The Muscle Song Chapter XNUMX The Middle Ages without fear

On the development of the institution of chivalry and the mutual relations between the church and the monarchy

For all the episodes of the series the song of the muscles

The Middle Ages is a period like all other periods, whose duration is subject to controversy. The earlier ones traced its beginnings to the fifth/sixth century AD and the later dates back to the 11th century. The earlier dates their end in the 15th century and the later ones - in the 17th century. And each school of thought has its own logical arguments. The huge difference between the historical definers stems from the very complexity of the period and the bitter fate it knew.

The bitter fate? The very definition of its title - the Middle Ages, or the Dark Ages - brings to light its inferiority compared to other eras, and not it. The period knew a deficient late reference, as if the period in question was a kind of transition era, hollow and nothing.

The period was marked by constant struggles between the two leading factors, and at least in Europe: the church on one side and the monarchy on the other, but the Christianity of the monarchy from the beginning of the ninth century reflected the nature of the mutual competition, one that knew ups and downs over time, and at least until the 13th century - the failure of the Crusades and the growth city ​​in Europe.

The church, as a dominant factor in Europe, has from the beginning developed an averse and even disapproving attitude towards physical activity. From the fact that she emphasized the inferiority of the body ("the body is" - in other words - "the instrument of sin") in front of the superiority of the soul with the slogan "the shadow of your spirit"; From the fact that she disapproved of all physical activity in the Greek and Roman style due to its pagan foundations, and from the fact that she remembered the horror and shuddering that sends a chill how her believers were thrown, at the time, prey to the teeth of the lions in the circuses of Rome. The church reacted with disgust and vigorous distaste for the manifestations of sports, with the exception of ritual worship dances (still immersed in missionary work and wary of dealing with ancient norms that prevailed widely among the rural population), even these sometimes faced severe critics, like Saint Augustine, who died with sharp sarcasm: From dancing".

In the course of time, the church returned and flexed its positions as an inseparable part of its missionary, ecumenical trend, in its expanding quest to integrate well, and successfully, in the struggles for carrying the crown of European and world hegemony. That's why the world of Christendom raised the company of the monastic orders, which came together under the name "Soldiers of Christianity" or "Spiritual Athletes". This company attached importance to physical activity on the purely utilitarian level. That is, one that may serve and serve as a solid message for the spiritual-ideological activity in the sign of Christianity and forge the monk (the object of everyday small things) for physical work in agriculture and crafts. "Laziness" - claimed St. Benedict - "is the enemy of the soul and therefore the monks must be constantly busy either with manual labor or with studying the Holy Scriptures".

With this sign, the Hospitaller and Templar orders developed a positive approach to "tournaments" (more on that later) and even took part in them. Monks and priests engaged themselves, among other things, in various ball games such as bocce and a kind of hybrid between football and rugby (called "sol"), which gained great popularity in France and infected churches and monasteries with its craze.

The changing circumstances of the period left their mark, as stated above, on the church's position towards physical activity, in other words: the expression of the struggle between the church and the secular elements (the monarchy and the aristocracy); The deep and energetic desire to overshadow the institutions of feudalism in the spirit of Christianity and the desire to successfully deal with the reality that was beset by incessant wars and unrest on the roads. These foundations served as a complex lever for the growth of the chivalry class (most of whose principles were already formulated and shaped since the days of Charlemagne at the beginning of the ninth century) under the spearhead of the Christian gospel. The society of chivalry, the cavalry, the warrior, placed physical activity at the navel as an ideal and as a means of togetherness. However, unlike the classical Greek, the knight did not search for the ideal proportion and symmetry as a sign of the perfect body, but drew more from the legacy of the ancient Roman society and strived to achieve a designated goal - the fulfillment of his military obligations, i.e. the war for the purposes of the church. The society in question should not be identified as a mere warrior, but as one that promotes ideals and social values ​​for the repair of the damaged social fabric.

As a sign of this mission, chivalry was thoroughly immersed in the seal of fairness. The French aristocracy, for example, strongly opposed bows, since it is not a "chivalrous virtue" to strike an enemy from a distance. This criticism had nothing to do with displays of courage and heroism.

Although the chivalric ideals were influenced as mentioned by the sermons of the church (the knight, according to the latter, is the defender of the faith, the one who is called and saved under the banner of the church to go on a crusade against the unbelievers, the infidels), the chivalric society came out with a strong protest against the public education that groaned under the influence and shackles of the church, and between Capello was no place for physical activity.

