The number of styles and trends is huge, if not infinite. They do not have clear boundaries, smoothly transform into one another and are in continuous development, mixing and opposition. This is why it is often so difficult to distinguish one from the other. Many of the styles in art coexist simultaneously and therefore there are no “pure” works (painting, architecture, etc.) at all.
However, understanding and being able to distinguish between styles largely depends on knowledge of history. When we understand the history of the formation and transformation of Western European art, the features and historical features of each style will become more clear.
1. Art of the Ancient World: before 5th century AD
Ancient Egypt
The art of Ancient Egypt, as well as the art of Mesopotamia that preceded it, are de facto not Western European. But it had a significant impact on the Minoan and, indirectly, on the ancient Greek civilization. The characteristic features of Egyptian art are the enormous importance of the funeral cult, for the sake of which many works of art, which had a more utilitarian function for contemporaries.
Ancient Greece
Ancient ancient Greek art laid the foundation for the development of all European art in the future, creating a number of standard examples (for example, the Parthenon and Venus de Milo). The Greeks created ideal examples of classical sculpture. Significant (but having much less influence on subsequent generations) was the genre of vase painting. Painting samples Ancient Greece not preserved.
Characteristics of the visual language — ideality of appearance, calculated anatomical canon, harmony and balance, golden ratio, taking into account optical distortions. Over the next centuries, art will several times turn to the heritage of Ancient Greece and draw ideas from it.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Roman art was influenced by both ancient Greek and local Italic Etruscan art. The most significant monuments of this period are powerful architectural structures (for example, the Pantheon), as well as carefully designed sculptural portraits. A large number of picturesque frescoes have also reached us.
Early Christian art adopted iconography and types of architectural structures from Roman ones, significantly reworking them under the influence of the new ideology.
2. Middle Ages: V - XV (XVI) centuries.
The art of the Middle Ages is characterized by a decline in visual means compared to the previous era of antiquity. The onset of the Dark Ages, when a large number of both skills and monuments were lost, led to a greater primitivization of works of art.
An additional aspect is the priority of the spiritual rather than the physical, which led to a weakening of interest in material objects and to a more noticeable generalization and coarsening of works of art.
Byzantium
Byzantine mosaic (5th century)
Byzantine art was at first a successor to late Roman art, enriched by a rich Christian ideology. The characteristic features of the art of this era are sacralization, as well as the exaltation of the emperor. From new genres: excellent achievements in the genre of mosaics and icon painting, from old ones - in temple architecture.
Early Middle Ages
Art of the Early Middle Ages (until about the 11th century) created in the Dark Ages, when the situation was complicated by the migrations of barbarian peoples across the territories of the former Roman Empire.
Almost all surviving monuments from this period are illuminated manuscripts, although architectural objects and small decorative items can also be found.
Romanica
Romanesque art (XI-XII centuries) continued until it was replaced by Gothic. This was a period of increasing European prosperity, and for the first time a pan-European style can be seen, consistently found from Scandinavia to Spain.
Painting of the crypt of the Basilica of St. Isidore
Characteristics: energetic and straight shapes, bright colors. The main genre is architecture (thick-walled, using arches and vaults), but stained glass and enamel work are also becoming an important genre. Sculpture is developing.
Gothic
Fragment of a stained glass window
Gothic (XIII-XVI years) - the next international style to sweep Europe. It originated in France as the next stage in the development of architectural techniques. The most recognizable Gothic detail is the pointed arch and stained glass. Sacred painting is actively developing.
Proto-Renaissance
In Italian culture XIII-XIV centuries Against the backdrop of the still strong Byzantine and Gothic traditions, features of a new art began to appear - the future art of the Renaissance. That is why this period of its history was called the Proto-Renaissance.
Fresco "Kiss of Judas", Giotto
There was no similar transition period in any of the European countries. In Italy itself, proto-Renaissance art existed only in Tuscany and Rome. Italian culture intertwined features of old and new. “The last poet of the Middle Ages” and the first poet of the new era, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), created the Italian literary language.
3. Revival: the beginning XV — 90s of the XVI centuries.
The advent of the Renaissance radically changes ideology. The sacred fades into the background, interest in the human personality and individuality is actively manifested (thanks to this, the portrait genre flourishes). Artists and sculptors look back at the art of antiquity and try to follow its standards and objectives.
There is a discovery of perspective construction, as well as chiaroscuro. Painters simultaneously combine high technicality and skill in depicting nature with humanistic ideals, belief in beauty and attempts to create ideally balanced harmonious works.
"Birth of Venus", Sandro Botticelli
Thanks to turning to antiquity, not only forgotten genres appear in art, but also characters — ancient gods, which become as popular as the depiction of Christian characters.
Late Renaissance (Mannerism)
Mannerism is the final stage of the Renaissance ( mid-16th - 90s of the 16th century), transitional to the Baroque era. Mannerism is characterized by a loss of Renaissance harmony, a crisis of personality, and a turn to darker, twisted or dynamic interpretations.
