American Cyclopaedia's The Dark Ages?

The term “dark ages” comes from Petrarch, who was an Italian scholar that lived after the dark ages, and compared it to the classical era. Medieval Europe happened from 500 AD to 1500 AD, also known as the medieval period in Europe. It is called “the dark age” because of the disease, famine, murder, chaos, and death that happened during that time.

In the 1300s, Petrarch, an Italian Scholar used the term "dark ages" which applied "dark" and "light" to describe the period. Historians kept wondering " Was Europe really in a dark age from 500 to 1500"? The ongoing argument involves events such as the Crusades, The Black Death, the signing of the Magna Carta, and the building of universities and cathedrals. But although, there was destruction and prosper. While Europe had long lasting improvements, it was still a lot of destruction, during this period.

The dark ages were a time where chaos ruled everything and no one felt safe. The term dark age came from an Italian Scholar named Petrarch. He called it the dark age because he compared it to the classical period before. In the dark ages many terrifying things happened like the Black Death, the crusades, the viking attacks, and many more. Europe was in a dark age from 500 to 1500 AD.

Were the Dark Ages really dark? The Dark Ages are thought to have started at the fall of Rome, in the year 415. The Dark Ages ended at the first crusade where armies tried to recover the holy land of Jerusalem in the year 1095. Many people think that the Dark Ages weren't as dark as most people thought they were. Sarah Pruitt made a “History” article talking about why the dark ages weren't dark, and instead a period of time where there were many discoveries. In her argument, she stated that the idea of the dark ages came from later scholars who were heavily biased towards Ancient Rome, the time was a boom for agriculture, there were great advances in science and math, and the Carolingian Renaissance saw a flowering in art, literature, architecture, and other cultural realms. That is true, all that happened in the time of the dark ages and the name “Dark Ages” were named by biased scholars. But during the dark ages, there were Warlords and their struggle to be Emperor, outside forces raiding and/or attacking Europe, and the worse being The Bubonic Plague, or also known as the infamous Black Death. The Dark Ages were centuries of chaos, destruction, horrible plagues, and stagnant population growth.and it should be considered one of the worst periods in human history to live in.

After the Fall of Rome, the Dark Ages occurred during the Middle Ages in Western Europe, France, Germany and Italy. The term “Dark Age” is an accurate description for Western Europe despite the formation of feudalism and the united church. The severity of disease, such as the plague, killed millions of people and lead to society not having the desire to prosper with education . These reasons, among others, demonstrate that Western Europe was truly a Dark Age.

Something dark is often described as gloomy, lifeless, and dull. The Middle Ages, however, was the opposite of darkness. Although the beginning of the Middle Ages wasn’t very eventful, it was full of life and new ideas. The term "Dark Ages" doesn’t suggest positive developments of the Middle Ages such as King John signing the Magna Carta to help protect the rights of the nobles, the Japanese expressing themselves through poetry, and the flourishing of trade between Japan and China.

The “Dark Ages” means a time of violence, no innovation, lack of educated people, small population and isolated communities, lots of disease, no new building projects, war, lack of trade, chaos and anarchy, famine, and political instability. The person who coined it was Petrarch, a french scholar who compared it to the classical period. The beginning of the dark ages was during 500 AD which lasted until 1500 AD. During this time period the most famous events was the “The Crusades” and “Black Death.” During this period Europe was clearly in a “Dark Age.”

The Middle Ages was a very important time in history. Some historians considered it The Dark Ages because they didn’t have the information they needed to provide for that era. I believe that The Dark Ages is not a correct term to describe the Middle Ages.

The “Dark ages” was found by an Italian scholar, Petrarch, in the 1300s. The term Dark Age was used to explain the period (movie talk-dark ages).The Dark Age could be in a growth age or a dark age. This is applied to “dark” and “light”. This can be argued by the evidence of what is going on during 500AD-1500AD. The debate between Europe being in a Dark Age or growth age is based off of how well the evidence supports the statement and this judgment is clearly stated that Europe is NOT in a dark age based on all the supported evidence.

The term “dark ages” which is coined by the Italian Scholar Francesco Petrarch, applies to Medieval Europe during the times between 500 AD and 1500 AD. The term suggests a low-point in society with violence, disease, and war. Medieval Europe included many of these traits. Involving the Crusades, the Black Death, and violence involving religion. For these and the following reason, Medieval Europe was in a dark age.

They said it was a period of intellectual depression. And instead of the short time in the beginning of the middle ages, the entire middle ages are referred to as "The Dark Ages".

The term “Dark Age” was used to by an Italian Scholar named Petrarch, who compared the “dark” to the classical period before. Medieval Europe was from 500 to 1500 AD, which included the Crusades and the Black Death. Europe, during the time 500 to 1500 AD, was a dark age because there was violence, war, and disease. Europe was in a dark age.

In general the Middle Ages, also called the Dark Ages, is a time period of human history that is often characterized by extreme barbarism, no scientific or cultural achievements, and endless wars between small kingdoms. In fact, the Dark Ages exhibited multiple achievements in the fields of science, politics, theology, metallurgy, and exploration. While the Dark Ages did not rival the advancements or empires of the Renaissance or Greek Antiquity, it was not a time period of recession or stagnation in the overall advancement of the human species. The term “Dark Age” was a term first used by the renaissance scholar Francesco Petrarca, also known as Petrarch, to denounce the quality of literature used during the time period after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 467 AD until approximately 1200 AD.

“...we learn that an age once traditionally known as “dark” had remarkable vitality and exuberance. (Gray C. Boyce) During this time period, there were many great inventions and innovations such as the tidal mill, the hourglass, and the heavy plough. This being said, I do not believe that the word dark does not fit the middle ages. My three main documents to support my claim come from H. C. Davis (Medieval Europe), Jiu-Hwa (The Development of Early Civilization), and Gray C. Boyce (The Medieval Period).

The most desolate time period in history lasted roughly from A.D. 400 to A.D. 1000 and was plagued with no social progress, incessant warfare, lawlessness, recurring epidemics, and low intellect of the people. This was considered the Dark Age, or the medieval ages. The Dark Ages are thought of by historians to be extremely dim, no notable progress, and controlled heavily by the rise of the Christian Church. The medieval age followed the decline of the Roman empire which fell in the fifth century due to barbaric attacks, strength of the empire’s rulers, and religious changes of the period. The same problems of the Roman Empire continued into the medieval ages. William Manchester author of A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance, Portrait of an Age discusses the concept of the medieval mind and the history of the time period. According to Manchester the medieval world was not a civilization, “If by civilization one means a society which has reached a relatively high level of cultural ad technological development, the answer is no” (Manchester, 15). The medieval age had no accomplishments and actually led to a decline of society since the Roman Empire. The medieval ages are characterized by a specific mindset of the medieval people, a narrow world view, and the heavy influence of the Christian Church.