Were the Dark Ages really dark? The Dark Ages are thought to have started at the fall of Rome, in the year 415. The Dark Ages ended at the first crusade where armies tried to recover the holy land of Jerusalem in the year 1095. Many people think that the Dark Ages weren't as dark as most people thought they were. Sarah Pruitt made a “History” article talking about why the dark ages weren't dark, and instead a period of time where there were many discoveries. In her argument, she stated that the idea of the dark ages came from later scholars who were heavily biased towards Ancient Rome, the time was a boom for agriculture, there were great advances in science and math, and the Carolingian Renaissance saw a flowering in art, literature, architecture, and other cultural realms. That is true, all that happened in the time of the dark ages and the name “Dark Ages” were named by biased scholars. But during the dark ages, there were Warlords and their struggle to be Emperor, outside forces raiding and/or attacking Europe, and the worse being The Bubonic Plague, or also known as the infamous Black Death. The Dark Ages were centuries of chaos, destruction, horrible plagues, and stagnant population growth.and it should be considered one of the worst periods in human history to live in. …show more content…
The emperor ruled over everything and when this fell, the concept of one man ruling the world still remained. It was this aspiration to rule over everything that perpetuated the darkness of the times. Lords from all over Europe were engaged with each other in battles for land and power. This battle lasted centuries and it meant a constant drain of resources and a standstill in cultural growth. Argument 2: Outside Forces Raiding/ Attacking
When people associate things with the word “dark” there mainly referring to things that are evil, bad or have an evil look. So when you put the label “Dark ages” on the Middle ages, you make the assumption that it was not a good time. But you’d be mistaken, it was completely the opposite. Though not much revolution took place in the early Middle Ages, the people were happy and content, and "the Dark Ages" just doesn’t fit with that, it’s not a accurate label to put on the Middle Ages.
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;
There is many examples of evidence to support how Europe wasn’t in a dark age. To support this claim there are some examples. The Government ,The Rise of University, and the Gothic Cathedrals shows that Europe was not in a dark age. One reason Europe was not in a dark age was because if it was in a dark age they wouldn't know to stand up for themselves. They also had a lot of money, even though King John took it all proving that they were not in a dark age.They were also beginning to request laws so they can have some rights. According to the Black Death Documents,"To all free men of our kingdom we have also granted, for us and to our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs.”Another
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.
In the 1300's, an Italian scholar named Petrarch used the term, "dark ages" to describe Europe in the middle ages.People think that Petrarch used this term to describe Europe in the middle ages, because it seemed as if everything was turning/going bad. Not everyone agrees with him, some people think that the middle ages in Europe was in a growth age instead of a dark age. There were good events, like economic growth and education got more significant. But, there were lot's of bad things like, government order and the Black Death, so it is a debatable topic.
The dark ages were considered dark because of the countless times Europe’s been invaded. “... the heathen broke in upon the Christians at many points, but more than 12,000 of them died. Another party of invaders devastated Gaul, and more than 600 of them died” (Doc C). This all happened in the same year (845) and just shows how often Europe was invaded and ravaged. This evidence was from the abbey of Xanten records, which was made at the time and is a primary source. “The heathen from the North caused trouble in Christendom as usual and grew greater in strength” (Doc C). The records say that they invaded as usual, which shows how frequently they were invaded and how routine it was. They were so terribly secured and a main cause of this was
After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was no main dominating force in Europe to enforce laws and protection for the people. The Middle Ages had begun and without the Romans, life became centered around survival. The destabilization caused rates of illiteracy, disease, and deaths to rise dramatically and to remedy the average peasants worry, the feudalism system flourished and required work in exchange for the safety of manors. Yet while there was not a overlooking empire to look towards for authority, the Catholic Church served its role to bring all classes together (Document 6). The Middle Ages will be ultimately known as an age of faith because of the prevalence of violence, power of religion, and the Catholic Church’s preservation of knowledge.
To illustrate, there was a lack of government. According to Document A, “The chief cause of this decline was lack of a government which could keep order.” This means that without a stable government, Europe was unable to run itself, and therefore led it to a dark time. During this period, there was also an abundance of violence. Document A states, “The Germanic Kingdoms, which had been set up by 476, were unable to suppress violence.
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. It killed many people in Europe with their symptoms of buboes, fever, vomiting, and psychological trauma due to the many people dying. According to document B, it states, “There the plague sat like a lion on a throne and swayed with power, killing daily one thousand or more and destroying the population.” This accurately shows Europe is in a Dark age because Europe faces epidemics opposed to a Growth age where people have good health. The crusades also shows Europe in a Dark age due to the massive amount of killings that had occured during that time period.
Some refer to the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages”. I could not find this more wrong. I think that even though documentation of this area is void, doesn’t automatically mean that it was void of advancements too. Today, I will use three documents: a picture of Joan of Arc, a map of the major trade routes of Afroeurasia, and an excerpt from the Magna Carta. With these I will prove that the Middle Ages were not just a Dark Age in history.
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
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
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.
There is so much proof to prove that Europe was in a dark age for example the bubonic plague, crusades, and unfair laws. It was a dark time, because people had started to slowly die off and thousands had died. The disease also had spread really fast, for example¨In all the city there was nothing to do but to carry the dead to a burial¨.The crusades are a series of Christian attacks to Jerusalem, which was in Muslims control. Jerusalem is a holy place for Judaism, Christianity and Islam and all four religions wanted control of Jerusalem.Because of this hundreds of thousand of Jews, Muslims and Christians died. “ men rode in blood up to their knees ”.Another thing that had caused it to be a dark age was the rules and laws the king had made. You
Even though You can fight for what you want, it is not always good for everyone., All Europe bad things were happening because There was too much fighting and not enough helping each other. and There was too much fighting and not enough helping each other.