In the eleventh and twelfth centuries trade began to expand at a significant rate, which had a profound effect on society and culture. The old system built around the self-contained manor began to break down under a variety of influences. Throughout Western Europe, rivers were harnessed, and even the sea was reclaimed. Across northern France trade fairs became important events for the exchange of goods from England to Italy and even beyond. International trade had existed for thousands of years, but it was during the Middle Ages with the rise of the merchant class that the modern equivalent of commercial trade between nations began. Medieval Europe was a constant battleground, from petty border disputes to internal power struggles and National rivalries. The Church was as much a competitor as it was a peacekeeper. Feudalism, the Roman Catholic Church and the Code of Chivalry provided the framework for the social, political and economic environments of Europe during the Middle Ages.

Effects on Western Architecture
From 1108 to 1226 three men ruled France: Louis VI (Louis the Fat, r. 1108-1137), Louis VII (r. 1137-1180), and Philip Augustus (r. 1180-1223), father, son, and grandson, all had unusually long reigns, a total of 118 years. The reigns of Louis VII and Philip Augustus nearly parallel the rise of Gothic from its beginnings at Saint-Denis to the culmination of High Gothic with Amiens Cathedral in the 1220s. 1
In spite of this apparent stability, the Capetian monarchy had to struggle to maintain itself amidst a sea of competing and feuding duchies and principalities, many of which were more powerful than the monarchy itself. Not until the end of the twelfth century, under Philip Augustus, did the Capetians consolidate their power in any permanent sense and even then the struggle with the English and the Burgundians continued for another two hundred years.

Effects on Western Art
After the period of migration (AD500 - 800) in which the art was small and personal, the Germanic tribes settled into the old Roman Empire. Intricate and organic designs dominated this period. Later, beautiful illuminated manuscripts as well as relief sculpture were used to instruct an illiterate faithful. Massive Romanesque and then richly ornate Gothic cathedrals with ethereal stain glass windows soared to unbelievable heights. The journey from pessimism and superstition to intellectual and creative revival was reflected in the changing styles of art. The new wave after wave of technological innovation, particularly in the field of communications, has created an ambiguous situation for the art world as artists have begun to recuperate the technologies of the media for their experimentation, creating new works which do not fit any previous definition of an "object d'art". It is hard to market videotape or a computer screen image. The work of artists in these areas not only questions the media and what they are doing to us, but it questions the art world itself and the relation, as it exists today, between art and culture. Part of the art world has begun retreating in the face of the proliferation of possibilities, calling for a return to the classics, which unfortunately often means a return to canvas or stone, a siege mentality in an ivory tower, turning a blind eye to what is really happening to culture today. Others are calling for a closer association with industry, particularly the media industry, in order to train practitioners and provide the necessary workers for a quick expansion into the new technological areas with an up-dated rerun of the same old media content, meaning, of course, commerce not culture.

Effect on Western Music
A very obvious effect on the western music is the way western culture has adopted parts of Asian music. Even though the west has not wholly acquired the Asian music, but they have produced a mixture of Asian and Western music by adapting to the music of the great music maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Endnotes

1. Professor of History and Political Science. Author, Hitler's Death Camps: The Sanity of Madness. Site Copyright, Dr. K. Feig, 1996. Revised regularly. E-Book

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