In the early modern era, compared to the late Middle Ages, the diet did not change significantly, although as a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, new dishes appeared in it. The diet of the nobility and commoners, peasants and townspeople was significantly different. The food was pretty monotonous. The most commonly consumed grain crops were wheat, rye, millet, oats, barley, and later buckwheat and corn. Bread and flatbreads were baked from them, soups and porridges were prepared.
The bread of the poor was different from the bread of the rich. Wealthy people ate wheat bread made from sifted flour. To make it soft and fluffy, it was kneaded with yeast. The peasants were content with wholemeal rye bread. He also added rice flour, and in lean years, acorns and roots. An important addition to grains were legumes: beans, peas, lentils. They even baked bread from peas. The composition of vegetables and fruits grown by Europeans remained virtually unchanged. However, from the Arabs to the Europeans they imported oranges and lemons from Egypt - almonds, from the East - apricots, from America - melons, zucchini, Mexican cucumber, sweet potatoes (yams), beans, tomatoes, peppers, cocoa, corn, potatoes.
Plant foods were diversified with fish. Most often they cooked herring, cod, tuna, and sardines. In the Czech Republic, for example, carp were bred in ponds. Rich people could buy sea fish. Fish was one of the main foodstuffs during Lent, so city authorities, school and hospital management, long before Lent, made significant reserves of various types of fish, which were salted, smoked, dried, etc. In addition, people fasted on Wednesday and Friday and Saturday. In total, approximately 150 days a year were “fast”.
They also ate meat, in Central and Eastern Europe - more beef or pork, and in England, Spain, France and Italy - lamb. They loved dishes made from game, poultry, even pigeons. City dwellers consumed more meat than peasants. In the early modern period, the consumption of sugar, which was produced in overseas colonies, increased sharply. Sugar factories were also built in European cities.
From the second half of the 16th century. In Europe, hot chocolate, coffee and tea are becoming popular. It was believed that chocolate had medicinal properties and was a remedy against dysentery, cholera, rheumatism, insomnia, etc. However, in a poor peasant family, even a piece of lard or cheese with bread and an onion was royal food. But on holidays or weddings, the family slaughtered the last of the cattle and took everything out of the pantry, so that they could remember it later on hungry days.
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1) “Deliver us, Lord, from plague, famine and war” - these words began the prayer of French peasants in the 17th century. Constant wars, both external and internecine, gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty and fear among the broad masses of the European population in the 16th-17th centuries. Wars threatened ruin, robbery, violence, and murder. In those days, the war fed itself and the soldiers lived at the expense of defenseless townspeople and, above all, peasants, deprived of the right to bear arms. Another cause of uncertainty and fear was hunger and its threat. Famine was a frequent visitor to Europe (it was a consequence of low yields). And finally, epidemics, especially plague and smallpox, caused fear. The plague, which was the scourge of the Middle Ages, did not leave people at the beginning of modern times. In Paris, for example, the plague raged in 1612, 1619, 1631, 1638, 1662, 1688. Six epidemics in the 7th century alone! At that time they did not know how to treat diseases such as smallpox and typhus. In the 18th century, smallpox affected 95 out of 100 people, and every 7 patients died. Typhus (called scarlet fever) was rampant in both the 17th and 18th centuries. The population died not only from epidemics, but also from fires. Under such conditions, the population grew slowly. 2) Mortality was especially high among newborns: only half of them reached 10 years of age. The average life expectancy was 30 years. Few people lived to be 70 years old. Men, despite endless wars, lived longer. Women's lives were especially short. Most often, they died while still in their prime – between 20 and 40 years. Why do you think? It was affected by hard, backbreaking work in the field, at home, lack of medical care during childbirth, and eternal worries. Who else but a woman, when there is a lack of food, gives her piece to her children and husband, who cares more about having something to heat the room in the cold, somehow to dress and put on shoes for the family? In the 16th century, 2/3 of the population of European countries were men and 1/3 were women. The spread of epidemics was facilitated by low levels of personal hygiene and an almost complete lack of medical care. If in the 14th-15th centuries there were a lot of bathhouses in cities and the population willingly visited them, then in the 16th-18th centuries the bathhouses almost disappeared. With the growth of epidemics, baths turned into breeding grounds for infection, and people began to fear them. In London in 1800 there was not a single bathing establishment. True, in wealthy houses there were “soap shops”. They were located in semi-basements, they contained a steam room and wooden tubs, here you could wash yourself with hot water. Bathrooms were a rarity even in very rich houses. There were no hospitals in the modern sense; they existed only as charitable institutions, as shelters for the sick, crippled, and elderly burghers. Only towards the end of the 17th century, due to the end of the religious wars in Europe, improved nutrition and increased personal hygiene, the population began to grow. To convincingly illustrate this point, let us turn to the table “European Population”.
Introduction
Relevance of the work.Representatives of the humanities note in the modern world the presence of not only an ecological, but also a cultural and anthropological crisis associated with the loss of identity, the destruction of the traditional system, values and the collapse of the internal unity of culture.
In the current situation, there is a need to understand everyday life as part of everyday life and the values of modern culture, and to affirm their historical and cultural significance. Everyday life and everyday life is the reality in which a person is immersed every day and every hour, which he experiences in his feelings and creates in communication with other people. Analysis of the mental structures of everyday life allows us to comprehend life within the framework of people’s everyday life, in its real-practical forms, as part of culture - to see behind external object and event manifestations those symbolic meanings, which, among other things, are the external support of identity, its everyday horizon . “Everyday life,” as L.M. puts it. Batkin, is, ultimately, a manifestation of the existence of an era, its fundamental properties, making themselves felt in a more ordinary, impoverished, shriveled, situational, “everyday” mode.” Everyday life as the world of objects and sensory sensations, the world of sociocultural communication and common sense is today considered as a sociocultural phenomenon.
A person’s home, as part of the environment in which his daily life takes place (house, apartment, room), appears as a “chronotope” filled with things, signs, meanings, and functional components. The everyday environment of a person is one of the brightest sociocultural characteristics, and the interior space of a home and its material content are considered as forms of manifestation of social space and everyday culture in general.
The interior is the focus of architecture and design, the subject of the study of history, art history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc. The variety of scientific approaches and the diversity of facts and phenomena collected by different scientific disciplines requires philosophical, cultural and anthropological generalization. This is the need to study this issue.
Object of workis the European culture of life and everyday life in modern times.
Subject of workare elements of everyday life and culture of people in modern times.
The purpose of the workis an analysis of changes in European life and everyday life in modern times. To achieve this goal, we have to consider and identify the features of: culture, population, city life, pattern of behavior, family, costume, housing, table of people in modern times.
Chronological frameworkcover the period from the XVII-XIX centuries.
Theoretical and methodological basisThe work uses comparative historical and morphological research methods. The work was carried out based on data from anthropology, ethnography, archeology, history and sociology of culture, historical psychology, as well as the history and theory of architecture.
