Dark Ages is a term that is commonly used together with middle Ages. It defines a period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Italian Renaissance as well as the Age of Discovery. An Italian scholar Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) 1304-1374 coined the term Dark Ages. He used the label in the description for what he viewed as a lack of quality in the Latin literature of his time. The term evolved with time to define lack of culture and development in Europe. At the time, Greek and Roman civilizations were well advanced for the time as they brought in human progress in governance, philosophy, architecture, and science.
The period was mainly referred to as dark ages following the backward ways as well as practices that were present at the time. It may also been used to mean that little was known about the period. There was a dearth of written history.
However, time was to be a crucial determinant of the changes that were to take place at a time. There were various activities that seemed not to work well over the period. Some of the areas that were affected were key to the growth and development of various sectors at a time (The Middle Ages: Religion, 2014).
The period seems to have been covered with hard incidences. There are various instances where no one could understand the flow of the activities. There were extensive changes in the society that were hard to explain. People raised massive concern over the issues, but they could not find the real meaning of the incidences that were flowing to the different areas at a time (The Middle Ages: Religion, 2014).
The state of the church at the time was a major definition of the dark ages. The Dark Ages marked extreme religious struggle. There were extensively many religious forces opposing each other at the time. The Catholics and Orthodox Christians viewed the period from opposing positions. To the Orthodox Christians referred to the time as a period for Catholic corruption (The Middle Ages: Religion, 2014). They never believed in the ways of the Catholic Church regarding the papal doctrines and hierarchy as hypocritical.
At the time, the Orthodox Christians were struggling to recreate a pure Christianity that would avoid the dark catholic ways. However, the Catholics never viewed the period as dark but as a harmonious, productive and religious era. The Dark Ages were also a period of vast Muslim subjugation. The struggles during the period mark the darkness that still exists between the Muslims and Christians (The Middle Ages: Religion, 2014).
There were continuous differences during the period that define the Dark Ages. Faith and enlightenment were major concerns of the period, but they did not have proper grounds to explain them. The Muslims conquered lands at the time. There was a scarcity of sound literature as well as cultural achievements that marked the Dark Ages period.
Although, there were massive religious conflicts during the period, the faith the prevailed was a significant mark for the Dark Ages. Men and women were seeking after God, and that would have helped them in maintaining some unity as a society.
However, there are some intellects who would view the religion as a form of darkness. Some referred to those who followed religious beliefs as persons creating a false reality about themselves. They believers were said to be dominated by emotions and not facts.
Also, the social status of the people at the time was a proper definition of the dark period. There were massive differences between the people in the society. There was a need for exclusive enlighten on why there was extensive difference between the people in the society at the time. It is evident that the period did not middle class. Therefore, there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor in the society.
It was extremely unfair to find the minority were ruling over the majority. The period defined the power of resources. The wealthy elites in Europe make up less than 1% yet they rule more than the remaining 99%. It could not have been easy to connect why such differences existed and how the power of the resources would have influenced the governance of the people. There need to be a system that would have allowed equality in governance.
Also, there were massive differences at the time between nations, which led to the existence of the feudal nations. The disagreements led to poor relationships between the nations since each of them wanted to be superior over the other. There was no impressive trade between the feudal nations. The inexistence of the proper relationship between the nations is the proper definition of the existence of the Dark Ages. The act of not engaging in trade is a sign of darkness that had engulfed the society at the time.
The Dark Ages were difficult times where famine and disease were common. For example, the Black Death bubonic plague has overshadowed Europe in the late 1340s where approximately 100-200 million people died. Warfare was an everyday affair. The resultant conflicts were known as the Crusades, which began in 1095 and ended in 1291.
However, there were massive chances through which the modernity could have become a reality over the Dark Ages. There were massive improvements that were underway at the time and life was taking shape for the people. There was extensive demand for development in the society, and the people were willing to grow with the changes that were unavoidable at the time.
One of the improvements that were taking place at the time as a driving force to modernity is advancement of education. There was a wide room for education at the time. People began understanding the sense of formal education system. It was extremely easy to define was required in proper learning. There arose various scholars who could bring light to the Dark Ages. As time passed, the society began appreciating education, and it became the ground on which individuals could build confidence for carrying out their daily activities.
Literature development was a result of advanced academic system where all people could be allowed to attend specific institutions to learn on various issues. At the time, people could appreciate art and creativity through use of languages and its relevant figures. It was extremely easy to come up with proper education systems that would influence the entire society on development (The Dark Ages, 2012).
In addition, the period was characterized with rise in appreciation for religion. People could understand the meaning of the scripture. At the time, people could easily read and understand documents. They appreciated various books and documents that came their way. It is through the education that was introduced that the people could read the scriptures that were assigned to them (The Dark Ages, 2012). The Christians were able to read the bible and interpret it easily.
