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The features of the medieval era
The medieval period
The medieval period
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Within popular discourse, the historical period of the Middle Ages is synonymous with the term “Dark Ages”: how did this particular equation come about? The immediate connotations of the Dark Ages are clearly negative: they suggest oppression, ignorance and a period of motionless in human development. The reason behind this description of the Middle Ages is arguably the result of a contrast to the subsequent periods of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment: the Renaissance itself signals a “new birth”, whereas the Enlightenment clearly evokes images of a new insight and vision wielded by humanity. Accordingly, the negative values ascribed to the Middle Ages are the result of this historical period’s difference to the Renaissance. Such an account, namely, judges the Middle Ages from an entirely different world-view. To the extent that one takes the values of Renaissance and Enlightenment as positive developments in human history, the Middle Ages will be viewed as “dark.” From another perspective, in order to dismiss the negative image of the Middle Ages, one has to deconstruct the wholly positive image of the Enlightenment, thereby questioning the presuppositions behind these descriptions. According to the Encylopedia Britannica, the post-Medieval world can be considered to have “invented the Middle Ages in order to distinguish themselves from it.” (2014) The description of the Middle Ages as Dark Ages can therefore be understood according to the shift of values that occurred from the Middle Ages to the post-Medieval world. What values and world-views characterized the Middle Ages, such that they came to be rejected and termed “dark” by the world of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment? As Julius Evola (2010) writes, “with the en... ... middle of paper ... ...reflected in the great Christian works of art of the time period. At the same time, the Medieval world did also show an interest in the pre-Christian tradition, to the extent that they made extensive translations of previous pagan works that then helped shape the more scientific world-view of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. The decision to describe the Medieval as dark is thus the result of a different historical period applying its own internal values to the Medieval period: to the extent that the post-Medieval intelligentsia rejected the religious world-view as superstition and bondage, they advanced an account of the Medieval as dark. From another perspective, however, if one values spirituality above all else, the irony is that the post-Medieval world, with its emphasis on science and the human being at the expense of the spiritual, is the true “dark age.”
During the early middle ages, the Roman Empire began to decline. Rude people known as the Germanic Barbarians begun to migrate into Europe. As a result, three different cultures fused together marking the beginning of the dark ages. With the fusion of Christianity, Greco-Roman heritage and the cultures of the Barbarians, the visual arts of the Early Middle Ages changed for a long time. A major change influenced by the German’s was in architecture. Barbarian’s brought upon the European’s the use of stone causing Europea...
By the end of eleventh century, Western Europe had experienced a powerful cultural revival. The flourish of New towns provided a place for exchange of commerce and flow of knowledge and ideas. Universities, which replaced monasteries as centers of learning, poured urbanized knowledge into society. New technological advances and economics transformations provided the means for building magnificent architectures. These developments were representative of the mental and behavioral transformations that the medieval world underwent and the new relationships that were brought about between men, women and society in the twelfth century. As in technology, science, and scholasticism, Literature was also reborn with a new theme.3
What truly defines the Renaissance? One may argue that the transition from a religiously centralized mindset to a focus on secular and humanistic values was the key change that made the Renaissance distinct from the Middle Ages. This transition is evident in written stories, paintings, treatises, and orations given by prominent characters of the Renaissance (e.g. Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and Mirandola). In this essay, I will elaborate on the significance of the “transition” on differing views during the Renaissance, and the extent in which figures of the Renaissance portrayed secularity and the extent of divinity in their works.
The middle ages were not as dark as some people believe. Although shortly after Rome’s empire collapsed, they may have fallen into slight disarray and not as unified, they quickly adapted. Some more recent documents are false and say that the Middle Ages were a time of ‘Lawlessness’ and ‘Intellectual depression’ and there are first hand documents to prove that wrong.
The Medieval Times for Europe, from the 400 AD till 1400 AD, are often labeled as “The Dark Ages”. This time period has begun after a turning point known as Fall of Rome. It caused Rome to divide into two well-known civilizations: Medieval Europe, Islam, and The Byzantine Empire. Also, Medieval Europe led to a well known utopian period of “rebirth” identified as the Renaissance. The time period between 400 CE and 1400 CE wasn’t a “Dark Age” for Europe because of progress in academic success, blossom in architecture, and religious unity along with government. It wasn’t a cultural decay or decline because of the legendary time period it led to.
In the year 476 A.D., Rome officially fell as the greatest and most thriving empire at the time. The time period following this downfall was called the Middle Ages, more infamously recalled as the Dark Ages; but were these years truly as dark as historians say? These medieval times lasted for approximately one thousand years, could such a long time period have been all that dreadful? The answer will soon become clear. The Middle Ages deserved to have the alias of the Dark Ages because there were several severe illnesses, the monarchs were cruel, and the crusades brought the death of many.
