Luiz Gustavo Machado
Mrs. Phillips
British Literature
6 January 2016
The English Middle Ages The middle ages (1066-1485) is known as the Dark ages for representing cultural and economic deterioration following the decline of the exuberant Roman Empire. However, a variety of important events that took place in that period, mainly in England, helped shape society as we know it today. Feudalism was created in the middle ages with the king at the top of military, political, and economic hierarchy, nobles owning the land, and peasants, or vassals working on the land. Living conditions were hard in general, but life was especially hard for peasants. The crusades marked the period with knights sent to Jerusalem to fight against Muslims, demonstrating the immense power of the Roman Chaotic Church, in all areas of people’s lives. The Black Death, or bubonic plague, was also a relevant event that killed one third of the population of western Europe. The British middle ages influenced the development of society through the politics, the religion, and the literature of the era. Politics was a key factor in the development of England in the middle ages. For example, the impact of the new political regime when the Normans conquered England. The Normans (1066-1154) and the Angevins (1154-1399) created political institutions that set England apart from the rest of Europe (“England”). Henry II was the first Angevin king of England and Richard I, the lionhearted, was his son who went in
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.
The Middle Ages is a time period that took place between 500’s and 1400’s In Western Europe. This was a time of feudalism, sickness, death, poverty, war, and faith. In this time people had a government called feudalism which was a political, economic, and social system in which nobles were granted the use of land that legally belonged to the king as payment for their military, their loyalty and protection. There was also a manor which had a manor house, a church, a village, and farm land. In medieval times people went through hard time and many were unsafe there were many deaths and diseases which at the time a disease basically meant death. There are many names you could call the Middle Ages but the two best that describe this time period
During this age, everything going on was either bad or had a bad side to it. For instance, there was a plague called the Bubonic Plague. (Doc 6). This plague was extremely contagious and dangerous, consequently the doctors had to wear outfits made out of cloth or leather to protect themselves. (Doc 6). This disease killed 25 million Europeans. Moreover, there was also invasions going on during this time. These invasions had many negative effects on Europeans. For instance, the invasions caused trade to cease. (Doc 7). Also, the invasions caused lots of terror, and the terror led to Europeans moving to hard-to-reach areas. (Doc 7). The people who caused all of this; the invaders, were the Moors and Magyars. (Doc 7). Not to mention, there were more invasions during the Middle Ages. These invaders were the Northmen, they caused lots of damage. (Doc 8). They burned down the town of Dordrecht and took many goods back with them. (Doc 8). Similarly, there were slaughters in Rochester, Quentovic, and London. (Doc 8). The Dark Ages is a perfect label for the Middle Ages because many bad events were happening and death was the outcome. Furthermore, everything going on also had a dark side. For example, the religion; the churches had a dark side. Popular cities has large, tall churches; cathedrals. To be exact, these churches were called Gothic Cathedrals because of its architecture style. (Doc 9). These cathedrals
Another title that the Middle Ages deserve is the label Dark Ages because during the Middle Ages, there was constant chaos and destruction that plagued Western Europe. After the collapse of Rome, the invasions did not end there. The invasions continued throughout the Middle Ages by different groups and tribes. For example, during the ninth and tenth century, the Moor invasions have taken over the South and the Hungarians invaded the Eastern provinces. Both invasion groups sacked villages, held captives, burned down religious buildings, and left a path of destruction while many citizens that escaped took refuge in the mountains or deep forests (doc 1). Also during the invasions of the Moor and Hungarians, the Northmen struck terror in England. The plundered, burned towns, and returned home with boats filled with gold, people, and resources (doc. 3). However, that was not the end of all the chaos during the Middle Ages. During the 14th century, the black death hit Western Europe, which ended up wiping out 1/3 of the population and a body count of over 25 million by the end of the sixteenth century (OI). Consequently, because of the constant chaos and destruction from invasions and plague, little to no development was possible. This slowed down Western Europe's advancements and growth. The
The time period from the fifth to the fifteenth century was known as the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages in Europe was also a time of prosperity and hope. New civilizations were formed and the industrial revolution started. Towns became so much easier to control and population grew because of modern conveniences. They changed the way the people of the Middle Ages lived. The Middle Ages should not be called the Dark Ages because structured laws called for order, education changed the way people thought, universities were founded, the economy prospered, and food supply increased the population.
