Light and Dark Ages

The Dark Ages is a name often applied by historians to the Middle Ages, a term comprising about 1,000 years, from the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the invention of printing in the fifteenth. The period is called "dark" because of the generally depraved state of European society at that time and the subservience of men's minds to priestly domination, and the general indifference to learning. 

The principal characteristic of the middle ages were the feudal system and the papal power.

The feudal system ensured that the common people were ground into a condition of almost hopeless slavery. Evolution of just and equitable governments by the ruling classes as rendered impossible through the intrusion of the pontifical authority into civil affairs. 

Learning did not wholly perish, but it betook itself to the seclusion of the cloisters. 

In fact the term “dark ages” was coined in the 1330s by Petrarch an Italian scholar and referred to the decline of Latin literature. Deregotary connotations to this term were the work of other people with vested interest. 

This is hardly a fair judgement on the past. The dark ages were, in fact, a period of great progress and light because…… 

1.Fantastic Weather
In the Early Middle Ages, the North Atlantic region was warming up - so much so that at the opening of the High Middle Ages (1100 AD), the region was 100 years into an event now known as the Medieval Warm Period. This warm period thawed much ice and enabled the Vikings to begin their colonization of Greenland and other northern nations.
Ironically, the Protestant reformation (16th century) up until the 19th century suffered the Little Ice Age - the period of “enlightenment” was literally darker and colder than the “dark” ages.
During this period, reforms and better knowledge of agriculture provided a boost to food supplies.
2.Agricultural Boom
As a consequence of the excellent weather and greater agricultural knowledge, the West did extremely well. Iron tools were in wide use in the Byzantine empire, feudalism in other parts of the world introduced efficient management of land, and massive surpluses were created so that animals were fed on grains and not grass. Public safety was also guaranteed under the feudal system and so peace and prosperity was the lot for most people.
3. Laws were promulgated
A complex, but fair and effective system of laws came in to force.
For merchants traveling around the world, there was the Lex Mercatoria (Law Merchant) which had evolved over time, rather than being created. This law included arbitration and promoted good practice amongst traders. Secondly, Anglo Saxon Law was formed with a focus on keeping peace in the land.
The third important legal system was the the Early Germanic Law which allowed each person to be tried by his own people - so as to not be disadvantaged by ignorance or major cultural differences
This period also gave us the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil law) - an enormous compendium of Roman Law.
4.Algebra was invented
Thanks to the learning of the Islamic people in the East, the world received its first book on algebra. The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing was written by Al-Khwârizmî (790-840) and the Arabic title of the book gave us the word “algebra”. The word algorithm comes from al-Khwârizmî’s name. This book gave us the first systematic solution of linear and quadratic equations. Later translations of his books also gave us the decimal positional number system we use today. Al-Khwârizmî, along with Diophantas, is considered the Father of algebra.
5. Foundations of science were laid
While progress in Science was slow during this period in the West, the progress was steady and of a very high quality. The foundation was laid here for the wonderful blossoming of science that was to occur in the High Middle Ages to come.
6.Universities
The Classical Education (still used in some schools) was the system used by the Universities which were created in the Early Middle Ages (the first in history). The universities taught the arts, law, medicine, and theology (the study of religion). The University of Bologna (founded in 1088) was the first ever to grant degrees.
7.Religious Unity
Europe had a united Church, an agreed upon canon of the Bible, and a well developed philosophical tradition. This led to a great period of peace within the Western nations. While Islam was not in agreement with the doctrines of the West, much mutual sharing of information happened and the Islamic contribution to the West is still felt today.
The first Crusade would be called to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims - an event which ended the flow of knowledge between groups.
8.Art and Architecture
During the Early Middle Ages, architecture was diverse and innovative. It introduced the idea of realistic images in art and it laid the groundwork for the Romanesque period. The period also included the introduction and absorption of classical forms and concepts in architecture.
Further this was the period of…………
Byzantine Golden Age
In the Byzantine empire during this period we saw a massive outpouring of books - encyclopedias, lexicons, and anthologies. While they did not create a lot of new thinking, they solidified and protected for the future much of what was already known.
Carolingian Renaissance
The Carolingian Renaissance was a period of advancements in literature, writing, the arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical and scriptural studies which occurred in the late eighth and ninth centuries. The Carolingians were Franks and the most well known is Charlemagne.
It was also this period which gave us the foundation of Western Classical Music. 

(This has been compiled from the net chiefly listverse.com/history/top-10-reasons-the-dark-ages-were-not-dark/. The  affairs of people residing out of Europe and neighbouring areas have not been omitted.
Some of the pics of related paintings are posted in my photos) 

The current era of scientific enlightenment, revolutionary technologies, explosion in availability and sharing of information, space travel, marvelllous feats in the field of medicine and biotechnology can be rightly called the Age of Light. However, this era is marred by the pockets of darkeness far surpassing those alleged for the dark ages. As I percieve them these are…… 

1.Hunger and basic needs of a large majority are not adequately met inspite of all the material, manegerial and technological resources.
2.Economic exploitation of the theme ‘Degradation of the environment’ instead of mitigation may well result in intercelestial migration of the human (if it survives).
3.Breakdown of the society and emergence of a culture of individualism. The basic unit of the society ie the family is relegated to the back burner in preference to self.
4.Feudalism is still in practice in the form of large terror outfits. The present form is devoid of the benevolent qualities observed in the dark ages.
5.Papal power has been replaced by cabal of super nations and multinationals.
6.Education does not breed knowledge, understanding and tolerance. It is a means to earn money.
7.The law is more technical than just.
8.Science is not practiced with the spirit of enquiry but is a tool for economic empowerment.
9.The direction of human development is restricted to physical growth with hardly any progress in the spiritual dimension
10.Further, evolution of the human species as a super species capable of ruling the universe (besides the planet earth) because of its mental powers seems like a lost oppurtunity. 

All of us present on this planet at this juncture of time should lament as this ‘age of light’ may go down in history as the second age of darkness provided of course if homosapiens as species remain and some of those yet to come are intersted in knowing their history.

Tags: ages development dark humanity

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