The
term “Dark Ages” was originally used to describe the whole of the Middle Ages,
but during the 20th century it began to be used exclusively to describe
the early part of the era, or roughly the 5th to the 10th centuries C.E., when there was no Roman emperor in the West. The term is a
pejorative, used to describe the Middle or early Middle Ages as a time of
death, decay and intellectual stagnation following the decline of the Roman Empire.
The
idea of this “dark age” comes from Petrarch, who in the 1330s described how men
of genius had emerged in the
preceding centuries, but that these great thinkers were obscured by the
darkness around them.
One
of the most important yet contentious figures of this period was the Byzantine
emperor Justinian I, who ruled from 527 to 565 C.E. His reign was marked by a
desire to restore Rome to its former glory and to reconquer the lost western
half of the Roman Empire. But, ironically, Justinian seemed to help bring
Europe and the Mediterranean further away from antiquity and closer to the
intellectual darkness that this time period is often derided for. In 529 C.E.,
he placed Plato’s academy under state control for fear of paganism. This date is
recognized by some as the end of antiquity and, therefore, the beginning of the
Dark Ages. It is representative of much of what happened during this time and of
why it has been given the title “Dark Ages,” because it is during this period
that we see the closing and/or destruction of many ancient schools and
libraries, as well as that of a stable government and a common currency and
language. Along with the academy, the famous law school of Beirut also lost its
importance, never to return to its former greatness.
The
Dark Ages are generally said to have begun with the decline, or fall, of the
Roman Empire. Theories abound as to what actually caused the fall, but what we
can say with certainty is that a slow decline of political, economic and military
institutions occurred over the course of roughly 4 centuries, culminating in
the 476 when the Roman emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed by Germanic
chieftain Odoacer. The cause of this decline came both from within and from
without. Rome was being attacked from the North by Germanic tribes such as the
Ostrogoths and the Visigoths, who succeeded in sacking the city in 410 C.E.
Along with these attacks, both political and social frictions were slowly
eroding Rome from the inside. Assassinations occurred frequently, and the patricians
and plebeians, the elite and their subordinates, were involved in class
warfare.
Another
crucial yet unfortunate event that occurred during the Dark Ages was the
so-called “Plague of Justinian,” which swept through the Eastern Roman, or
Byzantine, empire between approximately 541 and 542 C.E. It was originally
believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, although recent discoveries
have effectively refuted this. At its peak, the plague probably killed about
5,000 people per day in Constantinople, ultimately killing about 40% of the
city’s population and maybe a quarter of the population of the eastern
Mediterranean. This plague continued to appear throughout the 6th, 7th
and 8th centuries, although in less devastating forms, and after the
8th century it did not appear again until the “Black Death” of the
14th century.
The
Black Death spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, peaking in Europe
between approximately 1348 and 1350 C.E. The plague eventually killed about
30-60 percent of Europe’s population, and reduced the world population from
about 450 million to about 350-375 million. It took about 150 years for Europe’s
population to recover. Again, the cause of the Black Death was originally
understood to be bubonic plague, but recent discoveries have found that Yersinia
pestis, which probably started in China, was more likely the cause.
Another
reason that the Dark Ages are referred to as such is that during this time we
see frequent warfare, the virtual disappearance of urban life, a lack of Latin literature and contemporary written history, and less emphasis on building and cultural accomplishments in general. It was seen as a return to barbarism,
especially by those in the Enlightenment era, which is referred to as such
because it was seen as the light at the end of years of darkness. This is when
classical learning and ancient writing and thought were returned to, after they
had (supposedly) been denounced and ignored throughout the Dark Ages. We now
see that this was of course not the case, as much significant thought and
innovation took place throughout the Dark Ages, including the emergence of our
modern education system. For this reason, “Dark Ages” has become somewhat of an
antiquated term.
No comments:
Post a Comment