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The Middle Ages or the Dark Ages Essay

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The Middle Ages

Imagine having to bury your own children. How awful would that be? The Middle Ages were a brutal time that included the bubonic plague, many wars and other horrible things. This period is considered to be one of religion and the Catholic Church, but this was overshadowed by chaos and confusion. Although the Middle Ages is often known as the age of faith, a more appropriate title for the time period would be The Dark Ages because of the black death, wars and the collapse of government.
The Black Death caused intense suffering and many problems across Europe. According to the book, The Black Plague the black death started when a twenty-five year old man who skinned a sick bobcat. “A Few days after this, the rancher began …show more content…

As you can see the Black Death had a devastating effect on Europe, but its damaging effect was multiplied by the wars.
Wars, attacks and invasions were common during the Middle Ages. The early period had seen the fall of the Roman Empire and this must have contributed to a destabilizing effect. For example, the Turks and Arabs attacked and conquered the people living in Romania, also known as the Byzantine Empire. As stated by Pope Urban II, “They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire” (Doc 9). As this quote shows the Turks and Arabs completely destroyed the empire. Also, in 842 there was a great slaughter in England that killed many people. as stated by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, “842 in this year there was a great slaughter in London and Quentavic and in Rochester” (Doc 3). As this quote shows, things seem chaotic, out of control and very unsafe during the middle ages. These wars, attacks and invasions caused mayhem but the situation only got worse when the system of government was eroded.
Finally, the system of government crashed. Trade stopped and a lot of peasants abandoned their fields. It got so bad that people started to take refuge in the mountains. As stated by Frantz Funck-Brentano, “The people have gone to cower in the depths of the forest or in inaccessible regions, or have taken refuge in high mountains. Society has no longer any government” (Doc 1). As this

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