Feudal manor is closely related to lords and serfs. To understand the life of farmers in the Middle Ages, we must understand the operation of feudal manor.
Living customs mainly refer to clothing, diet, residence, etc. It is directly related to the level of social development, production and living standards, cultural traditions and natural environment.
In the Middle Ages of Europe, especially in the 5th century, wars were very frequent. Ancient culture was destroyed, ancient prosperous city life disappeared, new European residents stopped building theaters, baths and roads, and ancient art died out. Only a few people can understand ancient literature and writing. Germanic languages spoken by British and Germans and Roman languages spoken by French and Italians prevailed in Europe, and ancient languages and scripts disappeared. In the war, in the war of axe, knife and sword, barbarians came to Europe with their living customs. This is a strange Europe.
Europeans in the 5- 10 century still retain many barbaric living customs. Caniface (675-754), a saint who preached in England, complained: "The British completely ignore marriage. They don't want a legal wife and live a dissolute and promiscuous life like horses or donkeys. " (The History of Carnival, page 79, by Mepago partridge) "In 6 10 A.D., Queen Ulster of Ireland led her court maid to see the Kuchu people. The queen and her maids were topless and lifted their skirts to reveal their private parts. This move is a great tribute to the Kuchu people. "
In the early Middle Ages, wars were frequent, and emerging kingdoms were constantly fighting for territorial expansion. At that time, Franks once thought that war and plunder were the most glorious undertakings, and labor and farming were the manifestations of incompetence. From the 5th century to the 8th century, they never stopped to improve their civilization. In the 8th century, Charlemagne of the Frankish Kingdom was illiterate. The new rulers of Europe accepted the ancient civilization very slowly. Among them, Italy and France are more civilized because of the great influence of Roman tradition.
During the period of11-15, great changes took place in European customs, at which time the church played an important role. The church educates people to break away from barbaric customs and advocate a pure life. The clergy are required to remain celibate. Take the indulgence tendency in life as a sin, advocate asceticism, despise money, oppose luxury, and advocate the idea that all happiness is evil. The church not only propagandizes through priests, but also punishes through state power and religious power. During this period, the wind of brutality and belligerence was no longer the mainstream, and the wind of abstinence prevailed. The church opposes the beauty of clothes and even the neatness of individuals. Puritans opposed singing and dancing, carnival and April Fool's Day. "In their place, we can see a lot of accusation materials and prohibition of dancing" (partridge's carnival history, page 92). The practice of the church has gone beyond the scope of pure human morality. In fact, it is to safeguard morality under the banner of the church and the country and oppose people's legitimate enjoyment and pursuit of a better life.
During this period, the infighting between abstinence and anti-abstinence has been going on for a long time. These directly influenced the life and entertainment customs in medieval Europe.
(1) Clothing customization
Clothing is one of the symbols of civilization, and clothing customs reflect the characteristics of national culture and the living conditions and psychological characteristics of people in an era. Europe was ruled by Christianity in the Middle Ages, and Christianity had a great influence on European clothing. Because Christianity despises money and opposes luxury, "in the Middle Ages, the clothes of the lower classes were simple and simple, and women did not dress up. They donated jewelry to the church. Uniforms are mainly white hypertrophy robes and sleeveless coats, and the colors are simple (Interesting Clothing in Ancient and Modern Times).
Under the religious rule in the Middle Ages, the colors and styles of European clothing were monotonous, and the colors were still black, gray and white, and the clothing styles were mainly floor-sweeping robes. The luxurious toga robe in ancient Rome was abandoned.
In the early Middle Ages, Europeans wore simple clothes, and civilians and nobles wore the same clothes. In the eighth and ninth centuries, men's wear had underwear coats, which were quite similar to the ancient robes in China, but they were tight. Pants are long enough to fit the feet, with short crotch and a belt under the navel. Long or short socks are worn on feet, and sometimes strips of cloth are wrapped from feet to legs. Nobles and upper-class people put a rectangular or round cloak on their coats, which is fixed on one shoulder or tied to their chests; Workers' coats are shorter. Charlemagne of France "only wears Frankish clothes-linen pants with tight straps, sweaters and coats with straps" (History of Medieval and Modern Culture by the Commercial Press, 1935, p. 53). Wear an otter or mink coat and cloak outside in winter. The nobles wore wide ribbons around their waists,
Wear swords to tighten clothes, and civilians are not allowed to wear swords; Linen and wool are the main materials. Oriental silk is expensive, priced with the same amount of gold, and only a few nobles can wear it. Described the Song of Roland (France) and the death of King Arthur (England). The grade difference of clothing is mainly manifested in the different texture and origin of clothing. Nobles wear fine linen, wool cloaks made in Italy, and valuable furs such as mink in winter.
