The Middle Ages: The Dark Ages

Many had a bad viewpoint of the Dark ages, which is stated in the Cultures and Values book as: “The popular view of the Middle ages—often referred to as the Dark Ages—is that of a period of isolated and ignorant people with little outside of their own immediate surroundings” (P. 187). But through research of the Dark ages I have come to realize that the time wasn’t as bad as many people made it out to be. There were many greats to make the Middle ages great; such as, Charlemagne. Also there were numerous architectural works that were very beautiful and magnificent. Lastly there is evidence from the epic poem Beowulf that tells a great story that was created in the Middle ages. In these times it may have not been the most iconic for the area, but it definitely doesn’t deserve the title of the Dark ages.

In year 1215, one of the most significant documents was signed by King John, the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was constructed to reduce powers by King John, and to make him regulate the country by the old English law. King John came to an agreement with a group of people who had been rebelling against him- the barons, he promised the group he would observe standards of conduct. The Barons were a group of 25 men that did not agree with King John. They were unhappy with King Johns greed and cruelty. The group allocated clause 61, ensuring the king complies with the terms. The document guaranteed: freedom for the English church, protection of the law for all free men, and freedom from excessive fines and taxation on citizens.

The Middle Ages were between 500 and 1400 A.D. and have been described as either the Dark Ages, the Age of Feudalism, the Age of Faith, or the Golden Age of Europe. The Dark Ages were described as the time when trade declined, cities fell into despair, no law or order, and no school. The Age of Feudalism has been described as an age of order. The Age of Faith caused nations to become closer in faith. The Golden Age was known as the age when people were thriving and there was a surplus of goods and supplies. The three labels that describe the Middle Ages the most accurately are the Dark Age, the Age of Feudalism, and the Age of Faith.

Europe fell into the Dark Ages in 410 AD, when the Mother of the World fell to economic and social troubles. Rome had supplied food, language, and knowledge of architecture and farming, et cetera. So much, in fact, that Europe was conquered immediately after Rome fell. The Visigoths are a tribe of nomadic barbarians from Germany, who are more commonly referred to as the Goths. They were the ones who conquered Europe after the Mother of the World’s demise.

The Magna Carta is one of the most popular documents of all time. Magna Carta means “The Great Charter.” It is a document given by King John of England as an answer to the problems he had in 1215. The document state that everyone, even the upper class had to follow the law. About ten years after it was changed but it still remains a part of the British constitution. It contains 63 clauses in the document. Inside the document were hidden life lessons and teachings. Many other national documents used the Magna Carta as a basis like the US Bill of Rights.

Magna Carta is the most important document in the history of Great Britain and it is written by Archbishop Stephen Langton in 1215 and the document was signed by King John. The main purpose of the Magna Carta document was to curb the powers of the king and to govern Britain, through the English Laws which were followed before the Normans came. The Magna Carta document is important for the history of the US, because it was the first constitutional text and it was an important document for democracy. The founding fathers of the USA studied the Magna Carta to use many principles of human rights and freedom (Barksdale).

The Magna Carta, also known as The Great Charter, was the first step into people receiving the rights that they deserved. The King of England, King John was forced by his barons to sign the charter to establish that the monarch was no longer absolute and that the people were guaranteed a trial by jury and due process of law. King John is considered to be one of the worst kings in history. He was not in favor of the people, he was in favor of himself. He was such a greedy King who would penalize any baron who went against his wishes.

We as a society see the history of Europe as if it had taken off with the Renaissance. Typically, the timeframe of the Early Middle Ages, from around 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D., is seen through the perspective that common advances such as education and cultural growth were slim to none. For this reason, the period is known as the Dark Ages. The span of time was initially labeled as such simply due to bias towards Latin literature at the time, and the reasons for the name snowballed. However, the coined term could not be more misleading or further from the truth. This is because the ‘Dark Ages’ were actually a point in Europe’s history awash with forward movement and achievements such as: the birth of universities, increasing fairness of laws, and an

The Dark Ages, the period between 476 and 1350 A.D., is often defined by the simplistic misconceptions of the modern period, which holds this era to be devoid of cultural, intellectual, and spiritual advancements, but rather, the retrocessions of such. In essence, these notions could not be further from the truths that are misguided by the derogatory implications of the words ‘dark’ and ‘medieval’. The Middle Ages (an umbrella term encompassing the Renaissance movement), a more appropriate term, marks a period between the downfall of classical Greece and Rome during the fifth and fourteenth century, and the rise of Greco-Roman systems and ideologies during the Renaissance. The Renaissance is often defined as a cultural movement between the

Though media sources like ‘The American Cyclopedia’ were interpreted in a way which made the Dark Ages a bad thing; it wasn’t intended to be that way. But instead it was intended to mean that we didn’t have a good grasp of what happened in that time period. Once researchers learned about the things that happened during the Dark Ages they started referring them to the Middle Ages to try and scrap the idea that there

Initially the term Dark Ages was coined because of the decline of latin literature and possibly by protestant reformers in the 16th and 18th century. I believe that the Middle Ages is the best term to describe this previously named “Dark Ages”. During this time, universities are born and in result fields such as math, specifically algebra, were created. Art started to become valued due to the new wealth people found themselves with. It was almost an age of life, as agriculture soared with good weather and improvements in technology in addition to the safety that came with manorialism. According to the textbook, Europe became civilized due to the high number of people working and producing their own food. As historians, we should not put

The Dark Ages was a big landmark in history. Although it’s infamous name is known by many, the definition of the term “Dark Ages” is not obvious or clear. The "Dark Ages" is a historical period referring to the Middle Ages, but it’s darkness can be defined in many ways. Most people define it by its demographic, cultural, and economic decline as a result of the Roman Empire’s fall. The Middle Ages are often called the Dark Ages by some historians is because compared with other eras, historians don't know as much about this time period. The term is not easy to define, but it was definitely an era of which no scientific accomplishments were made, no great leaders born, no gorgeous works of art made.

What is the Magna Carta? Simply put, is a document that places limitations on the power English monarchs; an admission by the king that he was subject to the law. Why was it written? It came into existence because of an abusive and oppressive king. King John earned a reputation as possibly the worst king in English/British history. In spite of the fact that he was acknowledged as “a superb administrator who took a keen interest in his kingdom’s affairs” (Thackeray, Findling, 22), he was also “Cruel, brutal, arbitrary, capricious, treacherous, untrustworthy, inconstant, tyrannical, grasping—all these pejorative adjectives have been applied to John with real justification” (Thackeray, Findling, 22). In an era known for cruelty and injustice, King John earned a reputation for being an overachiever in these areas. This was also an era where faults were often overlooked to varying degrees if one was a successful warrior. Thus, in addition to his other, numerous shortcomings, King John’s military campaigns were “almost always crowned with failure” (Thackeray, Findling, 22). All military campaigns are expensive, failed military campaigns, even more so. Thus, between the resulting increased taxation, the loss of respect that John’s many failures garnered, all combined with his less than winning personality, he managed to alienate nearly everyone in England. It eventually became so

The question is what did " The Dark Ages" mean in that era. The common thought was that people were not smart. The American Cyclopedia uses middle age time period to describe the " The Dark Ages" between fifth century (400 CE), to

In source oǹe it talks about the middle ages being the dark ages this source mainly talks about how the european civilisation is the dark age because of many reasons highway robbers many diseases they can't fight and how they could not suppress to violence and it even states how the chief could not keep order. In sorce two this source talks how the middle ages were not the dark ages but the golden age because the population goes up because of the increase in farm growth and improvement of technology like the plow