The concept of a “Dark Age” originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar and historian, Francesco Petrarca, who regarded the post-Roman Centuries as “dark” compared to the “light” of classical antiquity. The classical era was rich with apparent cultural advancement. Both Roman and Greek civilizations had provided the world with contributions to art, science, philosophy, architecture and political systems.
The American Cyclopaedia of 1883 stated that The Dark Ages is a term applied in its widest sense to that period of intellectual depression in the history of Europe from the establishment of the barbarian supremacy in the fifth century to the revival of learning about the beginning of the fifteenth, thus nearly corresponding in extent with the ‘Middle Ages'.
After the collapse of Rome, Western Europe entered a period of political, social, and economic decline. The Dark Ages reflects the ill-consequences of this set back. From about 500 to 1000, invaders swept across the region, trade declined, towns emptied, and classical learning halted. Many Roman roads and aqueducts that were used to carry people, goods, and water began to fall apart.
Over time, trade declined in northern Europe. During the time of the Roman Empire, there had been lively trade among the northern outposts in Europe and northern Africa, as well as the eastern Mediterranean regions.
Christianity was in decline, literacy was lost, cities were abandoned, and population declined. In general, life was pretty miserable and dangerous for most people. It was during this time that Feudalism emerged in Europe. Feudalism is both a social structure and a political system. Feudalism was a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their landholdings among lesser lords. In exchange, these lesser lords, or vassals, pledged service and loyalty to the greater lord.
Most people survived by farming or soldiering. Without a central government to pay for big public buildings or ships, artisans could not practice their skills.
Dark ages in Europe
