Medieval Europe : Technology And Quality Of Life Aspects

‘dark ages’ no progress? Regression he argues that there are things and events that happened which form Europe as it is today …

Before 1453, Europe was in a period of time often referred to as the Dark ages. Critics claim that they had little access to any kind of trade, wealth or ideas that traveled along the Silk Roads. Meaning that the Europeans economy was based largely off of agriculture and they lived very difficult lives in poverty. This was until daring and courageous men decided to pull Europe out of the Dark ages and into the Renaissance (A Golden Age). The many voyages of European explorers and conquistadors are what brought Europe into what would become known as The Age of Exploration. This connected Europe to trade and cultural ideas along the east. Although the Europeans and conquistadors did conquer the natives and spread the base of slavery, these men did bring new ideas, technology, science and culture that ultimately result in a huge impact on history.

During the time period between 600 and 1750, economic and social continuities and changes impacted Western Europe immensely. One particular economic alteration was the decline of feudal manoralism, prevalent in the early medieval era, as a result of the restoration of commerce following the Crusades. Another major change was the socioeconomic impact of the Age of Exploration circa 1500, which would establish European Hegemony. While economic transforma-tions occurred throughout Western Europe, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church was

In the 1300's an Italian scholar named Petrarch came up with the name "Dark Age" to describe the time Europe was going through during the Middle Ages in 500AD-1500AD. Throughout the Middle Ages Europe was going through some rough times, but there were also moments of growth. For example the Black Death was a time of darkness but there were positive times like when universities were built. Although the dark ages were looked at as a negative occurrence, more events show a sign of growth.

There are several labels that could best describe the era between 500 and 1400 in Europe otherwise known as the Middle Ages. The best three are, The Dark Ages, Age of Feudalism, and, the Age of Faith. All three of these labels represented ideas that were vital parts of the Middle Ages. For example, The Dark Ages lasted a long period of time right after the fall of the Roman Empire where much culture was lost.The Age of Feudalism brought a new type of social structure to the Middle Ages, helping the people of Europe attempt to once again bring about culture and knowledge lost because of the Dark Ages. Finally, the Age of Faith showed how truly powerful the Catholic Church was. Everything, whether it be architecture, art, literature, or music

The scientific revolution saw advancement in math, science, astronomy, and chemistry. During this period, there would be key figures as Galileo and Isaac Newton. These philosophers would make great strides in astronomy. There would be discoveries, as in the scientific method and empiricism. Doubted at first, through more scientist and philosophers became more accepted. Two was the absolutism, it was created and the divine right of the king was destroyed. This was a double-edged sword, it would mean that the monarchy could be handed down to heir after heir, but if their theories are different then it could lead to disaster. Third, the Age of Reasoning. Questions were finally being asked. There was no longer accepting an answer because it already existed. It gave one the fortitude to challenge anything within reason. Lastly, would have to be the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was the driving force of all that have been named. The Enlightenment was not only a burst of intellect, but it issued a sense of morality and compassion. This would give people a whole new outlook on life and grant some with hope. These four reasons are the substantial difference in how we see Europe modernize. Everything starts from questioning what is known to what it is

Towards the end of the Middle Ages era Europe made technological advances and continued to grow as a community. Gray C. Boyce in his excerpt from “The Medieval Period” describing the middle ages, argues, “Even at its worst it performed the function of guarding, frequently by accident and chance, the knowledge and treasures of what had come before, but even more it was creative and inventive, and transmitted to later ages great riches of its own,”. The author is proving that although Europe was indeed imperfect like most things, it was exceptional as well. The author is making the point that even during the worst times it was protective, creative, and knowledgeable. All of the attributes the author described are what made Europe so successful, and shows the reader that Europe was a prosperous, creative, and successful community.

Technological advances during the period 1450-1750, or the Renaissance Era, were major influences to the way of life seen today. The ships, tools for traveling, especially the ones made Portugal and Spain all Impact society today, allowing for the age of exploration to emerge. All these tools proved prosperous but known more important than the printing-press independently developed in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg. Germany before this time was divided, in other words not a country yet, but divided into a city-state format, different provinces ruled by a king under an interregnum. Also, before this era Germany was still under the Holy Roman Empire, in other words Catholic in their Religion. The impact that this new technology produced in

Some refer to the Middle Ages as the “Dark Ages”. I could not find this more wrong. I think that even though documentation of this area is void, doesn’t automatically mean that it was void of advancements too. Today, I will use three documents: a picture of Joan of Arc, a map of the major trade routes of Afroeurasia, and an excerpt from the Magna Carta. With these I will prove that the Middle Ages were not just a Dark Age in history.

The Renaissance contributed to human society and the modern world in a multitude of ways. Because of the Renaissance, inventions like the printing press and artistic techniques were introduced. Today, we have very complex reinventions like the printer. Advances today in literature, the arts, and science are due to literature, the arts, and science in the time of the Renaissance. Examples of literature in the Renaissance are Shakespeare, Milton, Machiavelli, and Petrarch.

The Medieval Mind, is most focused on reviving the oft-scorned term "the Dark Ages." For a long time over the last several centuries, it was commonplace to see the time period that last roughly from 400 A.D. to 1400 A.D. as a culturally backward and impoverished period of time. The rough social image is one of a declining Western civilization after the barbaric destruction and decay of the Roman Empire. It would not be until the rise of a number of social movements, the rediscovery of antiquity and the creation of modern science. Then the Western World would emerge from the darkness and enter the light through social periods like the Renaissance and the

The Medieval Machine by Jean Gimpel, shows information about the technological accomplishments of the middle Ages. The basic idea is that during the two centuries from around 1050 Western Europe went through a kind of industrial revolution that was just as important as of the nineteenth century’s.

In Medieval Europe Kingdoms there were many changes. Most of the changes were good for the world. The changes in medieval times can be drawn comparison to todays world. The changes focused on will be political, social, and economic. These changes will help people understand a small part of the worlds history.

Many of these advancements came in the form of the arts and theology as well as politics. The arts went retro so to speak and focused more on the humanity of its subject rather than a rough interpretation of what the artist saw. The subject of the art was given a sense of personality and realism. This had not been seen since Greek and Roman art so it was heavily inspired by these societies. Arts became vivid and celebrated and beautiful works of art started to arise and amazing artist such as Michelangelo and DiVinci. In medieval time's arts was primarily for cathedrals and other religious needs and the worked seemed to lack spirit but when the Renaissance began art became an expression of the world around it. Just looking at this art you can see the vivid differences and mood of the artist that created these masterpieces. The ability to think outside the box heavily influenced these artists and had they been alive in a feudalistic society many of these works would never have been created.

In every time period, there are select developments that standout and emerge from the rest because they’re more important. For example, a change that made the High Middle Ages a social success was the advances in its land, which allowed population growth. The population incredibly expanded to about 74 million individuals in Europe, almost twice that of the Early Middle Ages (Duiker 309). This was possible because of the peace that had finally settled over the land as well as the dramatic increase of agricultural prowess and production.