One may consider the Middle Ages to be a “Dark Age” because of the lack of technology, knowledge, and present-day necessities that many people today cannot live without. Putting oneself in a serf’s or noble’s position during the 1400’s is not easily done, but one can imagine the difficulty and frustration a person would have not knowing what was happening in the castles and government that controlled their society. A poor choice/decision a monarch made had a trickling yet direct effect on the citizens working the land and offices, but these people could not become aware of political problems through the click of a mouse. Like in London, citizens had to rely on noble men/aldermen in town who were involved in parliamentary meetings, and these men made changes in their societies based on the king’s decision(s) in these meetings. In “The Globe” for example, Alderman Jacob Ducket delivered the news to a horrified Meredith that all theatres were to be closed, as decided by the city council. In many ways, people were left in the “dark” after unfair laws and restrictions were passed. There was not anything they could do to change a king/noble’s mind, they were merely townspeople. Similarly in “Hampton Court”, in 1533 King Henry forced those who reluctantly took an oath to Catholicism to take it again, or else be condemned to death (if they did not declare loyalty to the religion). People either had to abandon their traditional religious practices, or be sentenced to a gruesome death. How much darker can a predicament become?
There is also the matter of medical practices during the Middle Ages. The majority of medicinal exercises were based on spirituality or common thought, and usually failed to heal the patient… these practices would more often than not harm the patient, or result in fatality. Doctors were certainly around, but were especially needed during “the most devastating natural disaster in European history”: The Black Death. Unfortunately, many of them fled to try and hide from the disease with their families, unwilling to help the sick. The mid-fourteenth century plague tore Europe’s economy and people apart for years, and only centuries later was it able to fully recover. Certainly during this “dark age”, medicinal knowledge was urgently needed, but unavailable. Even with a basic understanding of how the disease spread and what it inflicted, effective cures could not be conjured. However, basic medicine was coming along developmentally. Before the Plague, discoveries were being made like the syphilis treatment created by a Jewish doctor in “The Whorehouse”. Jewish doctors were believed to be the best because “they had access to the ancient knowledge of the classical world and the Middle East” (386), and were also thought to be “less prone to superstition” (386). But Jews were persecuted, and eventually expelled from England by King Edward I in 1920.
The Middle Ages were a "dark" period in many ways – people simply did not know enough about the world, the human body, and the way things work. Wars and times of turmoil, traumatizing disease and economic instability all eventually led to understanding as people learned what can and cannot happen in society.
The question of whether or not the Middle Ages should also be known as the Dark Ages is an interesting one. I think that the Middle Ages could definitely be described as the Dark Ages for a number of reasons. First of all, the lack of technological and medical advances is a large contribution to the depressing time known as the Middle Ages. If there was any a time to need so many cures and treatments for diseases, the Middle Ages was that time. The Black Plague took the lives of an unbelievable amount of people during the time. However, since the doctors were so inexperienced and lacked knowledge of what was causing the plague and how to stop it, there was very little to be done for the many unfortunate people who were infected with the plague. Also because of lack of medical attention, it was very common for women to die during childbirth. People who were very sickly or diseased basically had to either wait for their sickness to pass or wait for death to take them because there was simply nothing for them to do. Lack of technology also had a great affect on most of the cities. Today if we want to know what is going on with the government we can simply turn on the news or go on the internet. Back then, the only people who knew what was going on in the government were those who were part of it. Normal middle to low class families did not have an idea of what their own government was doing. To us this just seems crazy because the government has a direct effect on our everyday life and it did back then too. To not know what was happening in ones own government was another point that made these times even worse. Another factor that made the Middle Ages a dark period was the treatment of women. Women were treated as nothing more than just a baby-maker back then. Men would marry women who were of a popular family so they could make their own status higher. They would expect women to get pregnant when they wanted them to and they would always want a boy to continue the family status, because God knows women could never be thought of as important back then. Men would cheat on their wives weekly, like it was completely normal and in those times, it was normal. Though women did not like it, they would never do anything about it. They would still obey their husbands and let them sleep around with whomever they wanted as long as they didn’t leave their wives. I think the most depressing part of the matter is how normal the disloyalty to ones spouse was. Perhaps this was also because most marriages were arranged at the time. Another aspect that made the Middle Ages dark was that everyone had to obey the government. Though we still today obey the laws the government has made, those laws have come a long way from the Middle Ages. Whatever faith the King was, is what faith you had to be. And if you were not practicing that faith, you were to be killed. If you did not agree with everything the King believed, you would have one chance to change your mind and if you did not, you would be killed. If you disobeyed any of the King’s orders, you would be killed. In those times you either had to give up what you believed or be killed. How can it be much worse than that? I would definitely say “The Dark Ages” is a fitting description of “The Middle Ages”. The lack of medical attention led to a great decrease in population. A lack of knowledge and technology deprived the citizens from being aware of what was going on in their country’s government. The poor treatment of women led men to believe they were inferior and women to believe they were merely put on this earth to please a man. Lastly, the failure to obey the King’s wishes always led to death. The Middle Ages could not have been a much darker period.
The term "Dark Age" is a very manufactured term when compared to today's advancements. Some would call the Middle Ages a Dark Ages because of the lack of necessities and commodities that we use today. So one would describe it as a Dark Ages because our time is so many times more advanced in terms of technology, knowledge, and modern day conveniences. There are many reasons people would consider this statement justified in that the Dark of Middle Ages were very caste system-like. Except for a position in the military or the clergy, it was pretty much impossible to rise through the ranks, starting as a peasant or a trader to gain success and wealth for his family. So the feudal sense was very "dark" in that it stayed the same for the most part.
Another reason considered for the Dark Ages was that most people outside of the clergy and high ranking military officers, the illiterate citizens greatly outnumbered the literate. The sharing of knowledge and going to universities or even school for young kids was almost invisible in certain lives. In many cases the child had no chance of going to school right from the beginning, instead working to help the family.
Another greatly persuading argument was a lack of medical knowledge and experience. Many forms of "healing" were thought up, and in some cases the treatment was more painful than the disease. When the Black Death rolled around, the doctors had no clue of how to stop the epidemic. It was almost purely just a lack of sanitation and proper cleansing. The fleas and rats would be in their houses infecting them. The staggering lack of medical knowledge is another reason for the Middle Ages to be referred to as a Dark Ages.
So in simple terms, the world did not know enough about everything to prosper enough. To get the most out of everything. The Middle Ages is referred to as a Dark Ages due to the lack of technology and knowledge, medical practices, and the ability to rise up in social classes.
While the Middle Ages can be accurately described as a “dark age” when considering Europe’s immobile feudal system and the corrupt Roman Catholic Church, there were other aspects of the Middle Ages where “dark age” would be an incorrect title, such as some technological/educational advancements. First off, the feudal system was a social structure which proved detrimental to English society, making the term “dark age” an accurate depiction of the Middle Ages. In this system there were three estates, and everyone in each estate had obligations to the estate above them. In addition, once one was born into a certain estate, they could rarely ever move up a social class. London depicts some of the problems of these three estates in “The Mayor.” This chapter shows how many people are becoming more obsessed with their social class than their own family ties. It is more important for a person to seem rich and be in a high estate than it is to love and cherish their own family. For example, David Bull is ashamed of his father because he’s not a noble. Rutherford says, “From now on when he looked at his father…despite the fact they were father and son…he would secretly despise him”. This is only one example showing how the feudal system ripped up family units. Another aspect of Europe which made the Middle Ages a “dark age” was the Roman Catholic Church. This institution controlled most aspects of life during this time, and it soon became very corrupt. For example, in “The Saint”, Michael Bull becomes a monk in Westminster Abbey. However, he soon finds that the inner workings of the church aren’t what they claim. The monks had made fake documents glorifying Edward the Confessor’s life. Michael Bull became appalled at the corrupt workings of the church and didn’t want to forge documents, so he chose to leave. However, considering every aspect of the Middle Ages to be a “dark age” would be a false title, due to the advancements made in England during this time. A major technological advancement was the start of the Exchequer in the 1100’s. This was a system that keeps records and finances for the king. In “The Saint”, Mr. Silversleeves is used in this system because he has a good memory, and is therefore able to remember all the numbers dealing with finance. This is a huge advancement for London because in the early Middle Ages, England had no central way of dealing with finances, as described in Clive Ponting’s “World History” article. Ponting describes how this contributes to Europe not being able to participate in trade because they have no organized currency/credit, and they therefore fall behind in the technology spreading throughout Asia. So, the exchequer was one good installment of the Middle Ages that helped England prosper in trading. Lastly, there were scientific advancements made during the Middle Ages. In “London Bridge”, the new theories about astronomy are described. Educated men knew the earth was round, and they knew the planets rotated. Overall, while many aspects of the Middle Ages were dark, that term cannot be used to describe the whole time period due to some technological and educational advancements.
To label the Middle Ages as “Dark” is quite accurate. This time in European history is characterized by a lack of technology and decline of the arts. The late middle ages were not only a difficult time for the people who lived through them, they were also quite primitive.
In this Era of human history, people lived mostly day to day. This can be attributed in for many reasons to the onset and recurrences of The Black Plague. People in the time of the Black Plague couldn’t focus on leisure activities, so there was really no reason to open attractions such as museums. However, the museum was an incredible asset to any art loving citizen. This was quite evident in the time of the ancient Romans. The availability of art to citizens in that society led to an increase in the culture and appreciation of the arts during that time period. In Dark Ages Europe, and especially in England, this was not the case. In “London,” the museum wasn’t mentioned until very late in the story, and generations after the end of the Middle Ages. The decline of the arts in England in this time could definitely be classified as “Dark.” Not only was this a time period low in arts and sciences, people had no idea if they would live to see their next birthday. The Plague and its recurrences decimated all of Europe. To call these times “The Dark Ages” is definitely fitting.
The Middle Ages were also a time of poor trade in England. England had very few valuable materials, because they exported mostly raw goods. The largest export in England was lumber. While lumber was very important, it was also very easy to come by. England didn’t do as much trade as their neighboring countries, especially those on the European mainland. The lack of a hard currency in England was detrimental to their trading abilities, and left them out of the enormous trade markets of the time period. To combat their inabilities to do major trades on their own shores, England had to create its own fleet of trade ships to go and buy goods from foreign ports. A good example of this is the slave trade. Ships were sent on journeys taking months to go and bring slaves back from Africa. This is shown quite clearly early on in “London” by the huge numbers of slaves being bought and sold by landowners. If land needed to be worked, usually the task fell on a slave of some sort. The lack of hard currency, like Gold and Silver, was probably the biggest problem for English trade. While Gold or Silver retained value from China to Spain and beyond, English currency might not. This caused a lot of problems for citizens of English towns, as well as for the nobility and rulers themselves.
The time period of the Middle Ages was definitely a dark time in European history. From the lack of trade to the decline in appreciation for the arts, Europe really suffered a drop in cultural advances, as well as technological advances, during this era. To label these times as a “Dark Age” is very accurate.
During the Middle Ages there was a great decline in art and a lack of technology and medical knowledge. Especially compared to the present, it would seem that these ages were correctly labeled as a "Dark Age". Without the medical knowledge that was discovered in later years, disease destroyed much of Europe such as the Black Plague which had no cure and killed a mass amount of people. Along with this, success during these times was hard to come by. Most who were not a member of the clergy or a noble were almost guaranteed to not have the chance to move up in ranks.
In addition to these reasons, literacy during this time period was not common. For the most part only clergy men and nobles were able to read and write. This causes a society that's mainly uneducated and not very smart therefore resulting in a period without advancement in most educational fields such as technology and medicine.
With the lack of knowledge of medicine came very unsanitary conditions of living. People were very dirty and did not clean nearly as much as they do today because they did not understand the importance of good hygiene. This is a big reason why this time period was labeled as the Dark Ages, because the dirtiness and dark colors made it not very appealing.
Lastly, the feudal system had a very negative effect on the society. People were born into families stricken by disease and poor living conditions. This way of life gave little to no chance for people to move up in society or become educated and literate. This also was a huge factor in why this period was such a "Dark Age".
Due to all of these reasons, it would definitely be fitting that the Middle Ages can be referred to as a "Dark Age". The lack of technology and basic necessities made the standard of living extremely low, and lack of knowledge in almost all educational fields proved to be detrimental to society as a whole. These reasons basically sum up why it was so hard for people to prosper and survive during the Middle Ages.
After reading London by Edward Rutherford, most people interpret the Middle ages as a Dark Age. There are many reasons as to why people see it this way including the lack of medical knowledge and the bubonic plague. When the plague struck during the 14th century, it seemed as if an enormous portion of the population simply just disappeared. This was not only due to the horribly dangerous nature of the infection, but also to the lack of knowledge about the plague itself. Doctors simply were clueless on every part of the plague; they didn't know how it spread, what caused it, or how to properly treat it. Despite the medical technician's best efforts, almost no one could be saved once they received the disease. The plague was a major factor as to why the Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages. People relate the plague to a dark, negative connotation of the Middle Ages, which is one reason where the era draws its infamous name.
Another reason as to why the Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages is the gruesomeness of society. If one were a low-level citizen such as a serf or a peasant, life itself was a tough thing to deal with. Serfs were forced to work for the land the lived on, and in some cases could be related to slaves. Peasants faced unfair judgment and excessive government involvement in their lives. A great example of this crude higher power was the poll tax. The poll tax assessed everyone in society an unfair amount, and led to deadly riots which was why the poll tax was inevitably eliminated for good. Unfair judgment, especially in terms of the court, was also a major factor upon these peasants. Peasants could easily be blamed for crimes and sentenced to harsh punishments for something they did not do. Higher ranks in society such as nobleman and knights could simply pay their way out of trouble in the court or use their higher power as blackmail. This unfair government and judicial system was another major factor as to why the Middle Ages were seen as dark.
The Roman Catholic Church was also an attribute to the Dark Ages. Although it was the major religion during the Middle Ages and it still is a major religion today, it was unholy to say the least. The level of corruption between the church and state was unheard of. Some kings of England forced their subjects to swear oath the religion. The clergy were usually the literates of society as well, so they usually educated those who were illeterate and spread their beliefs that way. The church also falsified documents and scriptures to better fit what they believed. All in all, the church and government created a corrupt way of life for the people of the Middle Ages.
Many have often claimed that the “Middle Ages” of Europe as the “Dark Ages”. To their credit, this time was one where disease was out of control, Feudalism was firmly implanted, and it seemed as though all of Europe was constantly fighting among itself. The “Dark Ages” implies the false connotation that there was absolutely no progress during this time, and that the people of Europe merely wasted away. However, despite all of this, I believe that this time does not entirely deserve the title of dark for two basic reasons. Although Europe was curiously discovering technologies through trial and error, European society is to blame for the lack of serious progress. As Rutherfurd pointed out in many of his stories, the people of Europe are that of pride and honor. Although there were times in European history with very little hope, the citizens of Europe gradually began the long road to recovery. It was in these attempts of recovery that launched a new culture. Silversleeves in the chapter “The London Bridge”, although considered pathetic for his interest in alchemy, is actually a prime example of the willingness as well as the curiosity that got Europe back on its feet in the Renaissance. Silversleeves was not deemed respective at all in his hobby, but unlike the connotation that the Dark Ages brings, he was making progress. Alchemy was just one of the bizarre methods many relied on to bring life back to normal in the late Middle Ages. It was the curiosity that Silversleeves demonstrated that became the gate way to many achievements in medicine, art, and the economy. Europeans were constantly looking out for new ideas to make them rich, even though there were times when it seemed to be an utter waste. Yet, it was in these taboos that some of the greatest works were created as well. The Canterbury Tales for instance was a byproduct of the growing unrest among the social structure, and to this day remains one of the most influential books in the founding of modern English. Similar to Silversleeves, Chaucer showed determination, and perseverance in this time many claim to be a dark age. However, in the chapter “The Whorehouse” it is clear to see the workings of the medieval society. There are those like Dionysius Silversleeves, who constantly keep the feudal society at its status quo, despite the challenges faced by the peasants in their day to day life. Like many women of the lower estate, there weren’t many options that led to prosperity. It was either become a prostitute, or become homeless. In choosing prostitution, many women were faced with ridicule that made it increasingly impossible to rise up the ranks of society. There to ensure this, were those with very little morals; such as Silversleeves. The 12th, 13th and 14th centuries are marked by this lack of attention and compassion towards the majority of the people in Europe. The kings were out to protect their own “cultural heritage” as well as the noble minority. There was no embracement of the lower class, whom had the very ideas to bring Europe out of the constant recession. While living in the lap of luxury, the wealthy only had the plague to worry about. The peasants of society were left to deal with Pneumonic Plague, excrement filled streets, and little to no education. It was this dark quality of this time that seems grants this period the title of the Dark Ages. The argument of what to call the medieval time period is indeed a valid one. Although progress was slowed, and society was in a heap, the perseverance shown by many men and women seems to almost undo the argument of calling this point in time the Dark Ages. Either way, London has shown us that, similar to this time period, there’s always two sides to the same coin. While one may claim this era as either “Middle” or “Dark” as their own opinion, it is almost impossible to point out the pros, without mentioning the cons.
After reading London I understand why the Middle Ages were considered the Dark Ages. Europe had a fixed feudal system and a crooked Roman Catholic Church. Though these parts of the Middle Ages could be titled the Dark Ages, medicine and new findings in the medical field would not fit under the title of the Dark Ages.
The feudal system was focused on the Three Estates. The first estate was the Church, the second were those who fought for the Church, and the third were those who produced food for those who prayed and fought for the Church. In Medieval times the Church controlled everything and everyone. The biggest issue was that the Church was corrupt. The Church was able to control society and government and through this were able to gain wealth in Europe. The Church would sell materials that people of the time believed came from the “true cross” to become wealthier. Next to selling fake materials they also sold indulges. The Church gave the Middle Ages the title of the Dark Ages.
Not everything was entirely dark in the Medieval times. Their medicine may sound preposterous now helped save lives in their time. Herbs and spices were big components in medicine. Leeches were used to stop an open wound from bleeding and are still used today to prevent blood clots.
Though the Middle Ages fall under the tile of the Dark Ages, there were advancements that are mistitled. At the time the Roman Church was the root of evil, but the people were taught to believe the Church derived by God. The development in medicine resulted in a major step forward for Medieval physicians.
There are many reasons why one might classify the Middle Ages as being “dark”. These reasons include a lack of medical and technological knowledge as well as a terrible social system and the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. The Black Plague hit England as well as the rest of Europe very hard. For at this time there was no cure, in fact the doctors of this time did not even know what caused this disease. Lack of medical knowledge also contributed the extremely unsanitary conditions of this time. There was no concept of hygiene during the Middle Ages. This is one reason this period became known as the Dark Ages because of the outward appearance of dirt and filth surrounding everyday life. A person’s social class was a deciding factor in how they would live their life in the Middle Ages. The social system of the time was very set and most people once born in to a class could not move up or down in this system. For many people social class was everything to them and they took it very seriously. One character in London, Ida, represents the importance of social class to some people. She was the daughter of a knight and as a widow she was to be remarried. She was very upset when she found out the man she was to be married to was only a merchant, meaning he was a lower class than she. In present time this would not be very uncommon or a serious issue, but during the Middle Ages it was rare and not tolerated by many people. Another aspect of the social system that made this time a dark age was the treatment of woman. Women at this time were regarded as much lower than men, they could make no choices for themselves and had no freedoms. The Roman Catholic Church helped the Middle Ages become labeled as the Dark Ages because of its high level of corruption. The Church had little to no tolerance of other religions in the time period. Often it would force people to convert or they would suffer serious persecution for their religions. In one chapter of London, by Edward Rutherford it talks about a Jewish doctor being the only one who could cure syphilis, a common disease in the “whorehouses” of London. This chapter continues by one of the characters suffering from syphilis with no help from a doctor because the Jews were pushed out of London. Events like this show how the actions of the Roman Catholic Church negatively affected the advancements in the field of medicine and most likely in other aspects of life.
The Middle Ages was a time of intellectual darkness. A lack of knowledge led to a number of problems, including medical, political, and social issues. The people of this time period simply did not know enough about the things they were dealing with to properly solve for these challenges, for example, the Black Plague.
As far as medical concerns, the Black Plague was the most significant of the time period. Physicians could not explain why the disease was so deadly, how it arrived in Europe, or how to cure it. Almost every victim who contracted the severe disease did not survive, despite the tireless efforts of the doctors of the time. They lacked the medical technology and education that did not develop until a later time, to learn and/or understand the proper way to handle the crisis. This deadly occurrence combined with unexperienced physicians left everyone in the dark on how to react and control the outbreak.
As well as health issues, people of the 14th century also faced problems surrounding an unfair social class system. They were all born into what was known as the feudal system, dividing citizens into three estates based on their families' rank in society. At the highest social class were the nobility, giving them special opportunities and benefits. Next came the members of the clergy, those who were involved in the church, and could also read and write. At the bottom of the spectrum were the peasants and serfs, who were illiterate and forced to work land for a noble or lord. This social group made up a majority of the population. With this system in place, people could not move up in society. They were bound to the class they were born in, preventing social advancement. Therefore a large number of people never became educated, which ultimately prevented technological and medicinal advancement as well.
Lastly, political corruption surrounding the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church also contributed to the "darkness" of the Middle Ages. All citizens were expected to honor their King, and pledge allegiance to him despite any decisions he made that they did not agree with. They were expected to also follow the same religion as the King, and would be severely punished or sometimes even killed if they ignored this request. The church at this time worked hand in hand with the government, which meant many government affairs also involved religion. Eventually, the Roman Catholic Church controlled many aspects of peoples everyday life, and led to a very corrupt religious government.
Conclusively, the Middle Ages can be accurately defined as a Dark Age, due to the widespread lack of knowledge during the time. This insufficiency caused many problems surrounding all areas of life, especially medical practices, as well as political and social systems.
After reading London, I would describe the Middle Ages as a "Dark Age". One reason why I would label it as such is because of the Black Plague. This disease wiped out almost of the people that contracted it. There was little knowledge of medicine at that time so even the "knowledgeable" physicians were helpless to stop this from spreading. Panic set in and it turned into every person for themselves. The rich were able to take what they needed, mainly their money and themselves, and move off far away from where the out break had taken place. There were even times when they would leave family members behind so that they could save themselves. The poor however were not as lucky. Without the means or opportunity, the poor were forced to stay behind with what little possessions they had to attempt to brave this epidemic.People often believed that the plague was God's way of punishing the people for their sins, or they saw this as the work of the devil. No matter what type of the plague was contracted, bubonic or pneumonic, the end result was the same. Death. Without any way to cure this disease, massive death tolls reigned down upon inflicted communities and many were subject to death. With this seemingly unstoppable illness, the title of a "Dark Age" seems fitting.
Another reason that this era can be referred to as a "Dark Age" is because of the social structure. There was a feudal system in place. This means that where ever you were born into in society is most likely where you were going to stay until the day you died. This type of system has some serious ramifications. First off, the uneducated poor class was already a majority of the population. Education was usually restricted to the clergy and noble classes. With this in mind, the illiterate peasants, tradesmen merchants would continue to produce more and more uneducated people. This is a major problem because even though the noble classes ran society, they were vastly outnumbered. If more and more illiterate people were being brought into the world, no significant advancements in anything could be achieved. Along with this some animosity between the classes can develop. The poor were envious of the rich for being able to sustain more desirable lives. The rich developed disgust for the poor because the poor were making a mockery of their communities. The poor got poorer and the rich stood by and watched. This organization of society were detrimental to those who lived there and contributed to the title of a "Dark Age."
