A letter to parents from a resident of a medieval city. How to write a medieval letter? How to write a letter from a princess to a knight? But not about love!!! Latest tips from the “History” section
The Middle Ages begin with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and end around the 15th - 17th centuries. The Middle Ages are characterized by two opposing stereotypes. Some believe that this is a time of noble knights and romantic stories. Others believe that this is a time of disease, dirt and immorality...
Story
The term “Middle Ages” was first introduced in 1453 by the Italian humanist Flavio Biondo. Before this, the term “dark ages” was used, which currently denotes a narrower period of time during the Middle Ages (VI-VIII centuries). This term was introduced into circulation by a professor at the University of Galle, Christopher Cellarius (Keller). This man also divided world history into antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times.
It is worth making a reservation, saying that this article will focus specifically on the European Middle Ages.
This period was characterized by a feudal system of land tenure, when there was a feudal landowner and a peasant half dependent on him. Also characteristic:
- a hierarchical system of relations between feudal lords, which consisted in the personal dependence of some feudal lords (vassals) on others (lords);
- the key role of the church, both in religion and in politics (Inquisition, church courts);
- ideals of chivalry;
- the flourishing of medieval architecture - Gothic (in art as well).
In the period from the X to the XII centuries. The population of European countries is increasing, which leads to changes in social, political and other spheres of life. Since the XII - XIII centuries. There has been a sharp rise in technology development in Europe. More inventions were made in a century than in the previous thousand years. During the Middle Ages, cities developed and became richer, and culture actively developed.
With the exception of Eastern Europe, which was invaded by the Mongols. Many states in this region were plundered and enslaved.
Life and everyday life
People of the Middle Ages were highly dependent on weather conditions. So, for example, the great famine (1315 - 1317), which occurred due to unusually cold and rainy years that destroyed the harvest. And also plague epidemics. It was the climatic conditions that largely determined the way of life and type of activity of medieval man.
During the early Middle Ages, a very large part of Europe was covered with forests. Therefore, the peasant economy, in addition to agriculture, was largely oriented towards forest resources. Herds of cattle were driven into the forest to graze. In oak forests, pigs gained fat by eating acorns, thanks to which the peasant received a guaranteed supply of meat food for the winter. The forest served as a source of firewood for heating and, thanks to it, charcoal was made. He introduced variety into the food of medieval man, because... All kinds of berries and mushrooms grew in it, and one could hunt strange game in it. The forest was the source of the only sweetness of that time - honey from wild bees. Resinous substances could be collected from the trees to make torches. Thanks to hunting, it was possible not only to feed themselves, but also to dress up; the skins of animals were used for sewing clothes and for other household purposes. In the forest, in the clearings, it was possible to collect medicinal plants, the only medicines that time. Tree bark was used to mend animal skins, and the ashes of burnt bushes were used to bleach fabrics.
As well as climatic conditions, the landscape determined the main occupation of people: cattle breeding predominated in the mountainous regions, and agriculture in the plains.
All the troubles of medieval man (disease, bloody wars, famine) led to the fact that the average life expectancy was 22 - 32 years. Only a few lived to the age of 70.
The lifestyle of a medieval person depended largely on his place of residence, but at the same time, the people of that time were quite mobile, and, one might say, were constantly on the move. At first these were echoes of the great migration of peoples. Subsequently, other reasons pushed people on the road. Peasants moved along the roads of Europe, individually and in groups, looking for a better life; “knights” - in search of exploits and beautiful ladies; monks - moving from monastery to monastery; pilgrims and all kinds of beggars and vagabonds.
Only over time, when the peasants acquired certain property, and the feudal lords acquired large lands, then cities began to grow and at that time (approximately the 14th century) Europeans became “homebodies.”
If we talk about housing, about the houses in which medieval people lived, then most buildings did not have separate rooms. People slept, ate and cooked in the same room. Only over time did wealthy townspeople begin to separate the bedroom from the kitchens and dining rooms.