1. Daily life in the era of absolutism in Europe
.1 Characteristics of classes of society
The 17th and 18th centuries were the heyday of absolutism. Its political forms and models are varied, its evolution in individual countries is different, but they all have something in common in the cultural and everyday sphere. Absolutism dictates certain rules of behavior to society, imposes goals, and sanctions moral norms. Absolutist ideology shapes royalist psychology in various strata of society. A royal person is not distinguished on the basis of nobility, wealth or power (although all this takes place), she is superior to mere mortals due to the divine nature of royal power, and therefore has the right to inscribe as her motto: “The Sovereign is the image and likeness of God,” as he did Karl Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. The flattering epithet “sun king” given by the courtiers to Louis XIV adequately reflects the divine status that, according to absolutist ideology, inherently belongs to the sovereign: he is like God, interpreted not in the Christian, but in the pagan tradition. The courtiers pray with their backs to the altar, facing their monarch.
The divinity and omnipotence of the monarch require the creation of appropriate forms of everyday life, which is expressed in the careful development of court ceremonial. The heiress of the Burgundian court, Habsburg Spain increasingly lost in the 17th century. your influence. Her ossified ceremony does not meet the new requirements, and she is forced to cede the palm to France. Court etiquette of the latter from the second half of the 17th century. becomes the standard for all the royal courts of Europe, laying the foundations for many years to come for “the supremacy of the French language, manners, fashions, pleasures.” The ceremonial, full of luxury, court life in the Versailles residence seems to be “the cradle of good, enlightened tone.” It is associated with the highest achievements of culture and art: the dramaturgy of Racine and Moliere, the music of Lully, the buildings of Perrault and Hardouin-Mansart, the decorative art of Lebrun, the park landscapes of Le Nôtre. The ceremony, calculated to the subtleties, creates orderliness in everyday life. It is extremely complex: who, where and when occupies this or that position, has certain rights, receives this or that title? Court etiquette is a real science, in which the king and his entourage must be well versed; everything here is filled with the deepest meaning and is extremely important. The court aristocracy attached great importance to every little detail, fighting for the possession of certain privileges. Permission to sit in the presence of the highest persons, the so-called “right to a stool,” was considered very honorable. (The ladies who had it were called “stools”. There were full and partial “stools” - the latter were supposed to sit only in the morning. Some of them were supposed to be kissed, others should be given a hand, and so on ad infinitum.) Etiquette permeates the entire official, public, family life, it forms a “mass organization of the same type”, especially regulated forms of behavior of subjects. This applies to appearance, manners, including speech and gait. Speech articulation gradually changes - declamation and rhetoric appear, plasticity acquires a minuet protrusion, a specific body positioning, clearly visible in the paintings of that time.
The sedate, measured flow of court life, like a play of classicism, is interrupted by the hectic madness of the holidays, when, regardless of expenses, everyone is in a hurry to amaze, shine, and dazzle. Gentlemen and ladies fight over tailors and milliners, hairdressers and other craftsmen. They are lured away with money and taken away from each other by force. The luxurious festivities of Versailles. “Thousands of lights were lit in the large gallery of the Palace of Versailles. They were reflected in the mirrors covering the walls, in the diamonds of the gentlemen and ladies. It was brighter than during the day. It was as if in a dream, as if in an enchanted kingdom. Beauty and grandeur shone,” he described in admiring terms Holiday Ambassador of Venice.
The entire population that did not have the rank of nobility was considered the rabble, unworthy to be called people. According to prevailing views, the human race begins with the baronial rank. Commoners were strictly prohibited from entering the gardens and parks surrounding the residence of the sovereign. They were required to show respect even to symbols of power. Thus, in Württemberg, the townspeople, under pain of corporal punishment, were obliged to salute the duke's sentries by removing their hats in front of them. What can we say about commoners, if ladies and gentlemen greeted the king by bowing their heads and kneeling. The same honors were given to the royal carriage passing by (even if it was empty).
A special role in absolutism belongs to the army, since it directly personifies the military power of the state and is an attribute of absolutist symbolism. The knightly militia is replaced by a regular army (recruits and mercenaries). War is increasingly mechanized, and the army is unified and subject to discipline. A mass army meets new functional principles, such as agility, flexibility and mobility of troops. Its ideologists find a special aesthetics in this - the pomp of uniformity, the perfection of drill. Military affairs is a favorite pastime of monarchs, which perfectly suits the ambitious aspirations of sovereigns. Rulers of various ranks and calibers are enthusiastically engaged in organizing troops (even creating uniforms), strategy and tactics. Monarchs play “soldiers,” often caring not about the combat effectiveness of the troops, but about the external aspect: the linearity of the formation, the gallant appearance of the soldiers, their training and bearing. Decorativeness sometimes reaches the point of ridiculousness, as in the cases of the Life Guards of Württemberg or Prussia.
One of the characteristic features of the era is publicity. The monarch sets the tone. The life of the king and his family takes place in public, in front of the courtiers. They always know who is doing what at any time of the day or night. Procedures such as leve (the king's morning toilet) and kushe (going to bed) are also performed in front of a large crowd of people. Courtiers fight for the right to attend them, for a place of honor at any ceremony, especially since the importance of a person is measured by the degree of proximity to the royal person. They get married publicly, have children, die. This is, according to Saint-Simon's description, the death of the Dauphin in 1711: a noisy crowd of courtiers demonstrates their grief, they publicly moan, cry and even growl, greedily watching the grief of the royal family. There is not and cannot be anything secret. Society wants to know the slightest details of private life, and therefore everything is exposed - relationships, feelings, thoughts. Everything is demonstrated in front of the viewer, played to the audience. The spirit of publicity extends to all aspects of everyday life. Numerous signs indicate this: costumes, hairstyles, jewelry intended for display; mirrors, which allowed you to enjoy your representative appearance and became an indispensable attribute not only of the palace, but also of any wealthy home; memoir literature filled private libraries, as many outstanding, famous or simply eminent contemporaries hurried to immortalize themselves in memories.
Thus, at the everyday level, this finds expression in the “intimization” of everyday life, in the desire to hide certain aspects of life activity from observers. (Many manifestations of life are already recognized as a personal, private matter, hidden from strangers.) The double orientation: towards publicity and at the same time towards intimacy gives a strange symbiosis - the phenomenon of piquancy appears. A peculiar situation of “voyeurism” arises - an outside observer invades the intimate sphere. Piquantity is extremely beloved by the era and is cultivated in various forms, as evidenced, in particular, by the visual arts (for example, the swing motif in life and art).
1.2 Characteristics of marriage and family
The institution of marriage is not associated with the proclaimed cult of pleasure. Marriage is a business venture, a transaction, most often commercial. This is evidenced by the common practice of early marriages among the nobility and the top of the bourgeoisie. A girl who has reached the age of 15 is already a bride, and often a wife. The bride and groom meet for the first time shortly before the wedding, or even the day before. Before marriage, girls were kept and raised in some educational institution, in Catholic countries, as a rule, in a monastery. They were taken from there right before the wedding. The ruin of the nobility gives rise to a new phenomenon - misalliance: an unequal marriage between representatives of the nobility and money capital. Lack of birth could not serve as an obstacle, as well as religious differences, if the matrimonial union met mercantile interests. A deal is like a deal: on the one hand, a name is offered, on the other, capital. True, after the wedding, nobles remember their “noble” habits and bully their partner, posing as victims of circumstances.
