欧洲文化入门3-Middle Ages.ppt

European Culture: An Introduction Division Three The Middle Ages The Middle Ages Ⅰ. General Introduction Ⅱ. Manor and Church Ⅲ. Learning and Science Ⅳ. Literature Ⅴ. Art and Architecture I. General Introduction In European history, the thousand-year period following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century is called the Middle Ages. I. General Introduction Between ancient times and modern times. Western Europe: a scene of wars and invasions 传统上认为这是欧洲文明史上比较贫乏的时期。欧洲的封建社会主要经历了三个发展阶段：公元5世纪至11世纪，这是欧洲封建社会的形成时期；公元11世纪至15世纪，欧洲处于封建制度的鼎盛时期；公元15世纪至17世纪，欧洲的封建经济逐渐瓦解，开始从封建制度向资本主义制度过渡。 I. General Introduction Feudalism was the primary political system of the Middle Ages. The existence of feudalism is one of the most important facts about the Middle Ages. It is this which makes the government of that period so different from the governments of Greece and Rome, and also from the governments of today. In the completed system, the king of the land stood at the top; then under him were his vassals, and under them were their vassals,—and so on until the peasants. They were landless “serfs” and had to support all the classes above them. The Middle Ages is also called the “Age of Faith”： During the Medieval times there was no central government to keep the order. The only organization that seemed to unite Europe was the Christian church. It continued to gain widespread power and influence. In the Late Middle Ages, almost everyone in western Europe was a Christian and a member of Christian church. Christianity took the lead in politics, law, art, and learning for hundreds of years. It shaped people’ s lives. II. Manor and Church Feudalism The Church The Crusades Feudalism Feudalism in Europe was mainly a system of land holding – a system of holding land in exchange for military service. The growth of the feudal system was going on everywhere in Western Europe from about the eighth to the eleventh centuries. It grew slowly, but it grew surely. Feud