideological. Only the production-practical function is directly related to the creation of technology.

2. Chronology and structure of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages (Middle Ages) is a historical period following the Ancient World and preceding the New Age. The beginning of the Middle Ages is considered the collapse of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century. The Middle Ages contains several stages within itself: the dark time - the early Middle Ages; high - the middle period of the Middle Ages; later (mature, developed, classical) Middle Ages.

The Early Middle Ages is a period of European history that began shortly after the collapse of the Roman Empire. Lasted about five centuries, approximately from 500 to 1000 years.

The High Middle Ages is a period of European history that lasted approximately from 1000 to 1300. The era of the High Middle Ages replaced the Early Middle Ages and preceded the Late Middle Ages. The main characterizing trend of this period was the rapid increase in the population of Europe, which in turn led to dramatic changes in the social, political and other spheres of life.

The Late Middle Ages is a term used by historians to describe a period of European history in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Late Middle Ages was preceded by the High Middle Ages, and the subsequent period is called the Modern Age. Historians differ sharply in defining the upper limit of the Late Middle Ages. If in Russian historical science it is customary to define its end as the English Civil War, then in Western European science the end of the Middle Ages is usually associated with the beginning of the Church Reformation or the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. The late Middle Ages is also called the Renaissance.

The most common chronological framework of the period: the middle of the 5th century. - middle of the 15th century However, any periodization of the Middle Ages is conditional.

Geography of the Middle Ages. The most common geographical areas of development of "scientific" thinking and technological innovations in the period under review: "Western Europe"; "Byzantium" and the zone of its influence; "Arab East"; "Vostok" (India, China, Japan); "Pre-Columbian America". The first three areas were most closely related.

The structure of medieval scientific knowledge includes four main areas: physical and cosmological, the core of which is the doctrine of motion. Based on the natural philosophy of Aristotle, it combines an array of physical, astronomical and mathematical knowledge; the doctrine of light; optics is part of the general doctrine - the "metaphysics of light", within which a model of the Universe is built, corresponding to the principles of neoplatonism; doctrine of livingunderstood as the science of the soul, considered as the principle and source of both plant, and animal, and intelligent life; complex astrologer - medicalknowledge, the doctrine of minerals and alchemy.

Technical innovations that had a radical impact on the entire culture of the Middle Ages include: the adoption of gunpowder, which quickly led to the creation of powder production (the first factory); development of powder granulation technology, which increases its efficiency; the rapid development of the production of firearms has fundamentally changed the way of warfare and led to the development of new technologies in foundry, aimed at improving the accuracy of throwing; windmills, the adoption of paper, which led to the creation of printing; the creation and introduction into the economic and cultural circulation of various mechanical devices that eventually created an entire infrastructure; watchmaking development.

3. Discoverers

Roger Bacon (1214-1292)English alchemist, outstanding philosopher. In 1240, he was the first in Europe to describe the technology of making gunpowder. He did a lot of experiments in search of ways to transform some substances into others. For refusing to reveal the secrets of obtaining gold (which he did not know), Bacon was condemned by fellow believers and spent a long 15 years in a church dungeon. At the behest of the general of the order, the works of the monk-naturalist were chained to a table in the monastery library in Oxford as punishment. Bacon foresaw the great importance of mathematics, without which, in his opinion, no science can exist, and a number of discoveries (the telephone, self-propelled carts, aircraft, etc.).

Johann Gutenberg (1397 -1468) German jeweler and inventor of printing.

Gutenberg's ingenious invention consisted in the fact that he made movable raised letters from metal, cut out in reverse, typed lines from them and, using a press, imprinted on paper.

With limited funds, no experienced workers, no improved tools, Gutenberg nevertheless achieved remarkable success. Until 1456, he cast at least five different types, printed the Latin grammar of Aelius Donatus (several sheets of it have come down to us and are kept in the National Library in Paris), several papal indulgences and, finally, two Bibles, 36-line and 42-line; the last, known as the Mazarin Bible, was printed in 1453-1465. with high quality.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)Polish astronomer, mathematician, economist, canon. He is best known as the author of the medieval heliocentric system of the world.

The heliocentric theory, which claimed that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa, as scientists used to think from ancient times. Observing the movement of celestial bodies, Copernicus came to the conclusion that Ptolemy's theory was incorrect. After thirty years of hard work, long observations and complex mathematical calculations, he convincingly proved that the Earth is only one of the planets and that all planets revolve around the Sun. True, Copernicus still believed that the stars are motionless and are located on the surface of a huge sphere, at a great distance from the Earth. This was due to the fact that at that time there were no such powerful telescopes that could be used to observe the sky and stars. Having discovered that the Earth and the planets are satellites of the Sun, Nicolaus Copernicus was able to explain the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky, the strange entanglement in the movement of some planets, and the apparent rotation of the firmament.

The fate of the new hypothesis was not easy. The book on the rotations of the celestial spheres (1543) was a shock to astronomers in the 16th century. Many scholars who doubted the infallibility of Ptolemaic constructions were ready to accept the theory of Copernicus. But, of course, the replacement of the old theory by the new one did not happen immediately. Not the entire scientific world has adopted the heliocentric system - and not at all for ideological reasons. Of course, the sharply negative position in relation to the teachings of Copernicus of the Christian church played its role. Initially, the church did not pay attention to the philosophical consequences of the very possibility of putting the Earth on a par with other planets, but in 1616 it corrected its "oversight" - by decree of the Inquisition, the book of Copernicus was included "until correction" in the index of prohibited books and remained banned until 1828 of the year. The secluded life and the late publication of the work saved Nicolaus Copernicus from the persecution that his followers were subjected to. Copernicus was a clergyman and sincerely believing Catholic. Creating his model of the universe, he sought not to conflict with the church, but to find a "golden mean" between faith and scientific truth: both were equally important for Copernicus. However, the heliocentric theory proposed by Copernicus ultimately overturned established ideas about the universe and marked the beginning of the first scientific revolution.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)Danish astronomer, astrologer and alchemist. He was the first in Europe to make systematic and high-precision astronomical observations, which Kepler used to discover the laws of planetary motion. In 1572, he noticed a supernova - immeasurably distant and very bright - whose appearance in the "unchanging" space beyond the Moon would be impossible. A few years later, Brahe observed an equally incredible appearance of a comet. As a result of large-scale and systematic observations, the researcher determined the position of many celestial bodies and published the first modern catalog of stars.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)Italian scientist, physicist, mechanic and astronomer, one of the founders of natural science; poet, philologist and critic. He laid the foundations of modern mechanics: put forward the idea of ​​the relativity of motion, established the laws of inertia, free fall and the motion of bodies on an inclined plane, the addition of motions; discovered the isochronism of pendulum oscillations; was the first to investigate the strength of beams.