"Descent from the Cross" Jacopo Pontormo.
4. Modern times: XVII - early XIX bb .
Baroque
Baroque (XVII-XVIII centuries), tending towards the solemn " big style", at the same time reflected ideas about the complexity, diversity, and variability of the world.
"Young Man with a Basket of Fruit", Caravaggio
The most characteristic features Baroque — catchy floridity and dynamism. The main directions, channels of the Baroque: verism (naturalistic authenticity and reduced, everyday themes, interpretation of the motif), classicism, “expressive baroque”. Baroque architecture is characterized by spatial scope, unity, and fluidity of complex, usually curvilinear forms.
Rococo
Rococo — art movement 18th century, basically courtly "cute" art.
"Dancing Camargo" by Nicola Lancret
Characteristic the desire for lightness, grace, sophistication and whimsical ornamental rhythm, fantastic ornaments, charming naturalistic details.
Classicism
Classicism arises in XVII century and develops in parallel with the Baroque.
Then it reappears during the period of the French Revolution (in Western historiography this period is sometimes called neoclassicism, since there was another classicism in France before the onset of the Baroque era. There was no such thing in Russia, and therefore it is customary to call it exclusively “classicism”). Was popular to early XIX century.
Cupid and Psyche, Antonio Canova
The style is characterized by adherence to the principles of ancient (Greek and Roman art): rationalism, symmetry, purposefulness and restraint, strict compliance of the work with its form.
Romanticism
Ideological and artistic direction late XVIII - 18th - 1st half of the 19th centuries. As a style of creativity and thinking, it remains one of the main aesthetic and ideological models of the 20th century. Romanticism originated first in Germany and then spread throughout the Western European cultural region.
"Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog", Caspar David Friedrich,
Romanticism is an aesthetic revolution. It is characterized by an affirmation of the intrinsic value of the spiritual and creative life of the individual, the depiction of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters, spiritualized and healing nature. Spread to various areas human activity. In the 18th century, everything strange, fantastic, picturesque and existing in books and not in reality was called romantic.
Sentimentalism
The state of mind in Western European and Russian culture and the corresponding literary direction. Works written within this artistic movement focus on the reader's perception, that is, on the sensuality that arises when reading them. In Europe there was from the 20s to the 80s of the 18th century, V Russia — from the end XVIII to early XIX centuries.
Pre-Raphaelitism
Movement in English poetry and painting in second half of the 19th century, formed in the early 1850s with the aim of fighting against Victorian era conventions, academic traditions and blind imitation of classical models.
The name “Pre-Raphaelites” was supposed to denote a spiritual relationship with the Florentine artists of the early Renaissance, that is, the artists “before Raphael” and Michelangelo.
Historicism (eclecticism)
The direction in architecture that dominated in Europe and Russia in 1830s-1890s It is characterized by the use of so-called “historical” elements architectural styles(neo-Renaissance, neo-Baroque, neo-Rococo, neo-Gothic, neo-Russian style, neo-Byzantine style, Indo-Saracenic style, neo-Moorish style).
5. Modern times: second half of the 19th century and — today
Realism
An aesthetic position according to which the task of art is to capture reality as accurately and objectively as possible. Originated in second half of the 19th century and was widespread until the 20th.
"The Death of Mazzini", S. Lega
In the field of artistic activity, the meaning of realism is very complex and contradictory. Its boundaries are changeable and uncertain; stylistically it has many faces and many options.
Impressionism
Art direction last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries, which originated in France and then spread throughout the world, whose representatives sought to develop methods and techniques that made it possible to most naturally and vividly capture the real world in its mobility and variability, to convey their fleeting impressions.
"Impression. Rising Sun, Claude Monet
Usually the term “impressionism” refers to a direction in painting (but this is, first of all, a group of methods), although its ideas also found their embodiment in literature and music, where impressionism also appeared in a certain set of methods and techniques for creating literary and musical works, in which the authors sought to convey life in a sensual, direct form, as a reflection of their impressions.
Modernism and avant-garde
These directions in art XX century they sought to find something completely new, to establish unconventional principles in art, through the continuous renewal of artistic forms, as well as the conventionality (schematization, abstraction) of style.
Due to the fact that there are still no theories and typologies of modernism and avant-garde (avant-garde) as literary and artistic phenomena, the range of opinions about the relationship between these two concepts varies from their complete opposition to complete interchangeability.
“Icon” of the world avant-garde — “Black Square”, Kazimir Malevich
Generally modern times in art can be characterized as a desire for everything new and unconventional. There is a strong mixture of schools and styles.
The following styles also belong to the era of modern times:
- Modern
- Art Deco
- Post-Impressionism
- Fauvism
- Cubism
- Expressionism
- Surrealism
- Primitivism
- Pop art
Historical periodization is an indispensable thing both in science and in There are certain eras that cover specific time periods. Their names were invented quite recently, after a person was able to look in retrospect, evaluate and divide past events into stages. Now we will look at all the eras in order, find out why they were named that way and how they are characterized.
