The Middle Ages are often said to be dark because of a supposed lack of scientific and cultural advancement. During this time, feudalism was the dominant political system.
They saw the Middle Ages as 'dark' for both its lack of records, and the central role of organised religion, contrasting against the lighter periods of antiquity and the Renaissance.
They became traditionally characterized as a backward step, where art became “primitive” (because only realistic art could be “good” art), architecture was “barbaric” or “gothic,” and innovation was stagnant.
But few of them are known to us – far fewer than in most other historical periods. The Dark Ages may not be darker in this sense than the long ages of prehistory, but they are very dark indeed in comparison with the periods that precede and follow them.
The Roman Empire was one of the most technologically advanced civilizations of antiquity, with some of the more advanced concepts and inventions forgotten during the turbulent eras of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.
The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, in 1453 CE, marks the end of the dark ages. The Middle Ages time period took place from 500 CE to 1500 CE in Europe. This was a time in history that fell between the end of the Roman Empire and the modern format of European lands.
- All knowledge of medicine, engineering, science, geography, history, the arts, were gone. The great libraries full of scrolls became bonfires. Today experts estimate that 90% of Greek and Roman knowledge was lost forever during the Dark Ages.
The majority of modern scholars avoid the term altogether due to its negative connotations, finding it misleading and inaccurate. Petrarch's pejorative meaning remains in use, typically in popular culture, which often simplistically views the Middle Ages as a time of violence and backwardness.
(220-581) The collapse of the Han Dynasty signaled the beginning of what some historians refer to as China's “Dark Ages.” This was a time of almost constant warfare and intrigue.
Many historians argued that the Early Middle Ages were actually not much darker than any other time period. Instead, this era evolved with its own political, social, economic and religious change.
When people use the terms Medieval Times, Middle Ages, and Dark Ages they are generally referring to the same period of time. The Dark Ages is usually referring to the first half of the Middle Ages from 500 to 1000 AD. After the fall of the Roman Empire, a lot of the Roman culture and knowledge was lost.
Life was harsh, with a limited diet and little comfort. Women were subordinate to men, in both the peasant and noble classes, and were expected to ensure the smooth running of the household. Children had a 50% survival rate beyond age one, and began to contribute to family life around age twelve.
China remains the longest, continuous civilization in the world for two reasons: self-sufficiency and relative isolation until the 19th century.
Farming and trade brought wealth to China. This allowed the Chinese to develop new technology and enjoy a golden age of art and writing. All civilizations depend upon leadership for survival. Led by Genghis Khan, the Mongols built a vast empire.
Tianchao and Tianxia. Tianchao (天朝; pinyin: Tiāncháo), translated as "heavenly dynasty" or "Celestial Empire;" and Tianxia (天下; pinyin: Tiānxià) translated as "under heaven," are both phrases that have been used to refer to China.
Medieval Christianity
The Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages or the Medieval Period, is an era of time in Europe stretching from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE until the Protestant Reformation of 1517, when the Catholic Church faced its greatest challenge yet.
Historians have traditionally viewed India's eighteenth century as a dark era of warfare, political chaos, and economic decline sandwiched between stable and prosperous Mughal and British hegemonies.
The Dark Age was a transitional period between the fall of Mycenaean Greece of the Bronze Age, and Archaic Greece of the Iron Age. This period is called the Dark Age because the palaces that ruled the Mycenaean age collapsed, and with them fell civilization in mainland Greece.
The plague began in 1328 and lasted until 1351, though there were several smaller outbreaks of the disease over the next 60 years. It orginated in Asia and spread across Europe killing 200 million people and reducing the population by a third. At its peak, 7,500 people were dying per day.
Of course, 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.
The loss of the ancient world's single greatest archive of knowledge, the Library of Alexandria, has been lamented for ages. But how and why it was lost is still a mystery. The mystery exists not for lack of suspects but from an excess of them.
Lasting some 200 years, the Crusades helped bring Europeans out of the Dark Ages by bringing them into contact with a civilization far more advanced than their own.
The Roman army became overstretched and needed more soldiers that they did not have. Without adequate protection or money to supply it, the city of Rome finally fell to Germanic Tribes in 476 AD.
The decline of the Middle Ages resulted from the breakdown of medieval national governments, the great papal schism, the critique of medieval theology and philosophy, and economic and population collapse brought on by famine and disease.
1. Iran. Iran is the oldest country in the world founded in 3200 B.C. and has a topography characterized by numerous mountains and mountain ranges. Iran was established as a country in 3200 B.C.