The famous story of how Archimedes jumped out of the bath and ran naked through the streets shouting "Eureka!" was known in Galileo's time as widely as it is today. Archimedes then found a way to determine whether the royal crown was made of pure gold or not. Galileo decided to perfect this ancient method. He invented hydrostatic scales, which could weigh objects in air and water. After that, he repeated the experiment of Archimedes and presented the results in a short treatise called "The Small Scales".

In 1609, Galileo independently built his first telescope with a convex lens and a concave eyepiece. The tube gave approximately a threefold increase. Soon he managed to build a telescope giving a magnification of 32 times and discovered mountains on the Moon, 4 satellites of Jupiter, phases near Venus, spots on the Sun. A number of Galileo's telescopic discoveries contributed to the establishment of the heliocentric system of the world, which Galileo actively promoted, for which he was put on trial by the Inquisition (1633), which forced him to renounce the teachings of Nicolaus Copernicus. Until the end of his life, Galileo was considered a "prisoner of the Inquisition" and was forced to live in his villa Arcetri near Florence. In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the decision of the Inquisition Court erroneous and rehabilitated Galileo.

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)great English physicist, mathematician and astronomer. Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist since Galileo. His work "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" (1687) convincingly demonstrated that the earthly and celestial spheres are subject to the same laws of nature, and all material objects - to the three laws of motion. Moreover, Newton formulated the law of universal gravitation and mathematically substantiated the laws that govern these processes. The Newtonian model of the universe remained virtually unchanged until the new scientific revolution of the early 20th century, which was based on the works of Albert Einstein.

4. The genius of da Vinci

I would also like to single out one great personality of the Middle Ages.

This is an Italian painter, a skilled architect, engineer, technician, scientist, mathematician, anatomist, musician and sculptor, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The abilities and capabilities of Leonardo da Vinci were, without exaggeration, supernatural. There is a version that Leonardo da Vinci could penetrate into parallel worlds, where he took the ideas of his many wonderful inventions. At that time they were really perceived as a miracle.

Leonardo da Vinci was an excellent magician (his contemporaries called him a magician). He could call a multi-colored flame from a boiling liquid by pouring wine into it; easily turned white wine into red; with one blow he broke a cane, the ends of which were placed on two glasses, without breaking either of them; applied a little of his saliva to the end of the pen and the inscription on the paper becomes black. The miracles that Leonardo showed so impressed his contemporaries that he was seriously suspected of serving "black magic". In addition, strange, dubious moral personalities were constantly near the genius, like Tomaso Giovanni Masini, known under the pseudonym Zoroaster de Peretola, a good mechanic, jeweler and at the same time an adherent of the secret sciences ...

Leonardo encrypted a lot so that his ideas would be revealed gradually, as humanity "ripened" to them. Scientists only last year, five centuries after the death of Leonardo da Vinci, managed to figure out the design of his self-propelled cart and build it. This invention can be safely called the forerunner of the modern car.

In 1499, Leonardo da Vinci designed a wooden mechanical lion to meet the French king Louis XII, which, after taking a few steps, plowed open its chest and showed the insides "filled with lilies." The scientist is the inventor of the spacesuit, submarine, steamer, flippers. He has a manuscript that shows the possibility of diving to great depths without a space suit due to the use of a special gas mixture (the secret of which he deliberately destroyed). To invent it, it was necessary to have a good understanding of the biochemical processes of the human body, which were completely unknown at that time! It was he who first proposed installing batteries of firearms on armored ships (he gave the idea of ​​​​an armadillo!), He invented a helicopter, a bicycle, a glider, a parachute, a tank, a machine gun, poison gases, a smoke screen for troops, a magnifying glass (100 years before Galileo!).

Leonardo da Vinci invented textile machines, looms, needle-making machines, powerful cranes, systems for draining marshes through pipes, and arched bridges. He created designs for gates, levers and propellers designed to lift enormous weights, mechanisms that did not exist in his time. It is amazing that Leonardo da Vinci describes these machines and mechanisms in detail, although they could not be made at that time due to the fact that they did not know ball bearings at that time (but Leonardo himself knew this - the corresponding drawing was preserved). Sometimes it seems that da Vinci just wanted to learn as much as possible about this world by collecting information. Why did he need her in such a form and in such quantity? He left no answer to this question.

Biological knowledge in the Middle Ages

The sources of information about biological enterprises in the early Middle Ages are works such as "Physiologist", "Bestiary", etc. These books contained descriptions of animals and fantastic monsters mentioned in the Bible, as well as stories based on motives (very loosely interpreted) from the life of animals , the purpose of which was religious and moral teachings. Information about animals and plants was contained in the Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh (XI century), which was in the lists in Russia, and other sources.

The most fundamental sources of information about the biological knowledge of the Middle Ages are the multi-volume encyclopedic works of Albert the Great and Vincent de Beauvais dating back to the 13th century. The Encyclopedia of Albertus Magnus has special sections "On Plants" and "On Animals". Detailed descriptions of the species of the plant and animal kingdoms known at that time were largely borrowed from the ancients, mainly from Aristotle. Following Aristotle, Albert associated the vital activity of plants with the "vegetative soul". Developing the doctrine of the functions of individual parts of plants (trunk, branches, roots, foliage, fruits), Albert the Great noted their functional similarity with individual organs in animals. In particular, he considered the root to be identical with the animal's mouth.

In the Middle Ages, the presence of vegetable oils and toxic substances in the fruits of some plants was discovered. A variety of facts on the selection of cultivated plants have been described. The idea of ​​change in plants under the influence of the environment was expressed in rather fantastic statements that beech turns into birch, wheat into barley, and oak branches into vines. The plants in Albert's writings were arranged in alphabetical order. His zoological information is also presented in great detail. They are given, like the botanical ones, in a purely descriptive way, with references to Aristotle, Pliny, Galen as the highest authorities. The division of animals into bloodless and possessing blood is borrowed from Aristotle. Physiology is reduced solely to the description, often very expressive, of the behavior and customs of animals. In the spirit of medieval anthropomorphic views, it was said about the mind, stupidity, caution, cunning of animals. The mechanism of reproduction in animals was described by Hippocrates: the seed arises in all parts of the body, but is collected in the organs of reproduction. Aristotle borrowed the idea that the female seed contains the matter of the future fetus, and the male, in addition, encourages this matter to develop.

The ears, according to Vincent de Beauvais, are designed to perceive the words of people, while the eyes, seeing creations, are intended to perceive the word of God. According to these tasks, the eyes are located in front, and the ears are on the sides, as if denoting that our attention should be, first of all, turned to God, and only then to our neighbor.