Why is there a historical chronology?
This technique was developed by researchers for a reason. Firstly, each individual period is characterized by special cultural trends. Each era has its own worldview, fashion, structure of society, type of business structure, and much more. Considering the eras of mankind in order, you can also pay attention to the fact that each of them is characterized by individual species art. This includes music, painting, and literature. Secondly, in the history of mankind there really were so-called turning points, when morality changed radically and new laws were established. This, of course, entailed a change in preferences that manifested themselves in art. Such changes could be influenced by revolutions, wars, scientific discoveries, and the teachings of great philosophers and church leaders. And now, before we look at all historical eras in order, we note that our society experienced such a fundamental change quite recently. Scientific and technological progress has completely revolutionized our ideas about communication, sources of information, and even work. And the reason for this is the Internet, which ten years ago everyone could do without, but today it is a part of everyone’s life.
Antique period
We will omit the history of primitive society, since at that time there was simply no single ideology, religion, or even a writing system. Therefore, when the eras of mankind are considered in order, they begin precisely with the ancient period, because at this time the first states, the first laws and morality, as well as the art that we study to this day, appeared. The period began around the end of the 8th century BC. e. and lasted until 456 - the date of the fall. At this time, not only a polytheistic religion appeared with a clear fixation of all deities, but also a writing system - Greek and Latin. Also during this period, the concept of slavery arose in Europe.
Middle Ages
Even when the school considers eras in order, special attention devoted to the study of the Middle Ages. The period began at the end of the 5th century, but there is no date for its end, at least approximately. Some believe that it ended in the mid-15th century, others believe that the Middle Ages lasted until the 17th century. The era is characterized by a huge rise of Christianity. It was during these years that the great crusades took place. Along with them, the Inquisition arose, which exterminated all opponents of the church. In the Middle Ages, a form of slavery called feudalism arose, which existed in the world many centuries later.
Renaissance
It is customary to single out this era as a separate one, but many historians believe that the Renaissance is, so to speak, the secular side of the Middle Ages. The point is that in the end people began to cry out for humanity. Some ancient rules and morals returned, and the Inquisition gradually lost ground. This was manifested both in art and in the behavior of society. People began to visit theaters, and such a thing as a social ball arose. The Renaissance, like Antiquity, originated in Italy, and today this is confirmed by numerous monuments of architecture and art.
Baroque
When we look directly at the eras of human history in order, the Baroque, although it did not last long, occupied an important branch in the development of art. We'll look at it in more detail below, but for now let's note the following. This era was the logical conclusion of the Renaissance. We can say that the craving for secular entertainment and beauty has grown to incredible proportions. An architectural style of the same name appeared, which is characterized by pomp and pretentiousness. A similar tendency manifested itself in music, in drawing, and even in people’s behavior. lasted from the 16th to the 17th centuries.
Classicism
In the second half of the 17th century, humanity decided to move away from such luxurious idleness. Society, like the art it created, became canonized and conformed to clear rules. Classicism began to manifest itself in the design of buildings and interiors. Right angles, straight lines, rigor and asceticism came into fashion. Theater and music, which were at the peak of their cultural development, were also subject to new reforms. Certain styles appeared that directed authors in one direction or another. Below we will look at the eras in art in order and learn in more detail what classicism was.
Romantic period
In the 18th century, people seemed to be infected with a mania for beauty and unearthly fantasies. This period is considered the most mysterious in the history of mankind, ephemeral and original. A tendency has emerged in society, according to which each person is a separate spiritual and creative personality, with his own inner world, experiences and joys. Typically, when historians present cultural eras in chronological order, one of the most important places is given to romanticism. During this period, which lasted until the 19th century, unique masterpieces of music (Chopin, Schubert, etc.), literature (famous French novels) and painting appeared.
Education
In parallel with romanticism in art, society itself improved. When all eras are listed in order, as a rule, the Enlightenment is placed behind classicism. Along with the development of science and art, at the end of the 17th century, the level of intelligence in society began to increase at a tremendous speed. This was expressed in the rejection of orthodox religious norms. Instead of sacred knowledge came logic and bright reason. This greatly undermined the authority of the aristocracy and ruling dynasties, which largely relied on the help of the church. The Age of Enlightenment was the birthplace of a new philosophy based on mathematics and physics. There were a number of astronomical discoveries that refuted many religious dogmas. The Age of Enlightenment affected not only Europe, but also Russia, as well as Far East, and even America. During this period, serfdom was abolished in many powers. It is also worth noting that in the 18th and 19th centuries, women began to take part in scientific and government meetings for the first time.