In a bourgeois circle, and even more so in a petty bourgeois circle, people usually got married later. Most men could enter into it only if they were able to support their wife and children, since the women in these families did not earn money on their own. In a bourgeois environment, premarital acquaintance lasted a long time. The groom, while courting, demonstrated his solidity and serious intentions, the bride - her integrity, prudence, and thriftiness. There was no place for feelings here. Moreover, love and passion are dangerous, they tried to avoid them, because they brought with them shocks, could destroy the measured and calm flow of life, and damage the successful course of affairs. The life of a married woman in a petty-bourgeois family is subject to the strict laws of economical housekeeping, frugality, and is limited to a narrow circle of interests: kitchen, children, church. A similar lifestyle is typical for poor families. In them, however, the woman had to work equally with the man, since he could not feed the whole family alone.
Women from higher circles, as a rule, did not do housework and led a secular lifestyle. Since the morals of that time were openly free, and marital fidelity seemed ridiculous, secular society despised it as characteristic of the mob.
Indeed, if in a bourgeois environment, due to a lack of financial resources, the well-being of a marriage rested on prudence and restraint, and therefore adultery was relatively rare, then in aristocratic circles everything was different. The spouses showed mutual leniency. The first advice given to the young wife by her social friends was to “take a lover.” It was necessary to have it in order to meet the requirements of the world (naturally, it had to be from the same circle). Society wanted to be in the know, but the minimum decorum was still observed - only scandal was indecent and dishonorable. And they viewed the husband’s jealousy as scandalous. On the contrary, the truly friendly behavior of husbands who advised their wives not to be bored, to visit society, and to have fun was considered a model of gallant relationships. However, the spirit of gallantry demanded variety, a change of impressions. And therefore, changes are also necessary here. Men and women lead a “moth” lifestyle, fluttering from one relationship to another. The love of that time, describes L.-S. Mercier, “has become a matter of vanity. Some women try to prevail over other women by the number of their lovers.”
Divorce in the era of absolutism exists in some countries, is absent in others and depends on social rank and confessional principles. In Catholic countries, divorce is not allowed. There are different procedures in Protestants, but what remains common, as a rule, is that divorce costs a lot of money. The situation is easiest in the lower strata with their practically civil marriage. Actual double and even triple marriage is not uncommon here, although severe punishments were provided for them. The inaccessibility of divorce leads to the emergence of very exotic customs designed to replace it. For example, in England there was a practice of selling wives. They were traded at fairs, and the purchase of a wife could be considered a legal marriage, and children were also considered legitimate.
The attitude of the state and society towards marriage depends on many circumstances. One of the most striking examples of this is the situation that developed in Germany at the end of the Thirty Years' War. The country was so depopulated and deserted that in order to solve the demographic problem, the authorities were forced to abandon the principle of monogamy. (So, in 1650, a decree was issued in Nuremberg allowing every man to have two wives for the next ten years.) The mores of the gallant age leave a peculiar imprint on the attitude towards children. In the upper strata, it is in marriage that women receive maximum freedom and lead an idle life filled with easy activities and entertainment. Children in such a situation become an annoying obstacle to social time and turn into a burden. The change is all the more striking because back in the 17th century. childlessness was considered the greatest misfortune, and fertility - a blessing. Of course, wealthy families had wet nurses, nannies and educators at their service, but giving birth to a child and caring for him was considered hard work, and therefore they tried to limit the number of children and remove them from the home. The child was kept and raised in the village, with distant relatives, and then he was sent to some closed educational institution: a private school, college, military school. This is how many offspring of noble families spent their childhood and youth. Indicative in this regard is the biography of the famous historical figure Sh.-M. Talleyrand. In general, the child was considered as an heir (of name, fortune), a successor (of business, traditions, clan), as a future that needed to be seriously and carefully prepared.
Thus, the culture and ideas of the Enlightenment played a special role here, gaining increasing influence among contemporaries. Enlightenment people believed in the magical power of education; they emphasized the education of both adults and children. Although stable state education systems do not yet exist and it is available only to the wealthy, the level of literacy in general is increasing, and society is beginning to pay more and more attention to its younger generation. But, having drawn attention to himself, the child loses his medieval freedom. He finds himself locked within the walls of educational and educational homes, and becomes the object of the influence of harsh, often repressive systems of primary socialization.
1.3 Characteristics of the city and home
The largest cities are becoming more beautiful by rebuilding their central part on new principles of planning, erecting beautiful buildings, laying wide highways, laying out gardens and parks. As wealth accumulates, one building material replaces another, and stone is used instead of wood. Cities are adapting to heavy traffic. “On any London street, carts and carriages make such a noise that you would think that the whole world was moving on wheels,” they said back in the 17th century. However, despite such dramatic progress, certain aspects of city life remain in the same state as they were a hundred and two hundred years ago. And in many ways the situation has only worsened since the Middle Ages. The problem was supplying the city with clean water and garbage collection. The cities of that time were monstrously dirty and smelly. As S. Mercier writes, Parisians, for example, for a long time used the Tuileries Garden as a toilet. When the Swiss Guards drove them out of there, they moved to the banks of the Seine, making them equally disgusting to the eye and smell. On the eve of the revolution, even the Academy of Sciences was forced to deal with the problems of cleaning ditches and sewage pits. And this happened not only in the capitals, but everywhere, in all cities. Turning slightly to the side from the central streets, the pedestrian risked drowning in dirty puddles. The countryside was much cleaner and healthier than the capital at that time.
The merging of city and countryside was observed in different areas. Until the 18th century, and in many places even later, the urban population was engaged in various rural work, since the townspeople had gardens and vegetable gardens, kept poultry and livestock. In Venice, it was necessary to ban the breeding of pigs in the city, which, however, was commonplace and was not subject to ban in small towns. Even at the end of the 18th century. in Soho (a district of London) one could see a herd of bulls or sheep. On the other hand, a real colonization of the rural area is taking place - rich city dwellers are buying plots of land and building themselves country villas. Since the 17th century it becomes a fashion, a passion that embraces everyone. Around the cities, the land turns into noble and bourgeois possessions, the peasantry is forced out to the periphery. The city's rich extremely valued and were proud of their estates: from there came rents and income, food products, and, in addition, land ownership gave them the right to receive nobility.
When in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Rapid construction began, many old houses began to be completed and rebuilt. Not being able to grow in breadth, they increased in height and depth; new rooms and small rooms, nooks and closets were added to the existing ones. Sometimes another similar one was erected on the old building. Land in big cities became more expensive from year to year, so new buildings exceeded old ones in number of floors. In place of two-story houses, houses of 4, 6, 8 and even 10 floors were erected. Often the authorities were forced to limit their height.
In the 18th century There is a real revolution in the organization of housing. The place of work is separated from the place of daily life of the whole family, and the family home ceases to be a shop, workshop or office where a master craftsman or tradesman provided shelter for assistants, apprentices and journeymen. The owner of the house now goes to work every day, geographically separated from his home. Of course, these changes affected the lifestyle of the rich, or at least wealthy citizens, but not the poor at all.
