Seeking European History

Medieval history, also called medieval history, refers to the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 to the outbreak of the bourgeois revolution in England in 1640. The formation, development and dissolution of the feudal system is the main line of European history during this period. However, the development of feudal societies in different countries of the world was uneven. When Western Europe had just entered into a feudal society in the 5th century, China had already completed the course of about 1,000 years of feudal society.

In the European feudal society, the king, nobles and riding the earth and other large and small feudal lords constitute a pyramid-like hierarchy, but their power and obligations are limited, "my vassal's vassal is not my vassal", this complex hierarchical relationship makes the European feudal state in a long time in the state of fragmentation, and Oriental China "under the sky, no one is king; rate of land, no one is king giant" of centralized feudal monarchy is very different. The rulers of various countries were still engaged in wars, looting and annexing each other, and there was no united and solid regime in many countries. The feudal landlords exploited the peasants by virtue of their land ownership and power. In Europe, the Christian Church had become a tool of feudal rule, and they and the secular feudal lords*** worked together to maintain the feudal system. The labor of the peasants and serfs was appropriated by the feudal lords in the form of servitude, rent in kind, numerous taxes and church "tithes". Peasant revolts continued, but they were generally small in scale, and there were no large-scale peasant wars that overthrew a dynasty, as there were in China.

Both in the West and in the East, the feudal economy was mainly a self-sufficient natural economy with the one-family peasant as the basic unit of production. Peasants were much more motivated to work than slaves because they could own some basic means of production and living and could obtain certain products of their labor. In the medieval era, iron tools had long been popularized, coupled with the continuous progress of production technology, which greatly enriched the wealth of the society and promoted the development of commerce. 14th and 15th centuries in the Mediterranean coastal areas, the cities with developed commodity economy appeared in the capitalist workshop handicraft industry specializing in the production of commodities. In China, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the sprout of capitalism also appeared in the cities of Jiangnan. The birth of capitalist production relations in the feudal production relations indicated that the feudal society had come to its end. Since then, the rise of capitalism in some European countries has formed an irreversible momentum.

Medieval Europe was culturally backward and ignorant, the so-called "Dark Ages" of history, while in China it was a period of highly developed culture, science and technology, forming a strong contrast between Eastern and Western cultures. Religion dominated the field of thought in a large part of the world. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam became "state religions" in many countries. Confucianism dominated the field of thought in China. Although this cultural phenomenon once contributed to the consolidation of feudal society, when capitalism emerged, it became an obstacle to social progress and scientific development. Along with the emergence of the bud of capitalism, the "Renaissance" in Europe was a great emancipation of human thought, which promoted the prosperity of culture and art and the great leap of modern science. In the East, due to the long-term shackles of feudalism, social development tends to be slow, and from then on began to lag behind the West.

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1. Definition:

The term "the middle age" was first proposed by the Italian humanist historian Biondo in the 15th century. He called the Western Europe 5 ~ 15 century of the thousand years called the Middle Ages, meaning that the classical culture and the Renaissance of the two cultural peaks of a period of history; the end of the 17th century, the German historian Kelleher in the history of the world, for the first time the entire history of mankind is divided into the ancient, medieval, modern period of three periods; to the 18th century, the term medieval was generally used by European historians; the ancient Chinese thinkers Han Fei Zi, an ancient Chinese thinker, had the terms ancient, medieval, and modern, which were adopted in the translation of Western works on world history at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Middle Ages is a concept that is unique to Western Europe, and we often replace it with Medieval World History when applying it to other regions.

2, the beginning and the end:

Due to the different concepts, the beginning and the end of the medieval history of the world are also recognized differently. Traditionally, the upper limit was set at the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and the lower limit was set at the bourgeois revolution in England in 1640, which was the standard line drawn by the revolution to seize power, but now it is mostly not used. Now textbooks set the lower limit at the end of the 15th century before the great geographic discoveries, but the upper limit is still the fifth century.

The British Cambridge Medieval History of the upper limit of the introduction of the twelve say, it is 284 years of the Roman Emperor Diocletian on the throne for the beginning of the world's medieval history, the lower limit of the use of 1453 years of the Byzantine Empire as a boundary for the fall. This statement is more popular in the West, such as "A Brief History of Medieval Europe", "History of World Civilization", "Global History" and other authors in the delineation of the time limit, the lower limit is the 15th century, the upper limit of the 3 ~ 5 centuries.

