THE DARK AGES: Just How Dark Were They After The Fall of The Roman Empire?

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sun May 16, 2021, 04:41 PM - Edit history (1)

- Dark Ages warriors in Europe.
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- 'Just How Dark Were The Dark Ages?'- After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe wasn’t quite the horrible & backwards place earlier historians would have you believe. Modern scholars now look at the Dark Ages in a whole new light. Discover Mag. Dec 25, 2020. - Excerpts: Ed. ( Dark Ages time frame & reassessment, See Wiki below).

Whether it’s the idea of barbarian hordes run amok across a continent ruled by the Romans for centuries, or the notion that science and the arts went through a 300-year freeze, the concept of the Dark Ages has always titillated the imagination. In truth, a big part of what makes the era dark to modern eyes is the relative lack of surviving information. But what we don’t know has always been at least as interesting as what we do know. Did King Arthur really exist and send his knights to find the Holy Grail? Was there ever a legendary hero named Beowulf and how long had his story existed before the oldest known surviving manuscript appeared in roughly the 10th century?

The Dark Ages also refers to a less-than-heroic time in history supposedly marked by a dearth of culture and arts, a bad economy, worse living conditions and the relative absence of new technology and scientific advances.

While the period continues to fascinate history buffs, scholars and fantasy fans, the term “Dark Ages” has largely fallen out of use among serious researchers, due to some earlier assumptions. "It’s actually one of the most fascinating and vibrant periods about which we are discovering new knowledge,” says Julia Smith at the Univ. of Oxford. Scholars typically now refer to the period as the Early Middle Ages. - Shadows of the Empires: The origin of the term “Dark Ages” typically was used in contrast to the praise heaped on the shining cultural achievements of the Greek and Roman empires, compared to the knowledge and culture after their decline and fall. This concept continued into the Age of Enlightenment when many scholars pointed to the great Roman architectural achievements in contrast to a later return to simpler wood structures, says French professor Alban Gautier.

The idea of a dark, barbarian period was also pointed out in contrast to 19th century civilizations in Europe and America, when it was thought that some civilizations were superior to others.

Gautier believes the term still has some use in a strictly academic sense. While the Romans were excellent record keepers, historical texts and documents are comparatively scarce starting with the 5th century and for several hundred years thereafter. - Art in Darkness: But Gautier points to notable exceptions. After the Roman apparatus collapsed, taking with it many of its institutions, such as secular schools, the Catholic Church stepped in to provide some form of learning and scholarship in many parts of Europe. “The Church in western Europe and all the regions north of the Mediterranean becomes the biggest element of stability.” Monks worked to copy much of the literature and scientific texts of the Roman period, and to a lesser degree the Greek period. “Of course they had a religious agenda, but they had to know Latin,” and “Knowing Latin grammar meant keeping knowledge and learning from the Latin texts.”

- Dark Economy: Another common characteristic is the relative lack of monumental architecture. Towns and cities no longer built large new stone structures. And the slow deterioration of Roman infrastructure such as aqueducts likely had an effect on quality of life in cities. Populations of major cities like Rome and Constantinople shrank in this period. But Gautier believes rural life may have actually improved, especially in the largely bucolic British Isles. As Roman administration fell apart, the tax burden likely diminished. The cities and the towns were smaller. It was less necessary for farmers to produce and work a lot in order to feed the cities. But archaeological evidence does suggest some scarcity of resources and goods for common people. “The other way it might be dark is the lack of evidence, probably a symptom of economic decline.” By 450, the evidence of simple day-to-day items such as new coins, pottery or roof tiles largely disappeared in many parts of Europe, and wasn’t found again until roughly 700.
- Barbarian science...

More,
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/just-how-dark-were-the-dark-ages
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- Petrarch, who conceived the idea of a European "Dark Age". From Cycle of Famous Men and Women, Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla, c. 1450

- (Wiki) The "Dark Ages" is a historical periodization traditionally referring to the Early Middle Ages or Middle Ages, that asserts that a demographic, cultural, and economic deterioration occurred in Western Europe following decline of the Roman Empire, c. 376-476, and the rise of the Renaissance, 15th- 16th cent.

The term employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's "darkness" (lack of records) with earlier and later periods of "light" (abundance of records). The concept of a "Dark Age" originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar Petrarch, who regarded the post-Roman centuries as "dark" compared to the "light" of classical antiquity. It centers on a tumultuous period in the 10th and 11th centuries.