Alchemical treatises can serve as sources of information not only about chemical, but also about biological knowledge. Alchemists operated not only with objects of the mineral kingdom, but also with plant and animal objects. The "Book of Plants" by the famous 15th-century alchemist John Isaac Holland is of considerable interest as a kind of alchemical body of biological knowledge. Studying the processes of decay, fermentation, alchemists got acquainted with the chemical composition of plant matter. In connection with healing, a different, sometimes purely practical attitude was allowed for the study of animals and plants. The healing effects of herbs and minerals became a subject of special interest for the healing monks of the late Middle Ages.

The question of the instincts and behavior of animals and humans was considered by Roger Bacon. Comparing the behavior of animals with the conscious activity of man, he believed that only perceptions that arise independently of experience are characteristic of animals, while man has a mind.

The circle of the then ideas about animals and vegetation of distant countries was expanded by poetic descriptions of travels to overseas lands. So, for example, the Byzantine poet Manuel Phil (XIII-XIV centuries) visited Persia, Arabia, and India. He wrote three poetic compositions containing a lot of cognitive biological material. These are the poems "On the Properties of Animals", "A Brief Description of the Elephant" and "On Plants". Phil liked to talk about exotic, sometimes fantastic, animals. However, his fantastic images of animals are composed of quite real, well-known and accurately conveyed elements, reflecting the level of zoological knowledge of the XIV century.

Achievements

Medicine in the Middle Ages developed in difficult and unfavorable conditions. Nevertheless, the objective laws of the development of society and the logic of scientific thinking inevitably contributed to the formation in its depths of the prerequisites for the future medicine of the great Renaissance. In connection with technical discoveries, the role of scientific research has increased even more. Since dogmatic views disappeared, and riddles no longer seemed insoluble, everything became the object of study, including the human body and its diseases. Until the 16th century, it was assumed that the disease is the result of an abnormal displacement of the four body fluids (blood, sputum, yellow and black bile). The Swiss alchemist was the first to challenge this theory. Paracelsus (1493-1541 famous alchemist, physician andophthalmologist) , who argued that diseases are associated with disorders of various organs and can be cured with the help of chemicals. Around the same time, the first thorough anatomical study of a human was carried out Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564 physician and anatomist.) . However, the foundations of modern medical science were laid almost a hundred years later, when the English scientist William Harvey (1578-1657 English physician, founder of physiology andembryology.) discovered that the blood in the human body circulates in a vicious circle due to the contractions of the heart, and not the liver, as previously believed.

The medicine of the Middle Ages was not fruitless. She has accumulated extensive experience in the field of surgery, recognition and prevention of infectious diseases, has developed a number of anti-epidemic measures; hospital care, forms of organizing medical care in cities, sanitary legislation, etc.

In the language of mathematics

The new science tried to confirm the validity of observations through experiments and to translate the results into the universal language of mathematics. Galileo was the first scientist to realize that this approach is the key to understanding everything that exists, and argued that "the book of nature ... is written in mathematical signs." The progress of the mathematical method was rapid. By the beginning of the 17th century, the most common arithmetic symbols (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and equality) were in widespread use. Then in 1614 John Napier (1550-1617Scottish baron, mathematician, one of the inventors of logarithms, the first publisher of logarithmictables.) introduced logarithms. The first adding machine - a distant ancestor of the computer - was designed Blaise Pascal (1623-1662 French mathematician, physicist, writer and philosopher. Classic of French literature, one of the founders of mathematical analysis, probability theory and projective geometry, creatorthe first samples of counting technology, the author of the basic law of hydrostatics.) in the 1640s, and 30 years later the great German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716 German philosopher, mathematician, lawyer, diplomat.) invented a machine capable of multiplication. Leibniz was also one of the creators of the differential calculus, which became the most important mathematical method of the time. Isaac Newton arrived at similar results independently of Leibniz, and these two great men, with far from scientific ardor, entered into a discussion about which of them holds the laurels of superiority.

Forward to progress

So, by the 17th century, science had really advanced far in its development, and there is a lot of evidence for this.

The mechanical clock was invented in the 13th century. The improvement of their design, in turn, led to the invention of parts (for example, the speed indicator, ratchets, gears), which were subsequently used in other mechanisms.

Water supply systems developed in medieval European cities. For this, pumping stations were built, driven by the same hydraulic motor. Some cities had such a water supply system as early as the beginning of the 16th century.

In the XIV century, the use of gunpowder began in Europe, which, although it was invented in China, again, it was in Europe that it received widespread use and further improvement. Bows, spears and crossbows began to be exchanged for firearms and cannons, which further determined the dominance of Europeans on the world stage. In addition, the telescope was invented, instruments such as microscope, thermometer, barometer and air pump. Scientific advances constantly multiplied. Newton discovered the wave nature of light and demonstrated that a stream of light that appears white to us consists of spectral colors into which it can be divided using a prism. Two other famous English experimenters were William Gilbert (1544-1603 English physicist, scientist and physician.) who laid the foundations for the study of electricity and magnetism, and Robert Hooke (1635-1703 English naturalist, encyclopedist) , who introduced the concept of "cell" to describe what he saw through the lenses of his improved microscope.

Irishman Robert Boyle (1627-1691 physicist, chemist and theologian) carried out physical work in the field of molecular physics, light and electrical phenomena, hydrostatics, acoustics, heat, mechanics. In 1660, Guericke improved the air pump, established new facts, which he set out in New Physico-Chemical Experiments Concerning Air Elasticity. He showed the dependence of the boiling point of water on the degree of rarefaction of the surrounding air and proved that the rise of a liquid in a narrow tube is not related to atmospheric pressure. In 1661 he discovered Boyle's law, designed a barometer and introduced the name barometer. He made the first studies of the elasticity of solids, was a supporter of atomism. In 1663 he discovered colored rings in thin layers (Newton's rings). In 1661 he formulated the concept of a chemical element and introduced the experimental method into chemistry, laying the foundation for chemistry as a science.

A Dutch scientist Christian Huygens(1629-1695 Dutch mathematician, physicist, astronomer and inventor.) invented the escapement pendulum clock, proving the correctness of Galileo's conclusion that a pendulum device could be used to control time.

There will still be inventions ahead, the steam engine, electricity and the telephone. The earth will be entangled with wires and railways, and astronauts will go out into outer space. In the meantime ... while a lonely medieval scientist in his dim little room forged the history of science ...

Conclusion

"The history of the world never assumes such importance and significance, it never shows such a multitude of individual phenomena as in the Middle Ages."