Gone is the church curriculum, which centered on the seven liberal arts (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy), chivalry offered its own "seven" arts: riding (including lifting objects from the ground while riding and galloping), swimming and diving , archery, climbing, tournament hand-to-hand combat, wrestling, fencing, long jump with right and left foot as a proven means of improving fencing skill, table manners, dancing and court manners. These values ​​left a deep mark on the European aristocracy even long after the decline of the period of chivalry in the 13th century and on the urban society that inherited it.

The chivalrous physical amusements, which have a military dimension and a high level of risk, were manifested, for example, in an acrobatic inversion ("salto") in full armor but without a helmet. But above all, the "tournament" stood out, which was a festive and colorful sporting duel between pairs of knights armed with long javelins, who galloped in front of each other, and their goal was to knock the opponent off his horse's back. The first to lead the "tournament" was the emperor Theodoric in 534 and the British king was surprised by him in 933.

The duel originally served as a dominant element in Teutonic-Germanic law. To say - a lawsuit between the two parties was decided according to the "law of heaven", that is, by holding a duel between them. In the course of time, the sharp swords gave way to wooden poles (bayonets) with blunt heads, and the trial - to a colorful sports competition. This is how the tournament was finally born.

It became known that other amusements and competitions have a military-training aspect, such as a cavalry unit trying to block the path of a rival cavalry group. The latter was manipulated in order to break through the blockade; "Stealing the flag", protects the command tent from the attacking or sneaking unit of the "enemy".

The decline of classical chivalry was marked by European urbanization (13th/12th centuries onwards) which placed at the center of Goethe concepts different from those of the Church (on the liberal level for example). Fortifying the cities with walls made them a kind of independence and sharpened their independence from the aristocracy and the absolute ecclesiastical umbrella. It should also be noted that social sensitivity has strengthened within the municipal framework.

These data and the slow decline of chivalry used a lever to redirect the chivalric physical activity from the purely military level to the almost sporting one (a very common phenomenon in the history of sports). Examining urban imitation of physical activity in the courts of the knights and aristocracy, physical culture became an integral unit in the private, courtly education system (and more on that later).

A sport that gained great popularity among the townspeople was playing ball, mainly because of its social leverage. The ball games were defensive and various accessories were then born that were associated with these games such as gloves, rackets, goalposts and more. Inter-city rivalries (when it was the best time for the city to grow on the basis of the collapse of the fortress-castle society) and the phenomenon of the crowd of enthusiastic spectators gave great tension and interest in the games, such as the football or the "sol".

Urban growth laid the foundation for the phenomenon of professional guilds. The above data and the fact of the loyalty of the members to the trade union prepared the ground for holding sports competitions between the guilds (and today - leagues for workplaces), when the competitive-professional motivation between the guilds greatly sharpened the sports rivalry.

The concern for the security of the city led to the establishment of local militias that emphasized archery training. This branch grew out of competitions and amusements that included target shooting, hitting birds and objects thrown into the air (which would later become a modern sport called clay pigeon).

A perusal of the following text will clarify some interesting points. This is about the explicit instruction of the British King Edward III (1365) in connection with the war against the French: "We visit you... the townspeople... on leisure and holiday days to practice archery. You are forbidden to engage (in those days) in throwing (manual) stones... handball, football... or in other foolish games which are of no use... no, you will be punished with imprisonment...".

First - we learn about the almost natural transition between weapons and sports accessories. Second - we are aware of the prevalence of ball games. Third - we also learn about the routine of leisure activities on holidays and vacations.

The growth of the cities was accompanied by the establishment of secular schools (outside of the control and supervision of the church) which established a respectable place for physical activity, with a special affinity for local festivals, including Hetholiim amusements such as "cockfighting" (taking the opponent off balance by standing on one leg for a relatively long time, with the hands clasped on Chest). During the summer holidays, the boys practiced jumping, wrestling, throwing stones and playing ball games, and in the winter they skied on the snowy slopes and skated on frozen rivers and lakes.

With the urban boom that was, as mentioned, a sign of the decline of chivalric society, competitions that cost mass-popular status, unlike the uniqueness and virtue of chivalry, took the first place, such as archery, tennis, bowling, cricket, golf and football (the ball was carried by the players in their hands, as the rugby today and hit him). We should also mention an amusement whose knightly origin is not in doubt and whose name is "carousel" and is "riding" on wooden horses.

The villagers found an outlet and an escape from the various tensions that were their lot in the Middle Ages in family and public events. The folk festivals overflowed with a variety of physical activities such as running, jumping, throwing stones, ball games and other amusements such as running and spinning with the legs in a sack, running with heavy bells sewn into the pants, throwing long stakes and more, such as can be witnessed today in traditional celebrations throughout Europe. Many and varied dances were also common (but couple dances were not yet allowed) accompanied by musical instruments and singing.