Dbq Summary: The Middle Ages

Rome was the most powerful and successful Empire in history. After the fall of Rome, an era called the Middle Ages came. Even though Rome fell, the Middle Ages still had roots in the classical heritage of Rome and the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. Germanic Invaders destroyed Rome's economy, government, and culture. Learning declined and a common language was lost which resulted in the emergence of Germanic kingdoms. The church was the only thing that survived and provided stability, order, and security. An Empire, ran by the idea of a churchly kingdom evolved. The three labels that best describe the middle ages are the Dark Ages, a time of loss and declension, the Age of Faith, a time that was dominated by Christianity and the Golden

Rome was very significant because it controlled most of Europe and it also had a lot of european culture. Rome fell after the rulers that came in the next century, didn’t know how to deal with Rome’s growing problems and it’s giant empire, therefore Rome began to fall. There were many contributions to the fall of Rome. For example, trade was disrupted, there was limited space and they began to lack new sources of gold and silver. Some people may argue that the Age Of Faith and The Dark Ages are the best labels to describe the era between 500 and 1500 in Europe. The best label to describe this time period is The Age Of Feudalism because the documents show what it was, how it began and how it helped.

The first reason the Dark Ages were not as dark as the name claims for them to be, is because during the Dark Ages there were tons of advances in education. The information in Doc A that claims “Europe suffered a decline in commerce and manufacturing, in education, in literature and the arts and in almost all that makes possible a high civilization.” is completely biased. And that the Dark Ages “Did not support learning” (Background Information) which is completely untrue. During the Dark Ages, there were still people learning and teaching. One of them being a monk named Richer, who “went to the town of Chartres, in what is today France, to study.” and “learned the ordinary symptoms of diseases and picked up a surface knowledge of ailments. This was not enough to satisfy my desires. I begged him to continue to guide my studies on a deeper level.” (Doc E). This passage shows that people were not only continuing to educate others, but some were actually begging to be educated on a further level. Also, dozens of monastic schools were established by Charlemagne. Education was still considered and important. And wasn’t being overshadowed by anything. Which means Europe did not have the decline in education described in Doc A.

Another reason why the middle ages were referred to as dark is because of the decline in production of culture. “The passage illustrates medieval education, which was provided primarily at monasteries or church schools and was not available to most people” (Doc E). This was the adapters note from a passage about a monk who went to Chartres to study Hippocrates and it says how education was not provided for most people, which explains why there was a decline in culture because only very little could get educated. “I learned the ordinary symptoms of diseases and picked up surface knowledge of ailments. This was not enough to satisfy my desires” (Doc E). The monk learned very little in his studies and getting more education was hard then, so combine

The Middle Ages was a time of destruction and redemption for the people of the Roman Empire between A.D. 500-1400. The best description of this time period can be represented by four terms, the Golden Age, the Dark Age, the Age of Faith and the Age of Feudalism. Each time caused for a significant change in society that had a tremendous impact. From the troubling times of invasions and destructions to a time of prosperity and progression, the best terms that describe the Middle Ages are the Dark Ages and the Golden Ages.

In the Middle Ages, the power of people impacted the society, because of the Feudal System. In other words, the rankings of people. There were four groups. The Kings and Queens were at the top, then the nobles, the knights, and last peasants and serfs(Doc. 1). Serfs and peasants had very little land given and they even had to provide food that they farmed for the knights and nobles. Why did the social, economic, and political life impact Europe so much in the Middle Ages.

In the Middle Ages, they had a strange way of calling their time period a perfect world. They lived in a time where Christianity was spreading the globe, art and music started to expand and Europe was becoming the strongest nation. Everything seemed to be right except for how people were living life. It was unfair the way everyone was separated into a class and all you did wrong was just be born into the wrong family. In the Middle Ages, there was an indefinite structure in society. You were born into a class of people and generally stayed in that class for your entire life. No matter how hard you worked you would stay in that life forever, they were ranked from, Royalty, hereditary Nobility, Non-Hereditary.

The Middle Ages was a time that was greatly influenced by a feudalistic society, which led to the power struggle between England and France and the inequality between men and women. The idea of Feudalism,

From 500 AD to 1400, the Middle Ages in Europe have had three different ages. These ages are; the Age of Faith, the Dark Ages, and the Age of Feudalism. Europe used to be controlled by the roman Empire, but when the empire fell, the middle ages began which were full of change. They best describe the era because of invasion from barbarians, strong belief in religion, and a new economic and social system called feudalism. Three things that affected these periods were the classical heritage of Rome, Christian beliefs, and Germanic customs (slot notes). The Middle Ages are best described as the Dark Ages, The Age of Feudalism, and the Age of Faith. These three ages best label the middle ages instead of the golden age, because the rise after a decline is more important than a golden age.

During the Renaissance period a disease was brought to Europe that is known as the “Black Plague”. A ship came from China that brought rats infested with fleas, carrying the plague to Sicily. Many people aboard the ship were already dead from the disease and the ship was ordered to leave the harbor, but it was too late. Sicily was then overcome by the disease and it spread through the trade routes all over Europe. The plague was fatal and spread rapidly in cities where people were close together. This was one of the worst outbreaks of a disease in history and drastically brought down the population. The Black Plague had an effect on the economy, religion, and culture in Europe during the Renaissance period.

The Dark ages describe a period of time which is also called the Middle Ages ranging from approximately 500AD to 1500AD. The Dark Ages were in Europe. The Dark Ages was debatable. There should be a reason for why they were called Dark. So the question is where they really dark?  Some say yes, some no. But I believe that the Dark Ages were maybe so dark.

From 500 C.E. to 1000 C.E. in Europe was The Early Middle Ages. However, The History Channel says it is "The Dark Ages". The history channel portrays the Early Middle Ages as being dark and dramatic. Wow the history channel does portray something's wrong; they also portray many things right for television purposes.

During the Middle Ages, the prevailing system of government was feudalism. Under feudalism, there was the use of a definite social structure. People were born into a social class and usually stayed in that class for the rest of their life. The three social classes were the nobility, clergy, and peasantry and each of these classes had different roles to perform in the society.

The Middle Ages was a time full of systems and different jobs that made the era run successfully and truthfully. Feudalism was the major basis of the time period since it covered the society’s political information and loyalty. Along with feudalism was the system of manorialism, the system that gave people an economic lifestyle so they could make money and survive. There were many helpers to keep the systems running, the main helper was the Reeve who assisted the Lord in running the huge manor. The Reeve was a helper in the middle ages that contributed to the major systems of feudalism and manorialism.

Every great time period eventually has to come to an end. As time goes by no person will ever know when aspects could start to go wrong. The Middle Ages, from the 5th century to the 15th century, was a time period that was very successful, but came to an abrupt end. The church was the center of attention and beliefs were strictly based off of superstitions. The Middle Ages were composed of and relied on three main systems; feudalism, manorialism, and the Roman Catholic Church. As time passed, all three of these systems were altered dramatically and were basically wiped off the map. The causes of the decline of the Middle Ages were the crusades, growth of towns and cities, the Hundred Year’s War, the rise of nations, the plague, and the Renaissance.