Dark Ages Dbq Analysis

In Europe during the Middle ages - from 476 to 1100 - there were many things happening at once. There was the plague, holy wars, and poverty. These events inspired the Italian Scholar Petrarch to dub it a “Dark Age”. But there were also many positive things, as listed below. The Dark Ages were not a dark period as Petrarch suggested. They were a time of ________

Three significant reasons for this are technological advancements, laws that brought people together, and the study of medicine and surgery.

One important reason that the “Dark” Ages weren't dark was that people invented many new technologies. According to Document B, the heavy plow, metal horseshoes, windmills, the shoulder collar for horses, and more efficient water system were all invented during these times. These are all vital inventions, and without them humans would have progressed much more slowly. These inventions also led to a “jump in food supply”, causing the population to triple. “Between 500 and 1300 the population grew from 25 million to more than 70 million.” Usually when population increases

dramatically it means times are good, and even when the population of an area increases at a slow steady pace it means that people are doing alright. If the population grows, it means that people can afford to marry or marry earlier and that children survive longer, therefore it cannot be a very dark era.
Another important reason that the “dark” ages were not actually dark is that governments made laws that tried to unify people. “Be it noted how much the solidi (unit of currency) of the Saxons ought to be worth. […] For those who live near to us, 1 solidi should be worth ½ sigla of honey. For people who live in the north, 1 solidi should be worth 2 sigla of honey.” If people are making laws that show how it should work when outsiders trade with them, it means they care about the community and do not wish to cheat other people of their money. Currency exchange in itself is a practice that shows advancement. Setting laws to make a firm statement about how citizens must trade brings society one step closer to peaceful interactions with everyone. These times were far from that goal, but they worked towards achieving it.

Another reason that the “Dark Ages” were not dark is that people studied the treatment of the sick and injured.

“… he was an expert in his art and in pharmaceutics, botany, and surgery” (Richer). This is definitely a step up from the spiritual and religious healing of earlier times that consisted mostly of prayer and ritual. Although faith was dominant in the Middle Ages, the methods of treatment in this document show that people did not only rely on god and destiny. A society with doctors who study all of these types of medicine is a society that cares about people. In a true “Dark Age”, people would be fending for themselves and not worrying about their fellow citizens. Also, being able to know where to make incisions during surgery without killing the patient every time requires a certain amount of skill and knowledge that one can only find in a time that is not as dark as history

assumes.

In conclusion, The “Dark Ages” were not actually dark. Although there were wars between religions (Doc C) and mass amounts of poverty (Doc A), there were more good things than there were bad things about this time. The three reasons I presented above - technological advancements, laws that brought people together, and the study of medicine and surgery - prove that the dark ages were not dark. Instead, they were a gateway for the Renaissance to emerge. The amount of progress the Renaissance made could not have happened without a period with some suffering. The things that happened during the Middle ages outweigh the darker aspects.