A final reason that the Middle Ages can be seen as a "Dark Age" can be found by looking within the Roman Catholic Church. This organization was extremely wealthy and along with that very corrupt. The church acted as a court system to settle disputes. However, it was very biased in favor of the rich. Those who could afford it would be able to buy their way out of charges. In doing this, the rich were hardly convicted and got off with little more than a slap on the wrist. The poor were not as fortunate. They didn't have the funds to pay their way out of trouble and had to face the consequences. Many of the punishments were death and being able to escape this was crucial. The RCC aided the rich in getting away with crime and that's just wrong. There were practically two court systems, one for the rich and one for the poor. With this in mind I believe the "Dark Age" title is fitting.
I believe that labeling the Middle Ages as a "Dark Age" is appropriate. The severity of the Black Plague, coupled with an unfair social structure and the corrupt Roman Catholic Church all are factors in which the Middle Ages can be seen as dark.
There are several reasons people see the Middle Ages as a dark period in time. Probably the largest contributor to this was the Bubonic Plague. The devastating plague started due to the fleas that were carried by rats from the Eurasian trade routes. From this disease about 60% of its victims were killed. It was difficult to escape this disease. As seen in London by Edward Rutherford, some people were fortunate enough to flee the Black Death by isolating themselves from others on the countryside. The disease was not only found in England, but it also spread to Italy, France, Spain, and northern Europe. Over the course of four years the European population had decreased by about 50%. This plague took years to go away and there were sporadic outbreaks years after the fact. The people of Europe needed someone to take the blame for the catastrophic event, which leads me to the second reason the Middle Ages were a dark period of time was because of an outbreak of anti-Semitism. Jews were blamed for causing the plague and were persecuted for doing so in Spain and Germany. To avoid further blame, Jews fled to Russia. Chaos was also common during the Middle Ages. Peasant revolts broke out frequently including the Jacquerie and the English Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. During the English Peasants’ Revolt, peasants burnt manor houses until their requests were granted. The most famous revolt was in Ciompi in 1378 which was caused by a decline in wages for the wool workers. The wool workers revolted and came out victorious. What also made the Middle Ages dark was the political instability and the conflict between the government and the Roman Catholic Church. There was great confusion over who should reign. In Italy there was no centralized government, instead there was a spread of city-states and there were now tyrants. The downfall of the Roman Catholic Church was also visible after its height of power in the thirteenth century. The struggle among the pope and the secular monarchies led to the Great Schism. During the Great Schism there was confusion over who was the rightful pope. This conflict lasted about forty years and it led to people losing faith in the Catholic Church. Overall the term “The Dark Age” is very appropriate for the Middle Ages. This period in history was not only a dark, but also depressing and chaotic. From the Bubonic Plague to the Great Schism and the downfall of the Roman Catholic Church, there were little advances made and very little progression. It wasn’t until the Renaissance did Europe witness an age of rebirth.
The term “Dark Ages” to describe the Middle Ages was first coined by Petrarch during the Renaissance. However, the term “Dark Ages” implies that there was no progress achieved during this time period. There were various different events that happened during this time period that make the term “Dark Ages” incorrect. First, there were the peasant revolts in England. The revolts came about because of the Black Death, which caused many of the peasant workers to die. This caused a labor shortage which enabled the peasants to demand increased wages because their work was in such demand. The landlords did not want the peasants to rise up in the social order so they passed laws to limit wages to preplague levels and forbid the mobility of peasants. The laws show that there was still legislature being passed during this time period and the peasants were beginning to push for better rights, if not eventually equality. In addition, political institutions were still being developed throughout this time. During the reign of King Edward III, the English Parliament developed into the government body with the organizational structure that is still has today.
There was also developments going on in the church as well during the Middle Ages. During this time period, the people grew less and less satisfied with the Catholic Church and began to call for reform and solving the various problems. A large number of churchmen took Marsiglio, a rector of the University of Paris’s, ideas of reform. Marsiglio stated that the church only had authority concerning spirituality and that the clergy have no special authority from God, among other ideas. Although there was no agreement reached during this time, the people now had the idea of reform planted in their heads.
Finally, there was also a development in vernacular literature. Up until this point, Latin was the only used language in Europe. One well known vernacular author was Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote the Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales were important in transforming the dialect that was used by Chaucer to the oldest version of the modern English Language. Christine de Pizan was also another well known vernacular writer. She received a good education and used it to write the well known Book of the City of Ladies which in addition to helping develop a modern language also defended women against what society thought of them at the time.
In conclusion, the Middle Ages were not a Dark Ages. They did not have as much progress as the following Renaissance, but there were some developments made during this time. The term Dark Ages sounds as if no progress was made, but there were some developments as well as beginnings of major movements. Seeds of revolution were planted in people’s heads and the vernacular language started being used in literature. The Middle Ages were not a Dark Ages.
If one considers education the light of life, then the Dark Ages were quite dark indeed. Very little of the population had any formal education, seeing as it was thought only men of the church needed to know how to read. Perhaps a Nobel or other higher up may receive a smidgen of education, it did not go past anything the church thought of as unholy. This extended to even doctors and medics, who had next to nothing in terms of knowledge of the human body, and even less when it came to the practice of healing. During the plague, do to this lack of knowledge, there was nothing to be done by so called doctors, other than identify the disease, and attempt to make the doomed soul as comfortable as possible before death. With such lack of knowledge, they even did more harm than good, seeing as they did not know how the virus spread. 'London' shows this, when a good 'ratter' dog is killed, because it is thought that cats and dogs spread the deis4ease. In reality however, by shooting the ratter, it only made the family more susceptible to the plague carrying flees.
In addition to this, laws, both official and cultural, were not the best for developing a nation. To start, women were quite suppressed, being told to only obey their husbands, and do only what asked asked of them. They were expected to stay loyal, even when their husbands were gallivanting around the whorehouses. Next, some laws seemed to have no real basis for being, such as the one stating that if a whore claimed a man to be hung, and the man accepted and wed her, the man would get out of the gallows. While the book said this was because the church wanted to save more souls, it still appears to this reader at least, as if such laws should have no place in a developed nation. And finally, all political power lived with the minority of nobles and monarchs. They, being able to make all the decisions, often took little notice of serfs or peasants, looking at them as only the great unwashed, uneducated workforce. Don't forget, it was also very hard to move up the social latter, nearly impossible, so virtually no peasant was able to even get near governing, to make life better for the little people who made up most of the nation.
Therefore, it seems a logical assumption to call this a Dark Age. With all the uneducated worker bees, who could anything good come from the time. Even the so called educated, the doctors, were ignorant. However, 'Dark' does not imply that the people of this time were miserable. While they surly faced their hardships, as with the plague, one must remember this was their life and time; there is no way they would consider it to be 'Dark', when it was just life as usual, for them. So therefore, while looking back at the time, and all its imperfections, it may look dark, one must remember to try to look at the time from it's occupants viewpoint, in which, things maybe weren't so bad, but just a fact of life.
In my opinion, the Middle Ages can also accurately be considered as a Dark Age of the European people for a variety of reasons. The word “dark” itself insinuates that the period was devoid of happiness, advancement, and celebration for people of all social classes.
For the average person living during this period everyday life was a struggle and there was little hope that life would significantly change for the better at any time as social mobility was nearly nonexistent. The familial bonds that were very important to people were torn apart when the plague hit and most people lost at least one family member or suffered themselves. Little knowledge about hygiene and medicine was a large contributor as to why the effects of the black death were so widespread. Although things for peasants and members of the lower class did improve after the plague, revolts and legislation that imposed taxes and limited wages made things difficult, while members of the upper classes had a rough time as industry sunk due to overproduction and workers became more costly as survivors of the black death plummeted every day.
During this period women were also treated as nothing better than an object used to make babies and run the household. Females feelings were not considered as relevant or important. While reading the Whorehouse chapter in “London” by Edward Rutherford I was shocked to learn that a male could sleep with prostitutes all he wanted and no one thought a thing of it, whereas if a woman cheated on her husband the punishment was often torture or death.
On a religious front this period was also pretty grim as well. Corruption in the Roman Catholic Church was at a high points and most monks and religious leaders just went along with it, simply because their was no other way to turn. The Plague brought on a fascination with salvation and death that was the opposite of uplifting. People of other religious such as Jews or Protestants also had a difficult time as they were discriminated against almost anywhere they went.
Overall, the Middle Ages can also be accurately called the Dark Ages because of the high corruption in the church, little social mobility, harsh treatment of women, and the consequences of the plague that made the time full of despair for most people of the period.
After reading London, I would still consider the Middle Ages a “Dark” age. There are a multitude of reasons that attribute to its name of the Dark Ages. These reasons include the Black Plague and the medical ignorance that worsened it, the lack of advancements in technology, and the corruption and turmoil within the Roman Catholic Church.
The element of the Middle Ages that probably most contributed to its name of the Dark Ages is the Plague. It was an uncontrollable pandemic that resulted in a decline of Europe's population of between 25 and 50 percent between the years 1347 and 1351. Obviously, an age in which death is so very prevalent in society is bound to be a depressing one. As people witnessed death all around them, it was reflected in the art of the time as it began to show increasingly morbid themes. If the Black Death had occurred in a more recent time, it certainly would not have been so devastating. However, its timing of during the Middle Ages allowed for it to wipe out as many people as it did because of the lack of medical knowledge at the time. Frankly, doctors of the time period were clueless as to what was causing the plague and how to halt it. Eventually, ridiculous theories of its root emerged such as that it was caused by the Jews. Such a gruesome and terrible occurrence as the plague naturally resulted in an era in which the quality of life was very low.
Europe was a backwards place at this point in history. This was a most unfortunate time to have little to no advancement as the fight against the Black Death most certainly could have used some medical progress. The physicians of the time were still practicing the theories of the ancient Greeks and had little practice or experience. In addition to a lack of medical innovation, technology in Europe was also severely behind that to the east. As Clive Ponting pointed out, during the Middle Ages, in the East, nations such as the Islamic ones, China, and on the India subcontinent were much more technologically advanced. Even during those times of advancement for Europe during the Renaissance, most of the new technologies were just adaptations of the Asian inventions. Some productivity by the scholars and thinkers of the time certainly could have helped the Middle Ages become more prosperous. However, there was little to be found.
Under the feudal system, there were multiple political entities in Europe all competing for power. The one institution that was a constant and spread out over everyone was the Roman Catholic Church. At this point, pre-Reformation, it was still the only form of Christianity around. However, corruption in the Church was apparent. Examples of corruption in the Church include the selling of indulgences by clergymen in an attempt to gain some extra money. Furthermore, the vows of celibacy that all members of the clergy took were rather routinely broken. Clergymen were, in addition, rather ignorant as many of them had gotten to there position because of their family’s status in society or through political maneuvering and did not even need to always memorize scripture anymore. These problems were not helped at all by the Great Schism in the papacy. At one point, there were three different popes, all claiming the others to be the antichrist and excommunicating each other. During the Middle Ages, the only major, stable institution in Europe was in a state of decline, turmoil, and corruption, only further contributing to the “darkness” of the era.
In conclusion, historians have indeed been correct in labeling the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages,” as well. People during the era were certainly not living in the optimal conditions. Men and women were perishing everywhere in Europe from the black Death. Additionally, this was only made worse by a lack of advancements made by Europeans in the areas of medicine and technology. The corruption and turmoil within the normally stable Roman Catholic Church was a negative influence on the people of the Middle Ages. All these factors helped to give the name, “the Dark Ages.”
The Dark Ages of Europe has always made me think of a depressed and sick society with fat and greedy rulers that oppress their people. Although this was true in most areas, it was not to the extent I had imagined it. The term “Dark Ages” is just a relation to the times before when the Roman Empire was in power. The advantages gained from the Roman rule were greater than how they saw it then. The new shift led to a new Europe that was open for new power and broken from the groups fighting for it. The instability was what led Europe into the Dark Ages. That part of history deserves the name the “Dark Ages” because it was a dark time. London gives a great description of London under the Roman Empire. It was a time of great prosperity and growth. The amount of infrastructure led to sanitation and health from the clean water and sewage system. There was also protection and aid to the city in times of need. After the fall of the empire, control over many parts of Europe was up for grabs. This led to the hostile takeover of many areas and the spread of sickness due to the armies leaving the areas helpless. London was not devastated as much as some places but sickness was a large reason for their dark times. The plagues throughout Europe were a very dark time and were massive. Poverty was also a major reason for the name “Dark Ages.” The plagues left most of the low classes dead or dying as explained in London. This led to fewer workers which also hurt the upper classes. This large shift upset the balance and poverty soon followed and led to the grim times. The poverty led some families with almost nothing and no medical care so they were dropping like flies during plagues. Even though this was a time of harshness, there were good things occurring. The Church was gaining power which was leading to some stability and unity. This was still not enough to pull all of Europe out of the grim state it was in. I believe that “Dark Ages” is a fitting name for this time in history because of the horrible state society and people were in.
The debate of whether or not the middle ages should be described as a dark age is a very complicated and interesting one. While it was a time for extreme prosperity and conquering for the royal families, with power came hardships. There was a power struggle between church and state effecting all of Europe. The majority of the European population suffered from illness, and lack of education. Therefore, the description of the middle ages as “dark” is a very accurate one. During the early 14th century Europe underwent a division creating severe problems for everyone around. The Great Schism caused the church to be divided into 3 branches all lead by a different pope. During a time when religion was so prominent in everyday life, people all over Europe were divided unsure where to look for guidance. This division lead to a decrease in income for the 3 popes. In order to compensate for lost money taxes were increased for the clergy. Finally after the 3 popes either resigned or were deposed a new pope was elected ending the Great Schism. However this power struggle within the church caused suffering for the majority of Europeans for almost a century. At the end of the 13th century Europe faced a famine due to dropping temperatures. This time period was referred to as "a little ice age". Many historians believe the famine was what caused the Black Death. The Black Death was the first major disease to hit Europe since the 7th century. When Genoese merchants brought it over in 1347 it caused economic, social, political, and cultural problems. Wiping out almost a third of the population it left many survivors without homes or a family. Since so much of the population was illiterate and uneducated there was no cure, or prevention of the plague. Those who contracted the plague suffered from fever, dark blotches, bleeding, and lung infections. Though many argue that the middle ages was a very prosperous time, it was also a dark one. Lack of guidance and division of the church caused unsettlement and lack of security within Europe. The Black Death caused an extreme amount of casualties and no one had the education to stop it. Moreover, the middle ages was a dark and unsafe time.
After reading the book London, by Edward Rutherford, I can understand why the Middle Ages might be referred to as A Dark Age. During the Middle Ages, the people experienced the bubonic plague and they lacked many medical or technological advancements. The corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, along with the power struggles and changes in power that occurred during this time greatly guided Europe into a Dark Age.
The Black Death that infested Europe at this time greatly changed the way of life. Many people died, or left their homes. The spread of the disease through rats and fleas was unknown to doctors at this time. The dangers of this unknown sickness were great. While doctors tried to help the sick, once they were infected, few survived. The lack of knowledge in the medical field did not help the cleanliness of this time. The unsanitary living conditions greatly contribute to the thought of this time being a Dark time.
While the Roman Catholic Church was the one consistent organization during this time, it was still corrupt. This corruption included the selling of indulgences, which is forgiveness of sin. Along with selling indulgences, they also sold relics of the saints. Clergy was considered the next option of the Noble classes to get wealth and power which meant that many of the people interested in the clergy were not as interested in religion as focused on power advancements.
It is clear that many aspects of the Middle Ages make it seem like a Dark Age. Throughout the book London, these aspects are apparent. May it be the plague, the corruption, or something else, this time was a Dark time. Not enough technology advancements, nor enough focus on the arts lead to many problems for the people of this time as well as for society overall.
The question to ponder is, whether or not the Middle Ages are considered to be "dark"? Imagine living during a time period where medicine and women's rights where absent. Envision an era where there was no freedom of religion. How would everybody survive? There would be no joy or happiness in one's life and our world would be suffering tremendously. Due to the lack of many significant necessities, the Middle Ages are referred to as the "dark age".
The fourteenth century marked the time of the ruinous catastrophe in Europe-The Black Death. Not only did the plague cause suffrage of medical conditions, but it also consisted of many diseases which led to death in numerous families. The population level in Euorpe decreased enormously and took several years for it to increase again. Furthermore, many people died because nobody was intelligent enough to find a cure for it. There was no technology and people did not have education, so the effort of making medicine and pills was limited. The plauge also spread throughout Europe because of unsanitariness. Not only did people carry the germs, but rats contained the bacteria also. Without the idea of medicine and knowledge, this time perod was "dark" becasue viruses increased and people died.
The Middle Ages were called the"dark ages" becasue of the lack of women's opinion. Women had to stay home and cook and clean for the men. Even though the women did everything they could for the men, they still were tortured. Most oftenly, women were looked down on because the men thought that women did not know anything and were considered "low classed". Moreover, men would typically marry a women based on her class and would force her to have a boy. If she did not have a boy, then her life would be afflicted. Additionally, after treating men with love and passion, the men would still leave their wives and date other women. However, The Book of the City of Ladies written by Christine de Pizan explains that women are smart and can do everything that men can do. " I assure you that women are equally well-suited and skilled to carry them out and to put them to sophisticated use once they have learned them." (Pizan 83-84) Meaning that, give women a chance and they will show men that they are as clever and capable of doing everything.
Lastly, another situation that made the Middle Ages"dark" was the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and did not tolerate the freedom of religion. Everybody had to follow and obey what the Church practiced. If one did not believe in this, then they would suffer and possibly be killed. For example, in the book London, Edward Rutherfurd explains that since the Jews did not want to convert their religion they suffered, by being kicked out of thier hometown. Circumstances like this eventually led to more problems with the Roman Catholic Church which made people suffer.
All in all, the Middle Ages were definitely considered "dark" due to the lack of medicine, women's rights and freedom of religion. Without medicine the the plague caused decrease in population and suffarage to the world. The lack of women's rights led to the misunderstanding of men and without the freedom of religion people were asked to leave London.
The Middle Ages should be considered the "Dark Ages" due to a lack political stability, technology, and social and econoic issues.
Throughout the Dark Ages the fight continued and intensified between the monarchial European governments and the Church of Rome. This constant debating over who the superior ruler was, the king or the Pope, eventually led to secular states. With the seperation of church and state the governments lacked organization. This led to corruption within the government, where an early version of the spoils system caim into play.
Political instability in Europe caused it to be far behind Asia and other nations in the race for better technology. due to the lack of unity between the European states, Europeans were often busy fighting with each other instead of working together to develop technologies. Most of their technology came from Asia, India, and the Middle East. The ideas of these areas were brought to Europe through trade but Europe itself made very few contributions to the technological advances of the Middle Ages. Europe lacked medical technology and understanding which tended to lead to a shorter life span.
The Fuedal System was the way of life for most European states. In Fuedalism you were born into a social class, and mobility between classes was incredibly difficult. Nobility "owned" people of the peasant class; these people were called serfs. Serfs had no rights and worked for their landlords to make a living. So it was common that instead of pledging allegiance to the government or church, serfs and common people would give their allegiance to powerful landlords who could help them. This was another cause of political instablity.
Lastly the Middle Ages should be called the "Dark Ages" because of the epidemic of the Black Death. The Plague killed around 25% of Europe's entire population. In England alone, about 40% of its people were killed by The Plague. This disease caused a large decline in Europe's population which greatly shortened the supply of workers. The loss of workers led to an increase of wages as the demand for laborers increased. In some areas pay increased 7 shillings in just 2 years. This raise in wages caused economic instability along with the raising of taxes. Many landlords went into debt because they had to pay their workers more money while paying more taxes. These economic problems also caused political probelms as the Nobility became angered with the government for raising both wages and taxes. This led to even more political corruption as politicains took bribes to help the landlords.
The Middle Ages were rightfully called the "Dark Ages" because of the outstanding political instablity and corruption, along with the lack of technological advances, and the numerous social and economic issues
The Middle Ages is more often than not believed to be a single period of time in European history. However in actuality the term is much too general. In fact the Middle Ages is in many ways three separate era’s: the early Middle Ages, the high Middle Ages, and the late Middle Age’s. Although they were similar enough to be categorized as one they each had very distinct differences that set them apart. To label the entire “Middle Ages” as a Dark Age would be very inaccurate. When only the surface of the major events of the late Middle Ages is put into consideration the title is very understandable. However despite this, the era was unintentionally a very productive time period.
Although killing a massive chunk of the population in Europe and seemingly hinder the advancement of civilization, it did in fact help remove many of the crucial barriers men faced in order to advance. One of these was the collapse of the feudal system. In this system men and women were born into social classes in which they had very little ability to move up in the social ladder and thus most people had very little to say in the community. However after the plague the population of the third estate was dramatically decreased. They, unlike the higher classes (like Sampson Bull in London), had no refuge to go to in order to avoid getting the disease therefore suffering the most tragically. The need for labor naturally went up, thus giving the peasants ground to demand higher wages and rights.
The epidemic also gave people a new sense of the importance of one’s life thus individualism began to become more prominent. Works of literature from that time reveal individuality stronger than any in previous medieval writings. The constant scare of death and the idea of the afterlife made many seek ways to salvation through good deeds and from this, charitable actions increased.
Public health and education was also greatly boosted due to the bubonic plaque. After the incalculable deaths places viewed as unsanitary such as bathhouses were closed. Public health laws were instituted and boards of health were established who gradually controlled almost every aspect of health and sanitation. Because of the lower life expectancies parents were eager to bring their children into the trade early and to educate them early. Ergo early education emerged.
It was also during this time that the idea of the separation of church and state became a bigger issue. Although Europe clearly didn’t succumb to secular rule the corruption of the church at the time and the power struggle between monarchs and the papacy strained the relationship. It was in this disagreement that the Unam Sanctam was delivered by Boniface VIII. Philip IV of France was excommunicated by the pope for his refusal give power to the church. Though in the end the church and state were never separated, it was a big milestone to the rise of secularism.
While it is logical to label the Middle Ages as a Dark Age due to the clear problems at the time, the Black Plague, church corruption, Hundred Years War, etc., its is also quite inaccurate. Much of the issues weren’t entirely prevalent until the late Middle Ages. At the very least only the latter part of the 10-century time period known as the Middle Ages should be labeled as such. Even then the numerous but discreet advancements make it very difficult to truly fit that title.
We expect civilizations to continuously evolve as the centuries progress. As humans, we are always in a state of perpetual advancements. When a certain time period shows characteristics to the contrary of that very idea, it is considered to be a "Dark Age". The term "Dark Age" is commonly used to describe a time period in which many critical elements in society,such as the economy and culture, begin to deteriorate. The Middle Ages, without a doubt, fits into the mold of the "Dark Age". They're many factors that lead to the major downfall of Europe in the Middle Ages such as the Black Death & Fuedalism.
The Bubonic & Pneumonic plague, more commonly known as the black death, devastated Europe. It was estimated to have killed 25-50% of Europe's population. (Spielvogel 276). The Europeans knew very little about its cause, or how to remedy such a disease. The only thing they seem to know about the plague was that animals were carriers of the disease. This was made evident in the book "London" when Ned, the dog, was killed in attempt to prevent being infected by such a pathogen.Like all other ancient civilizations, anything that is unexplained is considered to be a result of a supernatural being. They believed the Black Death was God's punishment, and that Jews were the reason that God was angry. Obviously, the Black Death played an enormous role in the everyday life of the European citizens. The citizens became too preoccupied with their own survival to focus on any other leisure activities such as the arts, therefore leading to decline in the arts.
Another major cause of the decline was the inefficiency of the European government. The Fuedal system, the predominant form of government during the Middle Ages, restricted European growth drastically. The system was run very much like the Caste System in India. Just like the Caste system, Fuedalism restricts almost every class of people from attaining even the most basic levels of education. For example, only the Clerics were taught to be literate. Since Clerics only made up a very small percent of the Fuedal society, the vast majority of people were illiterate. Even the monarchs,who were by far the highest rank in European society, were illiterate. The Fuedal system also suppressed the lower classes. For example, the Statute of Laborers created a poll tax and reduced the wages of all peasants. It had enraged the them to the point, that the peasants, led by Wat Tyler, decided to revolt.
