Dark Ages Dbq

The Rebirth from the Dark Ages

The Dark Ages was a depressing, disease-ridden time that the peasantry wanted to escape from. Religious fanaticism was widespread across Europe along with lack of education, social isolation, and more. With the Renaissance brought more advances in medicine, recognition of the arts, awareness of other cultures and religions, more education, and the awakening of curiosity. By learning from the writings and lifestyles of the Romans and Greeks, Europeans acquired the desire to be an individual and not focus on the better good of the church or the nobility. The importance of liberal arts, the change in social hierarchies, and the new thoughts of philosophers changed dramatically from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

period because of the aspiration to be someone in a time of darkness and tragic deaths.
Moral changes affected social hierarchies in Europe through the Renaissance after the depressing Middle Ages. Slaves were at the bottom of this hierarchy triangle. Slaves have been around since the 2nd century BC in Rome, but the desire for slaves was great in Europe during the Renaissance. Whites, especially in the higher classes, were very discriminatory towards slaves. For example, Elizabeth I of England complained that too many “blackamoores” were competing with needy English people for places as domestic servants (Source 3). Isabella d’este, the duchess of Mantua, also believed that slaves were being truly punished. She wanted a “black girl between four and eight years old, shapely and as black as possible… the best buffoon in the world… we shall makes her very happy and shall have great fun with her” (Source 2). Both Elizabeth I and Isabella d’este, both having different purposes for their slaves or servants, would most likely believe that blacks were inferior to whites and are in their rightful place in the social hierarchy because of the environment they grew into. Blacks had no choice of what skin color they have, but whites had more of a choice to pick and work towards their fate. Working up the ladder to a better job and pay was very common; however, wealth of families did influence how quickly people could climb the ladder. Peasants were the next step up from blacks, but peasants, with lots of hard work, could work their way up to be workers or tradesmen, merchants, and possibly nobles. Nobles and royal rulers were born or married into families. Educated men could read The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli to learn more about how to be not only a prince, but a true man as well. Machiavelli explains that princes should “read histories, and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have borne themselves in war” in order to show intellect. He also explained the opinion that “It is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails” (Source 4). Social hierarchies were a natural progression of racism and wealth encouragement into different social categories that occurred mainly from the Dark Ages into the Renaissance.
Philosophers gave a new light to different thought processes and ideas during the Renaissance from the dark thoughts that most people were facing during the Dark Ages. During the Middle Ages, peasants and other workers were in a constant spiral of working, sleeping, and barely eating; therefore, philosophers ideas of humanism, individualism, and secularism came about. Humanism is an outlook of life that says that humans should be of prime importance over everything else. The father of humanism is Petrarch and wrote the Sonnets of Laura along with many other writings. He believes that humanity could reach the heights of past accomplishments and created humanistic values during the Renaissance. Another example of humanism is Oration on the Dignity of Man by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Mirandola stated: “To him is was granted to have what he chooses, to be what he wills… Whe man came to life, the Father endowed him with all kinds of seeds and the germs of everyday life. Whatever seeds each man cultivate will grow and bear fruit in him...if content with the lot of no created being, he withdraws into the centre of his own oneness” (Source 1). Mirandola and Petrarch both most likely believe in God, but they mainly agree that humans should learn to put faith in themselves as much as God puts faith in them. The step above humanism is individualism. Individualism is very similar to humanism except with added independence and self-reliance. Individualism can be shown through art pieces created during the Renaissance. One of the most popular examples of this is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. This image shows an unknown, mysterious women as the central focus of the painting with a very basic landscape background behind her. Leonardo da Vinci, being one of the most influential artists of the time, da Vinci most likely wanted to show individualism as a positive outlook and to promote it to every social class possible. Thomas More talks about humanist and individualistic values in his very popular book, Utopia. For example, he explains his ideal world and how things would work on his island: “In Utopia where there’s no private property, people take their duty to the public seriously… if he doesn’t look out for himself, he’ll starve to death, however prosperous his country may be” (Source 7). Thomas More most likely that an ideal society was not dependent on just the ruler; it is dependent on the people in this utopia to influence the leader and make decisions on their own. Secularism is the belief of separation between the “real” world and the heavenly world. Art was a great example of this. An example of secularism art is The School of Athens by Raphael. It is a full room of philosophers, artists, and more discussing what is on their scribes and books with each other. No reference of God or any religious figure is seen in the painting. Humanism, individualism, and secularism majorly influenced the definite change from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance because of its influence on art, science, and morals.
Liberal arts became more vital and frequent part of life during the Renaissance after the Dark Ages because of the growth of technology and individualistic thoughts.

