Light Or Dark Ages Essay

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The Light or Dark Ages?
The Middle Ages of Medieval Europe is well known for being called the “Dark Ages”. Why? Diseases, invasions, and continuous wars contributed to the “dark” nickname that the Middle Ages have become known for. The fall of Rome during 400 A.D. to 500 A.D. led to the Middle Ages. When Rome fell, Europe was thrown into much disorder and chaos therefore leading to the nickname of the “Dark Ages”. Some people wonder if the Middle Ages deserve to be called the “Dark Ages” or not. The Middle Ages do deserve to be called the “Dark Ages” because of diseases, like the bubonic plague, infesting the population; many wars, for example, the Hundred Years’ War, taking place in Europe, and invasions from everywhere made Europe unsafe
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The wars contributed to the “Dark Ages” nickname because wars are never a good thing and wars caused major economic problems for the fighting countries. The biggest war that took place during the Middle Ages was the Hundred Years’ War. The Hundred Years’ War, lasting for a bit more than one hundred years, was a constant battle between England and France. This battle happened when England was trying to win over France’s throne. This war is a “dark” addition to the nickname because of the constant warfare between lords that caused an economic struggle in Europe at the time. In the article, “Why Men Fought In The 100 Years War”, written by Anthony Tuck, he writes that, “Medieval warfare occasionally involved pitched battles that could be decisive. More frequently, however, warfare consisted of long and costly sieges conducted against important fortified cities. The English won most of the major battles, there was little in the way of loss to offset the profits from welfare in France” (Tuck). This explanation states that the Hundred Years’ War included many blockades around important, rich cities which costed a lot for the countries doing the blockade. The article states that the warfare between countries costed more than what they could afford and that led to an overall economic struggle during the Middle …show more content…
In the article, “History of Europe”, from Encyclopaedia Britannica, it indicates that, “Most of these movements drew upon the older Christian ideas of spiritual renewal and reform which were thought necessary because of the degenerative effects of the passage of time on fallen human nature” (Britannica). The Age of Faith sent Europe into a reform of Christianity and the development of literature. A specific example of a detailed development of literature is the Summa Theologica written by Saint Thomas Aquinas and in his book he provided logical arguments for the church’s philosophy at the time. Although this book was arguing against the church and although the Christian church went through a lot of problems, the church went through some reforms and got better. Therefore the Age of Faith helped during the Middle Ages to counter the nickname “the Dark

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