3, staging:

The medieval period varied greatly from place to place, with Western Europe as the standard:

5 ~ 10th century, the formation of the feudal system of Western Europe (feudalization period);

11 ~ 14th century, the feudal system of Western Europe in the period of prosperity;

14th ~ 15th centuries, the crisis of Western Europe's feudal system;

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The Middle Ages

"The Middle Ages" is a controversial concept, because there has never really been a dynasty called the "Middle Ages" in history, and there is no ruler, thinker or other person who considers himself "medieval", the so-called "Middle Ages" is a creation of the later.

The term "Middle Ages" was first born in the Renaissance era in Europe, and was first proposed and used by the Italian humanist linguists and historians of the 15th and 16th centuries, such as Biondo. At the end of the 17th century, the German historian Christopher Kelleher, in his book "General History", for the first time divided the history of mankind into three periods: the Ancient, the Medieval and the Modern. From the end of the 18th century, the concept of the "Middle Ages" has long been used by Western academics.

There is no absolute time limit for the "Middle Ages". The majority of Western scholars believe that the Middle Ages began around 500 AD and ended around 1500 AD, with the demise of the Western Roman Empire as the representative event of the former and the opening of the New World Route as the representative event of the latter. The former is represented by the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the latter by the opening of the New World Route. Among them, there are three phases, namely, the Early Middle Ages, the Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages, with the years 1000 and 1350 as the boundaries. Most Chinese historians are accustomed to take the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. as the beginning of the "Middle Ages", while the lower limit is quite controversial, with some advocating the Netherlandish Revolution of the 16th century A.D. as the cut-off point, others the discovery of the New Passage, and many taking the English bourgeois revolution of the 1640's as the lower limit.

The typical notion of "Middle Ages" has specific geographical boundaries and emotional overtones. When the Enlightenment thinkers of the Western Renaissance coined the term "Middle Ages," they did not intend to refer to the whole world, nor to the whole of Europe, but only to the region ruled by the Catholic Church, i.e., Central and Western Europe. Sentimentally, they were very much attracted to Asian culture (Chinese, Indian, etc.) and Arabic and Byzantine culture, and they admired the ancient Greek and Roman cultures; but they were extremely dissatisfied with the decline of classical culture caused by the invasion of the "barbarians" between the 6th and 16th centuries A.D. They were not satisfied with the monopoly of the Church over the cause of culture, and denounced this period as "barbaric" and "savage". These Enlightenment thinkers, while denouncing the darkness of the West in the "Middle Ages", also took it upon themselves to "revitalize" classical culture, resulting in the "Renaissance" and the "Enlightenment".

As the term "Middle Ages" became more widely used, it evolved into a synonym for feudal society, referring to the period when the feudal mode of production dominated the world. Thus, the term "Middle Ages" was no longer used exclusively to refer to the West, but became a concept that could be used to describe the history of any country at this stage of development in its history as a feudal society. According to this usage, due to the countries into and end of feudal society at different times, its "Middle Ages" can not be consistent, such as China earlier into the feudal society, its Middle Ages can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period or even earlier, and its lower limit can be extended to the end of the Qing Dynasty or even the era of the Republic of China, and India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other Asian countries and the vast areas of Africa and the Americas into the feudal era is later, its "Middle Ages" respectively began in the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China era, the "Middle Ages" began in the beginning of the "Middle Ages". The "Middle Ages" began in the 11th to 17th centuries AD. This difference in time makes the comparison of the histories of countries in the same era very inconvenient.

More importantly, the generalization of the concept of "Middle Ages" to mean the history of all countries of the world, while paying attention to the similarity of the economic modes of production, ignores the great differences in the cultural development of each country. The rest of the "Middle Ages" was a different story: in the Near East, the Byzantine Empire, which from the very beginning had claimed to be the rightful successor of the Roman Empire, actively preserved the cultural heritage of Ancient Greece and Rome; after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the quietly emerging Russia inherited its cultural heritage. In the Middle East, the Muslims of the Arab world, in accordance with the teachings of Islam, sought knowledge from the advanced countries of the world, which led to the rapid development of Arab culture to a high level. As one of the four great civilizations of the world, India, although its ancient splendid culture was damaged by internal division and foreign invasion, it still had some development, while China, also one of the four great civilizations of the world, not only did its classical civilization not suffer any great damage, but also developed its classical culture to a new height on the basis of absorbing and digesting foreign cultures, and became the world's most advanced culture at that time. These are fundamental differences that the term "medieval" hardly reflects. For this reason, some historians, when studying the history of the world outside the West, especially in the field of cultural education, try to avoid using the term "medieval", replacing it with "medieval history", and when they have to use it,

they tend to define it.

