Hieronymus Bosch. The Garden of Earthly Delights. Fragment. 1490-1500 / Wikimedia
The first lecture in Oleg Voskoboinikov's series on the medieval worldview addresses themes like love, family, the position of women, and the disruptions caused by war. Here, he outlines the temporal and geographical framework of the Middle Ages, providing insights into whether we can speak of a distinct ‘medieval person’.
In this lecture, we delve into the lives of the generations of Europeans who inhabited the world from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries. While the term ‘Middle Ages’ has been commonly used to refer to different regions globally, it technically primarily applies to Western Europe. The European scholars of the fifteenth century coined this term to distinguish the millennium that separated their Enlightened era from the revered golden age of Greco-Roman antiquity. Ironically, the period during which these scholars lived was later known as the Renaissance, a time focused on reviving ancient glories.
During the Renaissance, everything that fell between the realms of antiquity and the Renaissance was deemed ‘dark’ and ‘Gothic’, reflecting the perception of it as a barbaric age. The name was derived from the Germanic tribe of the Goths, who famously sacked Rome in 410. However, the ten centuries of Western European history between these eras were far from entirely dark and primitive.1
1Each civilization adheres to its unique chronological divisions.European history, in line with regional customs, is commonly segmented into distinct periods—antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Modern Era, and the Contemporary Era. However, terms like ‘Middle Ages’ or ‘Renaissance’, marking the onset of the European Modern Era, pose considerable challenges when applied beyond Western Europe. The more impartial terms in European historical periodization are ‘antiquity’ and ‘contemporary history’. Yet, ‘antiquity’ primarily refers to the ancient times of the Greco-Roman civilization, while ‘contemporary history’ encompasses events post-World War II. Nevertheless, within the Western hemisphere, there's an additional convention—referring to the present era as ‘postmodern’, implying that ‘modern’ (pertaining to modernity) relates to the industrial era from eighteenth-century CE England to shortly after World War II. The question remains open as to whether using the term ‘modern’ is justifiable in a similar context, such as in the historical account of Japan or China.
The civilization of the medieval West had its roots in the depths of Greco-Roman antiquity, and it inherited its formative religion, Christianity. The ongoing influence of the ancient intellectual and literary legacy nourished medieval culture. Latin maintained its dominance as the language of the Church, politics, and science for an extended period, serving as the foundation for the development of what was known as the Romance languages. Roman buildings, walls, roads, bridges, aqueducts, baths, and arenas also remained in use for a significant duration. A closer examination unveils that even some modern autobahns run over ancient Roman roads.
Banking. Italian fresco from the 14th century / Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The significant transmigration of peoples during the middle of the first millennium had far-reaching consequences across Eurasia and north Africa, proving fatal for the Western Roman Empire. The Germans, who had lived on its borders for an extended period, evolved from confederate allies into independent political entities. Consequently, in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Vandals, Goths, Lombards, Franks, and Angles established their kingdoms within the former provinces of the Western Roman Empire. Despite these changes, the memory of the supra-tribal state endured, leading to a remarkable event in medieval history: the coronation of Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, as the emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800. 22The Holy Roman EmpireKing of the Franks Charlemagne (768–814), who was crowned in Rome in 800, played a pivotal role in the restoration of the Roman Empire in the Western region. Nevertheless, as the ninth century CE progressed, this title gradually lost its substantive authority. In 962, Otto the Great, the German king (936–973), received the imperial crown of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, this title was inherited by his successors and other German dynasties. Around the mid-twelfth century CE, the empire adopted the appellation ‘Holy’ in fulfillment of an ancient biblical prophecy concerning the final realm prior to the Apocalypse. In the middle of the fifteenth century CE, the imperial title was expanded to include a reference to Germany, becoming ‘the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation’. The empire endured until 1806 when, under pressure from Napoleon Bonaparte, who harbored aspirations of his own imperial designation, the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire relinquished his title.