Peasant houses were built of wood, and in some places preference was given to stone. The roofs were thatched or made of reeds. There was very little furniture. Mainly chests for storing clothes and tables. They slept on benches or beds. The bed was a hayloft or a mattress stuffed with straw.
Houses were heated by hearths or fireplaces. Stoves appeared only at the beginning of the 14th century, when they were borrowed from the northern peoples and Slavs. The houses were illuminated with tallow candles and oil lamps. Only rich people could purchase expensive wax candles.
Food
Most Europeans ate very modestly. They usually ate twice a day: morning and evening. Everyday food was rye bread, porridge, legumes, turnips, cabbage, grain soup with garlic or onions. They consumed little meat. Moreover, during the year there were 166 days of fasting, when eating meat dishes was prohibited. There was much more fish in the diet. The only sweets were honey. Sugar came to Europe from the East in the 13th century. and was very expensive.
In medieval Europe they drank a lot: in the south - wine, in the north - beer. Instead of tea, they brewed herbs.
The dishes of most Europeans are bowls, mugs, etc. were very simple, made of clay or tin. Products made of silver or gold were used only by the nobility. There were no forks; people ate at the table with spoons. Pieces of meat were cut with a knife and eaten with their hands. The peasants ate food from the same bowl as a family. At feasts, the nobility shared one bowl and a wine cup. The dice were thrown under the table, and hands were wiped with a tablecloth.
Cloth
As for clothing, it was largely unified. Unlike antiquity, the church considered glorifying the beauty of the human body sinful and insisted that it be covered with clothing. Only by the 12th century. The first signs of fashion began to appear.
Changing clothing styles reflected the public preferences of the time. It was mainly representatives of the wealthy classes who had the opportunity to follow fashion.
The peasant usually wore a linen shirt and trousers that reached his knees or even his ankles. Outerwear there was a cloak fastened at the shoulders with a clasp (fibula). In winter, they wore either a roughly combed sheepskin coat or a warm cape made of thick fabric or fur. Clothes reflected a person's place in society. The attire of the wealthy was dominated by bright colors, cotton and silk fabrics. The poor were content with dark clothes made of coarse homespun linen. Shoes for men and women were leather pointed shoes without hard soles. Headdresses originated in the 13th century. and have changed continuously since then. Familiar gloves acquired importance during the Middle Ages. Shaking hands in them was considered an insult, and throwing a glove to someone was a sign of contempt and a challenge to a duel.
The nobility loved to add various decorations to their clothes. Men and women wore rings, bracelets, belts, and chains. Very often these things were unique jewelry. For the poor, all this was unattainable. Wealthy women spent significant amounts of money on cosmetics and perfumes, which were brought by merchants from eastern countries.
Stereotypes
As a rule, certain ideas about something are rooted in the public consciousness. And ideas about the Middle Ages are no exception. First of all, this concerns chivalry. Sometimes there is an opinion that the knights were uneducated, stupid louts. But was this really the case? This statement is too categorical. As in any community, representatives of the same class could be completely different people. For example, Charlemagne built schools and knew several languages. Richard the Lionheart, considered a typical representative of chivalry, wrote poetry in two languages. Karl the Bold, whom literature likes to describe as a kind of macho boor, knew Latin very well and loved to read ancient authors. Francis I patronized Benvenuto Cellini and Leonardo da Vinci. The polygamist Henry VIII spoke four languages, played the lute and loved the theater. Is it worth continuing the list? These were all sovereigns, models for their subjects. They were oriented towards them, they were imitated, and those who could knock an enemy off his horse and write an ode to the Beautiful Lady enjoyed respect.
Regarding the same ladies, or wives. There is an opinion that women are treated as property. And again, it all depends on what kind of husband he was. For example, Lord Etienne II de Blois was married to a certain Adele of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror. Etienne, as was customary for a Christian then, went to Crusades, and his wife remained at home. It would seem that there is nothing special in all this, but Etienne’s letters to Adele have survived to this day. Tender, passionate, yearning. This is evidence and an indicator of how a medieval knight could treat his own wife. One can also recall Edward I, who was destroyed by the death of his beloved wife. Or, for example, Louis XII, who after the wedding turned from the first libertine of France into a faithful husband.