Modern times
We briefly listed all historical eras in order and came to the 20th century. This period is famous for the flourishing of various numerous coups d'etat and changes in government regimes. Therefore, from a historical point of view, this era is called Since the beginning of the 20th century, we can say that society has become completely equal. Slavery was eradicated throughout the world, clear borders of states were established. Such conditions became the optimal environment for the development of not only art, but also science. We now live in this era, therefore, in order to consider it in detail, we only need to look back.
Brief summary
After we've introduced all the eras world history in order, we described them, having learned what our society was like in this or that century, we move on to the study of beauty. Indeed, in parallel with the formation of laws and state boundaries, art was formed, which for many is the main determining factor for dividing human history into separate periods. Below we will present the eras in art in order, characterize them and be able to compare a clear picture of how our society was formed from the very beginning of time. To begin with, we will generally list the main “eras”, and then divide them into separate sectors. After all, musical periods do not always coincide in time with periods of the same name in literature or, say, in painting.
Art: eras in chronological order
- Ancient period. Since the appearance of the first rock paintings, ending with the 8th century BC. e.
- Antiquity - from the 8th century BC. e. until the 6th century AD e.
- Middle Ages: and Gothic. The first dates from the 6th-10th centuries, and the second from the 10th-14th centuries.
- Renaissance - famous 14th-16th centuries.
- Baroque - 16th-18th centuries.
- Rococo - 18th century.
- Classicism. It was formed against the backdrop of other trends from the 16th to the 19th centuries.
- Romanticism - first half of the 19th century.
- Eclecticism - second half of the 19th century.
- Modernism - early 20th century. It is worth noting that Art Nouveau is a general name for this creative era. IN different countries and in various directions Art developed its own movements, which we will discuss below.
What the pen will tell you... At the origins of written speech
Now let's look at the literary eras in chronological order: the ancient stage (Antiquity and the East), the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Classicism, Sentimentalism, Romanticism, Realism, Modernism and modernity. For the first time, literary creations began to appear in Greece, Rome, and also in It was in these powers that the first writing arose. In the ancient world, myths began to appear - about Hercules, about Zeus and other gods, about titans and giant birds. Later the first philosophers, thinkers and writers appeared. These are Homer, Sappho, Aeschylus, Horace. This genre is now called lyrics, but such stories are often referred to as a historically reliable source. The world of the Ancient East is famous only for its instructive poems. However, let's not forget that it was in this part of the world that in ancient times the most important book of humanity - the Bible - appeared.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
There is no clear boundary between these periods, and there is no need for one. After all, in the years when Europe was just beginning to emerge as a state system, people had no time for art. The first manifestations of creativity in the Middle Ages were stifled by the church. Therefore, the literary heritage that we have inherited since those years is only a knightly epic. Here you can name “The Song of My Sid”, “The Song of Roland” and “The Song of the Nibelungs”. Several centuries later, the Renaissance comes, and such names as Shakespeare, Dante, Boccaccio, Cervantes become known to the world. Their stories can be called free, since there is no clear structure, and the person and his feelings are at the center of events. This is it main characteristic Renaissance era.
Formation of strict canons
When we list the eras in order, century by century, everything falls into place, except Classicism. It seems to exist outside of time, space, against the background of other currents. From the moment the classics became the basis for the work of European authors, a number of patterns appeared in writing literary works. They were clearly divided into satire, tragedy, comedy, epic, fable. We can say that since then the boundaries of creativity have been established, which we still use today (pay attention at least to cinema).
Sentimentalism and Romanticism
These two currents seem to complement each other. They are famous for their novels, which describe the experiences of the heroes, their state of mind, tastes and interests. Among the authors of romanticism, such names as Balzac, Dickens, Hoffmann, Victor Hugo, the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain, W. Scott and many others are written in red letters. In the later years of Romanticism, authors such as Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe wrote. Their stories are already devoid of sentimentality, but filled with deep philosophy.
Realism and modernism, as well as modern literature
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many trends in literature appeared. In our country they are called Silver Age, in others they were simply named according to the style of a particular work. Symbolism and decadence became the most popular. Representatives of these trends were such authors as Verlaine, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Blok. Acmeism enjoyed considerable popularity in Russia. Its main representative was Anna Akhmatova. Since then, literature has become as realistic as possible. People abandoned internal experiences and illusions. From the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, the authors describe any events from the most realistic point of view, taking into account all the innovations of progress.
fine arts
Now it's time to consider all the eras in painting in order. Let us note right away that there are much more of them here than in the literature, so we will address each of them briefly and concisely.
- Cave painting.
- Art of Ancient Egypt and the Middle East.
- Creto-Mycenaean culture.
- Antique drawings and writing.
- Middle Ages: iconography and Gothic illustrations on religious themes.
- Revival. Prominent representatives are Michelangelo, da Vinci and others.
- Since the 18th century, the Baroque style appears in painting. Vividly expressed in the paintings of Caravaggio.
- Classicism, which had been developing in the fine arts since the 16th century, was embodied in the works of Poussin and Rubens.