Although only a few reasons are presented within the response, they're many other reasons that historians consider the "Dark Ages" to be synonymous with the Middle Ages.
Looking at the time period known as the Middle Ages, as seen through the narrative of Edward Rutherford’s London, the title “The Dark Ages” could well be applied, for political, social, and cultural reasons. Throughout the Middle Ages, instability proved to be the one constant feature of Medieval feudal governments. Focusing on England, the Middle Ages began with a major power shift, between the old Anglo-Saxon government and the new Norman reign led by William the conquered. Over the ensuing centuries, politics continued to fluctuate and change, and political contentment was rare. In the late 1100's King Richard the Lionheart was replaced by his own previously exiled brother Jon, who took control in his absence. But his reign brought even less stability, managing to fight with his nobles (leading to the Magna Carta), his neighbors, and even the Pope. In later centuries, riots, the Hundred Years’ War, and upheavals such as the Peasant’s Revolt wracked the country. The Middle Ages were a dark time for politics. Medieval society was just as dark, especially when dealing with women. In an era where women were believed to be the weaker sex both physically and spiritually, they were excluded from almost all elements of society. With no legal rights and little economic opportunity, women were entirely at the mercy of their husbands (whom they were married off to quickly, usually for the benefit of the family). An iconic example of the public opinion of women as the “scold’s bridle,” a collar which a too-talkative woman would be placed in and marched around the streets of London while wearing as an act of shame. This sort of punishment was in fact quite common in Medieval society. The use of stocks was common throughout cities like London. Other aspects of the law were far less easygoing, however. Crime was severe in the Middle Ages, and the legal system almost in the absurd. While trial by jury was used in some situations, in serious cases dealing with the death penalty (which was used quite often, for crimes as small as petty theft) trial by Ordeal was favored. This involved the burning of women to see if the wounds festered, or the throwing of men into rivers to see if they floated (both of these indicated guilt). Corruption was also rampant, such as the practice of ecclesiastical courts for clergy under trial. Clergy could prove their innocence with only a couple of witnesses, who could easily be bought. Law was a struggling subject in the dark times of the Middle Ages. Another struggling area was science. Astrology still followed the old belief that the universe rotated around the Earth, and other areas of science were hardly better developed. Medicine, in particular, was very poor. Following the theory of the four humors, bloodletting, burning, and leeches were common “cures.” The division between university-trained physicians and actually practicing surgeons contributed to the lack of practical medicine. The biggest example of medicine’s failure was in facing the Black Death of the 1340's through 1400, which devastated all of Europe, and Medieval medicine was defenseless against. The Black Death, killing 25-50% of Europe’s population, only increased the political and social struggles of the time, acting as a symbol for all of this time period; a Dark Ages indeed.
Living in the Middle Ages, one would not have know that the way they were living would no longer be consider proper living in future years. For those living in the time period, many knew nothing other than famish, little hygiene, absent education, and mistreatment to women. Those living in this time found these factors normal to their living standard, however, looking back at these times one must see that this was not the ideal time period to be in. For the factors that made it a so called "Dark Age" were harsh and very unforgiving in many circumstances.
Starting with the lack of education to almost all of Europe, resulting in little to no knowledge of how to fix many situations that occurred throughout this age. During the time, many universities were just beginning to be founded. These universities however, would not qualify for a university under any standards today. First, almost every person that walked through the gates had no background education. This meant the school had to start from the very bottom and slowly work their way up. All of these schools would be considered, to today's standards, an elementary school. Thus meaning, today's 10 year old has the same education as an adult in the Middle Ages. The best way to imagine having a world with this level of knowledge is to picture having only 10 year olds and younger. The knowledge of this time period was very limited and brings us the the fact that health lacked immensely.
The lack of knowledge lead to the lack of health in the case that people of this time period did not know that hygiene was something of utmost importance to the way that people lived. With everyone crammed into such close courtiers, without such hygiene disease spread fast, one of which would be known as one of the worst epidemics to ever hit Europe, the Black Plague. The Plague brought utter distraught to the continent and left people with little to no family, fending for themselves. This didn't help when there was a lack of food and now there were less to grow and sell the little food left.
The growing population in early 1300s before the Plague wiped out most of the foods in Europe, but when harsh weathers came and it became hard to grow these foods again the people of the Middle Ages became famished. As more and more people began to die from the Plague the less farmers there were to grow the food, the less merchants there were to sell the food, and eventually Europe was in more trouble than they were before.
Lastly, the treatment of women played a large part in the labels of the time period as the "Dark Ages". By looking at the way women were objectified and treated as property, one must see that not only was this a hard time for all of Europe as a whole, but especially for women as a gender. The way that women were treated would in no way be acceptable to today's society and this could be the reason why were view it as horrific treatment, but one must also take into consideration that women knew nothing better. They knew not of men treating them as their loving wife, or anything more than just another object in their house. However, this does not mean that it made the Middle Ages an easy time for women. It certainly was hard and built up for the riots and social changes that the future would bring centuries later.
For the term "Dark Ages" to be used when describing the Middle Ages would certainly be correct. The Middle Ages time period was most certainly not the time period that one would voluntarily pick to life in for a luxury life. The time was very difficult and many struggles were linked to the time period.
From the perspective of someone living in the pre-reformation period of Europe, their time would probably be viewed with the same scrutiny as we see our world. Is our period of time the "Light Ages"? Of course not. (note: if this period of time actually is called the "Light Ages," please inform me) Though from our standpoint, that time would indeed be the "Dark Ages". In addition to having no electricity, Europe was plagued for a while by a system of government known as Feudalism. This type of government downgraded nearly all of the freedoms we enjoy today. The hierarchy in Feudalism went as follows: A monarch ruled over a large area, and would grant fiefs to noblemen, who in turn would grant fiefs to lords, also known as knights, who were bound to the noblemen by oath who granted them fiefs. Clergy ruled over aspects of the Church, which was a very powerful organization in the Dark Ages (Perhaps that is another reason for the namesake of the time period.) The lowest and most populous class, peasants, would receive land from lords to farm on. Now this all sounds very nice and organized, but there was obviously no social mobility, which is perhaps the greatest of our freedoms here in the "Light Age."
Europe and much of the world was also plagued by a plague. (pun) The Bubonic Plague, in fact. This disease was an infection that spread rapidly through flea bites. The lack of medical knowledge (No medieval doctors, the common cold was not a message from Satan) and personal hygiene caused an estimated one-third to two-thirds of the population to Europe to perish, and trading routes and military conquest spread the Plague throughout the Old World sporadically throughout the Dark Ages.
Last, but not least, the Roman Catholic Church dictated freedom of speech and religion throughout Europe in the "Dark Ages." The crime of heresy was rampant, as free thinkers and iconoclasts were severely punished unless they denounced their satanic views and accepted the power of Jesus Christ. Jews, for example, did not denounce their satanic views and accept the power of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they were kicked out of England.
Were the Middle Ages a Dark Age? Well, it depends on who you’re talking about. The Middle Ages was indeed a Dark Age for some people such as peasants. Peasants worked from sunrise to sunset day after day while members of the upper class, such as nobles, lived relaxing lives. The more power you had, the easier life was. Unfortunately, it was unusual for people to change social classes, especially for those on the low end of the social ladder. People were born into their social class. Despite peasants working harder than nobles, they had harder lives and were treated with discrimination unlike the nobles. Thus, peasants would consider the Middle Ages a Dark Age while nobles wouldn’t. Another group that would consider the Middle Age a Dark Age would be women. Women were treated poorly and definitely did not have as many rights as men. Men cheated on their wives very often, sometimes on a weekly or even daily basis. While it was frowned upon for women to cheat on men, it was socially accepted for men to cheat on women. Without a doubt, men had power over women. Women could not even choose who to marry sometimes, as their parents, often the father, would arrange their marriages. They had little say in society and their role was to provide the children. However, the Middle Ages did have problems that affected all people, no matter what social class they belonged to. For example, the Black Death wiped out millions and millions of people. The population of Europe declined by approximately 25-50% between 1347 and 1351, which was when the Black Death occurred. Historians consider the Black Death to be the worst natural disaster in European history. Even people who were not harmed by the plague had love ones that died because of it. It changed the culture and everyday lives of Europeans during the Middle Ages. One factor that made the Black Death so disastrous is the lack of medical knowledge in the Middle Ages. This is another reason why the Middle Ages could be considered a Dark Age. Doctors had little medicine to work with and used natural remedies which had little benefit. The doctors had methods that they thought would work because of theoretical and/or religious reasons. Ignorance was a major reason why the Middle Age was a Dark Age. So, was the Middle Age a Dark Age? Generally speaking, yes it was. It was a depressing time scarred by the Black Death and discrimination of various groups of people. However, the times may not have been a Dark Age for nobles and those who somehow were not affected by the Black Death.
Should the Middle Ages be considered the Dark Ages? Or rather, were they darker than any other time in European history? For a number of reasons, the answer is probably “yes.”
They start off with the mighty Romans deciding to leave Most of Europe to its own devices. History shows that when an empire like the Roman leave, instability in that land follows- consider the former Soviet satellites. It takes a long time for countries to recover from a power’s abandonment. Throughout the Middle Ages most states were feudal monarchies. The lowly serfs were lesser beings than everyone else and everyone was less than the king. These serfs were essentially tied to their land and were, in most places, born into inferiority without any hope of social mobility. And no one had any say in governmental decisions but the king, though this was not unique to the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church during this time became the supreme divine authority, a little too supreme in fact; the church gained so much power that it became corrupt and the clergy eventually taught not so much Christian principles, but the king’s whims. Furthermore, non-Christians were treated with outrageous contempt: during the plague, Jews were burnt to death all around Europe and, during the Crusades, Jewish villages were razed as the Christians marched to battle to murder as many Muslims as they could in the holy land. In Europe, too, Richard the Lionhearted massacred 2700 Muslims at Acre. Probably the most dismal part of the Middle Ages that could best lend such a bleak name as the “Dark Ages” was the black plague. Between a quarter and a half of all Europeans found darkness in this age as they were thrown with other corpses into mass graves. The dead obviously could not make civilized advancements at this time and everyone else was so worried about dying that they spent their time practicing drunken hedonism. This average life with so much death in it lead to death being the main focus of Europeans’ lives, an obsession that can be seen with the popularity of Dante’s Divine Comedy which regards the afterlife. And no help for the plague, or really any medical problem, came from the backwards methodology of Middle Age doctors, who would often worsen peoples’ situations. An example is the act of blistering the patient’s skin to try and pull the internal evil to outside. Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, constructed during the Middle Ages, governments looked like they would collapse any second. War lead to constant rearrangement of national borders for France and England during the Hundred Years War and, at one point, there were three German princes who sought to be Holy Roman Emperor.
In summation, the “Dark Ages” seems pretty fitting, especially when compared to the Renaissance that followed.
I would consider the Middle Ages to be considered a “Dark Age” due to the large amount of corruption within the church, the poor living conditions of the lower class, lack of medicinal and technological improvements, and the Black Death. Being part of the church, priests, nuns, and bishops were supposed to live humble lives but instead used the money from the church to lead wealthy lifestyles. Additionally the priests, nuns, pope, and other members of the church were supposed to take vows of chastity and, despite this, they still engaged in extramarital relationships, and some popes even had children. This is very hypocritical because the church put forth a message of repentance and being faithful to the religion, when in fact the members didn’t even follow their own rules. Alongside this corruption were the poor living conditions of the slaves and other low class citizens. This paired with the lack of medicinal knowledge lead to disease that quickly spread and was one of the main reasons that the Black Death was so easily spread from Asia across Europe. Not to say that the higher classes were any more knowledgeable on the subject of hygiene, but the slaves and other low class citizens had even worse living conditions than bishops or other people in higher social classes. In addition to this, these low-class citizens received practically no education if they received any at all. One of the most major events of the Middle Ages that causes me to consider them a Dark Age is the Black Plague. The plague itself was a very horrible way to die, as it caused swelling in the lymph nodes, high fever, coughing, and aching joints and caused death very quickly. This also lead to worsening living conditions because so many people died so fast bodies had to be put in large pits because there were no longer enough coffins for burial. This horrible disease swept up from Asia through all of Europe into Russia. It caused the European population to decline 25-50% between the years 1347 and 1351. For years afterward there were still major outbreaks of the Black Death and the European population did not start to grow again until approximately 1500. It was spread so easily and was so deadly that it wiped out entire villages in Germany and England. Over all I would consider the Middle Ages to be a “Dark Age” as I imagine many others would. There was corruption, poor living conditions, and horrific plague that wreaked havoc across Europe and in comparison to the time of prosperity that followed the title of “Dark Age” is very fitting.
The “Dark Ages” is a term that would accurately describe the Middle Ages in Europe. There are many reasons why this time period could be described as “dark”. Lack of education and literacy, substandard medicare care, and a feudal system that trapped serfs and peasants in a low estate are just some examples.
Many people in Europe, apart from nobles and clergy, were very uneducated. The number of people who were illiterate were far greater than the number who could read and right. This lack of education could describe this era as a “dark” era because today, we consider education a norm. Now, the literate outnumber the illiterate. As compared to today, people were not advanced and did not know much other than their trade. This is a depressing fact and is a major factor to this era’s name.
Medical care, or a lack there of, is a prime reason why this era can be described as a “dark age”. One of the most devastating event in human history was the Black Plague. One third of Europe’s population (about 25 million people) died because the medical attention needed for people at this time was just not available. Medical care was often speculation with no scientific evidence to back up these treatments. Spiritual treatments were also common in hope that God would heal the sick. People were dying by the thousands everyday because there were no doctors to help them. Most “doctors” fled to save themselves because they knew they could not help a situation on this large a scale. Those who stayed, such as the character named Silversleeves in the book London, could not do much medically and only could give moral support. This lack of medical attention and knowledge about disease caused a lot of suffering during this time and was one of the greatest reason why this time was one of hardship for many people.
Hardship could also describe how peasants and serf felt during everyday life. The feudal system in England often trapped people in the estate they were born into. The peasants, merchants, and serfs were in the lowest class and could never escape. The nobility and clergy lived a good life during this time because they lived in the top of the social classes. These people in the third estate were often very poor even though they worked very long hours. This meant a very hard life for these people and this era could be described as “especially dark” for that class of men and women.
The Middle Ages could and should be described as a Dark Age because of the misery that many people lived with. The lack of education and medical care and the feudal system are just a few examples of why.
In this day and age it is easy look at the ways of life of the people in the Middle Ages and think of it as a Dark Age. The sanitation and medical “care” was atrocious, the government corrupt, and the people uneducated. Riots, plagues, and extreme poverty were abundant during this time. It was, in many ways, a dark age. Though, as David McCullough said, “There was no simpler time. It may seem simpler to us, but it certainly didn’t seem simple to them.” So, the so called “Dark Ages” might seem dark to us, but to one living in that time they didn’t consider it a dark time. Even with all the turmoil going on during the Middle ages, not everything during this time period can be considered “dark.” The lower and middle class, the third estate, gained power during this time. They gained more status after the plague due to the shortage of workforce. Also, several peasant revolts forced the government to take action. This shows that there was still a very active government during this time. During this time, parliament was changed, a change that lasts to this day. The House of Commons in parliament gave more representation of the lower class and took some power out of the hands of the first estate. Despite the severe loss of life during the plagues and as a result of the poor medical care, society did not collapse. The loss of nearly half the population in many places did not destroy civilization as much as Monty Python would have you believe. The culture of Europe during the Middle Ages changed. While Latin was still the “noble” language, society and literature was beginning to change. This growth in vernacular literature made it more accessible to the common people and less exclusive to the church and educated men. Overall, there were advances during the Middle Ages, though not as much as during the Renaissance. The peasants improved their positions in society, government had some improvements, and literature and education became more accessible to the common man. Also, considering the dramatic population fluctuation, the society and way of life in Europe did not change or collapse. Overall, I would not call this time period a Dark Age despite all of the perhaps “dark” events of the time.
When many people think of the term “Middle Ages” the synonymous name that comes to mind is “Dark Ages”. This era in history is correctly labeled so when referring to the lack of medical advances, the degradation of women’s position in society, and the corruption of the English Church at the time.
The development of medicine during the middle ages was limited and largely revolved around religious practices, such as simply praying for recovery and giving up any additional scientific practices. In the novel London by Edward Rutherford, for example, in the time of King Henry II, David Bull is a young man who catches a sickness. In order to cure him, a nun, Mabel, tries to feed him special “herbs” and simply prayed for him, which is not a very advanced method of medicine(Rutherford, 355). What made the practice of medicine seem even less developed was the spread of the Black Plague. Rutherford does an excellent job of describing the horror and destruction the plague caused when it swept through Europe. With such little advancements made in the field of medicine, a large percent of the population was wiped out. Infants were often left out on the street if a family had been killed off by the plague and left to fend for itself, as is demonstrated in London when Gilbert Bull finds a baby left on the London Bridge in the year of 1361 (Rutherford, 433). Rutherford makes an effort to also comment that children sometimes “ended in the river” (Rutherford, 433). Such examples of the monstrosities seen in the field of medicine and the Black Plague surely support the claim that the Middle Ages were in fact a time of darkness.
The filth that was squandering in the city and lack of medical resources was not the only horrendous aspect of medieval times. The treatment of women and the ignorance of sexual diseases were astonishing. Women were often treated as no more than property by their own husbands. Rutherford’s character, Ida, for example in Chapter 7, was a widow, and because Kind Richard was searching for methods of funding his crusades (no matter how chauvinistic the methods) it was very common for widows to be sold to another man and is subjected to his demands (Rutherford,322). Even in Rutherford’s chapter, “The Whorehouse” (which takes place about 100 years later) the women are only valued for their figures and sexual abilities and were looked down upon by society. When Margery Dogget, a prostitute, found that she had gotten a form of syphilis, her only worry was how to get rid of the evidence because her livelihood, and the livelihood of her family, depended on her line of work (Rutherford,386). Thus was the treatment and conditions of women socially in the middle ages, which absolutely is an example of why many refer to the middle ages as the “dark ages”
Finally, one cannot ignore the involvement of the religion of the time when commenting on why the Middle Ages were often called the “Dark Ages”. One very vivid and shameful example of the faults of the Church of England at that time occurred in Rutherford’s chapter titled “Hampton Court” (1533 AD). During this time of the Middle Ages, Martin Luther and any other reformers were being persecuted and accused of committing heresy (Rutherford,546). In 1535, Henry VIII sentenced three priors to be executed, and what’s worse, he had them murdered in a gruesome way; the priors were hung for a few moments, and then, still conscious, had their bowels “dragged out, then their hearts, and their arms, legs, and heads hacked off” (Rutherford,600). This was the price that was paid for speaking out against the church, or against King Henry VIII for that matter. This horrible example of the persecution of many and destruction of the basic right of religious freedom is just one other reason why the Middle Ages are so often referred to as the Dark Ages.
The term the "Dark Ages," is an accurate term to illustrate the "Middle Ages" of Europe. From the corrupt social class system, lack of knowledge, and the wrath of the Black Plague, this time period in history signified despair and violence. Culturally and scientifically this era provided scarce advancements to benefit European society.
One contributor that depressed Europe during this era was the social hierarchy in society which prevented those from lower and middle class backgrounds to rise through the ranks. During the Middle Ages it was deemed that you could only strive through the corrupt Roman Catholic Church, the military, or if you were born into an affluent family. These families were noble and held ties to the monarchy or tyrannic leader in power at the time. An example includes the Silversleeves family. The statistic that 85 percent of Europes population was peasantry and serfs helps prove just how devious society's social class system was. It truly severed Europes social progression as a whole.
The Black Plague decimated Europe during the Dark Ages. This contagion practically killed between one 1/4 to 1/2 of Europes' overall population. Due to this deadly and horrific illness the progress of inventions and advancements in technology only hurt Europeans chances of recovery. One significant lack of knowledge in the Middle Ages was the medical field. Doctors during this time had no clue to what caused the spread of the plague, or how to stop it. Their herbal and bleeding techniques of patients during these times were epic failures. Instead of resolving the problem through scientific research and knowledge it led to despair and a sense of hopelessness among Europes' population. Their ardor for arts was at an all time low and so was morale. Both factors stalled intellectual movements to improve European society during the middle or more accurately Dark Ages.
Not only did the plague halt advancement in technology and cultural ideology, but also ignited a series of violent trauma in Europe that was ultimately an after effect of the plague. One episode of violence were the peasant rebellions in England and France. The plague led to this because after the disease had stopped ravaging villages and cities there weren't as many serfs and peasants to work the land for nobles and wealthy merchants. Thus leading to increased wages and incomes for lower class society. Due to the significant increase in economic beneficiary for the lower class the nobles layed waste to peasant lands and a poll tax in England was passed in 1358. This caused the peasant revolt. Thousands of peasants were killed in England and France. In addition to death was property damage throughout immense cities such as London where peasants burned mansions and ransacked hundreds of stores. This after effect not only killed thousands of peasants,and property damage, but also lead to political instability which ultimately hurt Europe and the improvement of European government during the Middle Ages.
To put it simply the Middle Ages was indeed an incredibly dark period in Europes history as millions were lost to the plague and advancements were stalled. Culturally, socially, and scientifically the lack of knowlege during this time period halted progression. Thus creating the label "The Dark Ages."
Although there was a great deal of advancement during the "Dark Ages" I do believe that it was a dark time for European society. From the perspective of the people the easiest way to describe the general feeling during this time is the apocalypse. A sense that all good things were coming to an end. The leading cause of this was the The Black Death Plague and the fall of prestige in the Roman Catholic Church. Because science had not progressed enough to allow people to see that the Plague was not a punishment from God people simply dismissed it as the end of the world. Of course if 1/3 of the population were to be wiped out today we might think the same thing. People were now fully indulging themselves entirely to absolution before they inevitability became sick or completely letting go of their religion to enjoy what life they had left. It was a mad world. In a latter chapter of London they describe the story of scientist from the Ducket family who stays behind and studies the Black Death but simply cannot solve the mystery. He feels terrible that everyone is dieing around him and as a doctor he cannot do anything. Indeed a dark time. Not only did it seem that all of life was coming to an end but soon after the plagues deadliest outbreak had subsided now the church seemed to be coming to an end. After the Death of Pope Boniface V111 and Kink Phillip 1V had Clement V appointed Pope, instead of residing in Rome where every Pope previously had lived, Clement resided in Avignon near the boarder of France. This led to a loss of presitege for the pope. Further prestige and total loss of religion for some people happened during the Great Schism where Pope Urbane V1 of Rome and Clement V11 were claiming one another to be the Antichrist. After this people realized the evil's that lay within the Roman Catholic Church and ultimately didn't know what to think of Christianity. In London Rutherford went into great lengths to describe the corruptness of the Church in the Chapter The Saint where the King is in dispute with the church over pardons for members of the church. Also in the chapter the Whorehouse the church was not keeping it a secret that they were running the brothels. In general people found that the Roman Catholic Church was not everything it was cracked up to be. In the midst of disease and and religion was also great turmoil and war. The 100 year war brought 100 years of pillaging by mercenaries and soldiers hired by both England and France. It was a war that simply took place for the sake a being a war. King Edward 111 of England and Phillip V1 of France were in a dispute over the territory of Gascony and decided to use that as an excuse to show off their power and fight each other. So much death for such an insufficient cause. During the Dark Ages everything that was normal in society seemed to be falling apart but out of the dark ages was the dawn of new inventions, new literary writings and languages, and new philosophies on life and religion. If it wasn't for the decline of the Church and mass death it would not have opened up people's minds to new ideas of science and health. This was a dark period but "It's always darkest before the dawn" (Unknown).
