The extravagant style of European castle life prevails, and modern people are envious of European castle life, and can't help but think of it: on the vast grassland stands a magnificent and magnificent castle, surrounded by mighty knights riding high-headed horses and wearing armor, and inside the castle there are noble ladies who are as enthusiastic as fire, princesses with elegant and shy veins, and elegant and exquisitely dressed maids...
Preface
The 14th and 16th centuries, the well-known european Renaissance, opened the curtain on the modern history of Europe, and was a European ideological and cultural movement that reflected the demands of the emerging bourgeoisie, which reached its peak in the 16th century. Widely spread, spread to most of Western Europe, the old customs and regulations were gradually abolished, feudal ideas gradually changed, it can be said that the European poor people's landmark change period, known to the people of the world, the impact is very large.
Prior to this, The history of Europe is also very long, and the most distinctive is the Castle of Europe. The castle is very distinctive, the architectural style is unique, and today, reflected in the photos or pictures, people with a little historical knowledge can recognize it as a European castle at a glance.
European castles
The "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Andersen's Fairy Tales" that I read when I was a child have very detailed descriptions of the castle, and everyone is also very yearning for the castle inside. As far as the reality of Western Europe is concerned, the main theme of medieval Western Europe is castles and knights, and the noble knights have castles, manors, armor, ladies, and a few young maids to oil. The knights lived in beautiful ornate castles, armed with perfumed ladies, surrounded by a group of beautiful maids, and occasionally participated in competitions or other aristocratic activities, showing the authority of the nobility.
This is actually just a scene after the Renaissance, and before that, what was the castle life of the noble knights like?
Medieval European castle life
Unfortunately, dreams are generally very full, but the reality is very bone, and the aristocratic life in the Middle Ages is not as comfortable as you think.
First, the medieval castle
Let's start with medieval castles! The appearance of the castle was due to the defense of war, and at the beginning it was not an ornate court, but a military fortress used to defend. The castles are fortified by rocks, surrounded by deep trenches, guarded by iron gates and drawbridges. Medieval Europe, war and strife, very not peaceful, so in order to defend this land or homeland, they exerted human wisdom, in a dangerous location or fortress to build a defensive castle, indeed can make the uninvited guests who peek at the wealth of the nobles daunted, but not necessarily let the castle owner live comfortably, where will there be livable military fortresses under the sky?
The function of the medieval castle is mainly in the following aspects:
1. Build the castle to facilitate long-term fortification. The castle was built in a very special location, most of which were built in steep terrain, such as cliffs, mountain tops, traffic fortresses and dangerous places, small islands in the middle of the river, and so on. Most of the places where the castle is located are inaccessible. If your castle is located on a rugged hilltop, there will be "a top of the mountain, with a panoramic view of the mountains." "The mind is broad, but in fact, a trip back and forth can exhaust people to death." The materials used in the castle, such as food, water, and daily necessities, required a large number of servants to do it. Therefore, the servants in the castle are still very hard. And the castle nobles only need to plunder more wealth to title the castle's expensive operating expenses.
2. Guard against enemy bows and arrows and trebuchets. There are few window holes in the outer wall of the medieval castle, so the interior of the castle is not as bright and bright as everyone thinks, it is always dark, the sun cannot be sunburned, and it is naturally very humid. Coupled with the limitations of the level of construction at that time, there were inevitably cracks in the walls and roofs, which leaked badly on rainy days, which in turn caused the cleaning of the castle to be very problematic. It is well known that medieval Europeans also had poor concepts of hygiene. Inside the seemingly majestic castles, there are usually dust, cobwebs, bed bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, flies and household garbage, and the quality of life is very poor.
Mighty knight
Second, castle life
In the castle only the nobles could sleep in the bed. In the poorer places, usually only the owners of the castle were entitled to sleep in the beds, and the others, even knight's attendants, could only sleep on straw piles like cattle, and by the way, they were bitten by bed bugs with their horses...
It is conceivable that before the Renaissance movement, the quality of life in the castle was still very poor, because it was built for the needs of war. Seeing this, everyone will ask, that Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle is not at all as mentioned earlier, not so tragic, but a diametrically opposed scene.
The European hierarchy in the Middle Ages was very strict, which can be seen in the way of eating and drinking in ordinary times.