- Romanticism manifested itself in the paintings of Delacour and Goya.
- Impressionism appeared at the end of the 19th century. Van Gogh is considered its brightest representative, and along with him are Gauguin, Lautrec Munch and others.
- In the 20th century, painting was divided into socialist realism and surrealism. The first movement developed exclusively in Russia. The second one conquered the whole world. It is clearly visible in the paintings of S. Dali, P. Picasso and other artists of this time.
Chronology (from the Greek χρόνος - time and λόγος - teaching) - the science of measuring time, an auxiliary historical discipline that studies methods of calculating time various peoples in different historical periods. Its purpose is to give the historian correct information about the time of historical events or determine exact dates.
Today we know that the great historian of Ancient Greece, Herodotus, lived in 484-425. BC e., in 490 BC. e. Persian troops were defeated at Marathon, Alexander the Great died in 323 BC. e., March 15, 44 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar was killed in the 1st century. BC e. Virgil and Horace created. How is it established exactly when events so distant from us took place? After all, even the historical sources that have reached us often do not have a date. And no written sources have survived from more distant eras.
Historical chronology has various methods that make it possible to quite reliably establish the date of a historical event. The main condition for establishing a reliable date for a source is an integrated approach, that is, the use of data from paleography, diplomacy, linguistics, archeology and, of course, data from astronomical chronology. If when dating historical fact not taking into account all components of the study is an inevitable mistake. This makes it difficult to establish the chronology of ancient history.
To measure time, we used phenomena that repeat in nature: the periodic change of day and night, the change lunar phases and the change of seasons. The first of these phenomena determines the unit of time - the day; the second is the synodic month, the average duration of which is 29.5306 days; the third is a tropical year, equal to 365.2422 days. The synodic month and the tropical year do not contain an integer number of solar days, so all three of these measures are incommensurable. An attempt to at least to some extent coordinate the day, month and year with each other led to the fact that in different eras Three types of calendars were created - lunar (based on the length of the synodic month), solar (based on the length of the tropical year) and lunisolar (combining both periods). They became the basis of the lunisolar calendar.
In ancient times, each country had its own methods of calculating chronology and, as a rule, there was no single era, that is, counting years from a specific event. In the states of the Ancient East, the year was designated by outstanding events: the construction of temples and canals, military victories. In other countries, time was counted according to the years of the king's reign. But such records were not accurate, since there was no sequence in recording the events of the history of the country as a whole; sometimes these records stopped altogether due to military or social conflicts.
But these ancient records can only be correlated with modern chronology if they can be associated with a precisely dated (most often astronomical) phenomenon. The most reliable chronology is verified by solar eclipses. So, for example, on this basis all the events in the history of Western Asia, starting from 911 BC. e., are dated most accurately; the error, as a rule, does not exceed 2 years.
The chronology of Ancient Egypt was conducted according to the records of the reign of the pharaohs, starting from the era of the Early Kingdom of the 21st-28th centuries. BC e. However, in these records, as in the royal lists of Mesopotamia, there are a lot of inaccuracies, errors sometimes reach 300 years or more. Egyptian historian Manetho, who lived at the end of the 4th century. BC e., carefully studied and largely clarified the lists of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt based on materials from the archives of the pharaohs, and his chronology is still used in world historical science.
The same can be said about the chronology of Ancient China. In China, as in Egypt, Greece and Rome, special historical works were created, which necessarily provided chronological information. The outstanding historian of Ancient China, Sima Qiang, wrote “Historical Notes”.
In his work, he paid great attention to chronology and gave a chronological framework for the history of Ancient China - from the legendary date of the creation of the world to the end of the 2nd century. BC e. However, he did not indicate the sources and grounds for dating the events, which is why the dating cannot be considered unconditionally reliable.
The most reliable chronological systems of antiquity are the counting of years in Greek and Roman history. In Greece there was a pan-Greek system of chronology based on the Olympics. According to legend, the first Olympics took place in 776. Then the Games were successively held every four years. The connection between the dating and events of Greek history can also be traced with the dating of the reign of the archons - officials in Athens (these notes have partially survived to this day).
The reliability of Greek chronology can be considered proven subject to constant comparison of data from various historical sources, the results of archaeological excavations, and numismatic material. So, for example, thanks to the method of comparative analysis, it was established that Alexander the Great died in the 114th Olympiad, i.e. in 323 BC. e.; a year after his death, his teacher, the great philosopher of antiquity, Aristotle (384-322 BC), died.
The chronology of Rome also has its own specific starting point. The Roman era begins in 753 BC. e. - from the legendary date of the founding of Rome. Recent archaeological excavations have confirmed this date. But back in the 1st century. BC e. The Roman historian Marcus Terence Varro used the method of comparative analysis of Greek dating according to archons and Olympiads with Roman dating according to consuls. Thus, he calculated the year of the founding of Rome, placing it in the third year of the sixth Olympiad (754-753 BC).