In some respects, it is difficult to refute the common credence that the Middle Ages were a time of turmoil and darkness, accurately termed “The Dark Ages”. War, social upheaval, famine, and the Black Death all contributed to the overall desolation that seems to have dominated the time period. Nonetheless, it is important to recall the fact that the period was not dubbed “The Dark Ages” by a disciplined, meticulous historian of the present day, working to objectively and equitably label the time period. In fact, the name was invented in the 1300s when Petrarch erroneously considered the medieval culture to be ignorant of antiquity. Though there is truth in the name, the crucial advances of the Renaissance were born in the darkness of the Middle Ages. In this way, the time period was one of both despair and progress. Naturally, the most obvious example of accuracy in the label can be found in the horrors of the Black Death. As Rutherford successfully portrayed in London, the plague ravaged the continent. The fateful flight of a single infected bug might mean life or death, as the disease spread rapidly and devastatingly. And, as portrayed in the book, doctors were powerless against it. In only four years, it is estimated that between 25 and 50 percent of the European population was eliminated. This would have constituted between 19 and 38 million people. Therefore, it is no surprise that fear of death was constantly on the minds of the survivors, contributing to the darkness of the time. The social structure of the period changed over time. Between 1000 and 1300, it had actually been generally stable, split into the three estates. But despite this stability, there were clear issues in the structure. Once born into a certain estate, there was little chance of movement. This theme constantly appeared in Rutherford’s novel, as families, especially of the upper class, competed tirelessly to maintain respectable social standing. Serfdom also provided a very lowly existence for a growing number of people, unable to meet the requirements of the freemen. The situation would change in later years, however. The overall stability was replaced by peasant revolts in the high middle ages, as the economic repercussions of the Black Death interrupted the stability of the feudal societies. Considering the turmoil of the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, as portrayed by Rutherford, society was clearly disorganized and unpredictable. Political instability only added to this tumultuousness. The Hundred Years’ War, paired with controversy between dynasties over the right to the throne, hurt the ruling abilities of the monarchs in the 14th century. Despite the primitive nature of technologies during this period, it is important to note that advancements did occur in the Dark Ages. In medicine, the Black Death forced the medical community to re-examine the priorities of doctors. Practical knowledge was finally valued over philosophical ideas, and there was an increase in attention to public health. New inventions such as eyeglasses and the clock were introduced, and vernacular literature was developed in the High Middle Ages. Summarily, there is support for both sides of the issue. Despite the tragedies of the period, there were clear advances that would ultimately lead to the Renaissance. It is important to recall that the beginning of the Renaissance was not an abrupt change in culture. It occurred over time, beginning in the darkness of the Middle Ages.
When one hears the term “Dark Ages” negative connotations immediately come to mind. But for one living in a comfortable and satisfying lifestyle today, it is difficult to imagine different ways of the Middle Ages. The lack of advanced medicine, the distinct separation of social classes, and difference in gender roles support the reasoning for giving the “Middle Ages” the alternate nickname, “Dark Ages.” Most people today cringe at the lack of advanced medicine during the “Dark Ages”. The Bubonic plague is the best example, demonstrating the lack of advanced medicine. The widespread plague affected thousands of people in Europe with severe medical conditions. Those affected coughed up blood, experienced fevers, and even had growths formed on their bodies. Those fortunate enough to avoid it were living in fear everyday of the possibility of becoming a victim. Although much of the reason for the large death toll was the absence of sanitation, the proper medication and technology could have helped. People bathed in public areas and regularly shared eating utensils. The lack of good hygiene and advanced medicine were major contributions to the widespread effect of the bubonic plague. Doctors were unprepared to handle an epidemic so widespread. The death and poor medical conditions make “The Middle Ages” the solemn title “The Dark Ages.” Furthermore, the situation of social classes was much different than modern societies’. Three estates made up the social system; nobles, clergy, and the third estate including traders and professionals. The nobles in the highest estate were the wealthiest. Although all three of the estates were affected by the bubonic plague, those in the noble estate were able to afford doctors. As seen in London, people in different social classes faced different challenges. In one chapter, a poor Ducket family was lead by an alcoholic mother. She could not afford to get help for herself or her family and spent money on alcohol while her husband worked. Being in a lower class in society often leads people to use substances that are harmful to them and their families. In another chapter, the Dogget sisters worked as prostitutes in order to make money. Women put in this position have a great risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases, which were not well known at the time because of the lack of advanced medicine. It’s a matter of perspective and attitude, but in general, the separation of classes caused several problems and unhappiness. It was just another “dark” aspect at the time. For years, women have struggled in gaining equality in society with men. These “dark ages” seemed to make no improvement for achieving this goal. Poor women, young women and widowed women were often forced into marriages against their own will. It was necessary that the wife follow her husband’s orders whether it be cleaning the house or pleasing him in the bedroom. Gender roles were a major theme in London and they were demonstrated in nearly every chapter. In the first chapter, the husband was required to go off every day with the village members to help prepare for an attack from Julius Caesar while the mother stayed at home with the family. Although this is the typical scenario, it continued for several hundred years throughout the book, even with the horrific scenes involving the plague. The book even features scenes where the husband abuses his wife for not doing as he pleases. It was “dark ages” for the women facing such challenges. Although not everything about the “dark ages” was horrible, many of the events and situations at that time must have been extremely difficult to live in. The middle ages is a term best to describe the period in time, but the “dark ages” can best describe the difficult living situations and horrific experiences faced by several people, specifically involving the black plague. In order to not confuse people, it would be best to acknowledge the time period as the “Dark Ages.”
When asked whether or not the Dark Ages, which can also be referred to as the Middle Ages, were indeed actually dark, an immediate thought is the Black Death. Although this devastating catastrophe was a contributing factor as to why some regard the Middle Ages as being dark, it is not the only one. This paired with lack of medical knowledge, or lack thereof, corruption of the Church, education, and the massive gaps amongst genders and social classes led many to believe this statement. The book London by Edward Rutherfurd highlights these components throughout his book. For example, the harsh reality of large social gaps in the system of Feudalism was portrayed in the book by following members of different social classes. Serfdom was nearly impossible to escape, and paid his lord with labor. Even if one graduated from serfdom, many could not pay the tax to the king, as well as rent, which was the predicament of Alfred the Armorer’s brother in the chapter The Tower (Rutherfurd 225). Moving up the social class to the second estate is the nobility. To achieve this social status, one must be born into it, instantly creating hardships to those below them. In the chapter, The Mayor, a short confrontation with Gilbert de Godefroi, who is a knight, explains the gaps in society. Alderman Sampson Bull’s son thinks of his father, “not only was he of lower rank than the feudal knight, but God had actually created him inferior”. This paired with the explanation that his nobility was a product of his wealth, and if one had enough land, they could have become a noble. And now, referring to the time period within the chapter, the only way into nobility was birth. This “perception of nobility that, once rooted in the island of Britain, would haunt its society” and contributed as to why many think this time period was dark (Rutherfurd). A second factor to this component was the Black Death paired with lack of medical knowledge as to what caused this tremendous disease as well as how to treat it. The two allowed for unimaginable death tolls and great loss. Rutherfurd describes in his book many situations people were put into during the plague. A doctor who couldn’t grasp the cause or a cure, those who were able to escape to their estates and wait it out, and finally, the majority who had to harder decisions such as whether or not to abandon their family and try to survive. The Church, which was growing increasingly corrupt, was another contributor to the thought. In a time where people had the ability to purchase various favors from the Church, the Roman Catholic Church’s power grew with their wealth. The increasing power of the Church led to a rise in its control of government and daily life. Furthermore, the only education one could receive was through the church. This meant very few were literate and only supports the argument that lack of knowledge contributed to why the dark ages were dark. This also leads to the gaps amongst genders, as the church taught pre-condemnation of women. All of these reasons lead one to conclude that the middle or dark ages can have the connotation of being ‘dark’. The devastation of the Black Death, unjust social systems, corruption within the church, as well as a lack of education in numerous categories provides valid arguments to this claim.
The Middle Ages can be interpreted as the “Dark Ages” if one were to look at the lack of technological innovation, a Catholic Church that preferred involved itself in the political fray instead of the spiritual one, the deadly Bubonic plague and the illiteracy and ignorance that was ripe in the European populace. The Middle Ages began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the entity that had preserved stability and society itself for centuries. Without the empire, Europe soon fell into political anarchy and the Germanic barbarians would pillage the former Empire’s territories without any regard for law. Anarchy prevailed in Western Europe for decades before feudalism emerged which would allow some sort of stability and society to return to Europe.
During this time period, progress in society came to halt as the political and religious leaders for the most part were more occupied with maintaining the status quo rather than progress. The Catholic Church in particular had no qualms about repressing scientific thought and research that went against the Bible and their teachings, out of fear of losing their petty political power over Europe. The Catholic Church was able to hold their iron grip over Europe for many centuries, and it wasn’t until the reformation that the Catholic Church’s political power and influence would begin its decline.
The lack of technological innovation in this time period greatly hindered the medical field and the competency of “doctors”. Most of the doctors were ignorant of the human body’s working and would follow use deficient methods that more often than not, harmed their patients rather than aid them. The Bubonic plague or the “Black Death” as it was called was a devastating epidemic that wiped more than a third of Europe’s population. The doctors were clueless in developing a cure and containing its advance. The disease would spread like wildfire in the peasant’s unsanitary environments and they had no idea that their unsanitary lifestyle was dangerously unhealthy and spread the disease even further.
Peasants made up the vast majority of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages. The peasants were people who were under the care of a lord and were usually highly illiterate and poor. These peasants lived in miserable conditions and lived only to farm and harvest food for their lord. The lack of a productive populace would further hinder any major technological developments and preserve European backwardness until the renaissance. The Middle Ages cannot be called anything but dark if the majority of the people living in it are living in miserable conditions without any way to work their way out and the governing leaders are motivated to maintain this backward status quo. It is because of these conditions that Europe fell into decadence in comparison to the Islamic and Asian societies.
The fifth century to fifteenth century European life falls within a period called the Middle Ages. The period has also taken up the title of the Dark Ages. Is such a designation appropriate? I personally do not believe so. The general stereotype that accompanies the title of "the Dark Ages" is a scene of horrible disease, unbearable labor, tyranny, cruel medicine, lack of education, and pure turmoil. To me, this seems like a ridiculous exaggeration. The word "dark" means effectively devoid of light, or grim and evil. I can find no way to justify such title. To call a whole period of time wholly evil and sinister is a serious accusation. The problem is, that no one alive today was alive then, so no one truly knows what it was like to live in the Middle Ages. All of our ideas and tangible information on such a time comes from documents and artifacts and such means. This is fine, but until you truly empathize with the people of these years. The whole issue of the can be solved by considering relativity. Picture yourself being born as a peasant in glorious Somewhereshire in Europe during the so-called "Dark Ages". As a peasant, your day consists of work, taxes, minimal food. Though this may seem dreadful, you have to consider that this is all you have ever known. Sure, based on today's standard of living, it seems pretty horrid. In this time period, this was life. It just was. There was nothing sinister or evil about it to the people living then. They knew nothing else. They couldn't oppose such a lifestyle because they had no other lifestyle to idealize, or strive to equal. Today, the flow of information is what causes our change. We are so spoiled with our little magic rectangles that can talk to space, and answer all questions. All we need to do to realize a situation is off is use technology to compare it to somewhere else. Then we use the influence of money to bend the situation in our favor. But just think about it. In the Fifth Century, communication was as fast as one's horse could run, or how fast you could walk. To put it simply, limitations of communications didn't allow for knowledge of living conditions to spread so quickly. In short, no one realized anything was wrong because to them, nothing was. Another topic endlessly brought up when justifying the title of the "Dark Ages" is medicine. People look at the techniques for healing and treatment and are genuinely appalled. The fact of the matter is that these doctors did what they did because it was what they believed was right, and it was cutting edge at the time. Life was centered around religion, and the belief in supernaturals and the like. By burning someone and causing blistering, or by letting someone's blood run out, they genuinely thought they were healing another person. The extent of their knowledge in the fields of science and medicine support this. The question of cleanliness and sanitation didn't exist. Bacteria weren't even noticed until hundreds of years after the end of the Middle Ages. This risk that we today are so extensively exposed to quite simply wasn't even known about. Effectively, blood was red, wet stuff that was important and it was connected somehow to health and one's soul. By cutting someone and then using the same edged tool to cut someone else, the doctors were being cost efficient, not some sort of ignorant monster, as they seem to be looked at as being.
Medicine today is without question as gruesome as it was back then. All that has happened is an increase in cleanliness, and a decrease in pain. The expose someone to the same radiation that was used to kill hundreds of thousands of Japanese in World War Two is horrifying and yet, is accepted by today's people. Today, we perform brain surgery with the patient being completely conscious through the whole procedure. How is that any worse than what happened in the Middle Ages? It just simply isn't. One also has to remember that these doctors were practicing before there was effectively any legitimate understanding of how the body and life work, and still believed that religion held the answers. To call the people of this time period evil and sinister is similar, in effect, to calling a young child stupid for not washing their hands after touching something dirty. And to denounce such a period of pride and dignity to the title of evil and sinister because of the relatively bad living is absurd. That was life then. There was no all-equalizing document or Constitution that made it wrong. To say that everyone in the thousand or so years that encapsulated the "Dark Ages" was depressed and overworked, and diseased is simply ignorant. Today, we are living through an effectively global economic crisis. Times for those who work are tough, but to say that everything is grim and everyone is violated and depressed is wrong. People are malleable enough to fit into rough places, but rigid enough to work through a particularly bad one. I have no doubt that there was still enjoyment and amusement during these "Dark Ages". Life wouldn't have progressed if this time had been completely evil. In summation, I do not think of the Dark Ages as being a grim, sinister, and evil time because of relativity. To these people, it was life, and they were doing what they knew was right. It is similar to the Eugenics movements in the United States' history. As horrible as it seemed, what was being done was believed to be right. Now, just as a precautionary measure, I would like to take this time to point out that modern science has determined the Sun to be over 4,500,000,000 years old. Therefore, assuming that the Dark Ages are within that time from, plus the eight minutes for the light to travel to Earth, there was in fact light, thus proving the Dark Ages were not devoid of light, and reinforcing my reasons for not designating the Dark Ages as truly "dark". The life the people knew during the Middle Ages was all they knew, and it is human nature to both adapt to, and to accept such influences.
Is "The Dark Ages" a suitable name for the middle ages? I believe it is. There were not many things that could be considered happy and bright during that time. Women's rights were few, scientific research and knowledge was lacking, and lastly, the black plague destroyed much of the human population. The women of the middle ages were completely dominated by their husbands as well as the male members in their family. They were expected to obey any order given to them by a male family member and if they didn't, the consequences could have included beating and other punishments. Even during the 14th century women were viewed as inferior, made lesser than men by God. Women were also discouraged from sharing their opinions as they should have the same views as their husbands. They had no say, and were downtrodden in society. A second reason why the middle ages could accurately be referred to as "The Dark Ages" was because of the general lack of knowledge. Not only was most of the population of London illiterate, but doctors and researchers of Europe were mostly prohibited from conducting autopsies and anatomical research by the Catholic Church, almost completely wasting all possible potential for medicinal development . As a result, they couldn't take care of themselves as easily and were completely caught off guard with the arrival of the Bubonic and Pneumonic plague. The third reason the middle ages can be considered dark is that death was everywhere. The disease known as the "Black Plague" or "Black Death" was carried by fleas and it eventually spread to humans. Then the bacteria could easily be passed to other humans. It was the most devastating epidemic ever seen by mankind, killing roughly 1/3 of europe's entire population. Some areas had upwards of a sixty and seventy percent death rate. Because the dead were so many, graveyards quickly filled and cities were forced to dig mass graves, in which the bodies were piled into a ditch and covered over with dirt until they reached the top. Art created during this time of death and illness accurately reflects a "Dark" mood felt by many. Artists became preoccupied with death and depicted morbid scenes of death and horrors. These reasons alone explain the truth behind the title sometimes given to the middle ages known as "The Dark Ages" it truly was a dark and grim time in history.
Many people refer to the Middle Ages as being the “Dark Ages". The novel "London", by Edward Rutherford, gives us some insight as to why this is such a popular description of this time period. The main reasons seem to be related to the feudal system, the lack of education that was present, and the huge outbreak of disease. The feudal system was built upon nobles, who owned land, and serfs, who worked for their land. The way it was set up gave the serfs and the peasants little to no chance of moving up in society. The class they were born into was the one in which they would stay. With no rights in the present and no hope for the future, it is understood why this age was considered so dark for these common people. The lack of education in England at this time was evident in that only the members of the clergy knew how to read and write. The common people not being able to do so also even further hindered their ability to climb the social ladder. They were not the only ones who suffered because of this. The doctors and medical personnel were mostly using superstitious remedies to cure diseases that were not known much about. Some of these techniques worked, though they did not know why, but most were extremely painful and did more harm than good. Many diseases had no cure at all. One such disease was known as the Plague. The outbreak of Plague that occurred in the Middle Ages lasted over the span of three years, and killed twenty-five to fifty percent of Europe’s population. It was a horrible way to die, but nothing could be done to prevent it. No one knew what caused it, or why it occurred. Mass burials ensued, and the smell of death was always in the air. People who were still alive knew that they could come down with the Plague any second. It was nearly impossible to avoid all who were contaminated with the disease. A common theme here seems to be a lack of hope. There was no hope to be able to rise in social rankings, no hope to be educated or to be cured of diseases. For many, there was no hope of surviving the Plague. Without a light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel is very dark indeed. I agree with those who refer to this time period as the “Dark Ages”.
Alison Hoynes Referring to the Middles Ages as the “Dark Ages” is appropriate for the feudal system, medical practice, lack of education, and the treatment of individuals.
The feudal system was a harsh system that allowed for very little change. It consisted of Three Estates: Noble, Clergy, and then workers. Whatever class you were born into at the time was more than likely the same class you would be classified as when you died. Moving up in life was very difficult and rarely ever done. This lack of ability to move up in life created a lack of ability for the world to advance because not everyone was given an equal chance through education. This brings me back to my next point.
Only very few people were truly educated. The nobles and clergy were the only ones who were truly educated. The small group of the wealthy elite members of society was educated back then. Barely any could read and fewer could write. The lack of an education of the majority of citizens propelled the lack of need and appreciation for things like art and literature was then widespread. Although some may argue that art and literature are more for passing time and have no real importance to a culture, art and literature is what allows for societies to continue and to prosper. Literature and art are very thought provoking and challenge people to understand them and interpret them. When you have things that provoke the thoughts of individuals it often leads to new ideas, philosophies, way of life and thus culture and advancement.
Another gruesome aspect to the Middle Ages were its practices of medicine. Medicine was extremely limited. When the Black Plague hit the area and whipped out massive populations doctors had no idea what to do or how to begin to treat it. Often times, methods that the doctors of the time period believed to work would either speed up your death or inadvertently kill you. They were very painful, superstitious, and quite frankly didn’t make much sense at all. It seemed as though that every time doctors did help it only speed the process of death instead of stop them.
As talked about earlier the position in which you stood in the Three Estates would in essence determine the way you were treated as an individual. Those with more money and higher ranked were given more respect and attention than the poor man who was born into serfdom trying support his family. At this time period most people only cared about themselves and how to earn more money because it was so tight. This would then promote those without money to steal or forge money which was a serious offense. During the Middle Ages violence, cruelty, and crimes were high while education, cleanliness and good medical care was at a low. This obviously portrays depressing and dirty time in history for Europeans therefore; the name the “Dark Ages” is an appropriate name to classify the Middle Ages as.
The period between the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the beginning of the Renaissance is known as the Dark ages. Many historians debate whether or not the period of time was actually a “dark” time. In the movie “Bruce Almighty,” Morgan Freeman, portrayed as God, refers to the Dark Ages as a previous vacation where he did not watch over the world for a significant period of time. The span of about four hundred years, proved to be a grimmer and unsettling time than other ages in other parts of the world. I believe the actions and events that took in this era spawned a definitive dark presence and eerie feeling of the people of Europe.
First off, the monarchs during the Dark Ages were incredibly out of their place and lived above the law. The reason for this was the feudal system and the social classes of the time period. The highest level in society besides the royal family, of course, was the nobles that were rich and owned a significant amount of land. Under them were the clergy, who were God’s messengers, when in reality if one could not find a trade to make them successful they went to the Church. And finally the lowest class of society was peasantry, along with merchants and members of the guilds. Also, the kings basically lived above the law because they were the law in those times and even now. Kings who wished to have a male heir would kill their spouses if they only birthed girls and moved onto a new girl in hope of conceiving the heir to their throne.
Additionally, the Church lived lives that went against almost everything the Catholic religion stood for. The bishops and priests would have multiple girlfriends and even the Pope would use his power to have his way with woman in Europe. The administrators of the parish would tax their members for their own benefit claiming it was their duty to God. During the Black Plague, when the true evil-doers were rats with harmful fleas the Church blamed the Jewish religion for its extensive spread over the continent of Europe. Because the Jewish people became the scapegoats of the deadly plague, the Church killed Jewish people by burning them on a wooden stake. At this gathering the Jewish people were given the choice to repent and be baptized on the spot. While almost a thousand did willingly, many young children were baptized against their will which showed the cruel extent the Church went to spread their popular and powerful religion.
As for the Black Plague, the actual event’s cause and effects on the European population is sickening to the strongest souls. The fact that between 19 and 38 million people died in the span of four years, 1347 to 1351, is terrifying as the actual calculation would be about 13,015 to 26,030 people dead every single day. The disease was caused by rats who carried fleas that were infected with the bacterium Yesinia pestis. The living conditions and cleaning habits of the European people did not aid the situation as many people went long periods of times without bathing and became infected with their own bacteria that tag teamed with the Black Plague to kill them faster. The shear fact that severe coughing was a symptom and liability of obtaining this horrifying disease became another reason why it spread so fast, it was literally an essence in the air the Europeans breathed everyday.
In conclusion, the four centuries known as the Dark Ages were nothing less than dark. This is a result of the Church and government being corrupt in every waking moment of this time period. The Black Plague killed nearly 75 percent of the European population which is a large stain of Europe’s past. I believe that if I were to go to any year during the this time period whether it be at one of the executions of King William’s wives, the burning of Jews in Strasbourg, or even a single day during the Black Plague, the sky would spawn dark clouds with hints of green to show the silent chaos of Europe during the Dark Ages.
Jake Henderson The Dark Ages in Europe were definitely a time where the European world did not advance much. This time was a period where humans did not know much about the human body and were content to allow ‘doctors’ to perform surgeries to rid the body of evil spirits. Medicine was a disaster. The Roman’s of ancient times knew more about medicine than most Europeans did during the Dark Ages. The general unhealthiness of the people led to widespread diseases and death. Medicine of the Dark Ages was truly dark. In addition to medicine, literature in general did not advance much. Very little was written during this time period, only church leaders wrote, and they wrote in Latin, an unknown written language to most commoners. The historical literature of the period is scarce, so that is another reason why this period could be referred to as ‘Dark.’ Furthermore, the Dark Ages were indeed dark in comparison to the later time periods of the Renaissance. Literature, art, science, and history began to collect interest, which led to great works and advances, such as sculptures, paintings, and writings about the time. The Dark Ages were a time of disease and illiteracy, which can be completely contrasted by the later Renaissance, which could be considered as a time of enlightenment in Europe. As a result, the time period around the 7th to 12th century can be classified as “Dark.”
