Why were the Middle Ages called the “Dark Ages”? List three reasons.
Answers
Answer:
Dark Ages, also called Migration period or Early Middle Ages, the early medieval period of western European history—specifically, the time (476–800 CE) when there was no Roman (or Holy Roman) emperor in the West or, more generally, the period between about 500 and 1000, which was marked by frequent warfare and a virtual disappearance of urban life. The name of the period refers to the movement of so-called barbarian peoples.
The term “Dark Ages” is now rarely used by historians because of the value judgment it implies. Though sometimes taken to derive its meaning from the dearth of information about the period, the term’s more usual and pejorative sense is of a period of intellectual darkness and barbarity.
Explanation:
The Fall of the Roman Empire
The end of the world began in AD 476, when Odoacer deposed Emperor Romulus. The great Roman Empire had been falling apart for hundreds of years, but that was the final straw. Rome fell into chaos and ruin, into the hands of the various tribes. The city was sacked, its occupants put to the sword, and the barbarian tribes moved in. With Rome gone, a chain of unstoppable events was unleashed. Libraries fell into disrepair. The unifying languages, Greek and Latin, fell out of use and people could no longer communicate with each other. With Rome no longer producing a safe environment for learning, philosophy, and science, nobody could keep up the Great Conversation, or make scientific discoveries. The architecture and learning and thoughts of the Empire were completely forgotten in the wake of its fall from greatness, plunging the world into darkness.
The Little Ice Age
From about AD 950 to AD 1250, around the time of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings, the world enjoyed a warm period. After that, however, the world began to get colder and colder. This phenomenon began around AD 1300 and lasted in varying degrees all the way up to 1850. Nobody knows exactly what caused it. Some cite changes in ocean circulation or a decrease in human population. The point is, when the cold hit Europe, it was a devastating blow. Up until the industrial revolution, Europe was, primarily an agrarian society. People just couldn’t grow enough crops to survive, and this, of course leads into our next point.
The Black Plague
Rome has fallen. The world’s plunged into a cold, pitch-black, chaotic hell. Crops won’t grow, children aren’t being fed, people’s bodies are weaker than ever. The science and medicine of the ancients has been all but forgotten. Nobody understands the concept of contamination or germs, people are living in close, crammed, dirty quarters all together with animals and manure. It’s a recipe for disaster. In 1347, three Genoese ships docked in a Sicilian port of Messina after crossing the Black Sea. Most of the sailors aboard were dead or gravely ill. Their bodies were covered in boils that nobody had ever seen before, black boils that bled and oozed pus. Even though the authorities tried to hurry the ships out of the harbor, it was too late. Within the next five years alone, Europe would lose 20 million people to the Black Death, over a third of the living population. With a third of the population dead, people turned to superstition instead of science, too terrified of things they didn’t understand. Nobody had the time or courage to make any discoveries or work on art or poetry or music. Everyone was too busy dying.
Answer:
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