As the Roman empire fell, a new era unfolded. This era was known as The Middle Ages, also referred to as the Dark Ages. The Middle Ages was the time period between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance. Starting in 476 AD and ending in 1500 AD, this time period was long, cruel, and consisted of many different events. The Middle Ages was a dark time because of the Viking raids, bubonic plague, cruel punishments, and a feudalistic society.
During this period, the Crusades and the Black Death occured. According to the Document C of the Crusade passages, explaining what happened in the First Crusade, “None of them were left alive; neither women nor children were spared.” This quote points out how violent and merciless the Crusaders were. This period of time had war and chaos which is what makes it a dark age. According to the the Document B of the Black Death article, “There the plague sat like a lion on a throne and swayed with power, killing daily one thousand or more and destroying the population.”
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.
The Middle Ages occurred between the fall of Roman Empire and the fall of Constantinople (400-1500 C.E). Historians establish numerous attributes to give reasoning why the Middle Ages is believed to deserve multiple labels. This was a time of darkness that correlates with chaos, unorganization and violence. However, this was also a time when the adaptation of feudalism developed and prospered, and faith within the Catholic Church and other religions bloomed and expanded. The Middle Ages in Europe can be viewed as a Dark Age, an Age of Feudalism, and an Age of Faith.
The Christian religions rise to supremacy in the middle ages was the result of several factors. Christians had long been persecuted by the Roman Empire because the Romans felt that Christianity challenged and offended the Greco-Roman Gods and the Christians were prone to revolt against Roman rule. Christianity survived because it had many teachings that appealed to the downtrodden in Roman society, these teachings being that even though they were suffering they would gain equality and possibly superiority in the next life, Christianity gave them hope.
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
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,
The gap between medieval times and current times contains so much change. It’s all so
The collapse of Roman civilization brought a downfall to the artistic culture that had been cultivated throughout 1,500 years in Europe. Unlike the Renaissance’s glamorous and flamboyant reputation, the Middle Ages is perceived in a darker, more negative perspective. Taking place after the fall of the Roman Empire, this particular time period lasted for around 1200 years and is best known for the bubonic plague (also known as the “Black Death”) which seized nearly a third of Europe’s entire population over the span of 3 years. Because survival was the highest priority during the Middle Ages, education was pushed away while farming techniques such as harvesting and reaping crops were emphasized greatly. Many aspects have changed from the transition
When one thinks of the word medieval, there appear to be almost an instantaneous reaction. Some may see the period associated with the gothic architecture, Crusades, brutalism, death, the Black Plague, illiteracy, or the Dark Ages. Others may interpret the period as one full of valiant knights, princesses waiting to be saved, jousting, castles, and noble kings and queens. From video games such as The Legend of Zelda and the popular HBO television series A Game of Thrones, to accounts of medieval torture or treatment in the newspapers, the Middle Ages seems to be more relevant than ever. However, it can be argued that much about what we know about the real Middle Ages was constructed in the nineteenth century due to a comparative lack of records and the imaginative portrayal of the period by the Victorians. Due to the tumultuous period that was the Industrial Revolution, many social critics and artists turned back to the Middle Ages in order to reflect their anxieties of the present and the hopes and expectations of the future. I began to note that the medievalist movement was built upon medieval studies through a desire to create, rather than retrieve the past, which in turn lead to academic debates about authenticity and furthered the tension between the two fields leading to an almost insurmountable break. Those in medieval studies look towards medievalism as a misguided attempt to contemplate history which in turn changed the public’s understanding towards the era away