Dbq The Middle Ages Analysis

In the 1300's, an Italian scholar named Petrach used the term "dark ages" to describe the medieval period (Movie Talk: The Dark Ages). Petrach applied the "dark" and "light" terms to learning. Petrach believed that the Romans and Ancient Greeks were in the "light" of learning. The following period, the middle ages, was in the "dark''. Ever since he used the term, historians have been debating whether the time period between the 500's and the 1500's were really a "dark age." The middle ages were a time of war and chaos, so people think. Even though the Black Death and the Crusades took place during the time period between 500 and 1500, the middle ages were mostly a time of prosperity. The building of universities, the signing of the Magna Carta

For example, according to Document B, from 476 to 1100 there was a period of decline. "European civilization slipped back into semi-barbarism, the main reason for this decline was the lack of government that could keep order." Another example, from 1095 to 1192 many Europeans were involved in holy wars as Muslims and Crusaders fought in the middle east (The First Crusade). These wars showed a dark side in humanity. For example, The First Crusade Document B, described how the Franks pillaged and slaughtered, "The Franks slaughtered more than 70,000 people." A final example that this was a time period of darkness was the horrible Bubonic Plague that swept through Europe in the 1300's killing half of its population(Movie Talk-Black Death). Citizens barricaded themselves in their homes trying different remedies trying not to catch the plague. "People used fire, smoke, drank their own pee, and quarantined themselves to protect themselves from the horrid disease." While the period of decline, the dreadful disease, and the disastrous Crusade war were all horrible events the Europeans faced, but all events did not last very