Unlike the fashionable fads of the nobility, time had virtually no influence on peasant houses. As before, they have one large living room, and people and animals live side by side in them. Tile roofing is considered a “symbol of prosperity” and is quite rare. Poorer dwellings are covered with straw, which in lean years is used to feed livestock. The furnishings are still sparse: a chest, a plank bed with a mattress, a bench, a barrel serving as a table or chair. Poverty reigned in the countryside and in the city. For people who do not have their own housing, rented rooms are available. (The most convenient way is to rent a room with furniture.) Usually, modest furnished rooms were occupied by poor townspeople, visitors, or dubious elements - criminals, public women. The poorer the employer, the higher the floor on which he lived (sixth or seventh), the more often he moved out, changing one shelter for another. Wealthy people settled on the lower floors, and only bourgeois families had their own houses.
.4 Power characteristics
Over the course of several centuries, from the 16th to the 18th centuries, dramatic changes occurred in European nutrition. “Food revolutions” (F. Braudel’s term) are taking place, and a modern type of nutrition is being formed. The triad that emerged in ancient times continues to be the defining one in the West: bread, meat, wine. The first place rightfully belongs to bread: “eating your own bread” for many generations meant living.
The main grain product of the West is wheat. It belongs to those leading crops that are called “plants of civilization.” Among the grains in this row, in addition to wheat, there are rice and corn, which respectively dominate the Eurasian and American continents. These are not just agricultural crops, they influence the lives of entire nations, determine the everyday life of peasants, and the well-being of city residents. They concentrate the work, thoughts and concerns of the mass of people, and therefore they are in the center of the picture of the universe, influence the human psyche, and form the mentality. Grain yields in the Late Middle Ages and early modern times remained depressingly low, essentially medieval: very low, and often even lower. In the 18th century An “agricultural revolution” will begin, which, however, will take several decades to significantly increase productivity.
To get a good harvest, wheat must be alternated with grasses used to feed livestock, or with other secondary grain crops: rye, barley, oats, spelt, millet. They make cheaper bread - the bread of the poor. It contains not only the addition of other grains, but also a lot of bran. Thanks to less valuable grain, it is possible to avoid hunger during wars and sieges, and to replenish the lack of provisions in warehouses. In the West, rice plays a supporting role and has become food for the poor: “people’s bread” is baked from rice flour, rice porridge is fed in hospitals and barracks, it is boiled in water and mixed with vegetables. Buckwheat (“black wheat”), beans, chestnuts, peas and lentils also served as food for the poor people, replacing wheat. Oats and barley are the main food for horses, and without them military operations are impossible: “A bad barley harvest means there will be no war.” Oats and barley are both food for people: flour for bread, grain for porridge.
The diet is determined by many factors. As a rule, the countryside eats more bread than the city, and Southern Europe eats more than Northern Europe. Everything related to bread and grain harvests is taken extremely seriously by the population. The poorer a person is, the more monotonous his diet. For the poor, bread, flour soup and cereal served as daily food. Bread (with the exception of soft wheat) remained the cheapest and therefore most accessible food. Its price is the measure of all other goods. When it rises, riots, unrest, and robberies of bakeries and markets occur, which were brutally suppressed. Until the 19th century, and in some places even later, the usual diet consisted of mush porridge. (Even at that time it was believed that if there was other food, a person would not consume large quantities of bread.)
In addition to the simple bread of the poor, there was expensive white bread intended for the rich. It was made from selected wheat flour, sometimes with the addition of milk. Brewer's yeast, which was used to knead the dough, made it possible to obtain soft bread, which was considered a real luxury. France was the leader in its production. Here the transition to predominantly white bread began early (second half of the 18th century), and therefore wheat is gradually replacing other grain crops. Throughout Western Europe, this transition lasted until the middle of the 19th century. The spread of white bread was facilitated by the Napoleonic Wars (Napoleonic soldiers brought their favorite product to the conquered countries).
The second pillar on which the European table rested was meat. Europe has always been carnivorous, but it was usually consumed by the privileged classes. The population, whose numbers had sharply declined after a terrible epidemic, could eat hearty meat meals. In the Netherlands and Germany, according to guild regulations, artisans, as well as apprentices, had to receive it daily. The food in the village was not inferior to the city: in peasant houses “then there was meat and an abundance of food every day.” Markets were literally bursting with beef, lamb, pork, goat, poultry and game. In the forests of still sparsely populated Europe there were wild boars, deer, roe deer, hares, rabbits, and all kinds of birds.
2. Daily life in Europe during the Bourgeois Age
.2 Characteristics of the values and norms of the bourgeois century
XIX century - the time of the final consolidation of the rule of the bourgeoisie, and the victorious class imposes its views and rules of the game on the entire society. This general line does not exclude the fact that the bourgeoisie adopts many noble traits, i.e. the norms of the class whose successor she is. The bourgeoisie is by no means homogeneous. Sociologists are well aware of the difficulties of identifying its individual groups and the multiplicity of criteria used for this. Characteristics of property status, lifestyle, education, class consciousness and others are used. Without going into a discussion of the problems of sociological analysis, we will limit ourselves to the most general points. Let us consider the properties, norms and values that are, to one degree or another, inherent in the middle class. Property is a “sacred cow” that no true bourgeois can encroach on. It (or its monetary equivalent) acquires a special quality in the bourgeois world - it becomes a measure of a person’s true value. Money is me. This is where the cult of money arises, a mentality that reflects the world in monetary terms. This unique scale of reference can be used not only for goods, not only for material substances, but also for intangible properties, qualities, and phenomena. “Time is money” is a motto that expresses a programmatic attitude. Of course, money has played an important role before; the ruling class has always been partial to wealth, whether it was expressed in monetary form or not. However, the norms of the nobility and knighthood obliged us to ignore everything related to money. You should not show interest in them; you should not notice them, as if they did not exist in reality. On the contrary, the bourgeois worldview translates everything into money and calculates the market value of this or that item. The bourgeois remembers all the prices, and will not forget to mention how much a porcelain set, a silk dress for his wife, or a beautiful trinket for the house cost him.
One of the most characteristic features of the bourgeoisie and at the same time a virtue is frugality. It is extremely multifaceted: from economical spending of funds, saving for a “rainy day”, frugality when buying and using things, when “a rope in the household comes in handy”, to the true passion of acquisitiveness, which presupposes asceticism in consumption for the sake of collecting wealth (Grande, Gobsek). Let us note that frugality, as a rule, is not inherent in the upper strata of the bourgeoisie. Here the law may be the opposite, namely wastefulness. Borrowed from the nobility, it nevertheless has a different psychological connotation: the bourgeois knows what and how much he spends.