Taking into account the differences in the historical development of different countries and regions, and in order to take care of the integrity of the cultural development itself, there is no neat definition of the "Middle Ages" in this book. In Europe, we cover the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to 1350; in China, we cover the period between the Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties (581-1363 AD); in Japan, we cover the period from the Daika Reform of 646 AD to the end of the Muromachi Shogunate in the 16th century; and in India, we cover the period from the end of the Muromachi Shogunate in the 16th century to the end of the Daika Reform in the 16th century AD. In India, we cover the period from the Shudra dynasty to the Delhi Suvan state (c. 220-1526 AD); in Arabia,

it is basically the 6th to 14th centuries AD.

European medieval living customs

Living customs mainly refer to clothing, food, housing and other aspects. It is directly related to the level of social development, production and living standards, cultural traditions, and the natural environment.

The European Middle Ages, especially the 5th century AD, were characterized by frequent wars. Ancient culture was destroyed, the ancient prosperous and rich city life was gone, the new European residents no longer build theaters, baths, roads, ancient art died out. Ancient literature and writing were understood only by a few. The Germanic language spoken by the English and the Germans, the Romance language spoken by the French and the Italians prevailed in Europe, and the ancient language and writing were annihilated. In the midst of the wars, in the wars of axes, knives and swords the barbarians came to Europe with their customs of life. It was a strange Europe.

The Europeans of the 5th-10th centuries retained many of the customs of barbaric life. The saintly Canephas (675-754), who was a missionary in England, complained that "the English have a total disregard for the bonds of marriage; they do not want legal wives, and live like horses or asses in debauchery and lewdness." (The History of Carnival 79 US. Paco. Patridge) "In 610 A.D. the Queen of Ulster in Ireland came to see Cuchulainn with her courtesans, who were naked and had their skirts raised so that their bottoms were exposed. This act was a sign of great respect for Cuchulainn."

The early Middle Ages were characterized by frequent wars, with emerging kingdoms constantly conquering and expanding their territories. The Franks of that era had considered fighting and plundering to be the most honorable of endeavors, and laboring and farming to be a sign of incompetence. From the 5th to the 8th centuries they did not stop to improve their civilization, and in the 8th century Charles the Great of the Franks was still an illiterate man who could not read or write. The new rulers of Europe were slow to accept ancient civilizations. Among them, Italy and France were slightly more civilized due to the strong influence of the Roman tradition.

The 11th-15th centuries saw a great change in European customs, and the Church played an important role. The Church taught people to leave barbaric customs and advocated a pure life. The clergy were required to adhere to celibacy. It took the tendency of indulgence in life as a sin and preached asceticism, contempt for money, opposition to the concept of luxury, and the idea that all joy is sin. The Church not only propagated through the clergy, but also disciplined through the power of the state and the power of the Church. The barbarism of brutality and warlike behavior was no longer dominant in this period, and asceticism prevailed. The Church was against the beauty of dress, even personal cleanliness, and the Puritans were against singing and dancing, against Mardi Gras, and against April Fools' Day. "With them we see a great deal of incriminating material and prohibitions against dancing" (Partridge, History of Carnival, 92). The Church's practices have gone beyond purifying people's morals, and are in fact opposed to people's rightful enjoyment of life and their pursuit of the good life under the banner of upholding morality by Church and State.

This period was characterized by a prolonged struggle between asceticism and anti-abstinence. These directly affected the living customs and entertainment practices in medieval Europe.

(1) Dress

Clothing is one of the symbols of civilization, clothing customs reflect the national cultural characteristics, reflecting an era of people's state of life and psychological characteristics. Medieval Europe was a period of Christian domination, Christianity has a great influence on the European dress. Because of the Christian doctrine of contempt for money, against luxury, "the medieval lower class people's clothing to simple and simple for the Shang, women do not dress up, and the jewelry donated to the church, the regular clothes only to white fat coat and sleeved jacket is the main color plain" ("ancient and modern Chinese and foreign clothing anecdotes").