When talking about the cleanliness and level of pollution of medieval cities, people also often go too far. To the point that they claim that human waste in London was poured into the Thames, as a result of which it was a continuous stream of sewage. Firstly, the Thames is not the smallest river, and secondly, in medieval London the number of inhabitants was about 50 thousand. So they simply could not have polluted the river in this way.
The hygiene of medieval man was not as terrible as we imagine. They love to cite the example of Princess Isabella of Castile, who vowed not to change her underwear until victory was won. And poor Isabella kept her word for three years. But this act of hers caused a great resonance in Europe, and a new color was even invented in her honor. But if you look at the statistics of soap production in the Middle Ages, you can understand that the statement that people have not washed for years is far from the truth. Otherwise, why would such a quantity of soap be needed?
In the Middle Ages there was no such need for frequent washing as in the modern world - environment It wasn’t as catastrophically polluted as it is now... There was no industry, food was free of chemicals. Therefore, water and salts were released with human sweat, and not all those chemicals that are abundant in the body of a modern person.
Another stereotype that has become entrenched in the public consciousness is that everyone stank horribly. Russian ambassadors to the French court complained in letters that the French “stinked terribly.” From which it was concluded that the French did not wash, they stank and tried to drown out the smell with perfume. They actually used perfume. But this is explained by the fact that in Russia it was not customary to smother oneself heavily, while the French simply doused themselves with perfume. Therefore, for a Russian person, a Frenchman who reeked heavily of perfume was “stinking like a wild beast.”
In conclusion, we can say that the real Middle Ages were very different from the fairy-tale world of chivalric romances. But at the same time, some facts are largely distorted and exaggerated. I think the truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. Just as always, people were different and they lived differently. Some things, compared to modern ones, really seem wild, but all this happened centuries ago, when morals were different and the level of development of that society could not afford more. Someday, for future historians, we will find ourselves in the role of “medieval man.”
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After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, European civilization fell into decline, along with many state institutions. Regular postal service survived only in the East - in Byzantium and the Muslim Caliphate, where it flourished in the 7th-10th centuries, after which it also faded away.
Similar in Europe roman post office Only the Frankish ruler Clovis I tried to restore it, but his initiative was never developed.
Europe was covered with a network of fortified castles, where each feudal lord had his own personal messengers. Most feudal lords could neither write nor read, so messengers often had to memorize messages.
Traveling along medieval roads has become dangerous, so couriers rarely sent over long distances. News was received mainly from travelers passing by, who, in gratitude for the overnight stay, had to tell the owner of the castle in detail about what they saw and heard.
For a long time, Christian monasteries became the last stronghold of culture and education. Since they had to maintain constant communication between themselves and the Roman Curia, each monastery had its own couriers, or transmitted messages through wandering monks. As a result, in addition to the alms bag, the monks also acquired bags for letters.
The most organized communication was established among the military-monastic orders. For example, in the Teutonic Order postal service it was run by a special person - the “master of the horse” (“master of the stables”), and up to 200 marks were allocated for its maintenance annually (a substantial amount at that time, considering that a war horse cost about 5 marks). Postal route Such messengers usually passed through the chain of castles of a powerful order.
In the 12th century, under the auspices of the same Christian church, universities began to be created - in Bologna, Naples, Toulouse, and the Sorbonne. Since the children of people who were far from poor studied there, well-established networks immediately arose at the universities. postal service between students and their parents.
The Sorbonne was most famous for its messengers. Led by mail, the so-called “grand messengers” - senior messengers (usually they were represented by wealthy townspeople). "Grand messengers" controlled the junior messengers - "ptimessagers", who actually delivered mail. Exactly couriers The Sorbonnes began to offer postal services not only to students, but also to outsiders, including even government officials. All money received for services went to mail contents.