Civilians only wear coarse linen and woolen goods.
Women's dress is a tight robe, which is ankle-length. Sleeves are long and narrow, and a loose robe is worn outside. Sleeves are shorter than robes. The neckline of a long skirt is relatively wide, and the neckline and sleeve seam can have various decorative edges. The cloak fell from your head.
/kloc-in the 0/0 century, men's wear became more intimate. British men's tights are close-fitting in the upper part and knee-deep in the lower part, and are loosely stretched. Tights are pullovers. The tights are covered with cloaks and pinned to the chest with large pins. At this time, the women's dress is widened, the sleeves are lengthened with fat, the hair is covered with shawls, and the body is covered with cloaks. Their underwear is very long, straight to the ground, and their coats are also dragged to their knees. Round sleeves and gorgeous clothes are very influenced by Byzantium. Their hair was covered with a veil, and its end was heavier than their back and was dragged directly to the ground. In the 12 century, loose clothes became thin and narrow, which made the body curve stand out. Tie it at the back, the sleeves are gradually widened, and the cuffs can hang down to the knees.
/kloc-in the 0/2nd century, a round cake headdress appeared, which can protect the eyes from sunlight and insulate the heat. It was mainly worn by Crusaders. The front opening style of coats is popular, and the front opening is divided into two pieces. Women's clothing is a strappy tights, the top is close to the body, and the bottom is a wide dress. The two parts are sewn together with thread, and the sleeves are very loose. The cutting method is to cut the upper and lower clothes separately and then sew them together, as before.
Big cloth is different.
/kloc-in the 0/3rd century, men's and women's clothing tends to be consistent. Men's wear also includes tights and various coats, round cake headdresses, hat-shaped decorative sleeves and chest shawls. There are stockings and boots and shoes below. This man is wearing a small Central Asian hat. At this time, protective coats are popular and suitable for travel. This kind of coat is a big shawl, with an open chest and a seam beside it, so that the arms can stretch out and move. In addition, closed vest coats were popular in this period. The upper body is like a vest, and the lower body can reach the knees. This sleeveless gown, with shoulders extending to both sides, becomes a hat-shaped decorative sleeve. In the13rd century, the length of laborers' robes varied. Men's jackets are knee-length, short-sleeved, with heels under their feet, and there is a round hole in the heels of trousers, which is convenient to put on and take off. Wearing a big linen pants in summer, with bare upper body,
Wear jackets and sleeveless pullovers in winter. Women wear robes with seams in the middle, which can facilitate labor. When harvesting, the skirt pocket can hold crops. At that time, farmers were forbidden to wear good materials and colorful clothes.
After 14 and 15 centuries, European clothing began to change. Due to the prosperity of economy, the development of agriculture, commerce and handicrafts, the exchange of international trade and the influence of oriental civilization, many changes have taken place in European clothing. Noble men and women pursue fashion, aristocratic women compete for beauty, and men are informal. There are more obvious differences between the clothes of nobles and civilians; Clothing styles have changed, and there are more varieties of clothing materials. The medieval costumes in The Legend of the Giant include satin, silk-wool blended fabric, woolen cloth, Damascus, stripes, gold satin and various furs. Clothes include coats, coats, coats, jackets, shorts, shirts and shawls, and women have long skirts and evening dresses. Ornaments include rosaries, rings, chains, precious stones, diamonds, emeralds, pearls, agates and so on. Clothing strives to get rid of ancient customs and pursue fashion. Decorations and buttons in oriental clothes are absorbed by Europeans. Men's coats are lined with buttons or gems, and even underwear buttons are decorated with gems and buttons.