While many may believe that the Dark Ages is defined by these deplorable conditions, this is merely a common misconception. Rather than a time period of animosity and strife, the Middle Ages were truly a time of innovation and advancement not only in industry but also in warfare. The
The middle ages were incorrectly defined as dark because of many negative things going on during this time period. Although there were bad times during the middle ages, there were also many positive outcomes. During the early middle ages, agriculture was booming, fair laws were being created, and universities were invented. These are all examples that prove the middle ages not being so dark. The word “dark,” is just too deep to describe the middle ages because good things happened not only all bad
One of the most famous occurrences of the Dark Ages was the Bubonic Plague, a.k.a. The Black Plague. This disease spread rapidly through Europe and other countries surrounding it. The sickness was brought to these places through a disease that is carried by rodents. Since Europe wasn’t very clean at this time, the rats and mice spread the plague extremely quick. This plague kill 30 to 60 percent of Europe alone. This famous plague can be referred back to the cartoon as the “death” and “disease” words on the map. One of the other big words on the screen, “oppression,” was another big cause of darkness in the Middle Ages. The Dark Ages occurred right when the Roman Empire fell completely, which made the Roman Catholic Church lose some of their power as well. Because of this, Catholic Church tightened its grip on the people under its control. For “tyranny, ignorance, and superstition,” these came about because of how hectic their lives were with all of the pain and suffering. Having all of these terrible things add up is never good for a society, but some time they just couldn’t get
The medieval times were nicknamed the dark ages because of the severe lack of sophistication. The dark ages is in between two very successful time periods on this massive timeline called life. The roman empire fell, the dark ages stepped in then the renaissance came after. So the dark ages appears to be a major turn in history. Or as a wise woman once said “Think of the dark ages as a horrible decision followed with a large positive change” (Murphy).
People in the Dark Ages were engulfed in the shadow of greatness of their predecessors, which 18th-century English historian Edward Gibbon called “barbarism and religion,” (History). Life in Europe during the Dark Ages were quite simple, as there was no efforts in unifying Europe, and the Catholic church was the only real body of power in Europe at this time. European societies were governed by feudalism, in which the king gives land to the nobles, while peasants worked on the land to live there in return. Little is actually known about this era, in that nothing significant was recorded, announcing it a “dark’ era. There was little to nothing significant about this time period in Europe, other than strong Catholic authority. A shift begins during this time period
The Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages or Medieval period, is a period in history after the fall of the Roman Empire that lasted from the late 4th century to the late 14th century, to the beginning of the Renaissance period. The characteristics of the style of art in the Middle Ages was dark and revolved around religious symbolism. The sole purpose of displaying the symbols was an illustration for the people unable to read, to understand about the higher power, and the centering of the Church, to glorify God. The two styles of art throughout Europe which rose from the Middle Ages are Romanesque Art, from the 10th century to the middle of the 12th century, and Gothic Art, from the Romanesque period to the middle of the 12th century (MindEdge,
With the decline and fall of the western empire, the classical age of Rome came to a close as disease, warfare and corruption conspired to bring about the downfall of an ailing empire that had once conquered the known world. Where once enlightened despots had ruled a debauched and unwieldy polity, now barbarians stood over the ruins of a once thriving metropolis. In its absence a new world would arise with new values and ideals. Turning their back on a pagan past the Christian children of these wild men from the north would spawn the greatest houses of future European nobility, and when they looked back for a legacy, they would not see their ancestors as pillagers picking at the bones of a defiled Rome, but instead as its trusted guardians, partnering with the Church to carry her legacy through the “Dark Ages”.
There are many terms used to describe the period after the fall of Rome and before the Renaissance, three main terms being the Middle, Medieval, and Dark Ages. In general, these terms are used interchangeably, but are these fair substitutions? In recent years the term “Dark Ages” is becoming less and less acceptable as a phrase which describes the span of years it is meant to refer to. The use of the term “dark” implies a period of stagnation, which is becoming a questionable concept. In particular, the span of time referred to in this paper is 530-1452 BCE, with specific attention paid to the scientific discoveries and innovations rather than art or literature. These dates are significant because in 529 the Academy and Lyceum in Athens were shutdown by the Byzantine emperor, thus ending the Greek intellectual influence. The date of 1453 is chosen because many Greek texts arrived in Europe in 1453 after the fall of Constantinople at the hands of the Turks, thereby reviving the struggling European scientific fields (Bunch 93). This essay will show that the medieval period was not a so-called “dark age” because of scientific innovation in the Islamic world, and is only referred to as such because of the popular bias in the West of focusing on Europe. In order to make this clear, firstly, two objections to this proposition will be analyzed and clearly refuted. Following these counter arguments, the main weight of historical facts and events in the identification and explanation of Islamic scientific innovation will be presented, showing the inaccuracy of referring to the medieval period as dark. Finally, I will show that the misleading perception of the medieval era as stagnant is due to the modern bias for the superiority of Western...
The Middle Ages consisted of the time between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Because of the bubonic plague, and the lack of scientific accomplishments and the rise of great leaders, many have considered the Middle Ages as the “Dark” age. However, it was the period of time a new system, called feudalism, emerged. It resulted from many factors, which include attacks from barbarians, invasions and wars between neighboring kingdoms, the disintegration of Roman institutions, and the decline of numerous empires. Although it brought many consequences, feudalism also brought many benefits and developments to the political, economical, and social