In 46 BC. e. In Rome, Julius Caesar adopted the solar calendar developed by the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes. The new calendar contained 365 days for three years in a row ( simple years), and every fourth (leap year) is 366. New Year started on January 1st. The length of the year was 365 days, 6 hours, i.e. it was 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the tropical one. This calendar, called the Julian, was recognized as mandatory for all Christians at Nicaea ecumenical council in 325
A new attempt to create a chronology system was made only in the 4th century. n. e. Dionysius the Insignificant (he was nicknamed that way because of his small stature) proposed starting a new calendar from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, considering the birthday of Christ to be December 25, 753 from the founding of Rome.
The new era was not immediately recognized in the world. For a long time the countdown here coexisted with the countdown from the “creation of the world”: 5508 BC. e. - according to the dating of the Eastern Christian Church. The Muslim era even now begins from the date of the journey of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (622 AD) - according to the Muslim calendar, now only the 14th century begins.
Gradually, chronology from the beginning of our era (from the conventional date of birth of Jesus Christ) was accepted by most peoples of the world.
But the difference between the tropical and calendar years gradually increased (every 128 years by 1 day) and by the end of the 6th century. was 10 days, as a result of which the spring equinox began to fall not on March 21, but on 11. This complicated the calculations church holidays, and the then head catholic church Pope Gregory XIII carried out a reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 according to the project of the physician and mathematician Aloysio Lilio. A special papal bull ordered that after Thursday, October 4, skip 10 days in the count and consider the next day to be Friday, October 15. In order to prevent the day of the equinox from moving in the future, it was prescribed to exclude 3 days from every four hundred Julian calendar years, so the leap year system also changed. Of the “century” years, those whose first two digits were divisible by 4 without a remainder remained leap years - 1600, 2000, 2400, etc. The Gregorian calendar is more accurate than the Julian calendar; a difference of one day accumulates in it in 3280 years. During the XVI-XVIII centuries. it has been adopted in most European countries.
The calendar of the ancient Slavs was lunisolar; The counting of days within months began from the new moon. Two years had 354 days each (12 lunar months 29 and 30 days each), and the third year - 384 days (354 + 30). The beginning of the year occurred on the spring new moon (around March 1). The names of the months were associated with the change of seasons and agricultural work: grass (when the first spring grass sprouted), serpen (harvest time), leaf fall, jelly, etc. With the introduction of Christianity, the Orthodox Church adopted the Julian calendar and the era from the “creation of the world” ( The church, according to Byzantine tradition, dated the “creation of the world” to 5508 BC). The New Year (since 1492) began on September 1. This time reckoning system lasted until the end of the 17th century, when Peter I carried out a calendar reform. He moved the beginning of the year to January 1 and introduced the era from the Nativity of Christ. Now it is accepted in historical science and is called new era(AD).
The introduction of the generally accepted era and the January beginning of the year facilitated trade, scientific and cultural ties for Russia. However, the Julian calendar was preserved, and already in the 19th century. Russia felt serious inconvenience due to calendar isolation. Privately, the Gregorian calendar was used in the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, railways, internal affairs, the commercial and navy, as well as astronomical meteorological services. The government and the Orthodox Church opposed the Gregorian calendar, since its canons and accounting of chronological cycles were associated with the Julian calendar.
The calendar reform was carried out after October Revolution 1917 The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars determined that after January 31, 1918, it should be considered not February 1, but February 14. Now we celebrate the New Year twice: January 1 according to the new style and January 13 according to the old style.
The development of chronology continues on the basis of the systematic use of achievements of archaeological, paleographic, linguistic and other research methods, which will ultimately make it possible to clarify the still controversial dating of the history of many countries.
Date reduction
- 1. Translation of dates of the Byzantine era.
- a) Dates of the September year. If the event occurs in the months from January to August, 5508 years should be subtracted; if the event occurs in the months from September to December, 5509 years should be subtracted.
- b) Dates of the March year. If the event occurs in the months from March to December, 5508 years should be subtracted, and if it occurs in January and February, 5507 years should be subtracted.
- 2. Converting dates from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
- a) Dates are translated by adding to the number of the month:
- 10 days for the 16th century. (from 1582) - XVII century,
- 11 days for the 18th century. (from March 1, 1770),
- 12 days for the 19th century. (from March 1, 1800),
- 13 days for the 20th century. (since March 1, 1900) - XXI century,
- 14 days for the 22nd century. (since March 1, 2100).
- b) In the 21st century. the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars will be 13 days, as in the 20th century, since the year 2000, which ends the 20th century, will be a leap year both according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The difference will increase only in the 22nd century.
- c) The number of days changes when converting dates from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar due to the additional day that ends February leap year(February 29), so the difference increases from March 1.
- d) Centuries end with years with two zeros at the end, and the next century begins with the 1st year - 1601, 1701, 1801, 1901, 2001 (3rd millennium), etc.