(N.V. Gogol)

Technique arose along with the emergence of man, and for a long time developed independently of any science. Science itself did not have a special disciplinary organization for a long time and was not oriented towards the conscious application of the knowledge it created in the technical sphere. Recipe-technical knowledge was opposed to scientific knowledge for a long time, and the question of special scientific and technical knowledge was not raised at all. "Scientific" and "technical" actually belonged to different cultural areas. It was the engineers, artists, and practical mathematicians of the Middle Ages who played the decisive role in the adoption of a new type of practice-oriented theory. The ideal of a new science was put forward, capable of solving engineering problems by theoretical means, and of a new technology based on science. This ideal eventually led to the disciplinary organization of science and technology. The great technical inventions made in the Middle Ages had a huge impact on all areas of the economy and culture, including the development of science. For a long time, the Middle Ages were characterized as a period of spiritual decline, a period between great epochs: antiquity and rebirth. But without this time, without its discoveries and technical improvements, the onset of a new time would have been impossible. The technical successes of the renaissance were made possible by the use and development of the inventions and discoveries of the Middle Ages, which, taken together, opened up to Europeans greater powers of control and, ultimately, understanding of the world than they could have received from the classical legacy.

List of used sources and literature

science discovery middle ages newton

1. Bernal J. Science in the history of society / J. Bernal; per. from English. A.M. Vyazmina; total ed. B.M.Kedrova, I.V.Kuznetsova.- M.: Foreign literature, 1956.-735p.

Gorelov A.A. Concepts of modern natural science: textbook. allowance.- M.: Higher education, 2008.-335s. - (Fundamentals of Sciences)

Solomatin V.A. History and concepts of modern natural science: a textbook for universities. - M.: PER SE, 2002.-464s. - (Modern education)

"100 people who changed the course of history" weekly edition, issue No. 9, 2008

History of biology from ancient times to the present day [Electronic resource] http://www.biolhistory.ru/

Historical physics. Leonardo da Vinci [Electronic resource] http://www.abitura.com/

Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia[Electronic resource] http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

The development of European culture in the early Middle Ages (5-11 centuries).

Literature, art, architecture, Romanesque style. The basis of medieval culture is the interaction of two principles - the own culture of the "barbarian" peoples of Western Europe and the cultural traditions of the Western Roman Empire - law, science, art, Christianity. These traditions were assimilated during the conquest of Rome by the "barbarians". They influenced their own culture of the pagan tribal life of the Gauls, Goths, Saxons, Jutes and other tribes of Europe. The interaction of these principles gave a powerful impetus to the formation of Western European medieval culture proper. The essence of the culture of any era, first of all, is expressed in a person's ideas about himself, his goals, capabilities, interests. The first independent, specifically European artistic style of medieval Europe was Romanesque, which characterized the art and architecture of Western Europe from about 1000 to the rise of the Gothic, in most regions until about the second half and the end of the 12th century, and in some even later. It arose as a result of the synthesis of the remains of the artistic culture of Rome and the barbarian tribes. At first it was the proto-Romanesque style. At the end of the Proto-Romanesque period, elements of the Romanesque style were mixed with Byzantine, with Middle Eastern, especially Syrian, which also came to Syria from Byzantium; with Germanic, with Celtic, with features of the styles of other northern tribes. Various combinations of these influences created many local styles in Western Europe, which received the common name Romanesque, meaning "in the manner of the Romans." Since the main number of surviving fundamentally important monuments of the Proto-Romanesque and Romanesque style are architectural structures: the various styles of this period often differ in architectural schools. The secular buildings of the Romanesque style are distinguished by massive forms, narrow window openings, and a significant height of the towers. The same features of massiveness are characteristic of temple structures, which were covered with wall paintings - frescoes from the inside, and brightly painted reliefs from the outside. The knight's castle, the monastic ensemble, the church are the main types of Romanesque buildings that have come down to our time. Characteristic examples of Romanesque architecture are the Notre Dame Cathedral in Poitiers, the cathedrals in Toulouse, Orstval, Oxford, Winchester, etc. The paintings and sculptures of the Romanesque type are characterized by a flat two-dimensional image, generalization of forms, violation of proportions in the image of figures, lack of portrait resemblance to the original, intense spiritual expression. The images are rigorous, often extremely naive. The architecture of the 5th-8th centuries is usually simple, with the exception of buildings in Ravenna, (Italy), erected according to Byzantine rules. Buildings were often created from elements removed from old Roman buildings, or decorated with them. In many regions, this style was a continuation of early Christian art. The outstanding achievement of the architects of the Romanesque period was the development of buildings with stone volts (arched, supporting structures). The main reason for the development of stone arches was the need to replace the flammable wooden ceilings of Proto-Romanesque buildings. The introduction of voltaic structures led to the general use of heavy walls and pillars. An important element of the artistic culture of the Middle Ages was literary creativity. Oral poetry reaches high development. The best examples of it are the works of the heroic epic England and Scandinavia

A very important element of oral creativity - sagas , preserving the people's memory of actual historical events ("The Saga of Nyala", "The Saga of Egil", "The Saga of Eric the Red", etc.). Another major area of ​​artistic creativity is chivalric literature, which was widely developed during the Classical Middle Ages, in conditions of feudal fragmentation. Her hero was a feudal warrior who performed feats. The most famous are the "Song of Roland" (France), the chivalric verse novel "Tristan and Isolde" (Germany), "Nibelungenlied" (Germany), "The Song of My Sid" and "Rodrigo" (Spain). Western European chivalric literature also includes widespread chivalric lyric poetry, which glorified examples of fidelity to the lady of the heart, for the sake of which the knights subjected themselves to all sorts of trials at the risk of their lives. Poets-singers who glorified chivalrous love in their songs were called minnesingers in Germany. (singers of high love), in the south of France - troubadours , and in the north of the country - trouvers .