Thrift is associated with moderation, sobriety and careful lifestyle, when not only money is saved, but also effort, time, and resources. These bourgeois virtues are extolled, in particular, by Benjamin Franklin, the most famous political figure, the “founding father” of the American state and the ideologist of young capitalism. He emphasizes the value of bourgeois everyday life, a methodical and measured life by the hour and with a pencil in hand. She is extremely prosaic, ordinary, shuns bright feelings and decisive actions. A person, as it were, dooms himself to vegetating with everyday trifles, everyday prose. However, it is in “everydayism”, in down-to-earthness, that considerable ethical and aesthetic value lies for the bourgeois: quiet family joys in a cozy little world protected from storms, the contentment of a peaceful and well-fed rest. This way of life, as a rule, is characteristic of the philistinism, ordinary people, i.e. representatives of the petty and middle bourgeoisie, townspeople, and officials. Low social status, however, did not prevent him from setting the tone for a long time, including in the circles of the big bourgeoisie, in secular society and even in the courtly world (Victorianism). The ideals of the bourgeois environment create one of the popular styles of the 19th century - Biedermeier. His main ideas are peace, comfort, prosperity, a clean and happy family life. He makes the environment commensurate with man, filling it with all kinds of household items, touching trinkets, pictures, and covered furniture. A person is protected by comfortable and familiar things from the world around him, which is “wide open to the fury of the winds.”
The bourgeois is an individualist by nature. He is not only independent, but also self-sufficient, autonomous in his navigation in the waves of all-encompassing competition. The secrecy of personal life and its privacy become an integral part of the bourgeois way of life. Preoccupation with one's own affairs comes more from egocentrism than from selfishness. Isolation in one’s own little world, narrow-mindedness, “caseness” is typical of the entire bourgeoisie, but most of all of the petty bourgeoisie. Philistinism is being formed: the sanctimonious behavior of people with a limited outlook. The philistine's slogan is: "leave me alone, let me live the way I want." This is the apotheosis of mediocrity, the “golden mean”. In the petty-bourgeois interpretation, the “golden mean” does not in any way resemble the ideal of harmony of antiquity or the Renaissance. It changes the meaning to the opposite and turns into dullness and limitation: “you are moderately smart and moderately stupid; moderately kind and moderately evil; moderately honest and mean, cowardly and brave... you are an exemplary tradesman!” The bourgeois in ordinary situations is not at all militant; on the contrary, he is peace-loving and fearful. These qualities are associated with the desire for security, since with every social conflict his affairs are threatened with losses, he loses the most. (However, under certain conditions, he can demonstrate both his aggressiveness and revolutionary fervor, for example, in the struggle for power against absolutism, in wars of conquest.)
Having come to power, calmed down and rested on their laurels, the bourgeoisie lost the militant and harsh spirit of early capitalism, characteristic, for example, of England in the 17th century. A similar metamorphosis was also observed in France. With the victory of the Great French Revolution, the need to dress up in the toga of republican virtue disappears. The jubilant bourgeoisie celebrates its triumph, and, it would seem, can afford everything. This is what happens at the beginning of the 19th century: “incredible” costumes, incredible amusements of the “gold rush” times. But this doesn't last long. The winner finds himself between two fires: on the one hand, he is opposed by the culture of the defeated aristocracy, which still retains the charm and attractiveness of “nobility”; on the other hand, the proletariat enters the political arena, criticizing the values of the bourgeois world order.
Thus, the right to lead society in such a situation especially needs ideological justification. The bourgeois ideologeme must, on the one hand, distance this class from the “lower” ones, and on the other, contrast it with the aristocracy. And therefore the bourgeoisie chooses a certain role in which it appears as a model of moral perfection, a stronghold of morality. This allows her not only to emphasize her moral superiority over the noble elite of the old regime, but also to protect herself from critical attacks from the lower strata. (In practice, laws and norms are established primarily for the lower classes, who are accused of “immorality,” idleness and debauchery, “lack of virtues,” which translated into ordinary language means lack of money.) Decency and respectability become the idol of the new time. Anything too bold, extraordinary, or violating these requirements is ostracized and immediately expelled from society. Observance of external decency and “good manners” turn into the most important law of private and public life.
2.2 Characteristics of industrial structures
XIX century passes under the sign of the industrial revolution and industrialization. It was a long process of transition from manual labor to machine industry. It lasted for more than a century (from the 60s of the 18th century to the 80s of the 19th century) and developed unevenly in different countries. By revolutionizing production, it generates not only its quantitative growth, but also qualitative changes in technology and in the industry structure. In terms of the depth of its impact on the social sphere, the industrial revolution can be compared with political revolutions, and therefore its second name, “industrial revolution,” seems natural. Society is undergoing dramatic demographic and social changes: rapid population growth is accompanied by its concentration in cities and industrial centers, and a system of exploitation of female and child labor is emerging. Two main classes come to the fore - the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. These turbulent processes affect society as a whole, causing shifts in mass consciousness.
Revolutionary upheavals in industries such as industry, transport, and energy affect the lives of many millions of people. New needs arise, previously unknown, new concepts about what is necessary and unnecessary, about convenience and luxury. Urbanization and the development of mass industrial production are reduced to a minimum or completely eliminated. By creating a domestic market, they simultaneously form a new type of personality - a buyer, a consumer of mass unified products. Household items - furniture, dishes, household tools, etc. - are beginning to be produced industrially. The production of prepared food products is developing rapidly. At the end of the century, self-service cafes appeared and vending machines were installed. In the second half of the century, confectionery - the production and sale of ready-made clothing - progressed.
There are areas in which the revolution had the most significant impact on both the daily life of a person and his mentality. These include, first of all, transport and communications.
Throughout the 19th century. Horse-drawn transport continues to play an important role. Long distances involve changing horses at inns or post stations - the so-called stages. Horses were changed approximately every 10 miles (about 17 km), but the speed of movement was low, as a rule, no more than 100 km per day. Speeds remained low until the development of railways: “Napoleon walked as slowly as Julius Caesar” (Paul Valéry).
City transport was also horse-drawn. Wealthy families had their own ride: a comfortable spring carriage with a closed body, doors and windows (like the Brougham, popular until the 20th century), or open carriages, which were driven by the owner himself (for example, the phaeton, which came into fashion at the end of the 18th century). etc. The townspeople used the services of hired cab drivers, for wealthy passengers in England there were cabs, in France - fiacres, and for mere mortals - primitive carts. For a long time, rail and steam transport developed in parallel. In the 19th century Railways became widespread in cities as passenger public transport, since the rail track significantly increased the carrying capacity. These were horse-drawn or horse-drawn trams. The carriages were either simple, lightweight, or two-story, with seats inside and on the roof (imperial). Multi-seat carriages with paid seats, traveling along regular routes - omnibuses (trackless transport) were also used as urban transport. In the 80s, electric trams were already launched in some cities. In the 1930s, several railways were built in England, and their construction also began in America, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, and Austria. Gradually, railway transport is turning from a novelty into everyday life, locomotives, rolling stock, and tracks are being improved. In the middle of the century, some steam locomotives could already reach speeds of more than 100 km/h. At the same time, closed freight cars appeared, and a little later - passenger sleeping cars of the Pullman system and lounge cars. Bridges are built and tunnels are laid. A new type of urban transport appears - the underground railway with electric locomotives (1890).
From the beginning of the 19th century. Steam water transport is developing, and soon steamships enter the sea. For a long time, "the sail is adjacent to the steam." Nevertheless, the steam fleet grew at a very rapid pace. Since the late 1930s, regular steamship services have been established between Europe and America, and then between other continents (for example, on long Chinese or Australian lines - they were called “tea” and “woolen” because of the cargo they transported). The speed of ship movement is increasing: if the first ship crossed the Atlantic in 26 days, then in the 70s it took only 7-8 days. Steamships successfully compete with high-speed sailing ships - clippers, gradually displacing them.