The concept came to characterize the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance; this became especially popular during the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment. As the accomplishments of the era came to be better understood in the 19th and 20th centuries, scholars began restricting the "Dark Ages" appellation to the Early Middle Ages (c. 5th–10th cent.), and now scholars also reject its usage in this period. The majority of modern scholars avoid the term altogether owing to its negative connotations, finding it misleading and inaccurate. Petrarch's pejorative meaning remains in use, typically in popular culture which often mischaracterises the Middle Ages as a time of violence and backwardness...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Ages_(historiography)

[samnsara]

1. Smithsonian channel via Paramount Plus has a series entitled Mystic Britain..

...its a wonderful show...the hosts are funny as heck. I found the series to be extremely informative. I enjoyed it a lot and wish they had more than 2 seasons.

[appalachiablue]

2. Thanks, sounds great. I definitely need

Last edited Sun May 16, 2021, 05:29 PM - Edit history (1)

to reinstate the TV subscription and utilize more online venues to enjoy science and culture programs on the Smithsonian, National Geographic channels and other outlets. And give internet news reading, and DU a break!

[Scrivener7]

3. Waldemar Januszczak has a FABULOUS documentary miniseries on this where

he looks at it from the point of view of the art that was being created around the world at the time. It's called "The Dark Ages, An Age of Light."

It's funny, and fascinating and beautiful to look at.

I think you can get it on prime.

[appalachiablue]

4. Thank you, I'll check it out, definitely need

more culture and science material. Political news is necessary but too much can be a killer sometimes!

[Scrivener7]

5. You'll love it. He is so great. After I watched that, I became a Waldemar groupie.

I watch everything he does.

[rampartc]

6. weren't the great cathedrals built in the dark ages?

the byzantines and al andalus flourished as well.

what i always thought was "dark" about the dark ages was the institution of serfdom and the relative illiteracy of the oppressed commoners.

[appalachiablue]

7. Cathedrals occurred to me also. Some newer scholars

as this article emphasizes consider the 'Dark Ages' such a negative and inaccurate term that the period is more recently referred to as the 'early middle ages' instead.

The 'Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages' time period is roughly 450-800. As the article notes, the Catholic Church was a key institution and stabilizer in Europe. (I'm a little more familiar with western Europe than what was taking place in the Eastern Roman Empire or southern Spain).

The article posted I think tends to minimize the loss of 'civilization' and paints the period in a far better light, without a lot of explanation, to try to dispel stereotypes of the era as one of crude, primitive living, warring tribes and barbarians. However, on the positive, there are examples of intricate jewelry, weaponry and other items of the period that required advanced skill, and also remnants of dwellings and communities which indicate a higher standard of living than dismal poverty. As well, the laborers, builders, stonemasons and artisans who worked on the cathedrals of the later middle ages had experience and a high degree of technical skill.

*Serfdom however, was certainly a factor, along with illiteracy, lack of material security, safety and stability for the average person. It was rough going in western Europe in that period-- nothing bucolic or pastoral about it IMO.

Re Cathedrals- there were houses of worship, priories and abbeys in the Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages but building of the great (Gothic) cathedrals of Europe started later around the 12th century, after the Crusades as stated in this piece on Durham Cathedral. Also noted is how the promotion and display of holy relics then helped provide financial assistance for the construction of large religious buildings, among other efforts.

-- "Although cathedral building was driven by religious figures or institutions, it was often a community effort. From the mid-twelfth century, the Church started granting indulgences (forgiveness of sins) to those who would help to build a church or cathedral, and therefore, rather than going on crusades, which had been a popular means of absolving sins in the late eleventh century, people dedicated more effort to the construction of houses of God instead.

The construction of a cathedral was often led and financed to a large extent by the Cathedral Chapter (the senior clergy), while bishops tended to contribute at their own free will. However, at Durham, the bishops' contribution - both intellectual and financial, was substantial. Cathedral chapters financed the construction by actively raising money from their congregations, by creating systems of fining clerics for transgressions such as tardiness, and by arranging for relics to go on tour. Taking relics on tour was a very lucrative means of fund-raising."-- ...

https://www.durhamworldheritagesite.com/learn/architecture/cathedral/construction

[Duppers]

8. Bookmarking for later.

Thank you!