"During the "Middle Ages", from 476 to about 1100, European civilization slipped into semi-barbarism". It was a very hard and bad time, but a lot of historians debate about if Europe was in a "dark age" or not. The evidence states that Europe was a dark age. There was a lot of evidence that states that Europe was not in a dark age.
The Middle Ages were a time where kings and nobles owned the land and serfs worked with little pay. Serfs were like slaves that worked on a farm (Doc. 1). They got one day to farm for themselves and the other six they were working for their king or noble (OI). Nobles and kings had knights called vassals (OI). Vassals were knights who protected and served kings and nobles in exchange for land (OI).
Religion started to play a major role in the Middle Ages as Charlemagne and many emperors from the Ottoman Empire started ruling under the title of The Holy Roman Empire, giving religion power since the pope has the ability to crown emperors. The church, becoming powerful and wealthy, was able to gain more and more followers and believers. This led to conflicts between the church and the states throughout the rest of the Middle Ages, as both powers believed that they have more power than the other. To control the chaotic situations from within and out of the empire, feudalism was created. Feudalism developed during the Middle Ages, being able to keep the economic and political conditions stable.
According to H. C. Davis’s description of the positive aspects of the middle ages [Document 7], the culture wasn't perfect but in the long run it served as a great influence to other countries. They thought highly of education which is why they took the time to study and flourish in topics, such as philosophy and law. New thoughts formed from the translated works of Aristotle which contributed to Europe's Medieval Universities. All in all, topics grew and became more elaborate over time which strengthened society. Finally, as topics advanced and became more intricate it wasn’t long until they opened a center of learning.
The castles, the kings and queens, and the gallant knights most of us would like to live in that time of knights and princesses, but there are many downsides. The Black Plague, the widespread poverty, and the fact that the majority of the population was uneducated were all major flaws in this time. Would you really want to live in Medieval Europe? Doctors tried unsuccessfully to get rid of the illnesses around them. They had no books to read or books from other doctors they only used trial and error with their patients.
In the Middle Ages, the power of people impacted the society, because of the Feudal System. In other words, the rankings of people. There were four groups. The Kings and Queens were at the top, then the nobles, the knights, and last peasants and serfs(Doc. 1). Serfs and peasants had very little land given and they even had to provide food that they farmed for the knights and nobles.
" The middle ages were a time of war and chaos, so people think. Even though the Black Death and the Crusades took place during the time period between 500 and 1500, the middle ages were mostly a time of prosperity. The building of universities, the signing of the Magna Carta
The term dark ages means to be in a time of war, isolation, and sickness, and was first coined by the Petrarch of Italy by comparing it to Rome, the most powerful, wealthy empire known to Europe. During the time of 500 AD through 1500 AD, Europe was in a time of disease, chaos, war and instability. On one hand, people argue that Europe was in a Dark Age, but on the other hand, some historians oppose the idea that Europe was in a growth age. Our own belief is that Europe was in a Dark Age.
After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE, it led into the Middle Ages. Commonly referred as the Dark Age, Europe was in a time of reformation. Many have used the “Dark Age” as a synonym for the Middle Ages, due to the lack of education and unethical actions that occurred during 500 CE to 1500 CE. The Middle Ages weren’t so dark as it seemed, it was a duration of reconstruction, acquired learning, agricultural boom, technology improvements and architecture.
The Dark Ages consisted of invasion, and loss of trade and government. “The barbarians have broken through the ramparts. The Saracen [Moors] invasions have spread in successive waves over the South. There is no longer any trade, only unceasing terror...society has no longer any government,” (Doc. 1). These problems led to the decline and therefore this period of time was named the Dark Ages.
In the History Channel's documentary "The Dark Ages", the Early Middle Ages is portrayed in many ways that aren't consistent with actual history. The History Channel portrays the Early Middle Ages as The Dark Ages. The Early Middle Ages was not the actual Dark Ages because, the real Dark Ages was in Greece in 1100-759 B.C.E. when Greece collapsed. However, History Channel's, "The Dark Ages" was supposed to be around 500-1000 C.E. History Channel makes The Early Middle Ages appear as a gloomy, dark, "hellish" time. I'm class we discuss how The Early Middle Ages was a time of art, development, and education.
The medieval times lasted from the 6th century to the 16th century. The medieval era wasn 't a pleasant time for people to be alive as it was a time were punishments and trials were really harsh and dangerous. During this time, it was easy for people to commit a crime. Crimes that are now seen as something insignificant were perceived as a horrible offence such as sleeping on the streets and talking behind peoples back. The society in the medieval times were organized by the feudal System.
Is ‘the Dark Ages’ an appropriate term to describe the Middle Ages? The term “Dark Ages” is not an appropriate term to describe the Middle Ages. When you think of the term “Dark Ages” what do you think of? For me, I think of a very dark and scary time where crime swept the world.
The phrase Dark Ages may refer to the historical time period that was originally used for the Middle Ages. The term came about five hundred years following the fall of Rome. During this time Rome and other surrounding cities really broke down because of different invasions from barbarians who were from northern and central Europe. Since there was no real authority with the power to really protect any of the citizens in these cities, the population declined tremendously at this time. Because of the lack of authority the development of the feudal system greatly suffered.
The dark ages were the period between approximately 500-1500 A.D. It began shortly after the demise of the Roman Empire and it came to its conclusion once the Renaissance in Italy began to surface. It is labeled the dark ages by numerous scholars because during this period there was a shortage of literary and scientific studies. Other scholars believe that the label is false and the term dark ages is not an accurate description of this time. However, it was not branded the dark ages due to just it’s lack of literary and scientific advancements.