Originated at the end of the 18th century. Aeronautics developed successfully in the next century. One of the first types of aircraft are balloons - hydrogen balloons. Throughout the 19th century. There are many air flights - unique sporting attractions that have no direct practical significance. Numerous experiments lead to the creation of a controllable airship. At the same time, in many countries, aeronautics pioneers are working on the creation of heavier-than-air aircraft - gliders, airplanes, helicopters. The breakthrough was made at the beginning of the 20th century, opening the era of aviation (with the invention of the internal combustion engine, controlled flights became possible).
At the end of the century, cars appeared on the streets of large cities, not yet as a means of transport, but as an expensive and fashionable toy. The people who are most interested in cars are Germany and France (the latter hosts motor rallies and races). The era of mass motorization will begin at the turn of the century, which will mark the beginning of a revolution in transport that radically changed in the 20th century. the appearance of the surrounding world.
A revolution is taking place in communications technology. In the first quarter of the 19th century. it is carried out using an optical (semaphore) telegraph. Pigeon mail is also used. The future, however, belonged to the electric telegraph, which became widespread due to its simplicity and accessibility. In the 40s, telegraph lines were put into operation within and between individual countries. In the 50-60s, underground and then underwater sea and ocean cables were laid.
The telephone, which appeared in the last third of the century, unlike many other inventions, immediately gained popularity. Just a year after the opening of the first telephone exchange, their number increases to twenty. Next, automatic telephone exchanges and pay phones come into operation. The telephone, like the telegraph, is a cable means of communication. "Wireless telegraph", i.e. radio was invented only at the very end of the 19th century. and became widely used in the next century, starting with the First World War. Such a traditional type of communication as mail is developing. The postal reform carried out in many countries has simplified and unified payment for postal items. It was initiated by England: in 1840, the first two stamps were issued: 1 penny and 2 pence. The first of them - the famous "black penny" - has become a rarity for many generations of philatelists. Writing instruments are improving, steel feathers are beginning to compete with bird feathers; Postcards are becoming widespread. Typewriters appear and improve.
Thus, revolutions in transport and communications changed the world around us, destroyed barriers between countries and continents, and “broke through space.” By ensuring the mobility of the population, reducing the cost and stimulating migration, making possible the regular exchange of information, they change the characteristics of the topos, geography and topography of the habitat. The most remote corners are gradually approaching the centers, and the sphere of the cultural periphery is shrinking. Cultural contacts are intensifying, which leads to shifts in mass consciousness. The picture of the world is changing, including ideas about time and space. All this expands cultural horizons, at the same time unifies and internationalizes concepts and ideas, ideas and images.
2.3 Characteristics of the city and home
At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, cities are on the threshold of a new era - the era of urbanization and rapid industrial development, and some have already entered it. Along with colossal wealth, developing capitalism gives rise to mass poverty; the proletariat lives in dirty neighborhoods, in hopeless need and despair. The new industry also creates new “circles of hell” - accumulations of the poor. These could be places of concentration of modern industry - industrial cities like Manchester or Pittsburgh, countless small proletarian towns, or the outskirts of major capitals such as London, Paris, etc. Dust and smoke from industrial production forms thick smog in them, very little greenery, There are no sidewalks or paved streets.
Numerous documents XIX century depict the appalling living conditions of factory and factory workers. Here are some examples taken from a survey of housing conditions in England (data from the workers' insurance society): in Bradford, overnight accommodations were “in six rooms for 10 and 11 people, in one for 12, in three for 13, in the other three for 16, in one - 17, in the other - 18 people." Further Belfordshire: “in crowded rooms on single beds slept three adults with three children, a married couple with six children...” Buckinghamshire: “A young woman, sick with fever (implied scarlet fever), slept in the same room with father, mother, illegitimate child , two... brothers and two sisters, a total of 10 people." You can give more examples - they are well known. The situation of the lumpen proletariat is the same or worse (if it is possible to talk about an even greater decline). Most of them, having no place to stay, are forced to spend the night on the streets, under bridges, in barrels or boxes. The luckiest ones find a place in flophouses called "tramp hotels." Sometimes these were “rope hotels”: a thick rope was stretched in the room, and the tramps slept sitting, leaning their backs against it, as depicted in the lithograph “The Nochlezhka” by Honore Daumier. This is how society paid for the industrial rise, industrialization, which brought with it fundamental changes.
The changes that have occurred in the living environment over the course of a century are enormous. After all, back at the end of the 18th century,
Despite the luxury of the homes of the rich, a bathroom was the greatest rarity. All kinds of insects swarmed both in the houses of the poor and the nobility. Food was prepared in medieval style, using wood or charcoal. Middle-class homes did not always have an English flush toilet. Gas was not yet known, and therefore candles, oil and whale oil were used for lighting. During the 19th century. Various technical systems for the supply of water, gas and electricity, and sewerage are being introduced. Naturally, wealthy citizens have access to the benefits of civilization.
Thus, the living environment in the 19th century. changes not only under the influence of rapidly developing technological progress. Changes in prevailing tastes and preferences, fashion, expressed in the frequent change of artistic styles: from classicism of the beginning of the century to Biedermeier and further to the chaos of polystylistics, have a great influence on the internal structure of the home, its design, and household items - this is the development trend.
2.4 Characteristics of the suit
19th century costume - a product of the bourgeois era. Its development is characterized by certain patterns. One of the main ones is the completion of the formation of a unified civilian costume. Forced differences that determine social status and distinguish certain social groups disappear. Civil dress is being unified, becoming the same for everyone (at least for the wealthy). Fundamental uniformity testifies to the democratization of costume. Fashion is turning from a privilege of the upper class into a social mechanism that regulates the behavior of a significant part of the urban population. The rapid development of industry, including light industry, makes it possible to establish mass production of clothing, shoes, and accessories. The sewing machine, revolutionizing the craft of tailoring, makes clothing cheaper and more accessible, which also contributes to the democratization of the suit.
In the 19th century a “decay of styles” occurs - a frequent change of directions, causing drastic changes in a person’s appearance. Eclecticism, epigonism, and a mixture of historical styles dominate: a transition is made from the severity of antiquity to the splendor of the baroque type, to the second rococo and further to the exoticism of modernity. Fashion is becoming extremely dynamic, which is dictated by the needs of capitalist production, which requires the creation of new markets for newly produced products.
The development of men's and women's costumes takes different paths, and their role settings change. Unlike past eras, when the social and symbolic function was assigned to the men's suit, now the women's suit claims it. Women's clothing performs a presentation function, demonstrating prestige and success not only and not so much of the owner herself, but of her family. In this regard, it is extremely important to distance oneself from the lower strata, and since forced differences are eliminated, their role is played by frequent changes in fashion. The madness of fashion hardly affects men's suits. It stabilizes, now changing only in particulars: the length and width of certain types of clothing, the shape of parts. Men's clothing becomes fully the suit of a business man, most of whose life is spent in an office, on a stock exchange, in a bank. It is convenient, practical, adapted to the activity in which its owner is engaged.