/kloc-popular men's wear in the 0/4th century, with two layers of clothes, very close to the body, reasonable sleeve design, free movement of arms, convenient for whole body activities. There are more than a dozen buttons on the coat, and the inner lining of the coat has a thin belt to connect the upper end of the stovepipe pants with it; Wear a tight coat outside the coat, and a turtleneck coat appeared at the end of 14; The collar covers the ears, the collar behind the neck covers the back of the head, and the hem is dragged to the ground; The cloak of this period was fixed on the body with a set of buttons, and its appearance was round, long and wide. Women's dresses are mainly sleeveless coats and sleeveless gowns. Made of a piece of cloth, with a wide neckline and a low neckline. This is/kloc-a topless shirt popular among European women in the 4th century. The neckline is round, angular, square and wide, exposing the upper part of the chest. Upper body sleeveless short sleeves, shirtless, high belt. Both men's and women's clothes pay attention to decoration. Men's trousers and shoes are integrated, with leather soles and bottomless boots with spurs. Tight-fitting men's trousers are worn separately with two trouser legs and covered by a long coat at the front and back. Later, the coat became shorter and shorter and became a jacket coat. /kloc-in the 0 th and 5 th centuries, the coat was shorter and became a shameful dress. Women's topless evening dresses and men's jackets were opposed by priests. /kloc-Yang, a religious reformer in the 0/5th century, pointed out, "Because women wear clothes with wide necks, anyone can directly see their shiny skin until half of their breasts are exposed." ("The Cultural History of Shame" Lebel Sanlian Bookstore)
Changing men's clothes is also considered impolite. 1390, the local city Council of konstanz held a religious meeting and issued a notice: "People who go out to the dance or go out in the street only wearing jackets should pay special attention to cover their bodies before and after, and don't show shame." (History of Shame Culture, p. 83) Shortly after the notice was issued, the shorts were lengthened and sewed together with the decoration of socks-like feet. Later, thigh bags sewn with strong cloth appeared to cover up the shame.
The British House of Commons cannot tolerate civilians and ordinary knights wearing the same clothes as nobles, and strongly opposes the pursuit of excitement in clothing. When Edward IV of England was in office, the British House of Commons put forward such a document: "Knights below the Lord or any ordinary people are not allowed to use and wear any big dresses, jackets or coats. But the clothes must be long enough: when he stands upright, the clothes can cover his genitals and buttocks. The Lord or any higher aristocrat is not subject to this restriction. " (Breddo's Wedding Bed, Sanlian Bookstore).
/kloc-A dyed garment was popular in the 4th century, with one color on the left side of the coat, one color on the right side, and one color on the left and right legs of the trousers. The whole body was dyed in four parts. /kloc-At the beginning of the 0/5th century, the clothes of trainee knights were composed of black, white and light green from hat to boots. Red, black, green and purple are very popular. Pants, shoes, hats and vests can be divided like this. Pants can be purple inside and black outside. (quoted from "the world's customs, food, clothing, housing and transportation").
Family emblem is the most common pattern embroidered on clothes in the Middle Ages. The family emblem was originally a symbol of identifying the enemy and ourselves in the Crusades, and later became a symbol of extended families and ordinary citizens' families. /kloc-in the 0/4th century, the wind of respecting the body and the family prevailed. Many large family emblems are embroidered on women's clothes, and married women embroider their husbands' family emblems around their clothes.
/kloc-in the 0/5th century, women's clothing was close to men's clothing, with loose long clothes tied around the waist, coats tied with wide ribbons, and short swords hanging from their bodies. Men wore small hats and pointed shoes.
Hairstyles and hat styles of medieval women. In the 12 century, women used to comb their hair at the back and tie two braids on their cheeks. 13-14 th century, women wrapped their heads in square white linen, tied them to their heads, or pinned them to their ears with hairpins, only showing their faces. There are many styles of headscarves in the middle ages, some of which are very similar to those of modern nuns, all the way to the neck. Young girls can wear crowns on festivals, but married people are not allowed. /kloc-In the 5th century, under the influence of Gothic spire architecture, similar aesthetic clothing, such as V-neck, pointed shoes and new hat, was produced. The Xin 'an cap is conical, the inside is shaped with iron wire or paste, the tip is at a 40-degree angle, and the height is 9 inches to 3 feet. Hat hanging yarn (high-grade linen), fixed with a ring, the front can be velvet. Hats are expensive. A hat has one horn and two horns, and some have wings.