The next impetus for postal development was received in cities, the main population of which were merchants and artisans. Trade required greater mobility and strong business connections, therefore, already from the 14th century, cities had their own messengers. To better resist the feudal aristocracy, artisans united into guilds, and merchants into unions (often created on the basis of common interests and including cities of different countries).
Communication was especially well established between members of large merchant associations - be it the Venetian Guild, or the Hanseatic League of northern cities, which united under its leadership merchants from Amsterdam, Antwerp, Riga, Hamburg and Bremen. Postal service resembled a relay race passed from city to city. The Hanseatic messengers were especially punctual. Therefore, we coordinated our schedule with them and exchanged mail and others communication services.
The messengers dressed, first of all, practically. On your feet - boots or rough shoes. To protect from bad weather, they wore a cape on their shoulders and a high-crowned hat on their head. The city's coat of arms could also be embroidered on the front of the clothing.
As for Southern Germany, a specific species arose there postal service, known as "butchers' mail". It would seem that, where is the post office, where are the butchers? But the fact is that in those days it was the butchers who constantly traveled around Germany, transporting purchased meat or livestock. Why not earn extra money while traveling? delivery of letters and parcels?
In some cities similar mail transmission They even made it mandatory, and in the form of compensation they freed the butcher shop from communal duties. Butchers began to announce their arrival at one point or another by blowing horns, which would soon become part of the working arsenal of many European postmen.
Unfortunately, send a letter Only the rich could travel long distances - postal rates were too high. Yes and postal services were too scattered for regular international traffic. Moreover, many postal services, working in the same territory, competed and even openly feuded - for example, Prussian Post And mail of the Elector of Saxony.
About the first attempts to give European Post We will tell you about the centralized and regular nature next time.
Of course, in the Middle Ages, as in previous eras, people wrote letters since antiquity. And in their nature and purpose these letters were different.
Firstly, there were official letters, which were exchanged between the king and his officials. In this case, the king's letter could well become law. There was also active diplomatic correspondence between the courts of Europe, especially since the classical Middle Ages. It was with the help of letters that information was usually disseminated, treaties were prepared, political
unions.
Secondly, messages were compiled that, from our modern point of view, are more like treatises. The tradition of writing as instruction or discourse on a specific topic, most often theological, came to the Middle Ages from antiquity. Such letters also had preaching purposes. They were written by church fathers, popes, and theologians.
Thirdly, there was extensive business correspondence between trading houses Europe, between monasteries, merchants and their
offices, etc.
In addition, the most ordinary private letters were written. True, not very many of them have reached us. Thus, we know the letters of the noble Frankish lady Duoda, who wrote to her minor son, who had left home for the king’s court. These letters are instructions from a mother to her son with a wide variety of practical advice, including those related to fencing.
The whole fund of family correspondence of the Paston family, Englishmen who lived in the 15th century, has come down to us. Members of this family, leaving home, wrote to their relatives about ordinary household affairs and household chores.
From the letters of the young Florentine of the 15th century, we learn about his studies at school, his book interests, and sporting successes; and although he really wants to look like a scientist and an adult, even through the Latin text his liveliness and spontaneity shine through.
A striking example of love correspondence is the letters of the famous medieval philosopher Pierre Abelard and his beloved, and then wife, Heloise (XII century). From his side, the letters seem rather like well-thought-out literary works intended for a wide range of readers; her letters are of a purely personal nature and imbued with real feeling and lyricism. Therefore, it is no coincidence that it was Heloise’s letters that in the next century were considered a genuine work of literature and formed the basis of collections that taught young lovers the art of epistols - letters.
