1. Characteristics of cities
Norman Ponzi, an expert on medieval urban history, pointed out: “A city or town (the two words are almost synonymous) is a human being larger than a village. In fact, the diversity of functions (such as handicraft manufacturing, commerce, service industry and even agriculture itself) is one of its outstanding characteristics. >Another characteristic of a city is that the land cultivated by its citizens cannot produce enough food to sustain its basic survival, at least in medieval cities. It always needs to import food from outside the area under its direct control.
Since this input requires feedback or payment, citizens must in turn produce goods or provide services to outsiders. Every successful city ultimately establishes complex relationships not only with surrounding areas but also with relatively distant places, which both provide to the city. Supplying food, they also provide the city with the raw materials needed for handicrafts. They are the hinterland of the city. ”
Cities are centers of handicrafts and commerce, that is, cities are economic centers. This is completely different from the fact that most cities in ancient China were political centers. In ancient Chinese cities, government agencies such as government offices and county offices were stationed, as well as the military. Among the residents were officials, soldiers, landlords, and industrial and commercial people. Western European cities were mainly the residences of industrial and commercial people. ?
2. Cultural Characteristics
The profound economic, political and social changes in Western Europe during the heyday of the Middle Ages contributed to the peak of academic and cultural prosperity, and close cultural exchanges and connections between regions and countries. As a result, cultural coverage expanded to an unprecedented extent throughout Western Europe.
Western European culture in the High Middle Ages had three new characteristics:
First, breaking through the narrow scope of monasteries as the main intellectual activity, urban universities were established one after another, becoming a broad and active intellectual activity. Places of communication and research, such as the University of Paris, the University of Oxford and the University of Bologna in Italy, are academic and cultural centers and have formed a relatively open and free cultural atmosphere.
Second, academic culture reflects on the drastic changes in social life, and there are many innovations in content, such as the compilation and creation of traditional literature of various ethnic groups, the emergence of works reflecting the lives of citizens, and the emergence of a large number of Gothic architectural art. , within Christian philosophy and theology, the heresies of Abelard and the theoretical changes of Thomas Aquinas also appeared.
Third, the closed and self-contained state of the early Middle Ages was changed. The exchanges between Western European civilization and the two major civilizations of the East, namely Byzantine civilization and Islamic Arab civilization, were opened up. During the High Middle Ages, Western European civilization was in close contact with the East. The exchanges between civilizations and the absorption of their outstanding achievements have achieved greater development.
Through the three main channels of Byzantium, Sicily and Spain, a large number of Greek and Roman classical texts preserved by the two eastern civilizations have been re-introduced to Western Europe. The rationalism and humanistic spiritual traditions of Greece and Rome have been valued and studied. .
There was an upsurge in studying Roman law and applying it to real economic and social life. It can be said that the rise of academic culture in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages prepared for the Renaissance.
From the 15th to the 16th century, Western European society was in the late Middle Ages, and Western European medieval civilization was in decline. Feudal production relations tended to disintegrate, and capitalist industry and commerce developed greatly. Due to the rapid expansion of primitive accumulation of capital and the plunder of overseas colonies, the power of citizens or the bourgeoisie gradually grew. In some countries, they and the monarchy's autocratic and centralized politics both used each other and occurred. conflict.
The spiritual culture of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, dominated by Christianity, was shaken and declined under the impact of the humanistic trend of thought. However, the transition from Western European medieval civilization to modern civilization was not like the transition from Roman civilization to medieval civilization, which experienced long twists and turns, gaps in spiritual culture and even "regression."
But through the transitional stage civilization of "Renaissance". The Renaissance fiercely negated and criticized Western European medieval culture, but it also had inheritance and continuity.
Extended information
The size of cities in Western Europe in the Middle Ages:
The largest cities in Western Europe in the Middle Ages had a population of more than 50,000, and there were no more than 10. Such as Paris, Florence, Venice, etc.
There are only 15 to 20 cities in Western Europe with a population of 20,000 to 50,000, such as Rome in Italy, Barcelona in Spain, Lyon in France, Cologne in Germany, and so on. A city with a population of 10,000 to 20,000 is considered a large city.
There are many small and medium-sized towns with a population of less than 10,000 people. "There were about 10,000 towns and cities in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, which means there was one city every 500 square kilometers, or about every 20 kilometers." This density is already very high. Specific to Western European countries, the situation is also different.
Tokyo and Bianliang in the Northern Song Dynasty was a super city with a population of one million, the only one of its kind in the world. China's current area is 560,000 square kilometers smaller than Europe (560,000 square kilometers is slightly smaller than Qinghai Province). Western Europe, including Germany, is collectively called Western Europe and accounts for about half of Europe.
In 1000, the population of Europe was close to 30 million, and that of Western Europe was less than 20 million. After wars and massacres, China's population in the early Ming Dynasty was still 60 million. Calculated based on average population figures and geographical area, the density of cities and towns in Western Europe is greater than that in China. ?
The original towns in Western Europe were very small, with only one street or two vertical and horizontal streets. The center of the street or the intersection was the market place. Around the market place, craftsmen lived in one area and merchants lived in another area. There were also residential areas centered around a lord or church. Even if the lord lives in the city, he is not a member of the city's collective body. ?
In the early days of Western Europe, cities still had a strong agricultural flavor. Residents grow vegetables in front of and behind their houses, raise pigs and cattle. The same is true for small cities in China. The ancient city of Yongnian County in Hebei Province has been preserved to this day. At the beginning of this century, there were vegetable fields in the city and a small number of crops were grown.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Western European Middle Ages