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One may consider the Middle Ages to be a “Dark Age” because of the lack of technology, knowledge, and present-day necessities that many people today cannot live without. Putting oneself in a serf’s or noble’s position during the 1400’s is not easily done, but one can imagine the difficulty and frustration a person would have not knowing what was happening in the castles and government that controlled their society. A poor choice/decision a monarch made had a trickling yet direct effect on the citizens working the land and offices, but these people could not become aware of political problems through the click of a mouse. Like in London, citizens had to rely on noble men/aldermen in town who were involved in parliamentary meetings, and these men made changes in their societies based on the king’s decision(s) in these meetings. In “The Globe” for example, Alderman Jacob Ducket delivered the news to a horrified Meredith that all theatres were to be closed, as decided by the city council. In many ways, people were left in the “dark” after unfair laws and restrictions were passed. There was not anything they could do to change a king/noble’s mind, they were merely townspeople. Similarly in “Hampton Court”, in 1533 King Henry forced those who reluctantly took an oath to Catholicism to take it again, or else be condemned to death (if they did not declare loyalty to the religion). People either had to abandon their traditional religious practices, or be sentenced to a gruesome death. How much darker can a predicament become?
There is also the matter of medical practices during the Middle Ages. The majority of medicinal exercises were based on spirituality or common thought, and usually failed to heal the patient… these practices would more often than not harm the patient, or result in fatality. Doctors were certainly around, but were especially needed during “the most devastating natural disaster in European history”: The Black Death. Unfortunately, many of them fled to try and hide from the disease with their families, unwilling to help the sick. The mid-fourteenth century plague tore Europe’s economy and people apart for years, and only centuries later was it able to fully recover. Certainly during this “dark age”, medicinal knowledge was urgently needed, but unavailable. Even with a basic understanding of how the disease spread and what it inflicted, effective cures could not be conjured. However, basic medicine was coming along developmentally. Before the Plague, discoveries were being made like the syphilis treatment created by a Jewish doctor in “The Whorehouse”. Jewish doctors were believed to be the best because “they had access to the ancient knowledge of the classical world and the Middle East” (386), and were also thought to be “less prone to superstition” (386). But Jews were persecuted, and eventually expelled from England by King Edward I in 1920.
The Middle Ages were a "dark" period in many ways – people simply did not know enough about the world, the human body, and the way things work. Wars and times of turmoil, traumatizing disease and economic instability all eventually led to understanding as people learned what can and cannot happen in society.
The question of whether or not the Middle Ages should also be known as the Dark Ages is an interesting one. I think that the Middle Ages could definitely be described as the Dark Ages for a number of reasons. First of all, the lack of technological and medical advances is a large contribution to the depressing time known as the Middle Ages. If there was any a time to need so many cures and treatments for diseases, the Middle Ages was that time. The Black Plague took the lives of an unbelievable amount of people during the time. However, since the doctors were so inexperienced and lacked knowledge of what was causing the plague and how to stop it, there was very little to be done for the many unfortunate people who were infected with the plague. Also because of lack of medical attention, it was very common for women to die during childbirth. People who were very sickly or diseased basically had to either wait for their sickness to pass or wait for death to take them because there was simply nothing for them to do. Lack of technology also had a great affect on most of the cities. Today if we want to know what is going on with the government we can simply turn on the news or go on the internet. Back then, the only people who knew what was going on in the government were those who were part of it. Normal middle to low class families did not have an idea of what their own government was doing. To us this just seems crazy because the government has a direct effect on our everyday life and it did back then too. To not know what was happening in ones own government was another point that made these times even worse.
Another factor that made the Middle Ages a dark period was the treatment of women. Women were treated as nothing more than just a baby-maker back then. Men would marry women who were of a popular family so they could make their own status higher. They would expect women to get pregnant when they wanted them to and they would always want a boy to continue the family status, because God knows women could never be thought of as important back then. Men would cheat on their wives weekly, like it was completely normal and in those times, it was normal. Though women did not like it, they would never do anything about it. They would still obey their husbands and let them sleep around with whomever they wanted as long as they didn’t leave their wives. I think the most depressing part of the matter is how normal the disloyalty to ones spouse was. Perhaps this was also because most marriages were arranged at the time.
Another aspect that made the Middle Ages dark was that everyone had to obey the government. Though we still today obey the laws the government has made, those laws have come a long way from the Middle Ages. Whatever faith the King was, is what faith you had to be. And if you were not practicing that faith, you were to be killed. If you did not agree with everything the King believed, you would have one chance to change your mind and if you did not, you would be killed. If you disobeyed any of the King’s orders, you would be killed. In those times you either had to give up what you believed or be killed. How can it be much worse than that?
I would definitely say “The Dark Ages” is a fitting description of “The Middle Ages”. The lack of medical attention led to a great decrease in population. A lack of knowledge and technology deprived the citizens from being aware of what was going on in their country’s government. The poor treatment of women led men to believe they were inferior and women to believe they were merely put on this earth to please a man. Lastly, the failure to obey the King’s wishes always led to death. The Middle Ages could not have been a much darker period.
The term "Dark Age" is a very manufactured term when compared to today's advancements. Some would call the Middle Ages a Dark Ages because of the lack of necessities and commodities that we use today. So one would describe it as a Dark Ages because our time is so many times more advanced in terms of technology, knowledge, and modern day conveniences. There are many reasons people would consider this statement justified in that the Dark of Middle Ages were very caste system-like. Except for a position in the military or the clergy, it was pretty much impossible to rise through the ranks, starting as a peasant or a trader to gain success and wealth for his family. So the feudal sense was very "dark" in that it stayed the same for the most part.
Another reason considered for the Dark Ages was that most people outside of the clergy and high ranking military officers, the illiterate citizens greatly outnumbered the literate. The sharing of knowledge and going to universities or even school for young kids was almost invisible in certain lives. In many cases the child had no chance of going to school right from the beginning, instead working to help the family.
Another greatly persuading argument was a lack of medical knowledge and experience. Many forms of "healing" were thought up, and in some cases the treatment was more painful than the disease. When the Black Death rolled around, the doctors had no clue of how to stop the epidemic. It was almost purely just a lack of sanitation and proper cleansing. The fleas and rats would be in their houses infecting them. The staggering lack of medical knowledge is another reason for the Middle Ages to be referred to as a Dark Ages.
So in simple terms, the world did not know enough about everything to prosper enough. To get the most out of everything. The Middle Ages is referred to as a Dark Ages due to the lack of technology and knowledge, medical practices, and the ability to rise up in social classes.
While the Middle Ages can be accurately described as a “dark age” when considering Europe’s immobile feudal system and the corrupt Roman Catholic Church, there were other aspects of the Middle Ages where “dark age” would be an incorrect title, such as some technological/educational advancements.
First off, the feudal system was a social structure which proved detrimental to English society, making the term “dark age” an accurate depiction of the Middle Ages. In this system there were three estates, and everyone in each estate had obligations to the estate above them. In addition, once one was born into a certain estate, they could rarely ever move up a social class. London depicts some of the problems of these three estates in “The Mayor.” This chapter shows how many people are becoming more obsessed with their social class than their own family ties. It is more important for a person to seem rich and be in a high estate than it is to love and cherish their own family. For example, David Bull is ashamed of his father because he’s not a noble. Rutherford says, “From now on when he looked at his father…despite the fact they were father and son…he would secretly despise him”. This is only one example showing how the feudal system ripped up family units. Another aspect of Europe which made the Middle Ages a “dark age” was the Roman Catholic Church. This institution controlled most aspects of life during this time, and it soon became very corrupt. For example, in “The Saint”, Michael Bull becomes a monk in Westminster Abbey. However, he soon finds that the inner workings of the church aren’t what they claim. The monks had made fake documents glorifying Edward the Confessor’s life. Michael Bull became appalled at the corrupt workings of the church and didn’t want to forge documents, so he chose to leave.
However, considering every aspect of the Middle Ages to be a “dark age” would be a false title, due to the advancements made in England during this time. A major technological advancement was the start of the Exchequer in the 1100’s. This was a system that keeps records and finances for the king. In “The Saint”, Mr. Silversleeves is used in this system because he has a good memory, and is therefore able to remember all the numbers dealing with finance. This is a huge advancement for London because in the early Middle Ages, England had no central way of dealing with finances, as described in Clive Ponting’s “World History” article. Ponting describes how this contributes to Europe not being able to participate in trade because they have no organized currency/credit, and they therefore fall behind in the technology spreading throughout Asia. So, the exchequer was one good installment of the Middle Ages that helped England prosper in trading. Lastly, there were scientific advancements made during the Middle Ages. In “London Bridge”, the new theories about astronomy are described. Educated men knew the earth was round, and they knew the planets rotated.
Overall, while many aspects of the Middle Ages were dark, that term cannot be used to describe the whole time period due to some technological and educational advancements.
To label the Middle Ages as “Dark” is quite accurate. This time in European history is characterized by a lack of technology and decline of the arts. The late middle ages were not only a difficult time for the people who lived through them, they were also quite primitive.
In this Era of human history, people lived mostly day to day. This can be attributed in for many reasons to the onset and recurrences of The Black Plague. People in the time of the Black Plague couldn’t focus on leisure activities, so there was really no reason to open attractions such as museums. However, the museum was an incredible asset to any art loving citizen. This was quite evident in the time of the ancient Romans. The availability of art to citizens in that society led to an increase in the culture and appreciation of the arts during that time period. In Dark Ages Europe, and especially in England, this was not the case. In “London,” the museum wasn’t mentioned until very late in the story, and generations after the end of the Middle Ages. The decline of the arts in England in this time could definitely be classified as “Dark.” Not only was this a time period low in arts and sciences, people had no idea if they would live to see their next birthday. The Plague and its recurrences decimated all of Europe. To call these times “The Dark Ages” is definitely fitting.
The Middle Ages were also a time of poor trade in England. England had very few valuable materials, because they exported mostly raw goods. The largest export in England was lumber. While lumber was very important, it was also very easy to come by. England didn’t do as much trade as their neighboring countries, especially those on the European mainland. The lack of a hard currency in England was detrimental to their trading abilities, and left them out of the enormous trade markets of the time period. To combat their inabilities to do major trades on their own shores, England had to create its own fleet of trade ships to go and buy goods from foreign ports. A good example of this is the slave trade. Ships were sent on journeys taking months to go and bring slaves back from Africa. This is shown quite clearly early on in “London” by the huge numbers of slaves being bought and sold by landowners. If land needed to be worked, usually the task fell on a slave of some sort. The lack of hard currency, like Gold and Silver, was probably the biggest problem for English trade. While Gold or Silver retained value from China to Spain and beyond, English currency might not. This caused a lot of problems for citizens of English towns, as well as for the nobility and rulers themselves.
The time period of the Middle Ages was definitely a dark time in European history. From the lack of trade to the decline in appreciation for the arts, Europe really suffered a drop in cultural advances, as well as technological advances, during this era. To label these times as a “Dark Age” is very accurate.
During the Middle Ages there was a great decline in art and a lack of technology and medical knowledge. Especially compared to the present, it would seem that these ages were correctly labeled as a "Dark Age". Without the medical knowledge that was discovered in later years, disease destroyed much of Europe such as the Black Plague which had no cure and killed a mass amount of people. Along with this, success during these times was hard to come by. Most who were not a member of the clergy or a noble were almost guaranteed to not have the chance to move up in ranks.
In addition to these reasons, literacy during this time period was not common. For the most part only clergy men and nobles were able to read and write. This causes a society that's mainly uneducated and not very smart therefore resulting in a period without advancement in most educational fields such as technology and medicine.
With the lack of knowledge of medicine came very unsanitary conditions of living. People were very dirty and did not clean nearly as much as they do today because they did not understand the importance of good hygiene. This is a big reason why this time period was labeled as the Dark Ages, because the dirtiness and dark colors made it not very appealing.
Lastly, the feudal system had a very negative effect on the society. People were born into families stricken by disease and poor living conditions. This way of life gave little to no chance for people to move up in society or become educated and literate. This also was a huge factor in why this period was such a "Dark Age".
Due to all of these reasons, it would definitely be fitting that the Middle Ages can be referred to as a "Dark Age". The lack of technology and basic necessities made the standard of living extremely low, and lack of knowledge in almost all educational fields proved to be detrimental to society as a whole. These reasons basically sum up why it was so hard for people to prosper and survive during the Middle Ages.
After reading London by Edward Rutherford, most people interpret the Middle ages as a Dark Age. There are many reasons as to why people see it this way including the lack of medical knowledge and the bubonic plague. When the plague struck during the 14th century, it seemed as if an enormous portion of the population simply just disappeared. This was not only due to the horribly dangerous nature of the infection, but also to the lack of knowledge about the plague itself. Doctors simply were clueless on every part of the plague; they didn't know how it spread, what caused it, or how to properly treat it. Despite the medical technician's best efforts, almost no one could be saved once they received the disease. The plague was a major factor as to why the Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages. People relate the plague to a dark, negative connotation of the Middle Ages, which is one reason where the era draws its infamous name.
Another reason as to why the Middle Ages are also known as the Dark Ages is the gruesomeness of society. If one were a low-level citizen such as a serf or a peasant, life itself was a tough thing to deal with. Serfs were forced to work for the land the lived on, and in some cases could be related to slaves. Peasants faced unfair judgment and excessive government involvement in their lives. A great example of this crude higher power was the poll tax. The poll tax assessed everyone in society an unfair amount, and led to deadly riots which was why the poll tax was inevitably eliminated for good. Unfair judgment, especially in terms of the court, was also a major factor upon these peasants. Peasants could easily be blamed for crimes and sentenced to harsh punishments for something they did not do. Higher ranks in society such as nobleman and knights could simply pay their way out of trouble in the court or use their higher power as blackmail. This unfair government and judicial system was another major factor as to why the Middle Ages were seen as dark.
The Roman Catholic Church was also an attribute to the Dark Ages. Although it was the major religion during the Middle Ages and it still is a major religion today, it was unholy to say the least. The level of corruption between the church and state was unheard of. Some kings of England forced their subjects to swear oath the religion. The clergy were usually the literates of society as well, so they usually educated those who were illeterate and spread their beliefs that way. The church also falsified documents and scriptures to better fit what they believed. All in all, the church and government created a corrupt way of life for the people of the Middle Ages.
Many have often claimed that the “Middle Ages” of Europe as the “Dark Ages”. To their credit, this time was one where disease was out of control, Feudalism was firmly implanted, and it seemed as though all of Europe was constantly fighting among itself. The “Dark Ages” implies the false connotation that there was absolutely no progress during this time, and that the people of Europe merely wasted away. However, despite all of this, I believe that this time does not entirely deserve the title of dark for two basic reasons. Although Europe was curiously discovering technologies through trial and error, European society is to blame for the lack of serious progress.
As Rutherfurd pointed out in many of his stories, the people of Europe are that of pride and honor. Although there were times in European history with very little hope, the citizens of Europe gradually began the long road to recovery. It was in these attempts of recovery that launched a new culture. Silversleeves in the chapter “The London Bridge”, although considered pathetic for his interest in alchemy, is actually a prime example of the willingness as well as the curiosity that got Europe back on its feet in the Renaissance. Silversleeves was not deemed respective at all in his hobby, but unlike the connotation that the Dark Ages brings, he was making progress. Alchemy was just one of the bizarre methods many relied on to bring life back to normal in the late Middle Ages. It was the curiosity that Silversleeves demonstrated that became the gate way to many achievements in medicine, art, and the economy. Europeans were constantly looking out for new ideas to make them rich, even though there were times when it seemed to be an utter waste. Yet, it was in these taboos that some of the greatest works were created as well. The Canterbury Tales for instance was a byproduct of the growing unrest among the social structure, and to this day remains one of the most influential books in the founding of modern English. Similar to Silversleeves, Chaucer showed determination, and perseverance in this time many claim to be a dark age.
However, in the chapter “The Whorehouse” it is clear to see the workings of the medieval society. There are those like Dionysius Silversleeves, who constantly keep the feudal society at its status quo, despite the challenges faced by the peasants in their day to day life. Like many women of the lower estate, there weren’t many options that led to prosperity. It was either become a prostitute, or become homeless. In choosing prostitution, many women were faced with ridicule that made it increasingly impossible to rise up the ranks of society. There to ensure this, were those with very little morals; such as Silversleeves. The 12th, 13th and 14th centuries are marked by this lack of attention and compassion towards the majority of the people in Europe. The kings were out to protect their own “cultural heritage” as well as the noble minority. There was no embracement of the lower class, whom had the very ideas to bring Europe out of the constant recession. While living in the lap of luxury, the wealthy only had the plague to worry about. The peasants of society were left to deal with Pneumonic Plague, excrement filled streets, and little to no education. It was this dark quality of this time that seems grants this period the title of the Dark Ages.
The argument of what to call the medieval time period is indeed a valid one. Although progress was slowed, and society was in a heap, the perseverance shown by many men and women seems to almost undo the argument of calling this point in time the Dark Ages. Either way, London has shown us that, similar to this time period, there’s always two sides to the same coin. While one may claim this era as either “Middle” or “Dark” as their own opinion, it is almost impossible to point out the pros, without mentioning the cons.
After reading London I understand why the Middle Ages were considered the Dark Ages. Europe had a fixed feudal system and a crooked Roman Catholic Church. Though these parts of the Middle Ages could be titled the Dark Ages, medicine and new findings in the medical field would not fit under the title of the Dark Ages.
The feudal system was focused on the Three Estates. The first estate was the Church, the second were those who fought for the Church, and the third were those who produced food for those who prayed and fought for the Church. In Medieval times the Church controlled everything and everyone. The biggest issue was that the Church was corrupt. The Church was able to control society and government and through this were able to gain wealth in Europe. The Church would sell materials that people of the time believed came from the “true cross” to become wealthier. Next to selling fake materials they also sold indulges. The Church gave the Middle Ages the title of the Dark Ages.
Not everything was entirely dark in the Medieval times. Their medicine may sound preposterous now helped save lives in their time. Herbs and spices were big components in medicine. Leeches were used to stop an open wound from bleeding and are still used today to prevent blood clots.
Though the Middle Ages fall under the tile of the Dark Ages, there were advancements that are mistitled. At the time the Roman Church was the root of evil, but the people were taught to believe the Church derived by God. The development in medicine resulted in a major step forward for Medieval physicians.
There are many reasons why one might classify the Middle Ages as being “dark”. These reasons include a lack of medical and technological knowledge as well as a terrible social system and the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Black Plague hit England as well as the rest of Europe very hard. For at this time there was no cure, in fact the doctors of this time did not even know what caused this disease. Lack of medical knowledge also contributed the extremely unsanitary conditions of this time. There was no concept of hygiene during the Middle Ages. This is one reason this period became known as the Dark Ages because of the outward appearance of dirt and filth surrounding everyday life.
A person’s social class was a deciding factor in how they would live their life in the Middle Ages. The social system of the time was very set and most people once born in to a class could not move up or down in this system. For many people social class was everything to them and they took it very seriously. One character in London, Ida, represents the importance of social class to some people. She was the daughter of a knight and as a widow she was to be remarried. She was very upset when she found out the man she was to be married to was only a merchant, meaning he was a lower class than she. In present time this would not be very uncommon or a serious issue, but during the Middle Ages it was rare and not tolerated by many people. Another aspect of the social system that made this time a dark age was the treatment of woman. Women at this time were regarded as much lower than men, they could make no choices for themselves and had no freedoms.
The Roman Catholic Church helped the Middle Ages become labeled as the Dark Ages because of its high level of corruption. The Church had little to no tolerance of other religions in the time period. Often it would force people to convert or they would suffer serious persecution for their religions. In one chapter of London, by Edward Rutherford it talks about a Jewish doctor being the only one who could cure syphilis, a common disease in the “whorehouses” of London. This chapter continues by one of the characters suffering from syphilis with no help from a doctor because the Jews were pushed out of London. Events like this show how the actions of the Roman Catholic Church negatively affected the advancements in the field of medicine and most likely in other aspects of life.
The Middle Ages was a time of intellectual darkness. A lack of knowledge led to a number of problems, including medical, political, and social issues. The people of this time period simply did not know enough about the things they were dealing with to properly solve for these challenges, for example, the Black Plague.
As far as medical concerns, the Black Plague was the most significant of the time period. Physicians could not explain why the disease was so deadly, how it arrived in Europe, or how to cure it. Almost every victim who contracted the severe disease did not survive, despite the tireless efforts of the doctors of the time. They lacked the medical technology and education that did not develop until a later time, to learn and/or understand the proper way to handle the crisis. This deadly occurrence combined with unexperienced physicians left everyone in the dark on how to react and control the outbreak.
As well as health issues, people of the 14th century also faced problems surrounding an unfair social class system. They were all born into what was known as the feudal system, dividing citizens into three estates based on their families' rank in society. At the highest social class were the nobility, giving them special opportunities and benefits. Next came the members of the clergy, those who were involved in the church, and could also read and write. At the bottom of the spectrum were the peasants and serfs, who were illiterate and forced to work land for a noble or lord. This social group made up a majority of the population. With this system in place, people could not move up in society. They were bound to the class they were born in, preventing social advancement. Therefore a large number of people never became educated, which ultimately prevented technological and medicinal advancement as well.
Lastly, political corruption surrounding the monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church also contributed to the "darkness" of the Middle Ages. All citizens were expected to honor their King, and pledge allegiance to him despite any decisions he made that they did not agree with. They were expected to also follow the same religion as the King, and would be severely punished or sometimes even killed if they ignored this request. The church at this time worked hand in hand with the government, which meant many government affairs also involved religion. Eventually, the Roman Catholic Church controlled many aspects of peoples everyday life, and led to a very corrupt religious government.
Conclusively, the Middle Ages can be accurately defined as a Dark Age, due to the widespread lack of knowledge during the time. This insufficiency caused many problems surrounding all areas of life, especially medical practices, as well as political and social systems.
After reading London, I would describe the Middle Ages as a "Dark Age". One reason why I would label it as such is because of the Black Plague. This disease wiped out almost of the people that contracted it. There was little knowledge of medicine at that time so even the "knowledgeable" physicians were helpless to stop this from spreading. Panic set in and it turned into every person for themselves. The rich were able to take what they needed, mainly their money and themselves, and move off far away from where the out break had taken place. There were even times when they would leave family members behind so that they could save themselves. The poor however were not as lucky. Without the means or opportunity, the poor were forced to stay behind with what little possessions they had to attempt to brave this epidemic.People often believed that the plague was God's way of punishing the people for their sins, or they saw this as the work of the devil. No matter what type of the plague was contracted, bubonic or pneumonic, the end result was the same. Death. Without any way to cure this disease, massive death tolls reigned down upon inflicted communities and many were subject to death. With this seemingly unstoppable illness, the title of a "Dark Age" seems fitting.
Another reason that this era can be referred to as a "Dark Age" is because of the social structure. There was a feudal system in place. This means that where ever you were born into in society is most likely where you were going to stay until the day you died. This type of system has some serious ramifications. First off, the uneducated poor class was already a majority of the population. Education was usually restricted to the clergy and noble classes. With this in mind, the illiterate peasants, tradesmen merchants would continue to produce more and more uneducated people. This is a major problem because even though the noble classes ran society, they were vastly outnumbered. If more and more illiterate people were being brought into the world, no significant advancements in anything could be achieved. Along with this some animosity between the classes can develop. The poor were envious of the rich for being able to sustain more desirable lives. The rich developed disgust for the poor because the poor were making a mockery of their communities. The poor got poorer and the rich stood by and watched. This organization of society were detrimental to those who lived there and contributed to the title of a "Dark Age."
A final reason that the Middle Ages can be seen as a "Dark Age" can be found by looking within the Roman Catholic Church. This organization was extremely wealthy and along with that very corrupt. The church acted as a court system to settle disputes. However, it was very biased in favor of the rich. Those who could afford it would be able to buy their way out of charges. In doing this, the rich were hardly convicted and got off with little more than a slap on the wrist. The poor were not as fortunate. They didn't have the funds to pay their way out of trouble and had to face the consequences. Many of the punishments were death and being able to escape this was crucial. The RCC aided the rich in getting away with crime and that's just wrong. There were practically two court systems, one for the rich and one for the poor. With this in mind I believe the "Dark Age" title is fitting.