Proto-Romanesque artists reached the highest level in illustrating manuscripts. In England, an important school of manuscript illustration arose already in the 7th century in Holy Island (Lindisfarne). The works of this school, exhibited in the British Museum (London), are distinguished by the geometric interweaving of patterns in capital letters, frames, and whole pages, which are called carpet, are densely covered with them. Drawings of capital letters are often animated by grotesque figures of people, birds, monsters. Pro-Romanesque and Romanesque metalworking, a widespread art form, was used mainly to create church utensils for religious rituals. Many of these works are kept to this day in the treasuries of great cathedrals outside of France; French cathedrals were robbed during the French Revolution. 2. Culture of the classical Middle Ages (12-15th century).

literature, art, architecture, gothic style. In the period from the 12th to the 15th century, when cities and trade developed, when feudal warriors organized themselves into knightly orders and crusades begin, a more magnificent and refined culture develops at the courts of large feudal lords: knights learn music, poetic art; their military competitions - tournaments - are solemnly arranged. Here arises a new, knightly or courtly(court) literature. It is associated mainly with the custom of worshiping the knight "lady of the heart." Knightly lyrics express the knight's love for the lady; the chivalric romance, which is now replacing the heroic epic, sings of the exploits of the knight, no longer in defense of the motherland or overlord, but for the glory of the lady. For the sake of winning her love, the knights undergo all sorts of, often fantastic, adventures in the novels. Courtly literature, designed for the tastes of the feudal class, is largely distinguished by artificiality and far-fetchedness. However, it has a progressive beginning: the affirmation of love, which undermined the Church's ascetic ideology. Some themes and images from folk poetry penetrate into courtly literature. So, on the basis of a folk tale, a poetic novel was created about Isolde, who mistakenly drank a love potion together, which bound them until their death with great, irresistible love. Throughout the Middle Ages, literary creativity continued even among the broadest strata of the exploited people. Folk songs have come down to us, in which the protest of the people, their feelings and aspirations were expressed in the era of feudal exploitation, poverty and devastating wars. The folk songs of those countries where large peasant movements took place, as, for example, in England of the 12th-15th centuries, are distinguished by a particularly sharp combat content. on the basis of the rapid ruin of the peasantry; an extensive song heritage has been preserved here. The cycle of folk songs-ballads dedicated to the legendary robber Robin Hood, the beloved hero of the English people, is noteworthy. In his honor, in the Scottish mountain villages, a holiday with mass festivities and games is celebrated annually to this day. The ballads depict Robin Hood as a free shooter living in the forest with his squad. He is the defender of the poor, the storm of those in power - rich feudal lords, monks. A number of ballads tell of his struggle with sheriff (the supreme local ruler) of the city of Nottingham, from whose hands he repeatedly saves his comrades condemned to death. The image of Robin Hood - a fighter against the feudal lords - is as vividly heroized as the images of warriors in the epic. Robin Hood has almost fabulous marksmanship, strength and courage. At the call of his horn, a powerful and devoted squad obediently appears on horseback, led by his closest friend John Small. Contrary to the church preaching of asceticism, Robin Hood is shown generous, merrily feasting. In this image, the destitute English peasantry expressed their dream of freedom and the fullness of life. In place of the Romanesque style, as cities flourished and social relations improved, a new style came - Gothic. Religious and secular buildings, sculpture, colored glass, illustrated manuscripts and other works of fine art began to be executed in this style in Europe during the second half of the Middle Ages. Gothic art originated in France around 1140 and spread throughout Europe over the next century and continued to exist in Western Europe for most of the 15th century, and in some regions of Europe well into the 16th century. Originally, the word gothic was used by Italian Renaissance authors as a derogatory label for all forms of architecture and art of the Middle Ages, which were considered comparable only to the works of the barbarian Goths. The main representative and spokesman of the Gothic period was architecture. Although a huge number of Gothic monuments were secular, the Gothic style served primarily the church, the most powerful builder in the Middle Ages, which ensured the development of this new architecture for that time and achieved its fullest realization. The aesthetic quality of Gothic architecture depends on its structural development: ribbed vaults became a characteristic feature of the Gothic style. Medieval churches had powerful stone vaults, which were very heavy. They sought to open, to push out the walls. This could lead to the collapse of the building. Therefore, the walls must be thick and heavy enough to support such vaults. At the beginning of the 12th century, masons developed ribbed vaults, which included slender stone arches arranged diagonally, transversely and longitudinally. The new vault, which was thinner, lighter and more versatile (because it could have many sides), solved many architectural problems. Consequently, the thick walls of Romanesque architecture could be replaced by thinner ones, which included extensive window openings, and the interiors received hitherto unparalleled lighting. In the construction business, therefore, there was a real revolution. With the advent of the Gothic vault, both the design, the form, and the layout and interiors of the cathedrals changed. Gothic cathedrals acquired a general character of lightness, aspiration to the sky, became much more dynamic and expressive. The first of the great cathedrals was Notre Dame Cathedral (begun in 1163). In 1194, the foundation stone for the cathedral at Chartres is considered the beginning of the High Gothic period. The culmination of this era was the cathedral at Reims (begun in 1210). Rather cold and all-conquering in its finely balanced proportions, Reims Cathedral represents a moment of classical calm and serenity in the evolution of Gothic cathedrals. Openwork partitions, a characteristic feature of late Gothic architecture, were the invention of the first architect of Reims Cathedral. Fundamentally new interior solutions were found by the author of the cathedral in Bourges (begun in 1195). The influence of French Gothic quickly spread throughout Europe: Spain, Germany, England. In Italy it was not so strong. The cathedrals of England were somewhat different, for which they were characterized by a large length and a peculiar intersection of the lancet arches of the vaults. The most striking examples of the Gothic style in England are Westminster Abbey in London, the cathedrals in Salisbury, etc. The transition from Romanesque to Gothic in Germany was slower than in France and England. This explains the presence of a large number of buildings of the eclectic style. The lack of building stone, especially in the northern regions of Germany, gave rise to brick Gothic, which spread quite quickly throughout Europe. The first brick Gothic church was the church in Lübeck (XIII century). medieval civilization. Church caredIn the XIV century. a new technique arises - flaming gothic, which was characterized by the decoration of the building with stone lace, i.e. finest stone carving. The masterpieces of the flaming Gothic include the cathedrals in the cities of Ambre, Amiens, Alason, Conche, Corby (France). 3.Christian Church in Medieval Europe. The Middle Ages in Europe were defined by Christian culture. The Church sought to explain social relations along the lines of the relationship between man and God. Submission, humility, humility become the main values ​​of social life, which are preached by the Christian clergy. The role of the church in the life of the Western European medieval society, which many historians call the Christian society or the Christian worlds, was comprehensive: religion and the church filled the whole life of a person of the feudal era from birth to death. The church claimed to rule society and performed many functions that later became the property of the state. The medieval church was organized on a strictly hierarchical basis. It was headed by the Roman high priest - the pope, who had his own state in Central Italy, archbishops and bishops in all European countries were subordinate to him. These were the largest feudal lords, who possessed entire principalities and belonged to the top of feudal society. Having monopolized culture, science, and literacy in a society consisting mainly of warriors and peasants, the church possessed enormous resources that subordinated to it the man of the feudal era. Skillfully using these means, the church has concentrated enormous power in its hands: kings and lords, in need of her help, shower her with gifts and privileges, try to buy her favor and assistance. At the same time, the church pacified society: it sought to smooth out social conflicts, calling for mercy in relation to the oppressed and destitute, for an end to lawlessness, for the distribution of alms to the poor. Poverty was even given moral priority. The Church attracted many peasants who needed patronage under its protection, provided them with land for settlement, and encouraged the liberation of foreign slaves, who at the same time fell into dependence on it. In the restless feudal times, people sought the protection of the monastery. The Church was the largest landowner in the feudal world and tirelessly increased its material wealth. The monasteries were among the first to switch to a commodity economy, to production for the market, take treasures and money for safekeeping, and provide loans. Under the auspices of the church, connecting with church holidays, fairs and markets arise, pilgrimages to holy places merge with trade journeys. Continuing to use economic power for its own purposes, the church in the XI-XIII centuries. in fact, he leads the trade and colonization movement of Europeans to the East (“crusades”), organizing huge collections of money to finance them. After the "campaigns" ceased, these funds began to be used to strengthen the papal treasury. The church organization reaches its highest power in the XII-XIII centuries, turning into a powerful financial organization with unlimited power over its structures and exceptional political influence. Standing on conservative positions, the church taught that each member of society should live in accordance with his legal and property status and not seek to change it. The ideology of the three “estates”, which spread in Europe in the 10th century, put forward monks, people devoted to prayer and standing above society, in the first place. There was a gradual aristocratization of the clergy and monasticism. However, along with the official church doctrine in the Middle Ages, popular religiosity was widespread, going far beyond the church and Christian dogma. God was perceived as a mysterious force present in sacred places, the personification of goodness and justice. This popular religiosity was shared by the bulk of the priests, with the exception of the church elite - learned bishops and abbots. Of great importance was the belief in intermediaries between God and people - angels and saints, in whom the laity were more attracted not by Christian virtues, but by the miracles they performed, perceived as proof of their power and holiness. However, it is impossible not to note the positive role of the church and Christian doctrine in the development of the sick, the poor, the orphans and the elderly. She controlled the education and production of books. The church, according to the modern historian Bishok, "was more than a patron in medieval culture, it was the medieval culture itself." Thanks to the influence of Christianity, by the 9th century, a fundamentally new understanding of family and marriage was established in medieval society, the familiar concept of “marriage” was absent in the late antique and ancient German traditions, and then there was no concept of “family” familiar to us. In the era of the early Middle Ages, marriages between close relatives were practiced, numerous marriage ties were common, which were inferior to the same consanguineous ties. It was with this position that the church fought: the problems of marriage, as one of the Christian sacraments, from the 6th century, become almost the main topic of many theological works. The fundamental achievement of the church of this period of history should be considered the creation of a marital cell, as a normal form of family life that still exists. Even technological progress in medieval Europe was associated, according to many scientists, with the spread of Christian doctrine and, as a result, with a change in man's attitude to nature. We are talking, in particular, about the rejection of the pre-Christian system of prohibitions and taboos that hindered the development of agriculture: nature has ceased to be an object of religious worship and a source of fear. The new economic situation that developed with technical improvements and inventions contributed to a significant increase in the standard of living, which was very stable over several centuries of the feudal era.