The tradition of using food to distinguish between the noble and the inferior was common in Europe, for example, spices were a symbol of the nobility, they could enjoy the spices, while others could not, and only the nobles were eligible to waste food. Nobles and rich merchants are two different classes of people, if you are a rich merchant, but because you do not have aristocratic status, you are also subject to the prohibition of luxury. Thus, even if they could afford to pay for expensive "imported" food, they could not enjoy it like the nobility, which was also a microcosm of medieval European feudalism.
Third, modern castle life
After the Renaissance, that is, the 18th century, the new castle was built, and the level of construction at this time was a leap forward, basically a gorgeous castle built of concrete, and even a court. These were basically funded by the rich nobles who liked to be stylish.
Gorgeous chateau
The most famous modern castle is Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
It was the work of Ludwig II. It has the reputation of the crown of European castles. From Neuschwanstein Castle, you will see a vast landscape of Falgassee, the Algäps and Füssen. It looks very spectacular and beautiful, and has a very noble temperament, and is compared to "the place closest to a fairy tale", which can be imagined in the charm of this castle. And it was because of this castle that Ludwig II's life was destroyed and his rule ended. Because the castle cost too much money to the ministers and local lords, these people united to depose and exile Ludwig II, and finally drowned him in Lake Starnberg.
European luxury
Look at their lives.
1. Meals
The nobles paid special attention to dining, and even the wind of comparison prevailed, each nobleman was very particular about the noodles and aura, the scene was usually very grand, not only had a person responsible for passing on the dishes, but also had music to increase the atmosphere to show its nobility. When eating, the table etiquette of the nobles is also very strict, the younger generations should serve the elders to eat, the youth should be respected by the elders, the men must take care of the ladies, and the men should show gentlemanly demeanor when eating, to avoid any feminine behavior.
Generally, the status of women is very low, the more honorable the banquet, the more strict the system, the lady is almost unable to go to the feast table, only the most distinguished guests can bring female relatives to attend. However, even the hostess of the host's house can often only eat with her side, so as not to have an unseemly manner during the meal, affecting the dignity, elegance and nobility of its image.
Aristocratic dining
2. Castle interior. Medieval castle interiors were generally very simple, and by the late 15th century, Europe used carpets more in floor decoration, which improved the disadvantages of tile cold feet, so it was more used in bedroom decoration.
However, although the carpet is relatively warm to the feet, it is extremely easy to get dirty and difficult to clean, so the Europeans invented slippers specially worn indoors, indicating the ingenuity and concept of Europeans in the decoration of the house.
3. A life of erosion
Unbridled indulgence in public. In the annual festival, indulgence is not ordinary, ordinary people can not imagine. In some public social situations, indulgence is also unbridled.
In the 1570s, a very special "dance club" appeared in the City of London. According to Ward, the members of the club are mainly "thugs, prodigal sons and ji women" and "the membership of this club is unlimited, as long as you can twist your ass and limbs together, you can participate in this activity." He also wrote: "Twisting your ass with music is not only a dance, but more importantly, it has other meanings." Participants often dance to the point of madness, the main purpose of which is to pursue x excitement, when they are bored dancing and want to play in a different way, men and women can enter the rooms specially prepared for them hand in hand to further "revel".
As this ethos spread, so did crime. At that time, some wealthy fallen people built secret strongholds to lure the good ladies to go and defile them. For example, Colonel Chateris in England had a secret room in Hornby Castle, which was guarded and served as a secret place for fun. And William Douglas, known as "Old Q" and so on, is a well-known part of the nobility, which is quite absurd.
European noblewoman
4. Aristocratic socializing. Among the European aristocrats, socializing was a very important activity, because at that time their social interaction had two purposes, one was to socialize with the connection between aristocratic families, and the other was that social interaction reflected the rise and fall of European families and the level of hierarchy.
The more luxurious the pomp and circumstance and the thoughtful hospitality, the more a family status is reflected. Aristocratic families also defaulted to such socialization as withdrawals of status.
The nobles hoped to gain the favor of their guests through warm hospitality and excellent service, thereby expanding their family power and consolidating their family status, while also establishing tacit friendships with other nobles. This reflects the earlier rules of the social circle, through social to reflect the status and financial strength, but also through social to make friends with noble status, in turn to consolidate their own strength.
epilogue
Although the castles in Grimm's Fairy Tales and Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales have been found, only similar appearances have been found, and the scene inside the castle is far from the same. I hope that the castle culture in Europe can return to the fairy tale as much as possible, abolish the bad culture, give the local people a kind of spiritual sustenance and yearning, and respect, and jointly move towards the future of civilization!