Why is it inaccurate to describe/label the Middle Ages the Dark Ages - Essay Example

The period between the 5th and the 15th century was followed by the Renaissance, an era full of enlightenment that seemed to directly draw on the influences of the classical scholars. The Middle Ages also represent an era of comparative depopulation and barbarism, hence often being viewed as a regression period. The term “The Dark Ages” is used to refer to the fact that the period followed the breakdown of the Roman Empire and thus resulted in a loss of classical Latin thought. Following this loss of knowledge, there was a period wherein Europe appeared to regress from some of the technological, cultural and economic advances that earlier civilizations had made.

Islamic scholars were in possession of knowledge from the Greek and Roman societies, and the lack of a printing press made it difficult to distribute this knowledge, thus remaining in the possession of Muslims. These Islamic scholars built upon this knowledge, resulting in an Islamic Golden Age, ensuring that Europe seemed backwards in comparison. There were also several barbarous conflicts during the Middle Ages. Religion was a big factor in these conflicts, particularly as Islam had begun to spread and Muslim armies had conquered several areas of land that were previously important, such as areas of the Roman Empire. . Philosophy, too, was still developing during the Middle Ages – particularly with Christian scholars such as Thomas Aquinas and Islamic thought by way of Avicenna (Lyons, 2007).

These two philosophers continue to contribute to modern debates, thus proving that their thought was in no way unenlightened or ‘dark’. Marco Polo was also influential during the Middle Ages, travelling the world and inspiring the later pioneers such as Columbus (Landstrom, 1967) and as such having a significant effect on the enlightenment. Another reason that the Middle Ages are seen as dark is due to the lack of scientific innovation that is associated with the period. There was seemingly an increase in superstition and blindly following the word of the church, but it is a common misconception that reason was disregarded during this period.

It has been noted by some historians that the scientific revolution of the 18th century could only have happened following a long tradition of reasonable thought. Medieval scholars are also assumed to be under the heavy control and coercion of the church, but this is untrue – the church had significantly more power over scholars during the renaissance. This could be because the lack of significant scientific advances meant that the church had no need to place restrictions on scholars, but this again a misconception.

Scholars during the Middle Ages had actually advanced the idea that the Earth was spherical, for example (Grant, 1994) and this posed no problem for authorities as it did much later. In conclusion, it is easy to see why the Middle Ages can be seen as repressed, regressive and indeed dark when compared to the light emanating from the Greek and Roman scholars, the Islamic contemporaries and the massive