Among the most important values ​​affirmed by culture is the attitude to work. Any society is forced to cultivate a special attitude towards work, otherwise it could not exist.

In ancient culture, a person is, first of all, a free person, a citizen, that is, a person - the founder of a policy, a city, and therefore a political person. For this person, the main thing is the "republic", a common cause, management, therefore, mental labor, and not physical labor, the activity of collecting, preserving and distributing the surplus product, and not its production. Therefore, in ancient culture, "labor" carries a negative definition: lat. "negotium" - anxiety. Hence the modern term "negociant" - a merchant, a businessman. Work was perceived by antiquity as the absence of peace, leisure, as an activity that brings "anxiety", care. This activity was opposed by another - "otium", which meant - "peace, leisure, rest." Antiquity valued the positive - peace, and activities carried out freely, like rest, that is, mental activity. Antiquity valued the most abstract, universal forms of mental activity: philosophy, mathematics, music, politics. She did not appreciate, or appreciated, but less, specific types of mental activity - for example, secretarial work, accounting, the work of overseers, clerks, etc. But the work of sculptors was not valued either, since antiquity considered the activity of a sculptor as physical labor, similar to the labor of a stonemason.

The barbarian culture underlying the Middle Ages also had a contradictory attitude towards work, but this is a different contradiction than in Antiquity. During the period of the collapse of Rome, the barbarian society in Europe itself is going through a period of transition associated with the formation of classes and the transition to civilization. Europe was characterized by a special type of class formation - "aristocratic", where the top of the clans and tribes privatizes the communal property. Under the "plutocratic" type, private property is established through the accumulation of wealth in personal labor. Privatization leads to the appearance of an excess labor force in agricultural production, the emergence of "declassed" elements. They unite in "teams" and are engaged in robbery. Therefore, a peculiar attitude towards work is affirmed, for the top of a barbarian society, work is an unworthy occupation for a noble and free. Labor degrades the dignity of the combatant, this is the lot of the "black bone", "common people", "mob", and not the "best people". Another thing is military work. He is worthy of all praise and praise. In place of mythology comes the heroic epic as consciousness and awareness of the period of military democracy and the decay of barbarian culture. For antiquity, this is the period sung by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. For the Middle Ages, this is "Beowulf" (VIII century), the Irish epic "The Expulsion of the Sons of Usnekh", the saga "Elder Edda" ("Divination of the Volva", "Speech of the High One"), etc. But for a free community member, work is a secondary occupation, the work of the lazy and cowardly. Tacitus describes the values ​​​​of the Germanic tribes as follows: "it is much more difficult to convince them to plow the field and wait for a whole year of harvest than to persuade them to fight the enemy and suffer wounds; moreover, in their opinion, then get what can be acquired by blood - laziness and cowardice"

It was necessary to approve new values ​​in order for the society to exist and develop. And Christianity began to solve this problem. In Christian theology, work is necessary. It is illuminated by biblical history as a punishment for sins. Labor is God's curse: "And in the sweat of your face you will earn your daily bread," the Bible testifies. Labor is an inevitability in this life, on this earth. For the diligent work of the believer, a reward awaits in the next world, salvation for eternal life. The Apostle Paul already stated: "He who does not work, let him not eat."

But work - work is different. Since the Middle Ages affirms the hierarchy of property, it affirms the hierarchy of culture and its values. In labor there is also a hierarchy of its various kinds. In the first place is agricultural labor, and not handicraft, industrial.

Thus, the Middle Ages opposes cultures - agrarian and industrial, righteous (that is, religious, corresponding to Christian dogmas) and "unrighteous", which includes artistic, poetic activity.

