Middle Ages Vs Dark Ages

Kings in their castles, war, death and darkness. These are all ideas that come to mind when the term “Dark Ages” is used, but that is only one side to the story of the European Middle Ages. The dark ages is a term used to define a set of years that according to the people who named it so, there was very little growth or development of the world. As dark as they may be known for there was so much hope and prosper in the Middle Ages. It is not valid to identify the european middle ages as the dark ages. Faith, education and architectural advances are often lost when the term dark ages is used. When brought to light these ideas make the dark ages seem a little less dark.
Faith is a prime example of the progress in the dark ages. The crusades
Cathedral schools evolved into teaching people what every free man needed to know, not just for teaching people to become priests. The University of Heidelberg was compared to the University of Paris by Rupert the Elder, Duke of Bavaria. “The University of Heidelberg shall be ruled, disposed, and regulated according to the modes and manners accustomed to be observed in the University of Paris… as a handmaid of Paris- a worthy one let us hope.” (5) People took pride in where they attended because knowledge and schooling wasn’t always an option for the common man. In universities such as Heidelberg and Paris concepts such as “sacred theology and divinity; the second, of canon and civil law...medicine; the fourth, of liberal arts- of the three-fold philosophy, namely primal natural, and moral, three mutually subservient daughters.” (5) As schools continued to evolve the teachings did as well a philosopher Robert Bacon wrote that he was taught “language, mathematics and optics” (8) but he also expresses a thirst for more “I wish now to review the principles of wisdom from the point of view of experimental science, because without experiment it is impossible to know anything thoroughly.” (8) Many philosophers of the time expressed a good understanding of past teachers and new concepts moving towards the future. Thomas Aquinas writes “Thus Aristotle, in defining legal
To begin with people built Romanesque churches because that is all they knew how to make without the churches collapsing. Soon enough they made advancements and were able to build Gothic style churches; which were taller, with more windows, and more support. “Gothic architecture has three distinct characteristics which set it apart from Romanesque; pointed arches, ribbed vault, and flying buttresses. These developments allowed the architects to make the church much larger and brighter.” (14) The architects in medieval society were able to develop a new type of building that was better than what they were using before, showing that they were learning about new techniques and having new ideas on how to make better use of space. In the French chapter house at Notre Dame shown in document 6, there is a clear visual of how skilled the architects of the dark ages were. There are grand columns are detailed and still standing strong while the ceiling has arches and beautiful decorations made of stone. If the architects of the time lacked knowledge or skill they would not have been able to build this. The manor house was also a good example of how productive architecture was. “He received also a sufficient and handsome hall well ceiled with oak… a worthy bed, a stone chimney, a wardrobe and a certain other small chamber.” (4) This is only one room in the whole hall,