I believe that labeling the Middle Ages as a "Dark Age" is appropriate. The severity of the Black Plague, coupled with an unfair social structure and the corrupt Roman Catholic Church all are factors in which the Middle Ages can be seen as dark.
There are several reasons people see the Middle Ages as a dark period in time. Probably the largest contributor to this was the Bubonic Plague. The devastating plague started due to the fleas that were carried by rats from the Eurasian trade routes. From this disease about 60% of its victims were killed. It was difficult to escape this disease. As seen in London by Edward Rutherford, some people were fortunate enough to flee the Black Death by isolating themselves from others on the countryside. The disease was not only found in England, but it also spread to Italy, France, Spain, and northern Europe. Over the course of four years the European population had decreased by about 50%. This plague took years to go away and there were sporadic outbreaks years after the fact. The people of Europe needed someone to take the blame for the catastrophic event, which leads me to the second reason the Middle Ages were a dark period of time was because of an outbreak of anti-Semitism. Jews were blamed for causing the plague and were persecuted for doing so in Spain and Germany. To avoid further blame, Jews fled to Russia.
Chaos was also common during the Middle Ages. Peasant revolts broke out frequently including the Jacquerie and the English Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. During the English Peasants’ Revolt, peasants burnt manor houses until their requests were granted. The most famous revolt was in Ciompi in 1378 which was caused by a decline in wages for the wool workers. The wool workers revolted and came out victorious.
What also made the Middle Ages dark was the political instability and the conflict between the government and the Roman Catholic Church. There was great confusion over who should reign. In Italy there was no centralized government, instead there was a spread of city-states and there were now tyrants. The downfall of the Roman Catholic Church was also visible after its height of power in the thirteenth century. The struggle among the pope and the secular monarchies led to the Great Schism. During the Great Schism there was confusion over who was the rightful pope. This conflict lasted about forty years and it led to people losing faith in the Catholic Church.
Overall the term “The Dark Age” is very appropriate for the Middle Ages. This period in history was not only a dark, but also depressing and chaotic. From the Bubonic Plague to the Great Schism and the downfall of the Roman Catholic Church, there were little advances made and very little progression. It wasn’t until the Renaissance did Europe witness an age of rebirth.
The term “Dark Ages” to describe the Middle Ages was first coined by Petrarch during the Renaissance. However, the term “Dark Ages” implies that there was no progress achieved during this time period. There were various different events that happened during this time period that make the term “Dark Ages” incorrect. First, there were the peasant revolts in England. The revolts came about because of the Black Death, which caused many of the peasant workers to die. This caused a labor shortage which enabled the peasants to demand increased wages because their work was in such demand. The landlords did not want the peasants to rise up in the social order so they passed laws to limit wages to preplague levels and forbid the mobility of peasants. The laws show that there was still legislature being passed during this time period and the peasants were beginning to push for better rights, if not eventually equality. In addition, political institutions were still being developed throughout this time. During the reign of King Edward III, the English Parliament developed into the government body with the organizational structure that is still has today.
There was also developments going on in the church as well during the Middle Ages. During this time period, the people grew less and less satisfied with the Catholic Church and began to call for reform and solving the various problems. A large number of churchmen took Marsiglio, a rector of the University of Paris’s, ideas of reform. Marsiglio stated that the church only had authority concerning spirituality and that the clergy have no special authority from God, among other ideas. Although there was no agreement reached during this time, the people now had the idea of reform planted in their heads.
Finally, there was also a development in vernacular literature. Up until this point, Latin was the only used language in Europe. One well known vernacular author was Geoffrey Chaucer who wrote the Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales were important in transforming the dialect that was used by Chaucer to the oldest version of the modern English Language. Christine de Pizan was also another well known vernacular writer. She received a good education and used it to write the well known Book of the City of Ladies which in addition to helping develop a modern language also defended women against what society thought of them at the time.
In conclusion, the Middle Ages were not a Dark Ages. They did not have as much progress as the following Renaissance, but there were some developments made during this time. The term Dark Ages sounds as if no progress was made, but there were some developments as well as beginnings of major movements. Seeds of revolution were planted in people’s heads and the vernacular language started being used in literature. The Middle Ages were not a Dark Ages.
If one considers education the light of life, then the Dark Ages were quite dark indeed. Very little of the population had any formal education, seeing as it was thought only men of the church needed to know how to read. Perhaps a Nobel or other higher up may receive a smidgen of education, it did not go past anything the church thought of as unholy. This extended to even doctors and medics, who had next to nothing in terms of knowledge of the human body, and even less when it came to the practice of healing. During the plague, do to this lack of knowledge, there was nothing to be done by so called doctors, other than identify the disease, and attempt to make the doomed soul as comfortable as possible before death. With such lack of knowledge, they even did more harm than good, seeing as they did not know how the virus spread. 'London' shows this, when a good 'ratter' dog is killed, because it is thought that cats and dogs spread the deis4ease. In reality however, by shooting the ratter, it only made the family more susceptible to the plague carrying flees.
In addition to this, laws, both official and cultural, were not the best for developing a nation. To start, women were quite suppressed, being told to only obey their husbands, and do only what asked asked of them. They were expected to stay loyal, even when their husbands were gallivanting around the whorehouses. Next, some laws seemed to have no real basis for being, such as the one stating that if a whore claimed a man to be hung, and the man accepted and wed her, the man would get out of the gallows. While the book said this was because the church wanted to save more souls, it still appears to this reader at least, as if such laws should have no place in a developed nation. And finally, all political power lived with the minority of nobles and monarchs. They, being able to make all the decisions, often took little notice of serfs or peasants, looking at them as only the great unwashed, uneducated workforce. Don't forget, it was also very hard to move up the social latter, nearly impossible, so virtually no peasant was able to even get near governing, to make life better for the little people who made up most of the nation.
Therefore, it seems a logical assumption to call this a Dark Age. With all the uneducated worker bees, who could anything good come from the time. Even the so called educated, the doctors, were ignorant. However, 'Dark' does not imply that the people of this time were miserable. While they surly faced their hardships, as with the plague, one must remember this was their life and time; there is no way they would consider it to be 'Dark', when it was just life as usual, for them. So therefore, while looking back at the time, and all its imperfections, it may look dark, one must remember to try to look at the time from it's occupants viewpoint, in which, things maybe weren't so bad, but just a fact of life.
In my opinion, the Middle Ages can also accurately be considered as a Dark Age of the European people for a variety of reasons. The word “dark” itself insinuates that the period was devoid of happiness, advancement, and celebration for people of all social classes.
For the average person living during this period everyday life was a struggle and there was little hope that life would significantly change for the better at any time as social mobility was nearly nonexistent. The familial bonds that were very important to people were torn apart when the plague hit and most people lost at least one family member or suffered themselves. Little knowledge about hygiene and medicine was a large contributor as to why the effects of the black death were so widespread. Although things for peasants and members of the lower class did improve after the plague, revolts and legislation that imposed taxes and limited wages made things difficult, while members of the upper classes had a rough time as industry sunk due to overproduction and workers became more costly as survivors of the black death plummeted every day.
During this period women were also treated as nothing better than an object used to make babies and run the household. Females feelings were not considered as relevant or important. While reading the Whorehouse chapter in “London” by Edward Rutherford I was shocked to learn that a male could sleep with prostitutes all he wanted and no one thought a thing of it, whereas if a woman cheated on her husband the punishment was often torture or death.
On a religious front this period was also pretty grim as well. Corruption in the Roman Catholic Church was at a high points and most monks and religious leaders just went along with it, simply because their was no other way to turn. The Plague brought on a fascination with salvation and death that was the opposite of uplifting. People of other religious such as Jews or Protestants also had a difficult time as they were discriminated against almost anywhere they went.
Overall, the Middle Ages can also be accurately called the Dark Ages because of the high corruption in the church, little social mobility, harsh treatment of women, and the consequences of the plague that made the time full of despair for most people of the period.
After reading London, I would still consider the Middle Ages a “Dark” age. There are a multitude of reasons that attribute to its name of the Dark Ages. These reasons include the Black Plague and the medical ignorance that worsened it, the lack of advancements in technology, and the corruption and turmoil within the Roman Catholic Church.
The element of the Middle Ages that probably most contributed to its name of the Dark Ages is the Plague. It was an uncontrollable pandemic that resulted in a decline of Europe's population of between 25 and 50 percent between the years 1347 and 1351. Obviously, an age in which death is so very prevalent in society is bound to be a depressing one. As people witnessed death all around them, it was reflected in the art of the time as it began to show increasingly morbid themes. If the Black Death had occurred in a more recent time, it certainly would not have been so devastating. However, its timing of during the Middle Ages allowed for it to wipe out as many people as it did because of the lack of medical knowledge at the time. Frankly, doctors of the time period were clueless as to what was causing the plague and how to halt it. Eventually, ridiculous theories of its root emerged such as that it was caused by the Jews. Such a gruesome and terrible occurrence as the plague naturally resulted in an era in which the quality of life was very low.
Europe was a backwards place at this point in history. This was a most unfortunate time to have little to no advancement as the fight against the Black Death most certainly could have used some medical progress. The physicians of the time were still practicing the theories of the ancient Greeks and had little practice or experience. In addition to a lack of medical innovation, technology in Europe was also severely behind that to the east. As Clive Ponting pointed out, during the Middle Ages, in the East, nations such as the Islamic ones, China, and on the India subcontinent were much more technologically advanced. Even during those times of advancement for Europe during the Renaissance, most of the new technologies were just adaptations of the Asian inventions. Some productivity by the scholars and thinkers of the time certainly could have helped the Middle Ages become more prosperous. However, there was little to be found.
Under the feudal system, there were multiple political entities in Europe all competing for power. The one institution that was a constant and spread out over everyone was the Roman Catholic Church. At this point, pre-Reformation, it was still the only form of Christianity around. However, corruption in the Church was apparent. Examples of corruption in the Church include the selling of indulgences by clergymen in an attempt to gain some extra money. Furthermore, the vows of celibacy that all members of the clergy took were rather routinely broken. Clergymen were, in addition, rather ignorant as many of them had gotten to there position because of their family’s status in society or through political maneuvering and did not even need to always memorize scripture anymore. These problems were not helped at all by the Great Schism in the papacy. At one point, there were three different popes, all claiming the others to be the antichrist and excommunicating each other. During the Middle Ages, the only major, stable institution in Europe was in a state of decline, turmoil, and corruption, only further contributing to the “darkness” of the era.
In conclusion, historians have indeed been correct in labeling the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages,” as well. People during the era were certainly not living in the optimal conditions. Men and women were perishing everywhere in Europe from the black Death. Additionally, this was only made worse by a lack of advancements made by Europeans in the areas of medicine and technology. The corruption and turmoil within the normally stable Roman Catholic Church was a negative influence on the people of the Middle Ages. All these factors helped to give the name, “the Dark Ages.”
The Dark Ages of Europe has always made me think of a depressed and sick society with fat and greedy rulers that oppress their people. Although this was true in most areas, it was not to the extent I had imagined it. The term “Dark Ages” is just a relation to the times before when the Roman Empire was in power. The advantages gained from the Roman rule were greater than how they saw it then. The new shift led to a new Europe that was open for new power and broken from the groups fighting for it. The instability was what led Europe into the Dark Ages. That part of history deserves the name the “Dark Ages” because it was a dark time.
London gives a great description of London under the Roman Empire. It was a time of great prosperity and growth. The amount of infrastructure led to sanitation and health from the clean water and sewage system. There was also protection and aid to the city in times of need. After the fall of the empire, control over many parts of Europe was up for grabs. This led to the hostile takeover of many areas and the spread of sickness due to the armies leaving the areas helpless. London was not devastated as much as some places but sickness was a large reason for their dark times. The plagues throughout Europe were a very dark time and were massive.
Poverty was also a major reason for the name “Dark Ages.” The plagues left most of the low classes dead or dying as explained in London. This led to fewer workers which also hurt the upper classes. This large shift upset the balance and poverty soon followed and led to the grim times. The poverty led some families with almost nothing and no medical care so they were dropping like flies during plagues.
Even though this was a time of harshness, there were good things occurring. The Church was gaining power which was leading to some stability and unity. This was still not enough to pull all of Europe out of the grim state it was in. I believe that “Dark Ages” is a fitting name for this time in history because of the horrible state society and people were in.
The debate of whether or not the middle ages should be described as a dark age is a very complicated and interesting one. While it was a time for extreme prosperity and conquering for the royal families, with power came hardships. There was a power struggle between church and state effecting all of Europe. The majority of the European population suffered from illness, and lack of education. Therefore, the description of the middle ages as “dark” is a very accurate one.
During the early 14th century Europe underwent a division creating severe problems for everyone around. The Great Schism caused the church to be divided into 3 branches all lead by a different pope. During a time when religion was so prominent in everyday life, people all over Europe were divided unsure where to look for guidance. This division lead to a decrease in income for the 3 popes. In order to compensate for lost money taxes were increased for the clergy. Finally after the 3 popes either resigned or were deposed a new pope was elected ending the Great Schism. However this power struggle within the church caused suffering for the majority of Europeans for almost a century.
At the end of the 13th century Europe faced a famine due to dropping temperatures. This time period was referred to as "a little ice age". Many historians believe the famine was what caused the Black Death. The Black Death was the first major disease to hit Europe since the 7th century. When Genoese merchants brought it over in 1347 it caused economic, social, political, and cultural problems. Wiping out almost a third of the population it left many survivors without homes or a family. Since so much of the population was illiterate and uneducated there was no cure, or prevention of the plague. Those who contracted the plague suffered from fever, dark blotches, bleeding, and lung infections.
Though many argue that the middle ages was a very prosperous time, it was also a dark one. Lack of guidance and division of the church caused unsettlement and lack of security within Europe. The Black Death caused an extreme amount of casualties and no one had the education to stop it. Moreover, the middle ages was a dark and unsafe time.
After reading the book London, by Edward Rutherford, I can understand why the Middle Ages might be referred to as A Dark Age. During the Middle Ages, the people experienced the bubonic plague and they lacked many medical or technological advancements. The corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, along with the power struggles and changes in power that occurred during this time greatly guided Europe into a Dark Age.
The Black Death that infested Europe at this time greatly changed the way of life. Many people died, or left their homes. The spread of the disease through rats and fleas was unknown to doctors at this time. The dangers of this unknown sickness were great. While doctors tried to help the sick, once they were infected, few survived. The lack of knowledge in the medical field did not help the cleanliness of this time. The unsanitary living conditions greatly contribute to the thought of this time being a Dark time.
While the Roman Catholic Church was the one consistent organization during this time, it was still corrupt. This corruption included the selling of indulgences, which is forgiveness of sin. Along with selling indulgences, they also sold relics of the saints. Clergy was considered the next option of the Noble classes to get wealth and power which meant that many of the people interested in the clergy were not as interested in religion as focused on power advancements.
It is clear that many aspects of the Middle Ages make it seem like a Dark Age. Throughout the book London, these aspects are apparent. May it be the plague, the corruption, or something else, this time was a Dark time. Not enough technology advancements, nor enough focus on the arts lead to many problems for the people of this time as well as for society overall.
The question to ponder is, whether or not the Middle Ages are considered to be "dark"? Imagine living during a time period where medicine and women's rights where absent. Envision an era where there was no freedom of religion. How would everybody survive? There would be no joy or happiness in one's life and our world would be suffering tremendously. Due to the lack of many significant necessities, the Middle Ages are referred to as the "dark age".
The fourteenth century marked the time of the ruinous catastrophe in Europe-The Black Death. Not only did the plague cause suffrage of medical conditions, but it also consisted of many diseases which led to death in numerous families. The population level in Euorpe decreased enormously and took several years for it to increase again. Furthermore, many people died because nobody was intelligent enough to find a cure for it. There was no technology and people did not have education, so the effort of making medicine and pills was limited. The plauge also spread throughout Europe because of unsanitariness. Not only did people carry the germs, but rats contained the bacteria also. Without the idea of medicine and knowledge, this time perod was "dark" becasue viruses increased and people died.
The Middle Ages were called the"dark ages" becasue of the lack of women's opinion. Women had to stay home and cook and clean for the men. Even though the women did everything they could for the men, they still were tortured. Most oftenly, women were looked down on because the men thought that women did not know anything and were considered "low classed". Moreover, men would typically marry a women based on her class and would force her to have a boy. If she did not have a boy, then her life would be afflicted. Additionally, after treating men with love and passion, the men would still leave their wives and date other women. However, The Book of the City of Ladies written by Christine de Pizan explains that women are smart and can do everything that men can do. " I assure you that women are equally well-suited and skilled to carry them out and to put them to sophisticated use once they have learned them." (Pizan 83-84) Meaning that, give women a chance and they will show men that they are as clever and capable of doing everything.
Lastly, another situation that made the Middle Ages"dark" was the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and did not tolerate the freedom of religion. Everybody had to follow and obey what the Church practiced. If one did not believe in this, then they would suffer and possibly be killed. For example, in the book London, Edward Rutherfurd explains that since the Jews did not want to convert their religion they suffered, by being kicked out of thier hometown. Circumstances like this eventually led to more problems with the Roman Catholic Church which made people suffer.
All in all, the Middle Ages were definitely considered "dark" due to the lack of medicine, women's rights and freedom of religion. Without medicine the the plague caused decrease in population and suffarage to the world. The lack of women's rights led to the misunderstanding of men and without the freedom of religion people were asked to leave London.
The Middle Ages should be considered the "Dark Ages" due to a lack political stability, technology, and social and econoic issues.
Throughout the Dark Ages the fight continued and intensified between the monarchial European governments and the Church of Rome. This constant debating over who the superior ruler was, the king or the Pope, eventually led to secular states. With the seperation of church and state the governments lacked organization. This led to corruption within the government, where an early version of the spoils system caim into play.
Political instability in Europe caused it to be far behind Asia and other nations in the race for better technology. due to the lack of unity between the European states, Europeans were often busy fighting with each other instead of working together to develop technologies. Most of their technology came from Asia, India, and the Middle East. The ideas of these areas were brought to Europe through trade but Europe itself made very few contributions to the technological advances of the Middle Ages. Europe lacked medical technology and understanding which tended to lead to a shorter life span.
The Fuedal System was the way of life for most European states. In Fuedalism you were born into a social class, and mobility between classes was incredibly difficult. Nobility "owned" people of the peasant class; these people were called serfs. Serfs had no rights and worked for their landlords to make a living. So it was common that instead of pledging allegiance to the government or church, serfs and common people would give their allegiance to powerful landlords who could help them. This was another cause of political instablity.
Lastly the Middle Ages should be called the "Dark Ages" because of the epidemic of the Black Death. The Plague killed around 25% of Europe's entire population. In England alone, about 40% of its people were killed by The Plague. This disease caused a large decline in Europe's population which greatly shortened the supply of workers.
The loss of workers led to an increase of wages as the demand for laborers increased. In some areas pay increased 7 shillings in just 2 years. This raise in wages caused economic instability along with the raising of taxes. Many landlords went into debt because they had to pay their workers more money while paying more taxes. These economic problems also caused political probelms as the Nobility became angered with the government for raising both wages and taxes. This led to even more political corruption as politicains took bribes to help the landlords.
The Middle Ages were rightfully called the "Dark Ages" because of the outstanding political instablity and corruption, along with the lack of technological advances, and the numerous social and economic issues
The Middle Ages is more often than not believed to be a single period of time in European history. However in actuality the term is much too general. In fact the Middle Ages is in many ways three separate era’s: the early Middle Ages, the high Middle Ages, and the late Middle Age’s. Although they were similar enough to be categorized as one they each had very distinct differences that set them apart. To label the entire “Middle Ages” as a Dark Age would be very inaccurate. When only the surface of the major events of the late Middle Ages is put into consideration the title is very understandable. However despite this, the era was unintentionally a very productive time period.
Although killing a massive chunk of the population in Europe and seemingly hinder the advancement of civilization, it did in fact help remove many of the crucial barriers men faced in order to advance. One of these was the collapse of the feudal system. In this system men and women were born into social classes in which they had very little ability to move up in the social ladder and thus most people had very little to say in the community. However after the plague the population of the third estate was dramatically decreased. They, unlike the higher classes (like Sampson Bull in London), had no refuge to go to in order to avoid getting the disease therefore suffering the most tragically. The need for labor naturally went up, thus giving the peasants ground to demand higher wages and rights.
The epidemic also gave people a new sense of the importance of one’s life thus individualism began to become more prominent. Works of literature from that time reveal individuality stronger than any in previous medieval writings. The constant scare of death and the idea of the afterlife made many seek ways to salvation through good deeds and from this, charitable actions increased.
Public health and education was also greatly boosted due to the bubonic plaque. After the incalculable deaths places viewed as unsanitary such as bathhouses were closed. Public health laws were instituted and boards of health were established who gradually controlled almost every aspect of health and sanitation. Because of the lower life expectancies parents were eager to bring their children into the trade early and to educate them early. Ergo early education emerged.
It was also during this time that the idea of the separation of church and state became a bigger issue. Although Europe clearly didn’t succumb to secular rule the corruption of the church at the time and the power struggle between monarchs and the papacy strained the relationship. It was in this disagreement that the Unam Sanctam was delivered by Boniface VIII. Philip IV of France was excommunicated by the pope for his refusal give power to the church. Though in the end the church and state were never separated, it was a big milestone to the rise of secularism.
While it is logical to label the Middle Ages as a Dark Age due to the clear problems at the time, the Black Plague, church corruption, Hundred Years War, etc., its is also quite inaccurate. Much of the issues weren’t entirely prevalent until the late Middle Ages. At the very least only the latter part of the 10-century time period known as the Middle Ages should be labeled as such. Even then the numerous but discreet advancements make it very difficult to truly fit that title.
We expect civilizations to continuously evolve as the centuries progress. As humans, we are always in a state of perpetual advancements. When a certain time period shows characteristics to the contrary of that very idea, it is considered to be a "Dark Age". The term "Dark Age" is commonly used to describe a time period in which many critical elements in society,such as the economy and culture, begin to deteriorate. The Middle Ages, without a doubt, fits into the mold of the "Dark Age". They're many factors that lead to the major downfall of Europe in the Middle Ages such as the Black Death & Fuedalism.
The Bubonic & Pneumonic plague, more commonly known as the black death, devastated Europe. It was estimated to have killed 25-50% of Europe's population. (Spielvogel 276). The Europeans knew very little about its cause, or how to remedy such a disease. The only thing they seem to know about the plague was that animals were carriers of the disease. This was made evident in the book "London" when Ned, the dog, was killed in attempt to prevent being infected by such a pathogen.Like all other ancient civilizations, anything that is unexplained is considered to be a result of a supernatural being. They believed the Black Death was God's punishment, and that Jews were the reason that God was angry. Obviously, the Black Death played an enormous role in the everyday life of the European citizens. The citizens became too preoccupied with their own survival to focus on any other leisure activities such as the arts, therefore leading to decline in the arts.
Another major cause of the decline was the inefficiency of the European government. The Fuedal system, the predominant form of government during the Middle Ages, restricted European growth drastically. The system was run very much like the Caste System in India. Just like the Caste system, Fuedalism restricts almost every class of people from attaining even the most basic levels of education. For example, only the Clerics were taught to be literate. Since Clerics only made up a very small percent of the Fuedal society, the vast majority of people were illiterate. Even the monarchs,who were by far the highest rank in European society, were illiterate. The Fuedal system also suppressed the lower classes. For example, the Statute of Laborers created a poll tax and reduced the wages of all peasants. It had enraged the them to the point, that the peasants, led by Wat Tyler, decided to revolt.