There are many kinds of shoes in the middle ages, including leather boots, boots, boots, slippers and so on. Leg straps and wristbands are made of leather and wool. Farmers often wear wooden shoes. Nobles wear pointed shoes, and sometimes their toes are particularly long. The length of toes represents the status of the wearer. Generally speaking, it is six inches, twelve inches for gentlemen and fourteen inches for nobles. The royal family is not restricted and the poor are not allowed to wear it.
In the Middle Ages, men had long hair and knights had long hair.
Priests always wear black robes and hoods; But the hairstyle has changed. In the 8th century, monks began to shave their hair, and the ceremony was "haircut style". In Greece or Eastern Europe, the hairstyle is to shave all the hair or cut it very short, which is called "Sao Paulo style". In Rome, the hairstyle is to shave off a round piece on the head and leave the surrounding hair, which is called "St. Peter's style". Shaving a monk's hair is a sign of humility and dedication to God.
In the 14 and 15 centuries, the ruling class in Europe pursued luxury and enjoyment, ignoring religious precepts, especially in clothing. "Both nobles and ladies are like children who like new clothes and wear jewelry. This is an era of extravagance and waste. Men wear pointed shoes and women wear a foot-high conical hat. At this time, people made a coat out of the skins of 3,000 squirrels, and the Duke of Orleans embroidered a poem on his sleeve with 700 beads. " (Medieval and Modern Cultural History)
Under the rule of Christianity in the Middle Ages, people's pursuit of the beauty of clothing was regarded as frivolous behavior, and the struggle between abstinence and anti-abstinence was also manifested in clothing. According to the standard of beauty, people constantly promoted the development of clothing, and it was not until the Renaissance that the development of clothing changed greatly.
Byzantium brought silk garments from the Far East through Persia, or made them from silk threads. Men's wear has tights and sleeves, and the front is decorated with a lock. The clothes are knee-length and the sleeves are different in length. There is a belt around the waist. The long cloak is a formal celebration costume, with beautiful colored pendants embedded in the front and back of the cloak. A shawl is a long pleated cloth that is fixed on the shoulder.
Women's clothes include cloaks and shawls (long coats for the royal queen), which evolved from Christian vestments. A woman's coat is as short as her hips and as long as her ankles. Outdoor clothing is a long cloak that hangs from the head and covers the whole body. Noble women's clothes are inlaid with gold, silver, precious stones, pearls and agates, and working women wear sleeveless or short-sleeved tops, which are waist-length. As can be seen from the portrait of Queen Justinian, she is dressed in extreme luxury, wearing a long skirt that covers her feet. The skirt is as wide as a skirt, the sleeves are as narrow as the wrists, and the cuffs are tight. All kinds of ribbons are tied around the waist, clothes are decorated with all kinds of gems, pearls and gems are hung on the chest, hats are decorated with all kinds of gems, and earrings hang down. Some of its clothing styles are European, and its silk fabrics and gem ornaments are produced in the East.
(2) Dietary customs
Dietary customs are closely related to geographical location, natural conditions and social development level. In Europe in the early Middle Ages, the feudal economy developed greatly, the rural population increased, and the vast land, rivers and forest resources were fully utilized, providing a rich source of European food.
_ According to Asa Briggs's Social History of England, about 600 AD, the most common crops planted by Saxons were barley, oats and wheat. The author of "Switzerland" said that in ancient times of poverty, oats, potatoes and other foods were staple foods, drinking milk but rarely eating meat. The History of Franks records that the drinks of barbarians are made of absinthe mixed wine and honey. As the most prominent representative of European food culture, France was also very primitive in ancient times. The earliest cooking of French Gauls was barbecue, and their favorite food was roasted wild boar. It is said that they fork the meat piece by piece and then roast it on the fire. After baking, they can eat it with garlic. This practice is very similar to the roast sheep of Xinjiang people in China.
The method of kebab. When they roast pork, they will also join the roast hare, roast chicken and roast goose. The diet is very rich.
