World History: The Dark Ages

The Dark Ages are commonly associated with a lack of innovation, a massive amount of tragedy, and a general consensus that it sucked. However, these descriptions are heavily contradictory to what the Dark Ages actually were. Upon further studies, it's seen that the Dark Ages actually had large quantities of good events that happened within its time period. The Dark Ages were actually a good thing. From the opening of world famous universities to improved education, the Dark Ages are not as bad as many people make it out to be.

The Dark Ages, as already stated, were a good thing. It was a time of prospering, and newer evidence supports this claim. There are two text book entries that exist; The Record of Mankind from 1954, and one World History

Before 1600: The Development of Early Civilization from 2002. There is a massive discrepancy when comparing these two entries. The entry from 1954 suggests that the Dark Ages was a time when "Europe passed through a time of turmoil and confusion, of ignorance and lawlessness." Please note that the date of this entry goes all the way back to 1954. Now, compare the entry from 2002 that states, as a whole, that Europe actually improved and didn't go into supposed turmoil. Quote, "...the economy of Europe developed and prospered." This discrepant description is due to newer studies disproving these false accusations of the past, and there are documents that exist to prove it.
The Dark Ages were not a time of apocalyptic cataclysm.

If anything, it is just run of the mill for medieval times. There are records from the Abbey of Xanten that keep track of Europe's troubles. This was written sometime in the middle 9th century. The Records bring up points of earthquakes, fires/arson, murder, and famine. The only problem is that this kind of stuff would happen all the time, except in not massive quantities. Aside from this, the Dark Ages had a thriving economy as well as places of education. There are Medieval Economic Laws that contain capitularies which define how their economy would work. The fact that this document exists means that Europe during the Dark Ages would be somewhat hospitable or habitable. To support this, there are also first-person accounts of visiting cities to study, such as that written by a monk named Richer in the late 900s to study in Chartes (modern day France). Surely if the Dark Ages had actually been as bad as people make it out to be, an functioning economy and education may not have existed at the

time.
The Dark Ages was a time of general improving and intellectual development.

Do the names Oxford, Cambridge, and the like sound familiar? These are the names of Universities opened around the supposed time period of the Dark Ages. Universities opened around this time are usually still up to this day. The University of Bologna, Paris, Salamanca, Padua, Napless Federico II, Toulouse, Siena, Valladolid, they are all still up and running. These Universities at the time were supposedly revolutionary, as they opened a door to a new educational system and replaced the monastery and church schools. Even if attendance was limited, the fact that these Universities existed in the first place is a huge point to bring up. In addition to the Universities, there exist gothic cathedrals. A famous one to note is the "Cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris", or "Our Lady of Paris Cathedral." This building was built in 1163 and finished in 1345. In addition to this towering monolith of architecture, there exist plenty of other, minor gothic cathedrals that came alongside this

behemoth.
It should be painfully evident that the Dark Ages aren't as bad as many people make it out to be. With all of these documents in play, it is hard to make a counterargument. Anything presented would most likely be a contradiction. The Dark Ages were actually pretty nice in comparison to the stereotypical consensus. With the rise of education and a functional economy, the Dark Ages were a time of uprising and improvement.
The Dark Ages were a good thing.