The division of society into two classes - the ruling class, the feudal lords, and the dependent population, the peasantry - leads to the division of cultures. The well-known historian of culture A. Ya. Gurevich called the first one the culture of the “dominant minority”, the second - the “culture of the silent majority”. Accordingly, in the eyes of the ruling class, "their own" culture was valued. And the value of people was determined by their status, and the latter - by land ownership.

It would be a simplification to consider that the Middle Ages, because of its conservatism and traditionalism, did not create, invent, or invent anything. One of the first to reconsider the views on the Middle Ages as a break in the course of history caused by a millennium of "barbarism" was A. Turgot. He noted that in the Middle Ages, against the backdrop of a decline in science and a deterioration in taste, mechanical arts were improved in all areas under the influence of people's needs: “What a mass of inventions that were not known to the ancients and owe their appearance to the barbarian era! glasses, windmills, clocks, gunpowder, a compass, improved navigational art, an orderly trade exchange, etc., etc. ".

The early Middle Ages are characterized by the work of monks - writers, poets, scientists.

Achievements and values ​​​​of the culture of the Middle Ages Among the most important values ​​affirmed by culture is the attitude to work. Any society is forced to cultivate a special attitude towards work, otherwise it could not exist. In ancient culture, a person is, first of all, a free person, a citizen, that is, a person - the founder of a policy, a city, and therefore a political person. For this person, the main thing is the "republic", a common cause, management, therefore, mental labor, and not physical labor, the activity of collecting, preserving and distributing the surplus product, and not its production.

Therefore, in ancient culture, "labor" carries a negative definition: lat. "negotium" - anxiety. Hence the modern term "negociant" - a merchant, a businessman. Work was perceived by antiquity as the absence of peace, leisure, as an activity that brings "anxiety", care. This activity was opposed by another - "otium", which meant - "peace, leisure, rest." Antiquity valued the positive - peace, and activities carried out freely, like rest, that is, mental activity.

The barbarian culture underlying the Middle Ages also had a contradictory attitude towards work, but this is a different contradiction than in Antiquity. During the period of the collapse of Rome, the barbarian society in Europe itself is going through a period of transition associated with the formation of classes and the transition to civilization. Europe was characterized by a special type of class formation - "aristocratic", where the top of the clans and tribes privatizes the communal property. Labor degrades the dignity of the combatant, this is the lot of the "black bone", "common people", "mob", and not the "best people". Another thing is military work. He is worthy of all praise and praise. In place of mythology comes the heroic epic as consciousness and awareness of the period of military democracy and the decay of barbarian culture. But even for a free community member, work is a secondary occupation, the work of the lazy and cowardly.

The most significant achievements of the Middle Ages:

1) Creation of more advanced harnesses for draft animals in the form of a rigid collar. This innovation helped to increase the efficiency of arable work.

2) The use of a wheeled plow, which relied on a pair of wheels, providing deeper plowing.

3) The widespread use of wind and water engines as energy sources (windmills - from the 12th century, water - from the 9th century).

All these technical innovations contributed to the expansion of arable land, cultural plantations, an increase in population, and the emergence of mountain settlements. Monasteries were the center of scientific and technological achievements. The book of the German monk Theophilus "On the Various Arts" (1123) has been preserved, in which he describes dozens of crafts: glass making, casting bells, creating organ pipes, etc.

At the same time, the development of the technical achievements of the East and their improvement continued in Europe:

1) gunpowder began to be used more widely, its mass production began, as well as the mass production of various types of firearms;

2) in connection with the invention of printing (1440 - the appearance of the first book), the merit of whose creation belongs to Johannes Gutenberg, the production of paper grew rapidly.

The most dynamically developing area was the production of construction equipment.

architecture in the 11th century. the Gothic style is approved, one of the brightest manifestations of which was the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The construction of the cathedral began in 1163 and lasted about 200 years; The Cologne Cathedral took 600 years to build.

In addition to religious buildings, the construction of civil-type structures (markets, buildings of city governments) began. The first scientific works on architecture appeared (Leon Battista Alberti created a fundamental work - Ten Books on Architecture, which became a kind of encyclopedia of medieval architecture).

A special place in the culture of the Middle Ages was occupied by alchemy and astrology. These disciplines were a synthesis of religious mysticism and experimental science. Alchemists claimed that the main task of their profession was to search for the root cause of the world, the root cause of matter, which supposedly were originally laid down by God, here alchemy was in contact with religion. However, to discover these first principles, the alchemists conducted experiments, which brought them closer to fundamental science, making them real scientists, which opposed them to the church. One of these alchemists was the monk Roger Bacon (XII century). He wrote: "Experimental science does not receive truth from some higher sciences, it is experimental science that is the most important of all, and other sciences are its servants." His sober mind helped him to get ahead of his time and suggest the creation of aircraft, cars, submarines.

An equally bizarre combination of truth and error was astrology. Its strong point is the idea that there is a close connection between the cosmos and human life. The answer to the question of what this influence consists of has not been and is not, although attempts have been made.

From the point of view of the development of science and technology, the Middle Ages was a bright and eventful period, characterized by the interaction of various scientific and religious concessions, which is also instructive for our time.

Renaissance.

Independent study.

SECTION IV. MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WORLD OF THE EUROPEAN MIDDLE AGES

The Christian Church played an important role in the history of the Middle Ages. During the period of the Great Migration of Nations, the number of believers increased, the church preserved the unity of Christians. The emergence of the state of the Roman popes strengthened their authority and political influence in Western Europe, but caused discontent among the patriarchs of the Eastern Christian Church. Contradictions between the Roman popes and the patriarchs of Constantinople led to the first schism (schism) of Christianity in 1054.

The Christian Church has significantly influenced the development of culture.

With the emergence and strengthening of cities in the countries of Western Europe, schools and universities began to appear everywhere. They have become a reliable basis for the further development of culture, science and education. technical discoveries and improvements decisively entered the life of cities and villages. Among the inhabitants of the cities, the intelligentsia was formed - people who earned a living with their mind and knowledge. They were ardent supporters of the ideas of humanism and the Renaissance - new areas of European culture, which marked the beginning of the New Age.

§ 21. Scientific and technical achievements of the Middle Ages. Typography

The Middle Ages are sometimes called "dark" and "ignorant". It is believed that at this time the development of science and technology seems to have froze. We will try to prove the fallacy of such statements.

Repeat: § 4, 13.

Technology and transport.

In the development of technology, medieval Europe lagged behind the countries of the East for a long time. Tools of labor, technical devices, work skills remained the same. True, the peasants invented a collar that made it possible to use horses for plowing the fields, which were more enduring than bulls. The plow, shovel, rake and other tools with iron parts were inherited. The monks had to take care of the iron tools that belonged to the monastery. The abbot tried to trust them only to those monks, “whose lifestyle and hands will ensure their safety.” A learned monk in his treatise stated: “In many ways, iron is more useful for a person than gold, although greedy souls crave gold more than iron.”