Gauls became civilized during the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, they merged with the Franks to establish France and form the French nation. After that, French food culture and cooking art have been further developed. France is rich in wheat, fruit and high-quality grapes, facing the sea on both sides and rich in aquatic products, which provides a material basis for the development of French food culture. The food culture of Roman Gaul provided valuable experience for the French.
From France to the era of Charlemagne, the feudal manor economy has been very developed, and the food is also greatly rich. Charlemagne issued an imperial edict to manage the manor around 800 AD. The content is detailed and comprehensive, with high historical value. The imperial edict was issued for the royal manor, from which we can learn about the diet of the French royal family and manor at that time, as well as other meaning. There were many kinds of diets at that time. Look from the imperial edicts, there are:
Drinks: wine, common wine, berry wine, cooked wine, beer.
Meat: beef, pork, mutton, fat chicken, fat goose, fish.
Milk: milk, cheese.
Pickling: ham, bacon, bacon, salted fish.
Fruits: apples, pears, plums, hawthorn, chestnuts, almonds, papaya, hazelnuts, figs and cherries.
Peaches, grapes and raisins.
Honey: honey, natural honey, beeswax.
Oil: fatty oil, (lard, butter), vegetable oil.
Seasoning: vinegar, mustard.
Fasting food: vegetables, fish, cheese, vegetable oil, honey, mustard, vinegar, millet, millet, dried.
Fresh vegetables, radishes, radishes and preserves.
Pasta: bread.
All these foods must be "beautiful in color, good in quality and clean". At that time, the tableware was copper, tin, iron and wooden cups and bowls. As can be seen from the tableware above, there were no forks in the era of Charlemagne, and rice was eaten by hand. At this time, the cooking methods and eating habits of diet have been greatly improved.
① From simple baking to various cooking methods.
② Pickled food, bacon and ham can be made.
③ The variety of seasonings increases and the taste of dishes improves.
④ There are special kitchens, bakeries and brewing workshops for food production.
⑤ Brewing technology has been improved.
The quality, hygiene and pleasing to the eye of food are highly valued.
All landowners wine and beer are the main drinks.
At that time, the staple foods of Europeans were wheat products, bread and macaroni. St Gallen's monastery in Switzerland is famous for making "Banis Lunatia" crescent bread in the 8th century. On Christmas Day 12 17, Viennese citizens presented the Duke of Polder with crescent-shaped bread made of high-grade flour.
Macaroni, European noodles, its production technology was produced in 12 century. /kloc-In the 3rd century, Genoa wrote a cookbook and recorded the cooking methods of noodles. /kloc-In the 4th century, there was a noodle factory in Naples. /kloc-after the 0 th century, Europeans began to drink brandy and whisky. /kloc-whisky brewing technology in the 0/0 century was introduced to Europe from Arabia. 165438+In the 20th century, Italy had the technology of making brandy. Scotland and Ireland have been able to distill whisky from barley malt.
Christian fasting influenced the dietary customs in medieval Europe, and Europeans formed the habit of eating fish because they had to fast for one third of the year. /kloc-In the 4th century, Catholicism designated Sunday as a meat-forbidden day, and people changed to fish, and the sales of herring and cod increased greatly. The technology of curing and smoking is getting better and better. /kloc-After 0/2 century, the output of herring in winter is the highest among fish, and herring is stored as winter food. People mainly eat fish and beans before harvesting in spring.
Seasoning is its characteristic in European food, and the seasoning used in medieval cooking is vanilla or vanilla. At that time, Europe cooked pickled fish in June 5438+065438+ 10 every year. In order to eliminate the fishy smell in fish and meat, people use seasonings. Spices added to meat include mint leaves, laurel leaves, sage, thyme and so on. In the book "Parents in Paris" in the14th century, the seasoning herbs needed for custard are "mint flowers and Ai Ju, followed by mint leaves, mugwort leaves, Machilan leaves, fennel, coriander, beets, viola, spinach, lettuce and some ginger powder".
The first example of European food customs,/kloc-At the beginning of the 3rd century, the montfort family, a British manor owner, left a running account, showing that the montfort family mainly lived on bread, and there were a lot of meat, poultry, fish, and precious grouse and barracuda. Rice is a rare food and is locked in a safe place.