The Middle Ages

Giotto di Bondonne created “Lamentation” circa 1305. This piece depicts Jesus Christ removed from the cross as Mary the Virgin embraces Him. There are two figures in the foreground with their backs facing the audience. Dawning a new style of artwork creating a sense of depth. John the Baptist is seen flailing his arms backwards. Body gestures were stiff and stern in comparison to previous works. Bondonne is an early artist in “the revival of the visual arts” by painting a scene to suggest a story (Richards). For example, angels are captured flying in the distance watching the people care for the deceased Jesus Christ. They grieve in unison with the crowd down below. Bondonne successfully creates a feeling of three dimensions by including a cluster of people on the far left tucked away in the corner. The mass of people gathered around to offer praise for His ultimate sacrifice.

The time period spanning from around 500 A.D. to 1500 is perceived as the Dark Ages. Many plagues, wars, lack of knowledge, corruption, prosecution, and lack of freedoms were a part of the early Dark Ages. Many people tend to focus on these things and do not learn that many important things came from this time. The lengthy list following is some of the positives from the Dark Ages: universities, banking, Christianity, guilds, science, Carolingian Renaissance, Byzantine Golden Age, Islamic Golden Age, Commercial Revolution, mathematics, art, architecture, improved weather conditions, improvement upon laws, agricultural boom, the printing press (a fundamental part of journalism today), theater, Islam, and impressive leaders. The Dark Ages were not as dark as they are generally made out to be, for the art/architecture, agriculture, and the sciences/mathematics of that time, awe and impact today’s world.

The Middle Ages, also known as Christendom lasted between the 11th and 15th century. The middle ages took place mainly in Europe and was a time of great changes but also a period of continuity for the majority of people living at the time (Pearson, 2013). In the 14th and 15th century the Black Death, a plague that attacks the immune system, took over Europe. It started in the 1500s and was very significant at the time as no one knew what it was and as it wiped at a third of the population. The Black Death had an impressively significant impact on the society at the time of the Middle Ages as it weakened the feudal system, peasant wages increased and the power of the Catholic Church weakened.

During the time in which Rome existed in the Middle Ages it accumulated an abundant amount of land and wealth. The way that Rome accomplished this was by defeating the peoples that ruled the land they wanted and incorporating them into their ever expanding empire. The reason the Romans were so successful at doing this is because of their technological advances, logistical capabilities, and ability to implement strategy efficiently and safely. These when put together allow an army during the Middle ages to deploy consistently with high moral and low mortality.

With the decline of the Western Roman empire Western Europe was a disjointed land that had no true unifying structure till the rise of Christianity. In Roman antiquity people used the State or empire of Rome to define themselves and give them a sense of unity despite having a diverse group of people within the empire. When Western Rome fell this belief based on a Roman cultural identity disappeared and no longer were people able to identify themselves with any particular group as they once have. The Christian religion was able to fill this vacuum by having the people associate themselves to a religion instead of a given state or cultural group. During Medieval Europe Christianity became the unifying force that would define what it

The Middle Ages were filled with sickness. The black plague had swept over Europe, causing its victims to suffer and die horribly. People became concerned about their standing with God and felt that He was smiting them. “.... And so many died that all believed it was the end of the world,” described a survivor of the plague, Agnolo di Tura of Siena, who painted

The Middle Ages, often referred to as the Dark Ages, was regarded to be a time of despair, disease, and death. Just as the name the “Dark Ages” suggests, this period of European history seemed to be surrounded by darkness and hopelessness. Unfortunately, the majority of people only see this side of the Middle Ages when, in fact, the Middle Ages was a much more important era. Especially during the late Middle Ages, one can find a change in orthodox social structure, political instability mostly concerned with succession to the throne, and economic changes and how those changes went hand in hand with the change in society. After certain demographical changes and turning points such as the Hundred Years’ War, Europe began to transform

The root of all the social, political, and economic changes of the High Middle Ages was the unprecedented growth of the European population. The causes of said growth can be traced to the recently improved climate, advancement of agricultural technology, and the end of barbarian antagonization. The start of the High Middle Ages experienced a period of gradual global warming known as the Medieval Warm Period; along with the new agricultural advancements, this fairer weather would result in longer and more productive growing seasons, resulting in more food. More food means better overall health, more babies, and longer lifespans. The High Middle Ages was also characterized by an end to barbarian raids on European territory. Without the Barbarian

Over the years historians had agreed and disagreed over the though of the middle ages being a dark and less civilized time. It was classified as dark because learning new things wasn’t a part of their daily activities. They didn’t lack intelligence, but they never had a reason to design aircraft or anything as intricate in that matter. However, their focus was to bear ground provisions and maintain sustainability. The focus back then was to live. The myth that the “dark ages” was dark is the truth, but it is not true that it was relieved from the shadows after the renaissance. The upbringing of the people started way before the renaissance. Because the goal back then was to survive they had to eat and to eat they had to grow what they

Throughout Europe, several figures have influenced the people’s religion and beliefs. From Charlemagne’s empire and religious strengthening to the Pope’s significant role in the government, down to the limited rights of a King, the study of God’s existence and the 95 Theses, we learn of all the true Reformations the Middle Ages has faced.

If I could choose an Era to be in, it would be the Middle Ages, what is also known as the “Dark Ages”. This Era was chosen by myself because while there is little known about, hence why it is called the “Dark Ages”, it plays quite a few interesting key points in our history. For example, in that area of time, their form of government was a monarchy, where a king or queen ruled over the people. In that point of time, the Monarchy would gain most of their power from their Church and allies, which would be surrounding kingdoms. The Middle Ages was also the point in time where the Islamic nation grew to power and became larger in size. So large that the Islamic faith even outgrew Catholicism, the primary religion of those in that time period. Eventually,

Europe in the Middle Ages was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church persecuted the Jews in the Middle Ages and used their power against the Jews. There was social, religious and economic reasons for this enmity and this hatred manifested itself in practice in many ways.

In conclusion, Lamentation and Entombment of Christ are similar in terms of subject matter and the representation of a transition, one out of the Renaissance and one into, but they are wildly different in the stylistic impact the transition had on their depictions. Giotto departed from the standardized Byzantine Style of the middle ages and became one of the first Renaissance painters, making naturalism and humanism characteristic of the artistic movement. Figures were bulky, centralized and set in a clear plane, there was a direct and comprehensible narrative, harmonious color and composition, and normative to idealized proportions with a universal appeal that synthesized both religion and humanism while simultaneously being accessible to

Historians used the term “Dark” to describe The Middle Ages centuries ago for many reasons, including political turmoil, social unrest, and the spread of diseases such as the bubonic plague. The term “Dark Ages” also originates from a belief that the previous century lacked knowledge and social progression. Due to the lack of advancements in society and the fall of the Roman Empire, many people lived their lives in fear and resources were scarce. However, throughout the 1,000 years this century was present, approximately 500-1500 A.D, a huge social change occurred for the Europeans leading into the start of the Italian Renaissance.

The gap between medieval times and current times contains so much change. It’s all so