The time period between 400 CE to 1400 CE in Europe could be objectively proven to be a ‘Dark Age’ for the first six centuries, but starting in the 11th century, advances in technology and education started to create upwards growth in culture and quality of life; therefore, this millennium was more of a ‘transition period’ than a ‘Dark Age’. Document A, an excerpt from the textbook “The Record of Mankind”, stated that from around 476 CE to 1100 CE, most of Europe became overrun with “turmoil and confusion, . . . ignorance and lawlessness”. The textbook explained the cause of this barbarism to be from an absence of government, which could have maintained peace and order (Document A). Crime increased exponentially; this contributed to a decline
Between the years of 500 A.D. and 1400 A.D., there were constant invasions and wars often broke out. One of the important invasions included the Vikings’ destruction of Dordrecht (Doc 3). They had raided coastal villages, capturing people and burning everything as they went. The fall of Rome had left the cities with an unstable government, a lack of education, and an increase in diseases. The Black Death had occurred around 1347 A.D., and had caused an increase in deaths, a lack of social interaction, a loss in faith, and the start of anti-Semitism (OI). The disease spread throughout the entire body and caused sores and inflations to appear, which then led to death (OI). Since people were so afraid of catching this disease, they began to avoid interaction and trade became weaker; therefore the economy had a sharp decline. The lack of social interactions, decline in trade, increase in diseases, and constant invasions are reasons for why the Middle Ages were commonly known as the Dark Ages.
The first piece of evidence is “There is no longer any trade, only unceasing terror…” (Doc 1) An explanation for this quote would be there is no government control exchanging of resources only vandalism. This supports the sub-thesis because it tells people about anarchy during the dark ages. The Dark Ages were about anarchy, vandalism, and killing this is why the Dark Ages were the worst. The second piece of evidence is by Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and in the passage it states that “Great slaughter in London an Quentovic and in Rochester” (DOC 3) An explanation for this quote would be that during the Dark Ages there were a lot of deaths. This supports the sub-thesis because it shows how bad that time period was. In conclusion, these quotes prove that the Dark Ages was the worst time period to live in because of all the killings and
The American Cyclopaedia uses the term “intellectual depression” to describe the history of ‘the Dark Ages’. Historians thought that this era was a time without education and had many deprivations but that was only in the beginning of that time. Historians
First, “The Dark Ages” was the time that followed the collapse of the Western Roman Empire but before the Renaissance from the 5th to 15th century. Very few writings survived during the Dark Ages, so most believe that people during this time were illiterate;
The dark ages, a time period spanning from 500 AD until 1500 AD, is commonly perceived as the worst time in history, solely because of its name. When asked “What is the dark ages generally known for?” many people respond with the black plague or great famines. The main reason for this title is in fact due to a lack of written records and documents lost to history. In reality, the dark ages were not really that dark because a humanitarian king shaped European ideals, religion kept culture alive, and many historical and scientific progressions occurred.
There are many good events that occurred in Europe during the middle ages, but there are also many bad events during the 500's-1500's. Even though many good events occurred, Europe had to face bad events like the government unable to keep order then and danger grew out of hand. Along with the black death, this made it to wear Europe had almost fell and the population went down, killing thousands day by day. There were good times in Europe and bad times in the middle ages, but, was it in a period of growth or a Dark Age, one could argue saying it was in a dark
In the 1300s, Petrarch, an Italian Scholar used the term "dark ages" which applied "dark" and "light" to describe the period. Historians kept wondering " Was Europe really in a dark age from 500 to 1500"? The ongoing argument involves events such as the Crusades, The Black Death, the signing of the Magna Carta, and the building of universities and cathedrals. But although, there was destruction and prosper. While Europe had long lasting improvements, it was still a lot of destruction, during this period.
The Dark Ages “According to their custom the Northmen plundered…and burned the town of Dordrecht…the Northmen, with their boats filled with immense booty, including both men and goods, returned to their own country “(Document 3). This was from a chronicle of articles written by the Anglo Saxons who inhabited great Britain in the 9th century. The chronicle of Anglo Saxons was a book of their history and what happened during their lives. The Middle Ages was a time period between the 5th and 15th century. The age started after the Western Roman empire fell and ended when the Eastern Roman Empire fell.
During the 400-1400 CE, there were barbarians and Vikings that killed many people, plagues that were fatal, and cruelty that was all around. Yet that wasn’t the only things that happened. A dark age is a time of cultural decline. In spite of the cruelty, there were many good things like a judicial system, schools and education, and architectural advancements in gothic cathedrals.
Europe was seen as being in a Dark Age. It is known as a time where there were wars, disease, and pure chaos. The term “dark age” was coined by Francesco Petrarch, who compared it to the classical period before the dark age, which was full of innovation. He came up with this because during 500 to 1500 A.D it was utter chaos, death and war, and people were brutally killed and slaughtered. In the year 1095 A.D., the Black Death was in full swing and the Crusaders were set out to capture the Holy Land and conquer the Muslim Turks. The people were set out for blood and it caused several crusades for two whole centuries. Europe has been through war and sickness. Because of the economic structure of Europe during the time, this can be seen as a dark age.
Were the dark ages actually dark and disastrous for 1000 years? Upon asking people what happened during the Dark Ages, many would say that it was a time period full of war, barbarism, famine, destruction, and plague. However, the dark ages had many advances in technology and education. Like all time periods, the Dark Ages had its perks and its downfalls, just more intense and exaggerated that when passed on from generation to generation, the stories may change or be slightly altered. There are many first hand evidence that and facts about this time period that shows a structured economy, trade, construction, trade, education, and happiness. In this essay, I will show you 5 different reasons why the Dark Ages weren’t as horrible as you may
Beginning with fall of Rome in 476a.d. the first half of this millennium is referred to as the “dark ages”. In society, all power flowed from the king with the approval of
In the year 476 A.D., Rome officially fell as the greatest and most thriving empire at the time. The time period following this downfall was called the Middle Ages, more infamously recalled as the Dark Ages; but were these years truly as dark as historians say? These medieval times lasted for approximately one thousand years, could such a long time period have been all that dreadful? The answer will soon become clear. The Middle Ages deserved to have the alias of the Dark Ages because there were several severe illnesses, the monarchs were cruel, and the crusades brought the death of many.
Barbarians to Angels written by Peter Wells is an enlightening read that sheds light on to what really went on during “The Dark Ages”. The written word during 400-800 AD came from educated citizens of the Roman Empire and their recount could be judgmental. Many historians are led to believe that Barbarians destroyed Roman and everyone suffered from acts of violence, a mass migration, disease, starvation, and this was the way of life for hundreds of years. But Peter Wells goes beyond the information in the written accounts and looks at the actual archaeological evidence. He uses this information to help visualize life that went
In his article “Plague and crime: Bologna, 1348-1351”, Trevor Dean examines a series of trial records covering the 1340’s for the city of Bologna, Italy in an attempt to analyze the effects of the plague on criminal behaviour in the years of the Black Death and its aftermath. It was during this period of time that the Black Death ravaged through Europe, ultimately resulting in the decimation of a large portion of the population. The author draws upon Bolognese trial records from the 1340’s that provide us with a rough outlook on the status of law and order in times of alleged chaos as a result of the plague. The article argues that as a result of the plague, crime went down. The first part of the article focuses on plague and crime in history