Although only a few reasons are presented within the response, they're many other reasons that historians consider the "Dark Ages" to be synonymous with the Middle Ages.
Looking at the time period known as the Middle Ages, as seen through the narrative of Edward Rutherford’s London, the title “The Dark Ages” could well be applied, for political, social, and cultural reasons. Throughout the Middle Ages, instability proved to be the one constant feature of Medieval feudal governments. Focusing on England, the Middle Ages began with a major power shift, between the old Anglo-Saxon government and the new Norman reign led by William the conquered. Over the ensuing centuries, politics continued to fluctuate and change, and political contentment was rare. In the late 1100's King Richard the Lionheart was replaced by his own previously exiled brother Jon, who took control in his absence. But his reign brought even less stability, managing to fight with his nobles (leading to the Magna Carta), his neighbors, and even the Pope. In later centuries, riots, the Hundred Years’ War, and upheavals such as the Peasant’s Revolt wracked the country. The Middle Ages were a dark time for politics.
Medieval society was just as dark, especially when dealing with women. In an era where women were believed to be the weaker sex both physically and spiritually, they were excluded from almost all elements of society. With no legal rights and little economic opportunity, women were entirely at the mercy of their husbands (whom they were married off to quickly, usually for the benefit of the family). An iconic example of the public opinion of women as the “scold’s bridle,” a collar which a too-talkative woman would be placed in and marched around the streets of London while wearing as an act of shame.
This sort of punishment was in fact quite common in Medieval society. The use of stocks was common throughout cities like London. Other aspects of the law were far less easygoing, however. Crime was severe in the Middle Ages, and the legal system almost in the absurd. While trial by jury was used in some situations, in serious cases dealing with the death penalty (which was used quite often, for crimes as small as petty theft) trial by Ordeal was favored. This involved the burning of women to see if the wounds festered, or the throwing of men into rivers to see if they floated (both of these indicated guilt). Corruption was also rampant, such as the practice of ecclesiastical courts for clergy under trial. Clergy could prove their innocence with only a couple of witnesses, who could easily be bought. Law was a struggling subject in the dark times of the Middle Ages.
Another struggling area was science. Astrology still followed the old belief that the universe rotated around the Earth, and other areas of science were hardly better developed. Medicine, in particular, was very poor. Following the theory of the four humors, bloodletting, burning, and leeches were common “cures.” The division between university-trained physicians and actually practicing surgeons contributed to the lack of practical medicine. The biggest example of medicine’s failure was in facing the Black Death of the 1340's through 1400, which devastated all of Europe, and Medieval medicine was defenseless against. The Black Death, killing 25-50% of Europe’s population, only increased the political and social struggles of the time, acting as a symbol for all of this time period; a Dark Ages indeed.
Maggie Kulpa
Living in the Middle Ages, one would not have know that the way they were living would no longer be consider proper living in future years. For those living in the time period, many knew nothing other than famish, little hygiene, absent education, and mistreatment to women. Those living in this time found these factors normal to their living standard, however, looking back at these times one must see that this was not the ideal time period to be in. For the factors that made it a so called "Dark Age" were harsh and very unforgiving in many circumstances.
Starting with the lack of education to almost all of Europe, resulting in little to no knowledge of how to fix many situations that occurred throughout this age. During the time, many universities were just beginning to be founded. These universities however, would not qualify for a university under any standards today. First, almost every person that walked through the gates had no background education. This meant the school had to start from the very bottom and slowly work their way up. All of these schools would be considered, to today's standards, an elementary school. Thus meaning, today's 10 year old has the same education as an adult in the Middle Ages. The best way to imagine having a world with this level of knowledge is to picture having only 10 year olds and younger. The knowledge of this time period was very limited and brings us the the fact that health lacked immensely.
The lack of knowledge lead to the lack of health in the case that people of this time period did not know that hygiene was something of utmost importance to the way that people lived. With everyone crammed into such close courtiers, without such hygiene disease spread fast, one of which would be known as one of the worst epidemics to ever hit Europe, the Black Plague. The Plague brought utter distraught to the continent and left people with little to no family, fending for themselves. This didn't help when there was a lack of food and now there were less to grow and sell the little food left.
The growing population in early 1300s before the Plague wiped out most of the foods in Europe, but when harsh weathers came and it became hard to grow these foods again the people of the Middle Ages became famished. As more and more people began to die from the Plague the less farmers there were to grow the food, the less merchants there were to sell the food, and eventually Europe was in more trouble than they were before.
Lastly, the treatment of women played a large part in the labels of the time period as the "Dark Ages". By looking at the way women were objectified and treated as property, one must see that not only was this a hard time for all of Europe as a whole, but especially for women as a gender. The way that women were treated would in no way be acceptable to today's society and this could be the reason why were view it as horrific treatment, but one must also take into consideration that women knew nothing better. They knew not of men treating them as their loving wife, or anything more than just another object in their house. However, this does not mean that it made the Middle Ages an easy time for women. It certainly was hard and built up for the riots and social changes that the future would bring centuries later.
For the term "Dark Ages" to be used when describing the Middle Ages would certainly be correct. The Middle Ages time period was most certainly not the time period that one would voluntarily pick to life in for a luxury life. The time was very difficult and many struggles were linked to the time period.
From the perspective of someone living in the pre-reformation period of Europe, their time would probably be viewed with the same scrutiny as we see our world. Is our period of time the "Light Ages"? Of course not. (note: if this period of time actually is called the "Light Ages," please inform me) Though from our standpoint, that time would indeed be the "Dark Ages". In addition to having no electricity, Europe was plagued for a while by a system of government known as Feudalism. This type of government downgraded nearly all of the freedoms we enjoy today. The hierarchy in Feudalism went as follows: A monarch ruled over a large area, and would grant fiefs to noblemen, who in turn would grant fiefs to lords, also known as knights, who were bound to the noblemen by oath who granted them fiefs. Clergy ruled over aspects of the Church, which was a very powerful organization in the Dark Ages (Perhaps that is another reason for the namesake of the time period.) The lowest and most populous class, peasants, would receive land from lords to farm on. Now this all sounds very nice and organized, but there was obviously no social mobility, which is perhaps the greatest of our freedoms here in the "Light Age."
Europe and much of the world was also plagued by a plague. (pun) The Bubonic Plague, in fact. This disease was an infection that spread rapidly through flea bites. The lack of medical knowledge (No medieval doctors, the common cold was not a message from Satan) and personal hygiene caused an estimated one-third to two-thirds of the population to Europe to perish, and trading routes and military conquest spread the Plague throughout the Old World sporadically throughout the Dark Ages.
Last, but not least, the Roman Catholic Church dictated freedom of speech and religion throughout Europe in the "Dark Ages." The crime of heresy was rampant, as free thinkers and iconoclasts were severely punished unless they denounced their satanic views and accepted the power of Jesus Christ. Jews, for example, did not denounce their satanic views and accept the power of Jesus Christ. Therefore, they were kicked out of England.
Were the Middle Ages a Dark Age? Well, it depends on who you’re talking about. The Middle Ages was indeed a Dark Age for some people such as peasants. Peasants worked from sunrise to sunset day after day while members of the upper class, such as nobles, lived relaxing lives. The more power you had, the easier life was. Unfortunately, it was unusual for people to change social classes, especially for those on the low end of the social ladder. People were born into their social class. Despite peasants working harder than nobles, they had harder lives and were treated with discrimination unlike the nobles. Thus, peasants would consider the Middle Ages a Dark Age while nobles wouldn’t.
Another group that would consider the Middle Age a Dark Age would be women. Women were treated poorly and definitely did not have as many rights as men. Men cheated on their wives very often, sometimes on a weekly or even daily basis. While it was frowned upon for women to cheat on men, it was socially accepted for men to cheat on women. Without a doubt, men had power over women. Women could not even choose who to marry sometimes, as their parents, often the father, would arrange their marriages. They had little say in society and their role was to provide the children.
However, the Middle Ages did have problems that affected all people, no matter what social class they belonged to. For example, the Black Death wiped out millions and millions of people. The population of Europe declined by approximately 25-50% between 1347 and 1351, which was when the Black Death occurred. Historians consider the Black Death to be the worst natural disaster in European history. Even people who were not harmed by the plague had love ones that died because of it. It changed the culture and everyday lives of Europeans during the Middle Ages.
One factor that made the Black Death so disastrous is the lack of medical knowledge in the Middle Ages. This is another reason why the Middle Ages could be considered a Dark Age. Doctors had little medicine to work with and used natural remedies which had little benefit. The doctors had methods that they thought would work because of theoretical and/or religious reasons. Ignorance was a major reason why the Middle Age was a Dark Age.
So, was the Middle Age a Dark Age? Generally speaking, yes it was. It was a depressing time scarred by the Black Death and discrimination of various groups of people. However, the times may not have been a Dark Age for nobles and those who somehow were not affected by the Black Death.
Should the Middle Ages be considered the Dark Ages? Or rather, were they darker than any other time in European history? For a number of reasons, the answer is probably “yes.”
They start off with the mighty Romans deciding to leave Most of Europe to its own devices. History shows that when an empire like the Roman leave, instability in that land follows- consider the former Soviet satellites. It takes a long time for countries to recover from a power’s abandonment. Throughout the Middle Ages most states were feudal monarchies. The lowly serfs were lesser beings than everyone else and everyone was less than the king. These serfs were essentially tied to their land and were, in most places, born into inferiority without any hope of social mobility. And no one had any say in governmental decisions but the king, though this was not unique to the Middle Ages. The Catholic Church during this time became the supreme divine authority, a little too
supreme in fact; the church gained so much power that it became corrupt and the clergy eventually taught not so much Christian principles, but the king’s whims. Furthermore, non-Christians were treated with outrageous contempt: during the plague, Jews were burnt to death all around Europe and, during the Crusades, Jewish villages were razed as the Christians marched to battle to murder as many Muslims as they could in the holy land. In Europe, too, Richard the Lionhearted massacred 2700 Muslims at Acre. Probably the most dismal part of the Middle Ages that could best lend such a bleak name as the “Dark Ages” was the black plague. Between a quarter and a half of all Europeans found darkness in this age as they were thrown with other corpses into mass graves. The dead obviously could not make civilized advancements at this time and everyone else was so worried about dying that they spent their time practicing drunken hedonism. This average life with so much death in it lead to death being the main focus of Europeans’ lives, an obsession that can be seen with the popularity of Dante’s Divine Comedy which regards the afterlife. And no help for the plague, or really any medical problem, came from the backwards methodology of Middle Age doctors, who would often worsen peoples’ situations. An example is the act of blistering the patient’s skin to try and pull the internal evil to outside. Like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, constructed during the Middle Ages, governments looked like they would collapse any second. War lead to constant rearrangement of national borders for France and England during the Hundred Years War and, at one point, there were three German princes who sought to be Holy Roman Emperor.
In summation, the “Dark Ages” seems pretty fitting, especially when compared to the Renaissance that followed.
I would consider the Middle Ages to be considered a “Dark Age” due to the large amount of corruption within the church, the poor living conditions of the lower class, lack of medicinal and technological improvements, and the Black Death. Being part of the church, priests, nuns, and bishops were supposed to live humble lives but instead used the money from the church to lead wealthy lifestyles. Additionally the priests, nuns, pope, and other members of the church were supposed to take vows of chastity and, despite this, they still engaged in extramarital relationships, and some popes even had children. This is very hypocritical because the church put forth a message of repentance and being faithful to the religion, when in fact the members didn’t even follow their own rules. Alongside this corruption were the poor living conditions of the slaves and other low class citizens. This paired with the lack of medicinal knowledge lead to disease that quickly spread and was one of the main reasons that the Black Death was so easily spread from Asia across Europe. Not to say that the higher classes were any more knowledgeable on the subject of hygiene, but the slaves and other low class citizens had even worse living conditions than bishops or other people in higher social classes. In addition to this, these low-class citizens received practically no education if they received any at all.
One of the most major events of the Middle Ages that causes me to consider them a Dark Age is the Black Plague. The plague itself was a very horrible way to die, as it caused swelling in the lymph nodes, high fever, coughing, and aching joints and caused death very quickly. This also lead to worsening living conditions because so many people died so fast bodies had to be put in large pits because there were no longer enough coffins for burial. This horrible disease swept up from Asia through all of Europe into Russia. It caused the European population to decline 25-50% between the years 1347 and 1351. For years afterward there were still major outbreaks of the Black Death and the European population did not start to grow again until approximately 1500. It was spread so easily and was so deadly that it wiped out entire villages in Germany and England.
Over all I would consider the Middle Ages to be a “Dark Age” as I imagine many others would. There was corruption, poor living conditions, and horrific plague that wreaked havoc across Europe and in comparison to the time of prosperity that followed the title of “Dark Age” is very fitting.
The “Dark Ages” is a term that would accurately describe the Middle Ages in Europe. There are many reasons why this time period could be described as “dark”. Lack of education and literacy, substandard medicare care, and a feudal system that trapped serfs and peasants in a low estate are just some examples.
Many people in Europe, apart from nobles and clergy, were very uneducated. The number of people who were illiterate were far greater than the number who could read and right. This lack of education could describe this era as a “dark” era because today, we consider education a norm. Now, the literate outnumber the illiterate. As compared to today, people were not advanced and did not know much other than their trade. This is a depressing fact and is a major factor to this era’s name.
Medical care, or a lack there of, is a prime reason why this era can be described as a “dark age”. One of the most devastating event in human history was the Black Plague. One third of Europe’s population (about 25 million people) died because the medical attention needed for people at this time was just not available. Medical care was often speculation with no scientific evidence to back up these treatments. Spiritual treatments were also common in hope that God would heal the sick. People were dying by the thousands everyday because there were no doctors to help them. Most “doctors” fled to save themselves because they knew they could not help a situation on this large a scale. Those who stayed, such as the character named Silversleeves in the book London, could not do much medically and only could give moral support. This lack of medical attention and knowledge about disease caused a lot of suffering during this time and was one of the greatest reason why this time was one of hardship for many people.
Hardship could also describe how peasants and serf felt during everyday life. The feudal system in England often trapped people in the estate they were born into. The peasants, merchants, and serfs were in the lowest class and could never escape. The nobility and clergy lived a good life during this time because they lived in the top of the social classes. These people in the third estate were often very poor even though they worked very long hours. This meant a very hard life for these people and this era could be described as “especially dark” for that class of men and women.
The Middle Ages could and should be described as a Dark Age because of the misery that many people lived with. The lack of education and medical care and the feudal system are just a few examples of why.
In this day and age it is easy look at the ways of life of the people in the Middle Ages and think of it as a Dark Age. The sanitation and medical “care” was atrocious, the government corrupt, and the people uneducated. Riots, plagues, and extreme poverty were abundant during this time. It was, in many ways, a dark age. Though, as David McCullough said, “There was no simpler time. It may seem simpler to us, but it certainly didn’t seem simple to them.” So, the so called “Dark Ages” might seem dark to us, but to one living in that time they didn’t consider it a dark time. Even with all the turmoil going on during the Middle ages, not everything during this time period can be considered “dark.”
The lower and middle class, the third estate, gained power during this time. They gained more status after the plague due to the shortage of workforce. Also, several peasant revolts forced the government to take action. This shows that there was still a very active government during this time. During this time, parliament was changed, a change that lasts to this day. The House of Commons in parliament gave more representation of the lower class and took some power out of the hands of the first estate.
Despite the severe loss of life during the plagues and as a result of the poor medical care, society did not collapse. The loss of nearly half the population in many places did not destroy civilization as much as Monty Python would have you believe.
The culture of Europe during the Middle Ages changed. While Latin was still the “noble” language, society and literature was beginning to change. This growth in vernacular literature made it more accessible to the common people and less exclusive to the church and educated men.
Overall, there were advances during the Middle Ages, though not as much as during the Renaissance. The peasants improved their positions in society, government had some improvements, and literature and education became more accessible to the common man. Also, considering the dramatic population fluctuation, the society and way of life in Europe did not change or collapse. Overall, I would not call this time period a Dark Age despite all of the perhaps “dark” events of the time.
When many people think of the term “Middle Ages” the synonymous name that comes to mind is “Dark Ages”. This era in history is correctly labeled so when referring to the lack of medical advances, the degradation of women’s position in society, and the corruption of the English Church at the time.
The development of medicine during the middle ages was limited and largely revolved around religious practices, such as simply praying for recovery and giving up any additional scientific practices. In the novel London by Edward Rutherford, for example, in the time of King Henry II, David Bull is a young man who catches a sickness. In order to cure him, a nun, Mabel, tries to feed him special “herbs” and simply prayed for him, which is not a very advanced method of medicine(Rutherford, 355). What made the practice of medicine seem even less developed was the spread of the Black Plague. Rutherford does an excellent job of describing the horror and destruction the plague caused when it swept through Europe. With such little advancements made in the field of medicine, a large percent of the population was wiped out. Infants were often left out on the street if a family had been killed off by the plague and left to fend for itself, as is demonstrated in London when Gilbert Bull finds a baby left on the London Bridge in the year of 1361 (Rutherford, 433). Rutherford makes an effort to also comment that children sometimes “ended in the river” (Rutherford, 433). Such examples of the monstrosities seen in the field of medicine and the Black Plague surely support the claim that the Middle Ages were in fact a time of darkness.
The filth that was squandering in the city and lack of medical resources was not the only horrendous aspect of medieval times. The treatment of women and the ignorance of sexual diseases were astonishing. Women were often treated as no more than property by their own husbands. Rutherford’s character, Ida, for example in Chapter 7, was a widow, and because Kind Richard was searching for methods of funding his crusades (no matter how chauvinistic the methods) it was very common for widows to be sold to another man and is subjected to his demands (Rutherford,322). Even in Rutherford’s chapter, “The Whorehouse” (which takes place about 100 years later) the women are only valued for their figures and sexual abilities and were looked down upon by society. When Margery Dogget, a prostitute, found that she had gotten a form of syphilis, her only worry was how to get rid of the evidence because her livelihood, and the livelihood of her family, depended on her line of work (Rutherford,386). Thus was the treatment and conditions of women socially in the middle ages, which absolutely is an example of why many refer to the middle ages as the “dark ages”
Finally, one cannot ignore the involvement of the religion of the time when commenting on why the Middle Ages were often called the “Dark Ages”. One very vivid and shameful example of the faults of the Church of England at that time occurred in Rutherford’s chapter titled “Hampton Court” (1533 AD). During this time of the Middle Ages, Martin Luther and any other reformers were being persecuted and accused of committing heresy (Rutherford,546). In 1535, Henry VIII sentenced three priors to be executed, and what’s worse, he had them murdered in a gruesome way; the priors were hung for a few moments, and then, still conscious, had their bowels “dragged out, then their hearts, and their arms, legs, and heads hacked off” (Rutherford,600). This was the price that was paid for speaking out against the church, or against King Henry VIII for that matter. This horrible example of the persecution of many and destruction of the basic right of religious freedom is just one other reason why the Middle Ages are so often referred to as the Dark Ages.
The Dark Ages
The term the "Dark Ages," is an accurate term to illustrate the "Middle Ages" of Europe. From the corrupt social class system, lack of knowledge, and the wrath of the Black Plague, this time period in history signified despair and violence. Culturally and scientifically this era provided scarce advancements to benefit European society.
One contributor that depressed Europe during this era was the social hierarchy in society which prevented those from lower and middle class backgrounds to rise through the ranks. During the Middle Ages it was deemed that you could only strive through the corrupt Roman Catholic Church, the military, or if you were born into an affluent family. These families were noble and held ties to the monarchy or tyrannic leader in power at the time. An example includes the Silversleeves family. The statistic that 85 percent of Europes population was peasantry and serfs helps prove just how devious society's social class system was. It truly severed Europes social progression as a whole.
The Black Plague decimated Europe during the Dark Ages. This contagion practically killed between one 1/4 to 1/2 of Europes' overall population. Due to this deadly and horrific illness the progress of inventions and advancements in technology only hurt Europeans chances of recovery. One significant lack of knowledge in the Middle Ages was the medical field. Doctors during this time had no clue to what caused the spread of the plague, or how to stop it. Their herbal and bleeding techniques of patients during these times were epic failures. Instead of resolving the problem through scientific research and knowledge it led to despair and a sense of hopelessness among Europes' population. Their ardor for arts was at an all time low and so was morale. Both factors stalled intellectual movements to improve European society during the middle or more accurately Dark Ages.
Not only did the plague halt advancement in technology and cultural ideology, but also ignited a series of violent trauma in Europe that was ultimately an after effect of the plague. One episode of violence were the peasant rebellions in England and France. The plague led to this because after the disease had stopped ravaging villages and cities there weren't as many serfs and peasants to work the land for nobles and wealthy merchants. Thus leading to increased wages and incomes for lower class society. Due to the significant increase in economic beneficiary for the lower class the nobles layed waste to peasant lands and a poll tax in England was passed in 1358. This caused the peasant revolt. Thousands of peasants were killed in England and France. In addition to death was property damage throughout immense cities such as London where peasants burned mansions and ransacked hundreds of stores. This after effect not only killed thousands of peasants,and property damage, but also lead to political instability which ultimately hurt Europe and the improvement of European government during the Middle Ages.
To put it simply the Middle Ages was indeed an incredibly dark period in Europes history as millions were lost to the plague and advancements were stalled. Culturally, socially, and scientifically the lack of knowlege during this time period halted progression. Thus creating the label "The Dark Ages."
Although there was a great deal of advancement during the "Dark Ages" I do believe that it was a dark time for European society. From the perspective of the people the easiest way to describe the general feeling during this time is the apocalypse. A sense that all good things were coming to an end. The leading cause of this was the The Black Death Plague and the fall of prestige in the Roman Catholic Church. Because science had not progressed enough to allow people to see that the Plague was not a punishment from God people simply dismissed it as the end of the world. Of course if 1/3 of the population were to be wiped out today we might think the same thing. People were now fully indulging themselves entirely to absolution before they inevitability became sick or completely letting go of their religion to enjoy what life they had left. It was a mad world. In a latter chapter of London they describe the story of scientist from the Ducket family who stays behind and studies the Black Death but simply cannot solve the mystery. He feels terrible that everyone is dieing around him and as a doctor he cannot do anything. Indeed a dark time.
Not only did it seem that all of life was coming to an end but soon after the plagues deadliest outbreak had subsided now the church seemed to be coming to an end. After the Death of Pope Boniface V111 and Kink Phillip 1V had Clement V appointed Pope, instead of residing in Rome where every Pope previously had lived, Clement resided in Avignon near the boarder of France. This led to a loss of presitege for the pope. Further prestige and total loss of religion for some people happened during the Great Schism where Pope Urbane V1 of Rome and Clement V11 were claiming one another to be the Antichrist. After this people realized the evil's that lay within the Roman Catholic Church and ultimately didn't know what to think of Christianity. In London Rutherford went into great lengths to describe the corruptness of the Church in the Chapter The Saint where the King is in dispute with the church over pardons for members of the church. Also in the chapter the Whorehouse the church was not keeping it a secret that they were running the brothels. In general people found that the Roman Catholic Church was not everything it was cracked up to be.
In the midst of disease and and religion was also great turmoil and war. The 100 year war brought 100 years of pillaging by mercenaries and soldiers hired by both England and France. It was a war that simply took place for the sake a being a war. King Edward 111 of England and Phillip V1 of France were in a dispute over the territory of Gascony and decided to use that as an excuse to show off their power and fight each other. So much death for such an insufficient cause.
During the Dark Ages everything that was normal in society seemed to be falling apart but out of the dark ages was the dawn of new inventions, new literary writings and languages, and new philosophies on life and religion. If it wasn't for the decline of the Church and mass death it would not have opened up people's minds to new ideas of science and health.