This event reinstated the Roman Empire as the leading state in Western Europe, with its rulers, first the kings of the Franks and later the Germans, tracing their lineage back to Augustus and Tiberius.33The First Roman EmperorsAugustus held sway over the Roman Republic from 27 BCE to 14 CE. He occupied various high-ranking positions within the state while simultaneously asserting his primacy as the princeps, or ‘first among equals’ in the Senate. Hence, Augustus, after whom the final month of summer is named in the European calendar, assumed the role of the progenitor of the Roman Empire. Tacitus succeeded him (14–37 CE). The Eastern Roman Empire, which managed to survive the great migration of peoples, came to be known as Byzantine in the West, taking its name from its capital, Byzantium–Constantinople. In 1453, Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Turks. The Western Roman Empire endured for a total of a thousand years until Napoleon 44Napoleon BonaparteRising to prominence as a general during the era of the French Revolution, Napoleon proclaimed himself Emperor of the French in 1804. Following a defeat at the hands of a coalition of international adversaries led by Great Britain and Russia, he abdicated the throne in 1814. Subsequently, he made an unsuccessful attempt to regain power but ultimately abdicated once more in 1815. , who declared himself emperor of the French in 1804, asserting direct descent from the Franks, the former rulers of the Western Roman Empire.
The second half of the Middle Ages, from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, was characterized by significant achievements that had lasting implications for world history. New city networks emerged during this time, becoming centers of religious, secular, and economic power. This thriving economy played a pivotal role in driving the West's technical, political, and cultural advancements, becoming instrumental in establishing its global leadership over the centuries. These transformative years also witnessed the rise of democratic institutions such as parliaments and various city councils. The procedures for electing supreme rulers, like the pope and the emperor of the Roman Empire, were codified, laying the foundation for modern constitutional law. Simultaneously, the era witnessed the development of a new model of knowledge transmission—universities. These institutions functioned as independent communities, allowing teachers and students to make autonomous decisions about what, whom, and at what cost to teach. Further, a complex system of international relations also emerged, extending not only within the Western Christian world but also involving external forces such as Islam, the Orthodox East, central Asia, and Africa. These interactions set the stage for the geographical discoveries of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, propelling Western European civilization into the sphere of world history. These historical developments and interactions marked the end of western European civilization's internal history as it became an active participant in shaping the broader narrative of world events.
However, I am now intrigued not by the mere outline of events, chronology, or geography, but by the medieval people themselves—those of the past who are unlike the people of today, but are yet surprisingly relatable and understandable, especially to the current time. I do not intend to delve into their stories in great detail, nor do I aim to deduce specific patterns or trends. Instead, I believe that people's lives should be considered as a sequence of events and directions, encompassing their feelings, ideas, and actions.
Who are these medieval people? Why do we focus on individuals, not masses, classes, structures, or states? Conversely, why not engage in discussions about the collective, the individual, or the person? Let us attempt to understand this perspective. My teachers, some of whom had memories of the Second World War, imparted a simple yet profound idea to me—history is about people. Until recently, history was usually portrayed as a celebration of heroes, the glorification of nations and states, or a portrayal of class struggles. However, the catastrophe of the Second World War made it clear that the fault lay not with heroes, nations, states, or class struggles, but rather with people. It became evident that people deserve attention in every aspect of life. Too often, various structures, even when extensively described and studied, can obscure individuals, turning them into faceless masses. And, tragically, this dehumanization can lead to devastating consequences, such as the transformation of individuals into cannon fodder or the horrors of events like the Holocaust.
Domenico di Michelino. The Divine Comedy sanctifies Florence. Fresco. Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, 1465 / Alamy
In exploring the lives of medieval people, I hope to approach them as individuals, understanding their unique experiences, emotions, and choices. By doing so, we can gain a deeper insight into their world and ultimately find a connection with our own humanity.