Medieval religious rule in Europe under the color of clothing, style is very monotonous, the color is still black, gray, white, clothing style to drag the ground robe is the main. Ancient Rome's luxurious tow plus robe was abandoned.

Early Middle Ages, Europeans simple clothing, civilian aristocrats clothing style the same. The eighth and ninth centuries, men's clothing with underwear outerwear, clothing style is quite similar to our ancient robes, but tighter. Pants can be long feet into the crotch, short, pants tied to the umbilicus. Feet wear long or short socks, sometimes feet to legs are wrapped in cloth. The nobles and upper class people wore a rectangular or round cloak over their clothes, which was fixed on one shoulder or tied to the chest; the laborers' clothes were shorter. Charles the Great of France "wore only the clothes of the Franks - linen pants tightened with a belt, a woolen sweater and an overcoat tied with a belt" (A Cultural History of the Middle Ages and the Modern World, The Commercial Press, 1935, p. 53). In winter, they wore an otter or ermine coat with a cloak over it. The nobles had wide belts around their waists,

which were used to tighten their clothes and wear swords, while the commoners were not allowed to wear swords; linen and woolen fabrics were the main materials used for clothing. Oriental silk is expensive, with the equivalent amount of gold, only a few nobles can wear. The Song of Roland (France), "the death of King Arthur" (England) is described. Clothing class difference is mainly manifested in the clothing texture and origin of different, the nobles wore fine linen, wearing wool cloak from Italy, winter ermine and other valuable fur;

Commoners only wear coarse linen, coarse wool fabrics.

Women's clothing is ankle-length tight-fitting tunic with two long, narrow sleeves, and a loose robe with shorter sleeves than the tunic is worn outside. The tunic has a wide neckline, and the neckline and sleeve seams can be decorated with a variety of trimmings. Cloak from the top of the head down.

10th century men's clothing became more tailored. British men's tights on the upper half of the fit, the lower half of the dress like knee-length, loose and stretch. The corset was a pullover. A cloak was worn over the bodice and pinned to the chest with a large pin. At this time the women's clothing became wide, the sleeves were fatter and longer, the hair was covered in a shawl, and the body was covered by a cloak. Their undergarments were long, reaching to the ground, and their tunics reached their knees. The sleeves were rounded and the clothes were ornately decorated, very much influenced by Byzantium. Their hair was covered with a veil, the ends of which were heavier at the back and reached the ground. By the 12th century, the loose-fitting dresses became slimmer and narrower, emphasizing the curves of the body. And tied behind the body, the sleeves gradually widened, the cuffs can fall to the knee.

The 12th century saw the emergence of the discus headdress, which can protect the sun to protect the eyes from heat, mainly worn by the Crusaders. Tops were popular with a front placket that split the front into two pieces. Women's clothing for the lace-up bodice, the top close to the body, the following is a wide skirt, between the two parts of the line sewed up, the two sleeves loose trailing long, the cutting method is the upper and lower garment cut and sewed together, with the previous use

a large piece of cloth is not the same.

In the 13th century, men's and women's clothing tended to be the same, men's clothing and tights and a variety of tunic, round cake headdress, cap decorative sleeves, open chest shawl. Below the stockings, boots and shoes. Men wore a Central Asian-style beanie. At this time the popularity of body armor, suitable for travel wear, this coat is a large open chest shawl, the side has a seam, the arm can be extended to move. In addition, this period of popularity of closed vest type tunic, the upper body such as vest, the following can be long to below the knee, this sleeveless tunic, the shoulder to the sides of the extension of the extension of the longer, into a hat decorated sleeves. 13th century laborers tunic length varies. Men wore knee-length shirts with short sleeves, heel-less shoes, and pants with a round hole in the heel for easy on and off. In summer, they wore spacious linen pants with the upper body exposed,

and in winter, they wore short tunics and sleeveless pullovers. Women wore long robes with slits in the middle that allowed for easy labor and skirt pockets for crops during harvest. Peasants were forbidden to wear good materials and garish colors.