Thus, in the last quarter of a century, two directions have emerged in the development of costume. On the one hand, fashion is created by model houses and fashion salons with their ideal woman - visitors to salons, theaters, and reception rooms. She is pulled into a corset and dressed in an uncomfortable but extremely decorative costume. On the other hand, new layers of citizens, office workers, and technical workers contribute to the development of the democratic trend. People of average income, they are interested in practical business clothes, i.e. in refusing an uncomfortable corset, a complex and bulky bustle, and a long, floor-sweeping hem207. The men's suit is democratizing faster than the women's: in particular, the latter was never able to do so in the 19th century. get rid of the corset that restricts movement. England is the leader in creating simpler and more rational forms of costume (as in everything related to practicality). The division of the dress into a skirt and blouse is being introduced into everyday use. By adding a men's jacket, these types of clothing created a set similar to a men's business suit - a three-piece suit. (The “English suit” subsequently became one of the most popular types of clothing, a symbol of women’s emancipation.) At the end of the 70s, the “short suit” appeared. True, it only exposed the foot, but it was perceived in wealthy circles as an unusual innovation. The middle strata accepted it all the more willingly, preferring practicality to conventions.
Conclusion
A scientific and theoretical analysis of the study of the development of European culture of everyday life has shown that the world of artifacts of material culture - the interior of a home and the objects of a person’s living environment that make up his environment in everyday life, have their own language, and everyday life, like any sign system, has cultural meaning and significance.
In this semantically filled social space, a person thinks, feels and acts as a subject and object of culture - a culture that is always historically specific, each stage of which is characterized by its inherent level of material and spiritual achievements of humanity and its relationship with reality.
Being a certain part of culture and representing the way of life and thinking of people of a specific social community and a certain historical era, the culture of everyday life always bears the stamp of regional, epochal and ethnocultural originality, and is associated with the natural and climatic conditions, ethnic and national characteristics of a certain people. Reflecting these features, everyday culture, in turn, influences the formation of the mentality of society and the individual.
Bibliography
Sources
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Batkin L.M. Italian Renaissance: problems and people. M., 1995.
Brun V., Tilke M. History of costume from antiquity to modern times. M., 2000.
Vanderbilt E. Etiquette. M., 1995.
Virchinsky B.S. Essays on the history of science and technology of the 16th-19th centuries. M., 1984.
"History of technology". M., 1962.
Kaminskaya N.M. History of the costume. M., 1986.
Kertman L.E. History of culture of European and American countries. M., 1987.
Kozyakova M.I. Aesthetics of everyday life. Material culture and life of Western Europe of the XV-XIX centuries. M., 1996.
McCorquodale Ch. Decoration of residential interiors from antiquity to the present day, M. 1990.
Mercier L.-S. Pictures of Paris. M., 1995.
Mertsalova M.N. History of the costume. M., 1972.
"New history of the countries of Europe and America." M., 1986.
Gallant century. M., 1994
A man in the family circle: essays on the history of private life in Europe before the beginning of modern times. M., 1996.
Spengler O. Decline of Europe. T. I, M., 1993.
Yavorsky B.P. Selected works. M., 1987.
Bourgeois age. M., 1994.
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The history of mankind is interesting because it can be viewed from different points of view. During the Soviet period, for obvious reasons, the main place was given to socio-economic relations and related popular unrest. Fortunately, historians today can analyze the history of human civilization from a broader perspective. Agree, for most of us, learning about everyday life in past centuries is much more interesting than, say, about the reasons peasant revolt led by Wat Tyler.
And since cooking is a part of everyday life, for this reason we will try today, at least in general terms, to answer the question: “What did they eat in modern times?” However, first we will make a reservation that it is still necessary to separate the eating habits inherent in the aristocracy and the common people, who made up the majority of the European population.
So, Europe, true to the traditions of antiquity, continued to eat porridges and coarse stews in modern times. For example, French peasants prepared grumelle - porridge made from oats, as well as groux - buckwheat porridge with water or milk. Porridge made from millet was no less popular among them. And yet, bread remained the basis of the diet of Europeans: white for wealthy people and rye with bran for the poor. In hungry years, they were replaced by oatmeal, barley and even buckwheat.
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| Meal in a peasant family |
It is known that Queen Marie de Medici was very fond of royal white bread, to which milk was also added to the above-mentioned ingredients. However, in lean years, restrictions were often introduced on the baking of white bread. So, in 1740 in Paris, Parliament allowed the baking of only gray-white bread, banned buns and even the use of flour powder for wigs.
Separately, a few words should be said about the use of spices. In modern times, most European countries continued to use them in large quantities, except, perhaps, France. Here, only cloves, pepper and nutmeg were not ostracized. Black pepper had a special place - it was believed that it helped digestion, so even the most incredible foods, such as melons, were peppered.
In addition to white wheat bread, sugar and pepper were also considered luxuries at the beginning of the modern era. In England, during the reign of the Stuart dynasty, oranges were also included in this category. They were kept, like a jewel, from Christmas until April, and even until May. With the discovery of America, previously unknown products gradually took root in Europe: potatoes, tomatoes, corn, sunflowers. At the same time, a kind of fashion for certain dishes arose.
If for many centuries in Western Europe geese dominated the table, at least among wealthy people, now they have been replaced by turkeys imported from America. At the same time, the menu of the aristocracy becomes increasingly similar to the satisfaction of culinary whims: turtle soup, oysters, hazel grouse, oatmeal, salmon, pineapples and strawberries grown in greenhouses. All this was served with intricate sauces, where all sorts of ingredients were mixed: almonds, pepper, musk, spices, rose water, etc.
Let's say, a quarter of the residents of Versailles fed on leftover dishes from the royal table, sold at the local market. Most of those who loved to eat “like a king” belonged to the minor nobility. Noble, but poor, they preferred to buy scraps of rare dishes from the palace, rather than, like the bourgeoisie (oh, horror!), inin a tavern or at home, get a freshly cooked capon for lunch, sprinkled with Burgundy wine.
But what did the peasants and urban lower classes eat in modern times? Their “food ration” was completely devoid of quirks and gastronomic delights. The basis of the poor diet was pea or bean soup, cabbage, onions, turnips, mushrooms, swede, nuts, some fruits, and protein products - eggs and chickens.
Goals and objectives:
- introduce you to the conditions of everyday life, what they ate, what they were sick with, what people wore in the modern period;
- pay attention to the changes that have occurred in the lives of Europeans;
- the ability to highlight the main thing, compare, analyze, draw conclusions, use illustrative materials as a source of content; work with documents; solve problem tasks; prepare a report, message;
- cultivate interest in the past and culture; prepare a report, message.
Equipment:
- Handout,
- illustrations by modern artists
During the classes
Organizational moment
Consider how the growth of entrepreneurial activity has affected the composition of society in town and country.
Compare the situation of European peasants at the beginning of modern times with the situation of peasants in the Middle Ages.
What social groups contributed to the formation of new classes - the bourgeoisie and wage workers.
Is there a connection between the Great Geographical Discoveries and the birth of capitalism?