Such collections were not uncommon and were compiled throughout the Middle Ages under the name “formularies” or “pismovniks”. They provided detailed recommendations and examples for writing letters for various purposes and had significant practical significance, considering that until the 13th century. all correspondence was conducted in Latin. IN large quantities letters in national languages appear only in the 14th century. They were especially common in Italy. During the Renaissance, humanists, with their love of classical languages, began to write in Latin again, but these were fine works of art rather than private letters.
According to the canon of forms, the letter began with a greeting and good wishes to the addressee. Then you could indicate who it was from. The letter ended with an indication of the date and place of writing and entrusting the addressee to the protection of the Lord. Entire phrases, appeals, rhetorical figures adopted in medieval letters were so well-known and obligatory that they began to be reduced already in the classical Middle Ages. The adopted abbreviations were well understood by contemporaries and were replaced by full version only in special cases.
In the 15th century there was no postal service, so sending a letter from point A to point B presented some difficulties.
1. Call a clerk
In the 15th century, people wrote letters for many reasons - if they knew how to write at all - so the very first problem was getting the message down on paper.
The subject matter of letters from the late Middle Ages is in many ways reminiscent of modern ones. Men and women built relationships, lawyers argued about laws, and real estate dealers discussed houses. The authors of the letters could be both high-ranking officials and members of the royal family.
Women's messages made up a significant proportion of the total mass of letters. For example, there are over 60 letters that have survived to this day, sent by Margaret Paston of Norfolk to her husband John, a lawyer by profession who worked in London. Their correspondence was of a very different nature: from completely mundane problems to very unusual ones. In a letter dated 1448, Margaret urgently asks her husband to send crossbows to repel attacks by hostile neighbors. Margarita reports that the servants have boarded up all the doors in the house and are shooting from every corner. Then Margarita asks for almonds, sugar and fabric to sew new dresses for the children.
Correspondents often wrote on their own - especially merchants and small nobles. However, most often the writing of the text itself was transferred to the servants, and even less often the noblewomen took up the pen. People of the Middle Ages did not consider the author's handwriting to be any special proof of the authenticity of the letter, as we tend to think today. Therefore, the real handwriting of rich people of that time often turns out to be not very elegant - they did not have to practice very often.
As the XV endscentury, more and more people are starting to write on their own. However, inXV century, a reliable and trusted scribe still remained the best way write the text down on paper. Finishing the letter, the clerk quickly dried the ink with ashes from the chimney. He then folded the letter, tied it with strips of paper and sealed it with wax.
2. Send with opportunity
Long before the advent of the postal service, choosing the right person to deliver a letter to its destination was far from simple.
Once the name and address were stamped on the message, it was ready to travel. Although letter circulation was most widespread in 15th-century England, there was nothing even remotely similar to the modern postal system. This state of affairs continued until 1512, when Brian Tuke became the first postmaster. A century earlier, of all the ways to deliver letters, there were three main ones: send with your own servant, with a hired messenger, or with a cabman transporting goods across the country.
Using your own servant was the safest and cheapest option, however, it was not always possible to sacrifice a household worker for a journey that could take longer. A more convenient option was a hired messenger, especially if the letter followed a well-known route. However, a suitable messenger was not always available, so letters often remained unsent for many days.
In 1448, one of Sir John Fastolfe's servants, responding to his master's message and apologizing for the delay, wrote: “If messengers to London can be found before Christmas, the letters will be sent.”
3.
Protect the letter from enemies
Traveling through medieval England was a rather risky undertaking, so senders could only pray that their messages would not be intercepted along the way.
"Let better letter will burn rather than be lost,” wrote Sir John Fastolfe’s servant. Why did he come to this conclusion? Because to transport the letter England XVcentury was a dangerous place, especially if the message contained important information. Medieval writers lived in fear that the enemy might find out secret information and turn it against the author as evidence in court. The aforementioned servant, to show how concerned he was, added the ancient Roman proverb: “Ne forte videant Romani,” which translates as, “Let not the Romans see it.” Knowledge was power and authority, especially when your enemies had it.