After the 14th and 15th centuries, European clothing began to change. As a result of economic prosperity, agriculture, commerce, the development of handicrafts, international trade exchanges, the influence of the Eastern civilization, the European dress has undergone many changes, aristocratic men and women chasing fashion, aristocratic women competing for beauty, men are not formal; aristocrats and commoners have a more obvious difference in clothing; clothing style changes, more varieties of clothing materials. Giant biography of the medieval clothing materials are satin, silk and wool blends, tweed, damask tweed, tweed, gold thread satin, a variety of fur. Clothes have coats, jackets, covers, tops, short dresses, shirts, short cloaks, women have long dresses, evening dresses and so on. Ornaments have rosaries, rings, chains, precious stones, diamonds, jade, pearls, agate and so on. Clothing seeks to get rid of ancient customs and pursue fashion. Oriental dress in the decorations and buttons were absorbed by the Europeans, men's coats row a row of buttons or gems, and even underwear buttons are decorated with gems and buttons.

14th century men's jacket popular, jacket two layers, very close to the body, the sleeves are well-designed, you can move your arms freely, easy to move the whole body. There are more than a dozen buttons on the jacket, jacket lining with a thin belt can be thin pants with the upper end of the connection; tight coat worn outside the jacket, high collar coat rose in the late 14th century; collar to cover both ears, the collar behind the neck over the back of the head, the lower skirt dragged to the ground; this period of the cloak with a set of buttons fixed to the body, the appearance of a rounded, long and wide. Women's clothing consisted mainly of tight tunics with sleeves and sleeveless tunics. Made of a piece of cloth, the neckline is wide, the collar is low, this is the 14th century European women's popular bare-collar shirt, the neckline has a round, angular, square, the neckline is wide open, revealing the upper part of the chest, the upper body has sleeveless, short-sleeved, bare arms, the belt is raised very high. Both men's and women's clothing are decorative. Men's pants are attached to shoes with leather soles and bottomless boots with spurs. Tight men's pants were worn with two separate trouser legs and were covered by a long tunic in front and back. Later, the top became shorter and shorter, and in the 15th century the jacket became even shorter and became a garment that did not cover the body. Women's bare-necked evening dresses and men's short tunics were opposed by priests, and the 15th-century Reformer Jan Hus noted that "because of women's shortness of dress, they were not able to cover themselves". The 15th-century Reformer Jan Hus noted that "because women wore garments with their necks wide open, anyone could see their glistening skin right down to half of their bare breasts." " (A Cultural History of Shame, 83) Soon after the notice was issued shorts were lengthened and sewn together with sock-like trim for the feet, and later strand pockets sewn from sturdy fabric to cover the pubic area appeared.

The House of Commons of England for commoners, common knights, wearing the same clothes as the nobility wear can not tolerate, for the pursuit of excitement in dress is also strongly opposed to the House of Commons of England in Edward IV, put forward such a document: "Not to allow any knight below the rank of Lord . . or any ordinary person, to use and wear any great dress, jacket, or cloak . Provided that the garments shall be sufficiently long as follows: when he stands erect, they cover his pubic region and buttocks. Lords, or peers of any higher rank, are not subject to this restriction." (The Wedding Bed by Braddock, tr.)

In the 14th century, a kind of dyeing clothing was popular, the left side of the jacket is a color, the right side of a color, the pants left and right legs of a color, the whole body left and right divided into four parts were dyed. 15 century, the beginning of the apprentice knight's clothing from the hat to the boots are used in black, white, light green color combination with each other. Red, black, green, and purple were the most popular colors. Pants, shoes, hats, and undershirts could be so divided. Pants may be purple on the inside and black on the outside. (Cited in World Customs. Clothing and Housing").

Floral patterns embroidered on medieval clothing were most often family crests. The family crest was originally a symbol of the Crusades to identify the enemy, but later it became the symbol of the extended family and the general public family. 14th century the prevailing trend of respect for identity and family, women's clothing more embroidered with a large family crest design, married women in-laws of the family crest of the mother's family embroidered on the left and right side of the dress.

15th century women's clothing to men's clothing close to the loose long coat waist belt, tunic with a wide colorful belt waist, hanging on a short sword, wearing a man's small hooded hat, feet wearing pointed shoes.

Medieval women's hair and hats. 12 century women customarily combed their hair in the back, tied two braids down the cheeks. 13-14 century women to square white linen head, knotted at the top of the head, or in the ear with a barrette don't, only to reveal the face. Medieval headscarves came in many styles, some similar to the modern nun's head scarf, and reached down to the nape of the neck. Young girls were allowed to wear flower crowns on festivals, but married people were not allowed to do so.The 15th century, under the influence of the Gothic steeple, gave rise to a similar aesthetic of dress, with V-necks, pointy shoes, and heathered hats. Heenan hat is conical, the interior of the wire or paste to make its shape, the tip of the 40 degree angle, nine inches to three feet high, the hat is draped with tulle (made of high-grade linen), the cap has a ring fixed, the front edge can also be added to the velvet. Hats are expensive. Hats have one or two horns, some in the shape of a spreading wing.