Explain the terms: tax farmer, capitalist, farm laborer, new nobility.
Learning a new topic
- “Deliver us, Lord, from plague, famine and war”
- “Centuries of a Rare Man”
- “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are.”
- “What can fashion tell you?”
You have already become acquainted with the economic and political development of European countries at the beginning of modern times, with the life of monarchs and nobles, merchants, artisans, and peasants. But do you know what conditions they lived in, what their life expectancy was at that time, what these people ate, what they suffered from, what they were afraid of and what they asked God for? What happens day after day is called everyday life. We'll talk about this in class today.
Cognitive task(written on the board): think about what changes occurred in the daily life of Europeans in the 16th-18th centuries in comparison with the daily life of a person in the 14th-15th centuries. What caused these changes?
1) “Deliver us, Lord, from plague, famine and war” - these words began the prayer of French peasants in the 17th century. Constant wars, both external and internecine, gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty and fear among the broad masses of the European population in the 16th-17th centuries. Wars threatened ruin, robbery, violence, and murder. In those days, the war fed itself and the soldiers lived at the expense of defenseless townspeople and, above all, peasants, deprived of the right to bear arms.
Another cause of uncertainty and fear was hunger and its threat. Famine was a frequent visitor to Europe (it was a consequence of low yields). And finally, epidemics, especially plague and smallpox, caused fear. The plague, which was the scourge of the Middle Ages, did not leave people at the beginning of modern times. In Paris, for example, the plague raged in 1612, 1619, 1631, 1638, 1662, 1688. Six epidemics in the 7th century alone! At that time they did not know how to treat diseases such as smallpox and typhus. In the 18th century, smallpox affected 95 out of 100 people, and every 7 patients died. Typhus (called scarlet fever) was rampant in both the 17th and 18th centuries (Student's Report on the Plague).
The population died not only from epidemics, but also from fires. Under such conditions, the population grew slowly.
2) Mortality was especially high among newborns: only half of them reached 10 years of age. The average life expectancy was 30 years. Few people lived to be 70 years old.
Men, despite endless wars, lived longer. Women's lives were especially short. Most often, they died while still in their prime – between 20 and 40 years. Why do you think? It was affected by hard, backbreaking work in the field, at home, lack of medical care during childbirth, and eternal worries. Who else but a woman, when there is a lack of food, gives her piece to her children and husband, who cares more about having something to heat the room in the cold, somehow to dress and put on shoes for the family? In the 16th century, 2/3 of the population of European countries were men and 1/3 were women.
The spread of epidemics was facilitated by low levels of personal hygiene and an almost complete lack of medical care.
If in the 14th-15th centuries there were a lot of bathhouses in cities and the population willingly visited them, then in the 16th-18th centuries the bathhouses almost disappeared. With the growth of epidemics, baths turned into breeding grounds for infection, and people began to fear them. In London in 1800 there was not a single bathing establishment. True, in wealthy houses there were “soap shops”. They were located in semi-basements, they contained a steam room and wooden tubs, here you could wash yourself with hot water. Bathrooms were a rarity even in very rich houses.
There were no hospitals in the modern sense; they existed only as charitable institutions, as shelters for the sick, crippled, and elderly burghers.
Only towards the end of the 17th century, due to the end of the religious wars in Europe, improved nutrition and increased personal hygiene, the population began to grow. To convincingly illustrate this point, let’s turn to the table “European Population” (working with the table).
3) In the pre-industrial era, the vast majority of Europeans consumed or spent more than half of what they produced or earned on food. In those days, the nutrition of Europeans naturally depended on both the time of year and the climate. But the main thing is the property status of the family. No wonder they said: “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are!”
Guys, let's make sure this statement is correct, based on the documents of that time (working with the document)
Thus, the higher the step of the hierarchical ladder on which a person stood, the more refined and refined his food was.
So, what did Europeans eat in modern times?
In the 16th-18th centuries they ate mainly plant foods, and even those were few. The harvest remained low for a long time. Wheat, rice, corn (after the discovery of America) were inaccessible. Until the 18th century, white bread was considered a rarity, a sign of luxury. Only in 1850 did the “revolution” of white bread take place, by which time wheat had replaced other grains.
The path of potatoes to the European table was also difficult. (Student's message about the spread of potatoes in Europe).
The population of European countries did not often eat meat. Once a week, and even then corned beef. Fish was a very important addition to such meager food. Consumption of fish was also prescribed by religion. There were more than 150 fasting days in the Christian calendar. These days, even very rich people could not eat meat, but fish was welcome. Even in markets these days it was impossible to sell meat and butter.
In the 18th century, new drinks began to be drunk in Europe - tea, coffee, chocolate. A contemporary wrote in 1782: “There is not a single bourgeois house where you would not be offered coffee. There is not a single saleswoman, cook, or maid who does not drink coffee with milk at breakfast.”
4) Life changed - so did fashion. A new ideal of beauty appeared at the beginning of modern times in Italy, where interest in human personality arose. The people of the Renaissance established new canons of beauty of the face and body. The ideal of beauty became tall stature, broad shoulders, a thin waist, a beautiful mouth, and white teeth.
Compared to the Gothic era, clothing has become more voluminous.
Dresses were made mainly from heavy and expensive fabrics, rich and warm colors, and richly decorated with lace. The necessary accessories for every lady were gloves, a fan, jewelry, an umbrella, and a muff. The main innovation was shoes. With the advent of high-heeled shoes, they began to be made on the right and left feet, and not on one, as before.
There were special requirements for corsets. One corset took up to a kilogram of whalebone. This rigid “outfit” was used to tighten the waist, which, according to fashion, should have been no thicker than that of a wasp.
Men's fashion was more practical and based on imitation of military clothing. Under the influence of the soldier's style, clothing gradually lost its heavy character. A camisole, a sleeveless vest, a wide felt hat with ostrich feathers, high boots, a wide sash - these are the main details of a men's suit. To somehow soften the military style, lace is used in abundance to trim the details of clothing, right down to the lapels of the boots.
The clothing of the clergy was more conservative. The only thing that has changed is that church ministers began to use thinner and more expensive fabrics.
Peasant clothing had to meet the following qualities: to be comfortable, not to interfere with work, and not to be expensive. Therefore, the peasant’s wardrobe consisted of a linen shirt and pants, a coarse woolen or cloth camisole, a cloak with a hood, and a hat covering his head.
The costume at that time showed that a person belonged to a certain segment of the population. And even if a peasant or city dweller had money, he did not have the right to dress like a representative of high society.
People of ordinary rank who have money would like to dress richly, but the authorities adopted “prohibitive” regulations regarding costumes.
In 1584, Charles V issued a decree stating that clothing should help distinguish “a prince from a count, a count from a baron, a baron from a burgher, a burgher from a peasant.” So clothing is not only a means of protection from cold, rain or sun, and not only a person’s desire to show his personal taste (work based on illustrations).
Consolidation. Answers to a cognitive task.
Planned result: Students understand that changes in the spiritual and economic life of society give rise to new phenomena in everyday life.
Homework: §6 retelling; answer the questions. At the end of the paragraph there is a creative task: create a menu for home meals in a poor urban family, in an aristocratic family (optional).
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