The republic of Ireland is one of the countries that suffered most during the Dark Ages period. There were Viking quarrels in the Ireland region. There were massive attacks that were fashioned against the Irish (The Dark Ages, 2012).However, the quarrels did not affect the impact that the Irish were having to the rest of the world.
In 11th and 12th centuries, there were a renaissance and progress age in Ireland. There were massive improvements in the level of cultural activities as the art prospered in the region. The period was extensively useful in defining religious reform. At the time, powerful efforts were employed to bring the religion into one line of Roman Orthodoxy (The Dark Ages, 2012). There were massive improvements in the line of religion.
It is evident that Christianity is the largest religion in the world. The republic of Ireland brought in massive improvements to the global religion.
Most of the details that are in the modern Christianity teachings result from the orthodox Christianity. The doctrine that the Irish were using is common to modern teachings. People believe in the many elements of faith that the Orthodox Church taught the Irish at the time. The republic of Ireland had religion impact to the rest of the world as a result of the Dark Ages.
The religion was significant in defining the differences that existed between Christianity and other religions such as Muslim. The religion is extremely significant in defining the progress of the Christian faith around the world. The lesson from the Dark Ages period from the republic of Ireland is a unique sign for the improvement that is evident throughout the world because of the Dark Ages.
The Grendel’s Battle with Beowulf is a representation of the tales that were told at the time. The tales entailed of a monster that was terrorizing the king of the Danes. Since he was the main character, Beowulf travels a large distance to show himself as a hero through slaying Grendel. As the character rises against supernatural beasts as well as impossible odds, Beowulf is presented as an accurate metaphor for the increasing human spirit as well as what it is likely to do even though it could have lost its victory (Fleming, 2014).
The Dark Ages were extensively stressing moments and people required something that they would cling to and peg their hope. Therefore, they would listen to poems created by great poets such as Beowulf. The messages were motivational among the people, and they had every opportunity to learn from them (Fleming, 2014).The hard times were essentially come to an end as they had the exclusive knowledge or impact to define the uniqueness of the life that the people were living.
Beowulf was exclusively creative and his stories in the middle of anything. The tale begins with the arrival of Beowulf, but the attacks, which had been encouraged by Grendel have been a continuous issue. There is no continuity for activities in the story since the information is provided in pieces as well as sections in the entire narrative (Fleming, 2014).
Beowulf’s conquest over the monster, and the mother to the monster the following night reminds the society that good people exists to carry out outstanding activities at times. It also shows that good activities will always win over evil activities. The literary work by Beowulf is significant in showing the significance of heroes in the society (Fleming, 2014).
The legends of King Arthur known was known as a Knight are filled with ethical lessons for the future. The ethical elements were extensively significant in defining the elements for leadership.
The teachings by King Arthur were paramount to define proper coexistence among people in the society. It entailed all the ethical issues that would arise following certain behaviors by the leader or towards the leader. The feeling that one gets is proper definition of the ethical standards of the behavior (Ross, 2013).
Other characters who were involved in the literary work include Hamlet. He also taught moral codes where he emphasized on revenge. Hamlet taught of the significance of the human values in comparison to the life of an individual. The human values were extensively significant to the life of an individual (Ross, 2013).
Human values are significant in defining as well as guiding humanity that could only exist if the human rights were respected accordingly. The successful people will always have interesting goals that would push them to dream big over certain issues.
The great heroes like Arthur were followed by the great success they left behind every moment they travelled to certain places.
On the other hand, the nights had to sacrifice their lives so that there may be a successful society in the future. The teachings of the legends are present, as they say, that the greed of an individual was a massive loss to the society. The legends are equally educative to corporations on the significance of maintaining certain morals. The legends made it clear that challenges in life will always bring future benefits (Ross, 2013).
The legends brought in the chivalric code, which is also known as chivalry. It is a code of conduct that is connected to the medieval institution of knighthood, which came along between 1170, as well as 1220 (Lachin, 2014). The meaning has continued to change over time to improve on the meaning of social and moral virtues.
References
Fleming, J. (2014). Grendel's Battle with Beowulf: Character, Summary & Quiz. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/grendels-battle-with-beowulf-character-summary-quiz.html#lesson
Lachin, L. (2014). Code of Chivalry. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-knights/code-of-chivalry.htm
Ross, D. (2013). King Arthur. Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.britainexpress.com/History/King_Arthur.htmTop of Form
The Dark Ages. (2012). Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.allabouthistory.org/the-dark-ages.htmTop of Form
The Middle Ages: Religion. (2014). Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/religion.html
