MANIFESTATION OF THE UTOPISM OF MILLENNIALIST TEACHING IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRIES OF WESTERN EUROPE OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of the medieval utopia in the line of millenarian doctrine. According to the logic of the study, the author begins his analysis of the issue by studying the specifics of the perception of time and history by medieval man, as a result proceeds to determine the essence of millenarianism, its characteristics. The peasant uprising in Germany in 1524–1526, led by Thomas Munzer, is considered as an example of the utopianism of millenarian doctrine. The author draws attention to the fact that utopia in the medieval society of Western Europe did not have a significant level of manifestation. We are talking about the influence of religion on all spheres of society at that time, which was expressed in the specifics of worldview based on religious canons. Christian culture at this time offered a slightly different interpretation of time and historical process, in contrast to the previous era. The ancient cyclicalism of the historical process was rejected, at the same time declaring its irreversibility, because everything that happens in the New Testament version of time is a series of unique, inimitable phenomena. We are talking about the linear perception of time, its completeness, which is expressed in the eschatological doctrine. Of course, in such conditions, utopia, acting as a product of human consciousness, received a new sphere of formation of its ideal. In this case, millenarianism became the religious and ideological basis for the formation of the utopian ideal. The ideal world here is the world that will come after the second coming of Christ. In this perspective, the protest character of the millenarian movement of T. Munzer has a pronounced utopian character, because here we see that the purpose of his movement was the need to change the existing social reality and embody the utopian ideal. Aimed at the struggle against the feudal lords, the radical peasant movement was regarded by T. Munzer as a struggle between “good and evil”. The ultimate goal of which was to achieve a perfect social status.