- a) Dates are translated by adding to the number of the month:
HISTORICAL ERA
HISTORICAL ERA
HISTORICAL ERA is a unit of periodization of the historical process that qualitatively distinguishes the period of human development. There is no unambiguous periodization of history by era. Already the division of past, present and future can, with some justification, be represented as a division into historical eras. During the Renaissance, science identified such periods of history as Antiquity (Antiquity and the Ancient East) and the Middle Ages. Later, the concepts of new and contemporary history appeared. The Middle Ages ended with the fall of Constantinople, and from that moment the countdown of a new history began. Enlightenmentists called the Middle Ages the time of the dominance of religion and theology. For Marxists, the Middle Ages are feudalism. In modernization theories, this is characterized as the era of traditional societies.
Modern times are divided into stages based on specific events, for example: from the English Revolution of 1640 to the French Revolution of 1789, from 1789 to the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, from the Congress of Vienna to the defeat of the revolution of 1848, from 1849 to the Paris Commune of 1871, from 1871 to the October Revolution 1917. In modernization theories, the periodization of the New Age looks different: 1) the era of mercantilism, the seizure of trade routes, world trade, the colonization of other peoples; 2) the era of bourgeois revolutions, the formation and flourishing of capitalism; 3) the era of early industrialism (after the 1st industrial revolution); 4) the era after the 2nd industrial revolution (the use of electricity, the conveyor belt in the early 20th century, the discovery of radioactivity, etc.); 5) the era of the scientific and technological revolution, which began in the mid-50s. 20th century
The criteria for identifying eras in Marxism were formations (see Social formations) and periods of class struggle. Therefore, he distinguished certain stages within the formation (the era of pre-monopoly capitalism, the era of imperialism).
Lit.: Lenin V.I. Imperialism as the highest of capitalism. - Complete. collection cit., vol. 27; Marx K. K. criticism of political economy. - Marx K., Engels F. Soch., vol. 13; SpengderO. Decline of Europe, vol. 1, Image and. Novosibirsk, 1993; Savelyeva I. M; Poletaev A.V. History and time. In search of the lost. M., 1997; NeisbittJ. Megatrends. Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives. N. Y, 1983; Eisenstadt S. N. Introduction: Historical Traditions, Modernization and Development.- Pattern of Modernity, vol. 1, The West. L., 1988; TofflerA., TofflerH. Greating of New Civilization. The Politician of the Third \\ave. Atlanta, 1995.
V. G. Fedotova
New Philosophical Encyclopedia: In 4 vols. M.: Thought. Edited by V. S. Stepin. 2001 .
See what “HISTORICAL ERA” is in other dictionaries:
EPOCH (from Greek epoche, lit. stop), a period of time in the development of nature, society, science, etc., having any characteristic features … Encyclopedic Dictionary
Brezhnev and his era. Historical background- Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born according to the new style on January 1, 1907, but officially his birthday was considered December 19, 1906 ( old style), and his anniversaries were always celebrated on December 19, perhaps to avoid coincidence with the New Year. He was born... Encyclopedia of Newsmakers
Historical is the largest unit of historical time, denoting a long period of human history, characterized by a certain internal coherence and only its inherent level of development of material and spiritual culture. Next... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
- “The Age of Innocence” USA, 1993, 133 min. Aesthetic historical melodrama. Martin Scorsese is the eternal loser of the Oscar ceremonies. This time, neither his film nor the director himself were even nominated for this award: an honorary... ... Encyclopedia of Cinema
era- About the period of social and cultural upsurge; about a happy time. Blessed (obsolete), brilliant, brilliant, stormy, important, great, majestic, heroic, grandiose, loud, glorious (obsolete and ironic), significant, ... ... Dictionary of epithets
Noun, g., used. often Morphology: (no) what? era, why? era, (I see) what? era, what? era, about what? about the era; pl. What? era, (no) what? eras, why? eras, (I see) what? era, what? eras, about what? about eras 1. An era is a long... ... Dictionary Dmitrieva
Historical feminology- (women's history, women's history) a direction of historical knowledge that formed into a separate field of its own in the mid-70s. XX century The subject of historical feminology is women in history, the history of changes in their social status and... ... Gender Studies Terms
Scientific discipline, the task of the swarm is to compile history. maps and atlases, development of methods for their creation. Use of cartographic research method for historical purposes. science has led to the widespread use of history. maps in history and historical and geographical... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia
HISTORICAL PROSE- HISTORICAL PROSE, works by historians who set as their task not only the establishment and understanding of the facts of the past, but also a bright, living depiction of them; a type of scientific prose. In the ancient world they distinguished big shape historical... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary
The era of Stalin is a period in the history of the USSR when its leader was actually J.V. Stalin. The beginning of this era is usually dated to the interval between the XIV Congress of the CPSU (b) and the defeat of the “right opposition” in the CPSU (b) (1926 1929); the end falls on... ... Wikipedia
Books
- The era of Peter I from head to toe. Educational card game, Stepanenko Ekaterina. Kings, scientists, statesmen and generals - 14 most important characters of the first quarter of the 18th century in one deck! A fun and exciting historical game will introduce you to the heroes of that...
