Europe's Middle Ages: A Dark Age Or A Dark Ages

In the 1300s, an Italian scholar named Petrarch coined the term “dark ages” to describe the period in Europe after the fall of Rome that he believed to be chaotic and lacking education (Movie Talk – Dark Ages). Since then historians have debated whether or not Europe’s middle ages, from 500 to 1500, should be called a dark age. The ongoing debate considers events like the Crusades, the Black Death, the signing of the Magna Carta, and the building of grand universities and cathedrals that show signs of both destruction and prosperity. While this period did include much chaos, the long-lasting improvements in European society illustrate that it was more a period of growth than a dark age.
There is much evidence to support the theory that Europe