However, when we discuss medieval man, we must be cautious of the danger of oversimplification. It is true that a person's physical form—with arms, legs, and a head—remains relatively constant over time. They continue to engage in fundamental activities such as eating, reproducing, fighting, reconciling, and seeking spiritual connection with God or gods. Across millennia, it might seem easy to distinguish a medieval man, just as scientists categorized the Neanderthal within a temporary territory and allocated seventy-four years of history to Homo Sovieticus 55Homo SovieticusThis term is commonly employed as a critical and ironic appellation for the Soviet individual. The neologism itself is formed from the Latin homo (man) and the Latinized epithet ‘Soviet’. The expression gained popularity thanks to the writings of A. Zinoviev in his book Homo Sovieticus (1982). Moreover, the term has entered academic discourse and is now utilized by historians, sociologists, political scientists, and other scholars in the humanities. . However, reality is more complex. Over time, different human species smoothly transition into one another, interbreeding and adapting to changes in habits and external characteristics. This fluidity blurs the boundaries of the Middle Ages, making it challenging to distinctly separate a medieval person from a non-medieval one. It is worth noting that a person born shortly after the term ‘Middle Ages’ was coined would not automatically transform into a Renaissance person. Human history is marked by continuous evolution, making it necessary to acknowledge the nuances and interconnectedness of different eras and cultures.
The Middle Ages are marked by the presence of numerous outstanding yet also typical and representative personalities. Saint Louis, Gregory VII, Peter Abelard, Dante, and Jacques Coeur are hardly ordinary individuals. Each of them, whether a king, pope, philosopher, poet, or merchant, possesses a distinct identity and personality, with multiple biographies and even family portraits attempting to capture their essence. Beyond specific names, there are various categories of people in the medieval world, such as barbarian leaders, monks, peasants, townspeople, emperors, bishops, renegades, and those in power. The spectrum also includes various religious affiliations—such as Christians, Jews, Muslims, heretics, and witches—as well as intellectuals and the silent, suppressed majority of the working masses. While these are all medieval people, they often differ significantly from one another and even more so from us today.
Friedrich Kaulbach. Coronation of Charlemagne. 1861 / Alamy
Traditionally, our understanding of these people is defined by their association with Christianity, which was the principal worldview and value system for Europe for centuries. From a materialistic historian's perspective, medieval individuals could be seen as either dependent on power, oppressed peasants, or feudal lords. In this view, religion might be regarded as the opium of the people, as Karl Marx believed, or as an ideological tool used by the ruling classes to subjugate the masses. Both the idealistic and materialistic viewpoints have their merits; religion and land relations, including feudalism, have indeed explained much in the past and continue to hold relevance today. However, it is essential to recognize that Christianity, since its apostolic times, has never been uniform, much like the various types of social relationships often labeled as feudalism. Thus, we can speak equally of the medieval world and the multiple medieval worlds that existed concurrently.
Christianity and feudalism share similarities not only in their origin and development but also in their experiences of crisis, stagnation, and transformation. They influenced the minds and hearts of medieval people across different regions to varying degrees. Consider the middle of the fourteenth century, when Dante had already written his Divine Comedy 66Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri was an Italian poet and philosopher (1265–1321). In this instance, reference is made to Dante's magnum opus, The Divine Comedy, which provides a comprehensive depiction of various aspects of the afterlife as envisioned by Catholic Christians (hell, purgatory, paradise)., just a century and a half before what we might consider the end of the beautiful medieval era. At that time, Lithuania was a powerful pagan principality in the heart of Europe, while certain pre-Christian rites persisted in everyday life, not as mere reconstructions but as integral norms, in Iceland.
Today, even in contemporary society, hierarchical structures persist, and elements of fidelity reminiscent of medieval feudalism endure. We might now refer to them as loyalty or corporate ethics, but the concept remains relevant. It is a reminder that echoes of the Middle Ages are still present in our lives. We still grapple with justifications for war and peace, often attributing them to common Christian values, divine choices, or the intrigues of evil forces that demand the mobilization of the righteous in similar ways to our ancestors. In essence, attempting to pinpoint medieval origins in the lives of people from Western Europe between the fifth and fifteenth centuries is a challenging task. The complexities and interplay of Christianity, feudalism, and cultural practices across different regions make it a fascinating and intricate subject of exploration.
A view of the Rhodes fortress in 1486. Drawing from the notes of Conrad Grünenberg / Wikimedia