There were many types of shoes in the Middle Ages, including leather, boots, short boots, slippers and slippers. Leg straps and wrist straps were made of leather and woven linen and wool. Peasants often wore wooden shoes. Nobles wore pointed shoes, sometimes with extremely long toes, the length of which represented the status of the wearer. The general rule is six inches, twelve inches for gentlemen, fourteen inches for nobles, unrestricted for royalty, and not allowed for the poor.

Medieval men wore long hair, and knights wore long hair.

Priests always wore black robes and hoods; however, there were variations in hair styles. In the 8th century, monks began to shave their hair, and the ceremony was called the "shagging style," and the Greek or Eastern European style of shagging was to shave all of the hair or to cut it very short, which was called the "St. Paul's style," and the Roman style of shagging was to shave all of the hair on the head, or cut it very short. The Roman style of shaving is to shave off a round piece of the head and leave hair all around, called "St. Peter's style". The shaving of a monk's hair is a sign of humility and devotion to God.

The ruling classes of 14th- and 15th-century Europe pursued luxury and pleasure, ignoring religious precepts, and this was particularly evident in clothing. "Noblemen and noblewomen alike were as fond of new clothes and jewelry as children. This was the age of luxury and wastefulness, when men wore pointed shoes and women wore conical hats a foot high. Men at this time made a coat of three thousand squirrel skins, and the Duke of Orléans embroidered a poem on his lapel sleeve with seven hundred fine beads." (A Cultural History of the Middle Ages and Modern Times)

In the Middle Ages, when Christianity ruled, the legitimate quest for beauty in dress was viewed as frivolous, and the struggle between asceticism and anti-asceticism manifested itself in clothing. People kept advancing in accordance with the standard of beauty until the Renaissance, when there was a major change in the development of clothing.

Byzantium from the Far East through Persia to silk clothing, or silk thread raw materials processed into thin silk, made of clothes. Men's clothing with tights, with sleeves, the front body has a lock costume for decoration, clothing knee-length, sleeve length varies. Waist belt. The long cape is a formal celebratory garment with beautiful colorful drapes on the front and back of the cape. The shawl, a long pleated piece of cloth, is fixed to both shoulders.

The women's costume consisted of a cloak, and a shawl (for royal queens) and a long tunic, which evolved from the Christian vestments. Women's tunics were short to the hips and long to the ankles. Outdoor garments were long cloaks that fell from the head to cover the whole body. Noble women's garments were inlaid with gold and silver stones, pearls and onyx, and laboring women wore sleeveless or short-sleeved blouses that came down to the waist. From Justinian's portrait of the Queen, its clothing is gorgeous, wearing a long coat to cover the feet, the clothing system is very wide hem, like a skirt, the sleeves are thin and narrow to the wrist, the cuffs are tight. Waist tie a variety of ribbons, clothes decorated with a variety of gemstones, chest hanging a variety of pearl and gemstone ornaments, head wearing a hat, hat decorated with a variety of gemstones, earrings hanging down. Some of their clothing styles are European, and their silk fabrics and gemstone ornaments are produced in the East.

(2) dietary practices

Dietary practices and geographic location, natural conditions and the level of social development has a close relationship. Pre-medieval Europe, the feudal economy has been a great development, the rural population has increased, the vast land, rivers, forests and resources fully utilized, for the European diet provides a rich source.

_ According to Asa. Briggs' Social History of England, around 600 A.D., the most common cereals grown by the Saxons were barley, oats and wheat. The author of the book Switzerland says: The poor ancient times to oats, potatoes and other foods as the staple diet, drink milk but rarely eat meat. The History of the Franks says that the drink of the barbarians was made of wine and honey mixed with wormwood. As the most prominent representative of European food culture France, cooking in ancient times is also very primitive, the French Gauls initially cooking is roasted meat, their favorite food is roasted wild boar. It is said that they use a fork to fork a piece of meat, and then put on the fire, roasted, baked, plus garlic can be eaten. This method is very similar to our country Xinjiang people's grilled sheep

meat kebab method. They eat pork in the grill, but also at the same time the grilled hare, grilled chicken, grilled goose to eat together. The diet is very rich.