The most important engine in the Middle Ages was the water wheel, which was mainly used as a mill. The water wheel, invented back in the Roman Empire, was widely used in most European countries in the Middle Ages. For example, in England, during the 1086 census, the Domesday Book mentions 5624 mills. In some cases, the water wheel was not just lowered into a river or stream, but water was directed through a chute so that it fell on the wheel blades (this made its work more efficient). In the XI century. Europeans borrowed windmills from the Arabs of Spain.

Notable technical inventions were also made in construction, where they used lifting mechanisms and various devices necessary for the construction of cathedrals and palaces.

Vehicles in comparison with ancient times have not changed much. The narrow and uneven medieval streets were dominated by pack transport (people-porters, pack animals - donkeys, mules, horses). Where there were roads, various wagons and carts were also used, constantly in need of repair. The overland journey was long and dangerous. Robbers often lay in wait on the roads.

Rice. 1. Wheeled transport of the Middle Ages

? What was the purpose of the vehicle?

Rice. 2. Medieval sea ship

The main part of the cargo was transported by rivers and seas. Europeans learned how to build simple and reliable rowing and sailing ships. Medieval ships did not move away from the coast and did not go far into the open sea. There were no exact maps then, sailors were guided by the Sun and stars. In winter, many rivers turned into icy paths, along which sledge caravans traveled.

Technical improvements and transport ensured the gradual development of the medieval society of Western Europe.

2. Technical devices in military affairs.

In the Middle Ages, military affairs and the defense of the state were completely subordinate to the feudal lords. The knights tried to reliably protect their bodies in battle. Therefore, protective armor (chain mail), as well as weapons capable of hitting the enemy, were constantly improved. Starting from the XI century. in Europe began to use mechanical bows - crossbows. An arrow successfully fired from a crossbow pierced a metal helmet or armor at a distance of 150 steps. In the XV century. crossbows threw arrows with heavy steel tips up to 350 meters. The Byzantines considered Western European crossbows to be diabolical weapons.

With the advent of castles and stone fortresses, the manufacture and use of complex siege machines, capable of destroying even "impregnable" fortifications, spread. For example, during the Crusades, the knights successfully used large siege towers that were pushed up to the walls of Antioch, Jerusalem and other cities of the Middle East. For a long time in Europe, ballistas and catapults were used, designed to destroy enemy fortifications, primarily gates. The pinnacle of achievements of medieval mechanics was the trebuchet throwing machine, capable of throwing heavy stones (up to 350 kg) over long distances and destroying the walls of fortresses or sinking enemy ships.

Rice. 3. Medieval catapult. Modern drawing

Rice. 4. Trebuchet at the castle de Beau in France. Reconstruction

3. The beginning of scientific research.

In the Middle Ages, science developed slowly and imperceptibly. For a long time, scholasticism prevailed among learned people. Its supporters argued that the knowledge necessary for man is contained in the Bible. The task of science is to prove the truth of the teachings of the church with the help of logical reasoning and knowledge of the Bible. Experiences and experiments were considered harmful, since a person's feelings are easily misled. For example, the unsurpassed orator and preacher Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century. argued that faith and the world around us cannot be known by reason.

The first to verify the truth of the statements of the Church Fathers was one of the founders of the University of Paris, Pierre Abelard (1079-1142). He went down in history as a thinker and teacher who sought to prove the superiority of reason over blind faith. Abelard taught "not to honor, but to read the sacred books." He believed that “it is useless to speak if there is nothing to back up your words. No one can believe in what they have not understood before.” Only in the XIII-XIV centuries. in Europe, the first works devoted to the study of the motion of celestial bodies, mechanics and optics appear.

The eminent English naturalist Roger Bacon (1214-1294), who was called the "wonderful doctor", was a professor of theology at Oxford University and a Franciscan friar. He boldly opposed scholasticism, was a preacher of the exact sciences. Churchmen accused Bacon of heresy and sentenced him to prison.

Rice. 5. Statue of Roger Bacon in Oxford

Rice. 6. Johannes Gutenberg

Rice. 7. Bible page published by I. Gutenberg

In the Middle Ages, the first steps were taken in the development of scientific research of the surrounding world, which went beyond the limits of biblical postulates.

4. Typography.

Further dissemination of science and knowledge in the XIV-XV centuries. faced serious obstacles. There was a catastrophic shortage of books in Europe. In people's lives, the acquisition of a book was an important and rare event. For the manufacture of books, a very expensive material was used - parchment (finely dressed calfskin). In monastic libraries, the most valuable copies of books were chained to the shelves with metal chains.

Only in the XI century. relatively inexpensive paper appeared in Spain, brought from the Arab East.

Long way to Europe

At the beginning of our era in China, they invented a method for making paper. In the 8th century Arabs have mastered this secret. For more than five centuries they had the exclusive right to sell paper in Europe. In the XII-XIV centuries. they learned how to make paper in Spain, Italy, France, Germany. In connection with the growth in the number of schools and universities and the accumulation of new knowledge in the XIV century. papermaking in Europe is on an unprecedented scale.

Johannes Gutenberg (1394-1468), a native of the German city of Mainz, is considered the inventor of printing in Europe. He knew the natural sciences and theology well, and was fluent in Latin. 1445 is considered the year of the invention of printing. The essence of the invention was that Gutenberg suggested using separate metal letters (letters) for typing, which were placed in the right order in special cells. The letters were covered with paint by hand, and then pressed against a sheet of paper in a machine tool. The result was a print of the page of the book. On the machine created by Gutenberg, 100 impressions of one sheet could be made in an hour. The first printed books were the Bible and the Psalter, published in Latin.

In the second half of the XV century. in Western Europe, it became possible to publish books in large numbers. Printing has prepared a real breakthrough in science, education and culture in general.

Questions and tasks

1. What materials did the peasants use for their tools? 2. Why were iron tools highly valued in the economy of peasants and monasteries? 3. What achievements in medieval technology do you consider the most important? 4. Compare modern and medieval transport. 5. Why did the muscular strength of animals and people prevail in the economy? 6. In what areas of medieval life and economy did people achieve the greatest success in the use of machines and technical devices? 7. What vehicles of the Middle Ages are used in modern life? eight*. Why do you think the military equipment of the Middle Ages was noticeably ahead of the civilian one? 9. Compare the views on science of Pierre Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux. What made them different? 10. What is the main scientific achievement of Roger Bacon? eleven*. Could printing have appeared in Europe in the 10th century? Explain your point of view. 12*. Why is Johannes Gutenberg's invention considered revolutionary? Give a detailed answer.