Depending on the point of view on the object of study and the processes taking place, historical eras in order may not be located at all in the sequence to which ordinary people are accustomed. Moreover, even the zero reference point can be placed in a completely unusual place.Start of countdown
What is "History"? History is what is written down. If an event is not written down, but is transmitted orally, then it is a tradition. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to assume that historical eras relate only to the period of human civilization when writing was already invented. This is one of important factors, which separate historical eras from geological ones.Following these arguments, the beginning of the countdown of historical eras will start from the moment of the invention of writing. But at the same time, the tradition of writing should not be interrupted.
In particular, there are samples of writing that date back 8 and 7.5 thousand years. But they were not continued, but were just local manifestations of the power of human intellect. And these letters have not yet been deciphered.
The first records deciphered to date appeared in Egypt, approximately 5.5 thousand years ago. These are clay tablets that were in burials. The names of the deceased were written on them.
This writing was no longer interrupted in time.
From this moment, the order of counting historical eras begins.
Historical eras in chronological order
In each isolated region of the Earth, writing appeared in its own historical period. We will analyze the culture closest to us - European. And its origins, through the Cretan civilization, go back to Ancient Egypt.Please note that when considering Ancient Egypt As the ancestral home of European culture, we are isolated from geographical landmarks. According to the “Theory of Civilizations” prof. A.D. Toynbee, these structures have the ability to develop, give life to other civilizations, and in some cases fade away or degenerate into other cultures.
This means that the beginning of the chronology of historical eras will be the middle of the Chalcolithic.
1. ancient world, with a total duration of approximately 3000 years, including:
· The Copper Age, which ended approximately 3,700 years ago.
· Bronze Age. Ended 3100 years ago.
· Iron Age. Lasted until 340 BC.
· Antiquity. With the fall of Rome in 476, the era of the Ancient World ended.
2. Middle Ages. Lasted until approximately 1500 (duration ≈1000 years). The beginning of the end of the Middle Ages was marked by:
· Massive resettlement of the educated part of the population from Byzantium to Europe.
· Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
· The emergence of the Renaissance. Perhaps it was this factor that was the foundation on which modern capitalist civilization, with its vices, was formed.
3. New time. This era lasted about 400 years, and ended at the end of 1917 with the October Socialist Revolution. During this time, the cultural and moral state of society has undergone incredible metamorphoses.
If at the beginning of modern times, the center of the worldview of an ordinary person was God, who created man, the whole world, and in general, was the measure of all things. Then after passing the era
· Renaissance, through the works of Thomas Aquinas, theology began to be perceived as an ordinary scientific discipline, not tied to God. Then, the champion of Rationalism, Descartes, proclaimed the postulate: “I think, therefore I exist.” And in the finale, G. Cherbury concluded that Christianity is an ordinary philosophical teaching. This marked the beginning of Deism. Then followed
Voltaire added a drop of fuel to the fire of reformatting consciousness, who argued that it was not God who created man, but man invented God. This marked the beginning of a schizoid split in the minds of an entire civilization. After all, on Sundays everyone went to church, and there they admitted that they were sinners and unworthy. But on other days, they were equal to God.
And although now people began to be considered the measure of all things, people began to feel the lack of a spiritual and mystical component in their lives. And appeared on the threshold
· The Age of Romanticism. Reason was pushed to the sidelines, and feelings and emotions began to dominate, replacing spirituality. Hence the uncontrollability, the desire for risk. Dueling was almost legalized. The image of the “noble savage” was formed.
Feuerbach graduated from this period with the postulate: “Feelings are nothing, the main thing is to eat tasty and satisfying food.” And then it was the turn of women’s emancipation. Meanwhile, they are ontologically the guardians of traditional values.
4. Modern times. This period continues to this day, almost a hundred years.
Curious patterns
According to the calculations of prominent scientists, during each of the eras described above, approximately 10 billion people managed to live on the planet. But the phenomenon of compression of historical time, with each era, reduced its duration by 2.5-3 times.There are suggestions that for humanity to transition to a new formation, a certain amount of knowledge and technological innovation must accumulate, which in turn lead to a qualitative leap.
Prof. S. Kapitsa, derived the formula for population growth for the entire planet: N(t)=200 billion /(2025-t). Where N is the number of population at a given time, and t is given time. Two constants: 2025 and 200 billion people, were obtained by several scientists independently of each other.
This formula allows you to construct the following graph of population growth on Earth:
And it coincides with information about the population that historians provide with varying accuracy.
According to this concept, S. Kapitsa argued that approximately in 2025, there should be a certain phase transition in the development of human civilization, which will be accompanied global changes in all areas of life.