Science, literature, and art were large parts of this “rebirth” Europe was seeing. When it comes to science, astronomy gained the most knowledge during the Renaissance along with the development of the scientific method and physics. Nicolaus Copernicus is known for his heliocentric theory; this theory states that the Sun is the center of the solar system, not the Earth. This theory shows a diagram of the planets and moons surrounding the Sun (Source 5). Through his research and new discoveries, we can infer that Copernicus was suspicious of past universal theories and had an urge to want to learn more about space. Many inventions were created during the Renaissance, including microscopes, telescopes, eyeglasses, clocks, and, most importantly, the printing press. The printing press was the first way of printing and spreading information quickly through Europe. This new way of spreading ideas allowed villages to know what’s going on in other villages around them as well as allowed village people to become more educated and gain literacy. The Print Shop is a very detailed painting that showed the purpose and daily struggles of a worker. Patrons would run the shop, which can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of the picture (Source 6). The viewer of the painting can infer that the artist had experience working in the shop based on the true reality shown in the hardships of working in a print shop. Because of the printing press, literature began to be published more in the public eye. Literature, which was inspired by Greek and Roman writings, was influential to both religion, morals, and new ways of thought. For example, Martin Luther’s 95 Theses was arguably the start of the Protestant Reformation and the uprising of religious rebellion. Thomas More’s Utopia also showed and exemplified a perfect

island in which humanist values were applied (Source 7). The reader can see the influence that liberal arts had on Thomas More when writing his novel. Art was one of the most impacted subjects during the Renaissance. The style of art was greatly changed through the use of perspective, dimensions, pyramid configuration, and more. An example of perspective is Paolo Veronese’s Wedding at Cana, where the town is shown from a front view between two buildings with around one hundred people talking and enjoying themselves (Source 13). We can see that Veronese most likely wanted to capture a new view of this wedding by adding dimension to make the wedding look extravagant and larger than life. Another example of perspective is shown in Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait. The stunning, breathtaking attention to detail in the painting shows a couple holding hands with a dog at their feet; however, looking closely at the image shows a mirror that perfectly reflects the couple from the back (Source 8). Eyck’s use of perspective shows that artists wanted to capture the realistic value of the painting. Dimensions, or chiaroscuro, were a very common art style that was mimicked by multiple artists. Johannes Vermeer’s The Pentagon, a self portrait of a woman wearing a blue headscarf looking toward the painter, shows shadows and demonstrated Vermeer’s wanting to be different after the Dark Ages, a time of conformity (Source 11). Donatello’s sculpture of David replicates the idea of shadow while revealing strong muscles and bone structure. Triangular configuration was very common in order to draw the viewer’s attention. Small Madonna of Foligno by Raphael shows a religious image, with three people: Madonna holding a child in the air and two people on either side below her looking up (Source 12). This triangle shape created by Raphael shows the desire to capture the audience's’ attention. Michelangelo’s work with the Sistine Chapel shows all three of these styles very well (Source 9). Artists, like Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Jan van Eyck, Donatello, and more influenced the way we see art in modern times. Liberal arts, both artistic and educational, showed great change from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
The transition into the Renaissance was impecable for the time as it showed greater progression and growth than the Dark Ages ever did. Liberal arts and new ways of thought brought about changes within the social interactions of the different hierarchies throughout Europe. The Renaissance is very similar to the Industrial Revolution in which there was a dramatic change in between ages which included the growth of technology, new art, and new morals and ideas. For example, the Renaissance brought about inventions, like the barometer, many instruments, and the printing press. The Industrial Revolution introduced even more inventions, including the spinning jenny, power loom, and sewing machines. Both brought new ages of art, like realism, romanticism, and renaissance art respectively. Modern-day people can see progression of today’s technology, morals, and more, starting as far back as the Renaissance; without the Renaissance in Europe, the world may never be the same.