The message in the Middle Ages was threatened not only by evil intent. With so many letters and other goods, when traveling there was always a risk that the message would simply get lost. This was precisely the misfortune that befell Walter Paston in 1479, when one of his letters was mistakenly sent to London along with money sent to the capital for safekeeping. Paston later explained this failure as follows: “Mr. Brown had a lot of money in his bag, he did not dare take this bag with him, and my letter was in this bag. He forgot to get the letter and sent it all together to London.”
4. Try to track the recipient
Poor, poor messenger. He would travel hundreds of miles to deliver a letter, and when he arrived he could only pray that someone would be home. If safe delivery letter to the rightful recipient was a headache for the sender, then imagine what it was like for the person responsible for this delivery.
Medieval analogue modern postman had to travel from one end of the country to the other to deliver messages to those to whom they were addressed. Since property owners in those days were often torn between several houses, there was no guarantee that the recipient of the letter would be home at the right time.
The letter, written in 1450 to the Priest of Caister Castle in Norfolk, gave no less than three different addresses so that the messenger would try to find the priest without even finding him at the castle.
And if the messenger arrived at the wrong time, he had to stay for a long time. The man carrying a letter from William Stonor of Oxfordshire returned to say that he had tried to deliver the letter, but the recipient was not at home. He assured Stonor that he would try again later: “John Chaney is currently falconrying, as soon as he returns I will deliver your letter.”
5. Bad news? Spare the messenger
Sometimes the letter could be sent in a fit of anger. Then it was necessary to choose a messenger with experience in the art of pacification.
So, the messenger has finally delivered your precious letter. But that doesn't mean his work is over. Sometimes the message was accompanied by an oral message. In other cases, especially if the recipient was offended by the contents of the letter, the messenger had to act as a diplomat.
In 1449, the Paston Family had to send a maid with a message to the man who had seized their estate by force, because no male servant was willing to take such a risk. In a situation where passions were running high, using a female messenger had its advantages. As we know, she was received “with great pleasure,” and her oral appeal was kindly listened to.
6. Burn after reading
Some people insisted on destroying the letters, while others - fortunately for us - kept them.
Some 15th-century authors indicated that their letters should be burned after reading. Others wrote the most important things at the bottom of the page so that the piece could be torn off and disposed of. Each of these methods was intended to limit access to confidential information. However, the very existence of these letters shows that these instructions were not always followed. It appears that medieval authors' desire to avoid writing was balanced by an obsession with preserving evidence.
Sir John Fastolfe had a special archive in Caister Tower in which his servants collected letters and other documents. As is the case today, developing a method for collecting and sorting such material can be quite challenging. Fastolf's servants regularly could not find Required documents. Even his stepson complained that he could not find the records he needed, or even “a person known to him.” However, despite the obvious problems in the paper storage system, this system reliably protected letters from loss and damage. For the preservation of medieval messages we have to thank this obsession with preserving written evidence, which tells us so much about how people lived during that fascinating period of history.
Original: BBC History Magazine September 2013. Deborah Thorpe "How to send a letter… in medieval England" pp 28-31
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A letter from a student of a medieval church school to parents, which tells about the features of education at this school.
"Hello, mommy and daddy.
Our classroom is a small room with a low vaulted ceiling. Rare rays of sunlight shine through the narrow windows. We are all sitting at a long table on oak benches. All the boys different ages, and from the reference clothes it is clear that there are no poor people here.
Our teacher - Father Martin - usually stands at the head of the table. In front of him is a large handwritten book, and a bunch of rods lies nearby. The priest mumbles prayers in Latin. We have to repeat after him incomprehensible words, and when we don’t keep up, he flogs us.
We also learn grammar from the textbook of the monk Alcuin. And yesterday I was inattentive in class, and I was punished - the teacher, Father Martin, ordered me to stay after class and translate a large passage from Alcuin’s grammar from Latin into my native language. And only when I copied it onto parchment did Father Martin allow me to go to the refectory.
Mommy and daddy, I miss you very much and want to go home again. Goodbye."
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