This was a dark period but "It's always darkest before the dawn" (Unknown).
In some respects, it is difficult to refute the common credence that the Middle Ages were a time of turmoil and darkness, accurately termed “The Dark Ages”. War, social upheaval, famine, and the Black Death all contributed to the overall desolation that seems to have dominated the time period. Nonetheless, it is important to recall the fact that the period was not dubbed “The Dark Ages” by a disciplined, meticulous historian of the present day, working to objectively and equitably label the time period. In fact, the name was invented in the 1300s when Petrarch erroneously considered the medieval culture to be ignorant of antiquity. Though there is truth in the name, the crucial advances of the Renaissance were born in the darkness of the Middle Ages. In this way, the time period was one of both despair and progress.
Naturally, the most obvious example of accuracy in the label can be found in the horrors of the Black Death. As Rutherford successfully portrayed in London, the plague ravaged the continent. The fateful flight of a single infected bug might mean life or death, as the disease spread rapidly and devastatingly. And, as portrayed in the book, doctors were powerless against it. In only four years, it is estimated that between 25 and 50 percent of the European population was eliminated. This would have constituted between 19 and 38 million people. Therefore, it is no surprise that fear of death was constantly on the minds of the survivors, contributing to the darkness of the time.
The social structure of the period changed over time. Between 1000 and 1300, it had actually been generally stable, split into the three estates. But despite this stability, there were clear issues in the structure. Once born into a certain estate, there was little chance of movement. This theme constantly appeared in Rutherford’s novel, as families, especially of the upper class, competed tirelessly to maintain respectable social standing. Serfdom also provided a very lowly existence for a growing number of people, unable to meet the requirements of the freemen. The situation would change in later years, however. The overall stability was replaced by peasant revolts in the high middle ages, as the economic repercussions of the Black Death interrupted the stability of the feudal societies. Considering the turmoil of the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, as portrayed by Rutherford, society was clearly disorganized and unpredictable. Political instability only added to this tumultuousness. The Hundred Years’ War, paired with controversy between dynasties over the right to the throne, hurt the ruling abilities of the monarchs in the 14th century.
Despite the primitive nature of technologies during this period, it is important to note that advancements did occur in the Dark Ages. In medicine, the Black Death forced the medical community to re-examine the priorities of doctors. Practical knowledge was finally valued over philosophical ideas, and there was an increase in attention to public health. New inventions such as eyeglasses and the clock were introduced, and vernacular literature was developed in the High Middle Ages.
Summarily, there is support for both sides of the issue. Despite the tragedies of the period, there were clear advances that would ultimately lead to the Renaissance. It is important to recall that the beginning of the Renaissance was not an abrupt change in culture. It occurred over time, beginning in the darkness of the Middle Ages.
When one hears the term “Dark Ages” negative connotations immediately come to mind. But for one living in a comfortable and satisfying lifestyle today, it is difficult to imagine different ways of the Middle Ages. The lack of advanced medicine, the distinct separation of social classes, and difference in gender roles support the reasoning for giving the “Middle Ages” the alternate nickname, “Dark Ages.”
Most people today cringe at the lack of advanced medicine during the “Dark Ages”. The Bubonic plague is the best example, demonstrating the lack of advanced medicine. The widespread plague affected thousands of people in Europe with severe medical conditions. Those affected coughed up blood, experienced fevers, and even had growths formed on their bodies. Those fortunate enough to avoid it were living in fear everyday of the possibility of becoming a victim. Although much of the reason for the large death toll was the absence of sanitation, the proper medication and technology could have helped. People bathed in public areas and regularly shared eating utensils. The lack of good hygiene and advanced medicine were major contributions to the widespread effect of the bubonic plague. Doctors were unprepared to handle an epidemic so widespread. The death and poor medical conditions make “The Middle Ages” the solemn title “The Dark Ages.”
Furthermore, the situation of social classes was much different than modern societies’. Three estates made up the social system; nobles, clergy, and the third estate including traders and professionals. The nobles in the highest estate were the wealthiest. Although all three of the estates were affected by the bubonic plague, those in the noble estate were able to afford doctors. As seen in London, people in different social classes faced different challenges. In one chapter, a poor Ducket family was lead by an alcoholic mother. She could not afford to get help for herself or her family and spent money on alcohol while her husband worked. Being in a lower class in society often leads people to use substances that are harmful to them and their families. In another chapter, the Dogget sisters worked as prostitutes in order to make money. Women put in this position have a great risk of getting sexually transmitted diseases, which were not well known at the time because of the lack of advanced medicine. It’s a matter of perspective and attitude, but in general, the separation of classes caused several problems and unhappiness. It was just another “dark” aspect at the time.
For years, women have struggled in gaining equality in society with men. These “dark ages” seemed to make no improvement for achieving this goal. Poor women, young women and widowed women were often forced into marriages against their own will. It was necessary that the wife follow her husband’s orders whether it be cleaning the house or pleasing him in the bedroom. Gender roles were a major theme in London and they were demonstrated in nearly every chapter. In the first chapter, the husband was required to go off every day with the village members to help prepare for an attack from Julius Caesar while the mother stayed at home with the family. Although this is the typical scenario, it continued for several hundred years throughout the book, even with the horrific scenes involving the plague. The book even features scenes where the husband abuses his wife for not doing as he pleases. It was “dark ages” for the women facing such challenges.
Although not everything about the “dark ages” was horrible, many of the events and situations at that time must have been extremely difficult to live in. The middle ages is a term best to describe the period in time, but the “dark ages” can best describe the difficult living situations and horrific experiences faced by several people, specifically involving the black plague. In order to not confuse people, it would be best to acknowledge the time period as the “Dark Ages.”
When asked whether or not the Dark Ages, which can also be referred to as the Middle Ages, were indeed actually dark, an immediate thought is the Black Death. Although this devastating catastrophe was a contributing factor as to why some regard the Middle Ages as being dark, it is not the only one. This paired with lack of medical knowledge, or lack thereof, corruption of the Church, education, and the massive gaps amongst genders and social classes led many to believe this statement.
The book London by Edward Rutherfurd highlights these components throughout his book. For example, the harsh reality of large social gaps in the system of Feudalism was portrayed in the book by following members of different social classes. Serfdom was nearly impossible to escape, and paid his lord with labor. Even if one graduated from serfdom, many could not pay the tax to the king, as well as rent, which was the predicament of Alfred the Armorer’s brother in the chapter The Tower (Rutherfurd 225). Moving up the social class to the second estate is the nobility. To achieve this social status, one must be born into it, instantly creating hardships to those below them. In the chapter, The Mayor, a short confrontation with Gilbert de Godefroi, who is a knight, explains the gaps in society. Alderman Sampson Bull’s son thinks of his father, “not only was he of lower rank than the feudal knight, but God had actually created him inferior”. This paired with the explanation that his nobility was a product of his wealth, and if one had enough land, they could have become a noble. And now, referring to the time period within the chapter, the only way into nobility was birth. This “perception of nobility that, once rooted in the island of Britain, would haunt its society” and contributed as to why many think this time period was dark (Rutherfurd).
A second factor to this component was the Black Death paired with lack of medical knowledge as to what caused this tremendous disease as well as how to treat it. The two allowed for unimaginable death tolls and great loss. Rutherfurd describes in his book many situations people were put into during the plague. A doctor who couldn’t grasp the cause or a cure, those who were able to escape to their estates and wait it out, and finally, the majority who had to harder decisions such as whether or not to abandon their family and try to survive.
The Church, which was growing increasingly corrupt, was another contributor to the thought. In a time where people had the ability to purchase various favors from the Church, the Roman Catholic Church’s power grew with their wealth. The increasing power of the Church led to a rise in its control of government and daily life. Furthermore, the only education one could receive was through the church. This meant very few were literate and only supports the argument that lack of knowledge contributed to why the dark ages were dark. This also leads to the gaps amongst genders, as the church taught pre-condemnation of women.
All of these reasons lead one to conclude that the middle or dark ages can have the connotation of being ‘dark’. The devastation of the Black Death, unjust social systems, corruption within the church, as well as a lack of education in numerous categories provides valid arguments to this claim.
The Middle Ages can be interpreted as the “Dark Ages” if one were to look at the lack of technological innovation, a Catholic Church that preferred involved itself in the political fray instead of the spiritual one, the deadly Bubonic plague and the illiteracy and ignorance that was ripe in the European populace. The Middle Ages began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the entity that had preserved stability and society itself for centuries. Without the empire, Europe soon fell into political anarchy and the Germanic barbarians would pillage the former Empire’s territories without any regard for law. Anarchy prevailed in Western Europe for decades before feudalism emerged which would allow some sort of stability and society to return to Europe.
During this time period, progress in society came to halt as the political and religious leaders for the most part were more occupied with maintaining the status quo rather than progress. The Catholic Church in particular had no qualms about repressing scientific thought and research that went against the Bible and their teachings, out of fear of losing their petty political power over Europe. The Catholic Church was able to hold their iron grip over Europe for many centuries, and it wasn’t until the reformation that the Catholic Church’s political power and influence would begin its decline.
The lack of technological innovation in this time period greatly hindered the medical field and the competency of “doctors”. Most of the doctors were ignorant of the human body’s working and would follow use deficient methods that more often than not, harmed their patients rather than aid them. The Bubonic plague or the “Black Death” as it was called was a devastating epidemic that wiped more than a third of Europe’s population. The doctors were clueless in developing a cure and containing its advance. The disease would spread like wildfire in the peasant’s unsanitary environments and they had no idea that their unsanitary lifestyle was dangerously unhealthy and spread the disease even further.
Peasants made up the vast majority of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages. The peasants were people who were under the care of a lord and were usually highly illiterate and poor. These peasants lived in miserable conditions and lived only to farm and harvest food for their lord. The lack of a productive populace would further hinder any major technological developments and preserve European backwardness until the renaissance. The Middle Ages cannot be called anything but dark if the majority of the people living in it are living in miserable conditions without any way to work their way out and the governing leaders are motivated to maintain this backward status quo. It is because of these conditions that Europe fell into decadence in comparison to the Islamic and Asian societies.
The fifth century to fifteenth century European life falls within a period called the Middle Ages. The period has also taken up the title of the Dark Ages. Is such a designation appropriate? I personally do not believe so. The general stereotype that accompanies the title of "the Dark Ages" is a scene of horrible disease, unbearable labor, tyranny, cruel medicine, lack of education, and pure turmoil. To me, this seems like a ridiculous exaggeration. The word "dark" means effectively devoid of light, or grim and evil. I can find no way to justify such title.
To call a whole period of time wholly evil and sinister is a serious accusation. The problem is, that no one alive today was alive then, so no one truly knows what it was like to live in the Middle Ages. All of our ideas and tangible information on such a time comes from documents and artifacts and such means. This is fine, but until you truly empathize with the people of these years.
The whole issue of the can be solved by considering relativity. Picture yourself being born as a peasant in glorious Somewhereshire in Europe during the so-called "Dark Ages". As a peasant, your day consists of work, taxes, minimal food. Though this may seem dreadful, you have to consider that this is all you have ever known. Sure, based on today's standard of living, it seems pretty horrid. In this time period, this was life. It just was. There was nothing sinister or evil about it to the people living then. They knew nothing else. They couldn't oppose such a lifestyle because they had no other lifestyle to idealize, or strive to equal.
Today, the flow of information is what causes our change. We are so spoiled with our little magic rectangles that can talk to space, and answer all questions. All we need to do to realize a situation is off is use technology to compare it to somewhere else. Then we use the influence of money to bend the situation in our favor. But just think about it. In the Fifth Century, communication was as fast as one's horse could run, or how fast you could walk. To put it simply, limitations of communications didn't allow for knowledge of living conditions to spread so quickly. In short, no one realized anything was wrong because to them, nothing was.
Another topic endlessly brought up when justifying the title of the "Dark Ages" is medicine. People look at the techniques for healing and treatment and are genuinely appalled. The fact of the matter is that these doctors did what they did because it was what they believed was right, and it was cutting edge at the time. Life was centered around religion, and the belief in supernaturals and the like. By burning someone and causing blistering, or by letting someone's blood run out, they genuinely thought they were healing another person. The extent of their knowledge in the fields of science and medicine support this. The question of cleanliness and sanitation didn't exist. Bacteria weren't even noticed until hundreds of years after the end of the Middle Ages. This risk that we today are so extensively exposed to quite simply wasn't even known about. Effectively, blood was red, wet stuff that was important and it was connected somehow to health and one's soul. By cutting someone and then using the same edged tool to cut someone else, the doctors were being cost efficient, not some sort of ignorant monster, as they seem to be looked at as being.
Medicine today is without question as gruesome as it was back then. All that has happened is an increase in cleanliness, and a decrease in pain. The expose someone to the same radiation that was used to kill hundreds of thousands of Japanese in World War Two is horrifying and yet, is accepted by today's people. Today, we perform brain surgery with the patient being completely conscious through the whole procedure. How is that any worse than what happened in the Middle Ages? It just simply isn't. One also has to remember that these doctors were practicing before there was effectively any legitimate understanding of how the body and life work, and still believed that religion held the answers.
To call the people of this time period evil and sinister is similar, in effect, to calling a young child stupid for not washing their hands after touching something dirty. And to denounce such a period of pride and dignity to the title of evil and sinister because of the relatively bad living is absurd. That was life then. There was no all-equalizing document or Constitution that made it wrong.
To say that everyone in the thousand or so years that encapsulated the "Dark Ages" was depressed and overworked, and diseased is simply ignorant. Today, we are living through an effectively global economic crisis. Times for those who work are tough, but to say that everything is grim and everyone is violated and depressed is wrong. People are malleable enough to fit into rough places, but rigid enough to work through a particularly bad one. I have no doubt that there was still enjoyment and amusement during these "Dark Ages". Life wouldn't have progressed if this time had been completely evil.
In summation, I do not think of the Dark Ages as being a grim, sinister, and evil time because of relativity. To these people, it was life, and they were doing what they knew was right. It is similar to the Eugenics movements in the United States' history. As horrible as it seemed, what was being done was believed to be right. Now, just as a precautionary measure, I would like to take this time to point out that modern science has determined the Sun to be over 4,500,000,000 years old. Therefore, assuming that the Dark Ages are within that time from, plus the eight minutes for the light to travel to Earth, there was in fact light, thus proving the Dark Ages were not devoid of light, and reinforcing my reasons for not designating the Dark Ages as truly "dark". The life the people knew during the Middle Ages was all they knew, and it is human nature to both adapt to, and to accept such influences.
Is "The Dark Ages" a suitable name for the middle ages? I believe it is. There were not many things that could be considered happy and bright during that time. Women's rights were few, scientific research and knowledge was lacking, and lastly, the black plague destroyed much of the human population.
The women of the middle ages were completely dominated by their husbands as well as the male members in their family. They were expected to obey any order given to them by a male family member and if they didn't, the consequences could have included beating and other punishments. Even during the 14th century women were viewed as inferior, made lesser than men by God. Women were also discouraged from sharing their opinions as they should have the same views as their husbands. They had no say, and were downtrodden in society.
A second reason why the middle ages could accurately be referred to as "The Dark Ages" was because of the general lack of knowledge. Not only was most of the population of London illiterate, but doctors and researchers of Europe were mostly prohibited from conducting autopsies and anatomical research by the Catholic Church, almost completely wasting all possible potential for medicinal development . As a result, they couldn't take care of themselves as easily and were completely caught off guard with the arrival of the Bubonic and Pneumonic plague.
The third reason the middle ages can be considered dark is that death was everywhere. The disease known as the "Black Plague" or "Black Death" was carried by fleas and it eventually spread to humans. Then the bacteria could easily be passed to other humans. It was the most devastating epidemic ever seen by mankind, killing roughly 1/3 of europe's entire population. Some areas had upwards of a sixty and seventy percent death rate. Because the dead were so many, graveyards quickly filled and cities were forced to dig mass graves, in which the bodies were piled into a ditch and covered over with dirt until they reached the top. Art created during this time of death and illness accurately reflects a "Dark" mood felt by many. Artists became preoccupied with death and depicted morbid scenes of death and horrors. These reasons alone explain the truth behind the title sometimes given to the middle ages known as "The Dark Ages" it truly was a dark and grim time in history.
Many people refer to the Middle Ages as being the “Dark Ages". The novel "London", by Edward Rutherford, gives us some insight as to why this is such a popular description of this time period. The main reasons seem to be related to the feudal system, the lack of education that was present, and the huge outbreak of disease.
The feudal system was built upon nobles, who owned land, and serfs, who worked for their land. The way it was set up gave the serfs and the peasants little to no chance of moving up in society. The class they were born into was the one in which they would stay. With no rights in the present and no hope for the future, it is understood why this age was considered so dark for these common people.
The lack of education in England at this time was evident in that only the members of the clergy knew how to read and write. The common people not being able to do so also even further hindered their ability to climb the social ladder. They were not the only ones who suffered because of this. The doctors and medical personnel were mostly using superstitious remedies to cure diseases that were not known much about. Some of these techniques worked, though they did not know why, but most were extremely painful and did more harm than good. Many diseases had no cure at all.
One such disease was known as the Plague. The outbreak of Plague that occurred in the Middle Ages lasted over the span of three years, and killed twenty-five to fifty percent of Europe’s population. It was a horrible way to die, but nothing could be done to prevent it. No one knew what caused it, or why it occurred. Mass burials ensued, and the smell of death was always in the air. People who were still alive knew that they could come down with the Plague any second. It was nearly impossible to avoid all who were contaminated with the disease.
A common theme here seems to be a lack of hope. There was no hope to be able to rise in social rankings, no hope to be educated or to be cured of diseases. For many, there was no hope of surviving the Plague. Without a light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel is very dark indeed. I agree with those who refer to this time period as the “Dark Ages”.
Alison Hoynes
Referring to the Middles Ages as the “Dark Ages” is appropriate for the feudal system, medical practice, lack of education, and the treatment of individuals.
The feudal system was a harsh system that allowed for very little change. It consisted of Three Estates: Noble, Clergy, and then workers. Whatever class you were born into at the time was more than likely the same class you would be classified as when you died. Moving up in life was very difficult and rarely ever done. This lack of ability to move up in life created a lack of ability for the world to advance because not everyone was given an equal chance through education. This brings me back to my next point.
Only very few people were truly educated. The nobles and clergy were the only ones who were truly educated. The small group of the wealthy elite members of society was educated back then. Barely any could read and fewer could write. The lack of an education of the majority of citizens propelled the lack of need and appreciation for things like art and literature was then widespread. Although some may argue that art and literature are more for passing time and have no real importance to a culture, art and literature is what allows for societies to continue and to prosper. Literature and art are very thought provoking and challenge people to understand them and interpret them. When you have things that provoke the thoughts of individuals it often leads to new ideas, philosophies, way of life and thus culture and advancement.
Another gruesome aspect to the Middle Ages were its practices of medicine. Medicine was extremely limited. When the Black Plague hit the area and whipped out massive populations doctors had no idea what to do or how to begin to treat it. Often times, methods that the doctors of the time period believed to work would either speed up your death or inadvertently kill you. They were very painful, superstitious, and quite frankly didn’t make much sense at all. It seemed as though that every time doctors did help it only speed the process of death instead of stop them.
As talked about earlier the position in which you stood in the Three Estates would in essence determine the way you were treated as an individual. Those with more money and higher ranked were given more respect and attention than the poor man who was born into serfdom trying support his family. At this time period most people only cared about themselves and how to earn more money because it was so tight. This would then promote those without money to steal or forge money which was a serious offense. During the Middle Ages violence, cruelty, and crimes were high while education, cleanliness and good medical care was at a low. This obviously portrays depressing and dirty time in history for Europeans therefore; the name the “Dark Ages” is an appropriate name to classify the Middle Ages as.
Kevin Mirando
The period between the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the beginning of the Renaissance is known as the Dark ages. Many historians debate whether or not the period of time was actually a “dark” time. In the movie “Bruce Almighty,” Morgan Freeman, portrayed as God, refers to the Dark Ages as a previous vacation where he did not watch over the world for a significant period of time. The span of about four hundred years, proved to be a grimmer and unsettling time than other ages in other parts of the world. I believe the actions and events that took in this era spawned a definitive dark presence and eerie feeling of the people of Europe.
First off, the monarchs during the Dark Ages were incredibly out of their place and lived above the law. The reason for this was the feudal system and the social classes of the time period. The highest level in society besides the royal family, of course, was the nobles that were rich and owned a significant amount of land. Under them were the clergy, who were God’s messengers, when in reality if one could not find a trade to make them successful they went to the Church. And finally the lowest class of society was peasantry, along with merchants and members of the guilds. Also, the kings basically lived above the law because they were the law in those times and even now. Kings who wished to have a male heir would kill their spouses if they only birthed girls and moved onto a new girl in hope of conceiving the heir to their throne.
Additionally, the Church lived lives that went against almost everything the Catholic religion stood for. The bishops and priests would have multiple girlfriends and even the Pope would use his power to have his way with woman in Europe. The administrators of the parish would tax their members for their own benefit claiming it was their duty to God. During the Black Plague, when the true evil-doers were rats with harmful fleas the Church blamed the Jewish religion for its extensive spread over the continent of Europe. Because the Jewish people became the scapegoats of the deadly plague, the Church killed Jewish people by burning them on a wooden stake. At this gathering the Jewish people were given the choice to repent and be baptized on the spot. While almost a thousand did willingly, many young children were baptized against their will which showed the cruel extent the Church went to spread their popular and powerful religion.
As for the Black Plague, the actual event’s cause and effects on the European population is sickening to the strongest souls. The fact that between 19 and 38 million people died in the span of four years, 1347 to 1351, is terrifying as the actual calculation would be about 13,015 to 26,030 people dead every single day. The disease was caused by rats who carried fleas that were infected with the bacterium Yesinia pestis. The living conditions and cleaning habits of the European people did not aid the situation as many people went long periods of times without bathing and became infected with their own bacteria that tag teamed with the Black Plague to kill them faster. The shear fact that severe coughing was a symptom and liability of obtaining this horrifying disease became another reason why it spread so fast, it was literally an essence in the air the Europeans breathed everyday.
In conclusion, the four centuries known as the Dark Ages were nothing less than dark. This is a result of the Church and government being corrupt in every waking moment of this time period. The Black Plague killed nearly 75 percent of the European population which is a large stain of Europe’s past. I believe that if I were to go to any year during the this time period whether it be at one of the executions of King William’s wives, the burning of Jews in Strasbourg, or even a single day during the Black Plague, the sky would spawn dark clouds with hints of green to show the silent chaos of Europe during the Dark Ages.
Jake Henderson
The Dark Ages in Europe were definitely a time where the European world did not advance much. This time was a period where humans did not know much about the human body and were content to allow ‘doctors’ to perform surgeries to rid the body of evil spirits. Medicine was a disaster. The Roman’s of ancient times knew more about medicine than most Europeans did during the Dark Ages. The general unhealthiness of the people led to widespread diseases and death. Medicine of the Dark Ages was truly dark.
In addition to medicine, literature in general did not advance much. Very little was written during this time period, only church leaders wrote, and they wrote in Latin, an unknown written language to most commoners. The historical literature of the period is scarce, so that is another reason why this period could be referred to as ‘Dark.’
Furthermore, the Dark Ages were indeed dark in comparison to the later time periods of the Renaissance. Literature, art, science, and history began to collect interest, which led to great works and advances, such as sculptures, paintings, and writings about the time.
The Dark Ages were a time of disease and illiteracy, which can be completely contrasted by the later Renaissance, which could be considered as a time of enlightenment in Europe. As a result, the time period around the 7th to 12th century can be classified as “Dark.”
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