The Gauls had gone civilized in the era of the Roman Empire, and at the beginning of the Middle Ages, fused with the Franks to establish France, forming the French nation. Later the French food culture and culinary arts were further developed. France is rich in wheat, fruits and high-quality grapes, two sides of the sea, rich in aquatic products, these are for the development of French food culture provides a material basis. And the food culture of Roman Gaul is even more valuable experience provided by the French.

France to the time of Charles the Great, the feudal manor economy has been very development, eat a lot of things. Charles the Great in about 800 A.D. when he issued a management of the manor of the edict. The content is specific, detailed, comprehensive, and has a high historical value. The edict was issued for the royal manor, in addition to other significance, we can understand from it at that time the French royal family and the manor of the diet of the general situation. At that time, there were many kinds of diet.

Drinks: wine, ordinary wine, berry wine, ripe wine, beer.

Meat: beef, small pork, mutton, fat chicken, fat goose, fish.

Dairy: milk, cheese.

Cured: ham, bacon, salted meat, salted fish.

Fruits: apples, pears, plums, sorbets, chestnuts, lentils, papayas, hazelnuts, figs, cherry

peaches, grapes, raisins.

Honey: honey, natural honey, honey wax.

Oil: tallow, (lard, tallow), vegetable oil.

Seasoning: vinegar, mustard.

Fasting foods: vegetables, fish, cheese, vegetable oil, honey, mustard, vinegar, millet, jasmine, dried

and fresh greens, turnips and rutabagas, honey wax.

Flour foods: bread.

All these foodstuffs had to be of "good color, good quality and clean preparation". The tableware of the time was copper, tin, iron and wooden cups and bowls. From the above tableware can be seen Charles the Great era did not use a fork, is to eat with the hands of rice. At this time the preparation of food and eating habits have been greatly improved.

①From simple baking to a variety of cooking methods.

②Able to make pickled food and bacon and ham.

③The variety of seasonings increased, and the flavor of the dishes improved.

④There are specialized kitchens, bakeries, and wine workshops for food preparation.

⑤The technology of making wine improved.

6 Quality, hygiene, and pleasing to the eye of the food were emphasized.

⑦Wine and beer were the main beverages.

The staple food of Europeans at that time was wheat products, bread and macaroni. St. Gallin's Abbey in Switzerland was famous for its crescent-shaped bread called "Barnes Lunatia", and on Christmas Day in 1217, the citizens of Vienna offered crescent-shaped bread made of high-quality flour to the Duke of Oppold.

Macaroni, European-style noodles, production technology in the 12th century, the 13th century Jenoah wrote a cookbook, recorded the pasta cooking method, the 14th century Naples has a pasta factory. 10th century Europeans began to drink brandy and whiskey. 10th century whiskey brewing technology from the Arabian introduced to Europe. 11th century Italy has the technology to make brandy. Scotland and Ireland were able to distill whiskey from barley malt.

Christian fasting influenced European food customs in the Middle Ages, as a result of one-third of the days of the year to fast, Europeans formed the habit of eating fish. In the 14th century, when the Catholic Church designated Sunday as a meat-free day, people switched to eating fish, and sales of herring and cod increased dramatically. Curing and smoking techniques became better and better, and after the 12th century, winter herring production was the highest of any fish, and herring was a stockpile of winter food. People ate fish and beans until the spring harvest.

Seasoning was a feature of European food, and in the Middle Ages the seasoning used in cooking was herbs or medicinal herbs. At that time, Europe every year in November to make cured meat pickled fish, in order to eliminate the fishy odor in the fish and meat, people have to use seasoning. The spices that were put into the meat were mint leaves, bay leaves, sage, muskgrass, etc. In the 14th century, the book "The Parents of Paris" said that the seasoning herbs needed for egg custard were "mint and chamomile, with mint leaves, mountain wormwood, majolica leaves, fennel, parsley, beet with cordials, spinach, lettuce, and with some powdered ginger". .

European food customs example one, the early 13th century, the English lord of the manor of Mumford family left a running account, the bill indicates that the Mumford family to bread as the main food, there are a lot of meat, poultry meat, fish, and the precious grouse and pike. Rice was a rare food, locked away in a safe place.