Dark Ages Related to Humanities - Essay Example

DARK AGES RELATED TO HUMANITIES In the history of the world, a period of the dark ages that is also referred to medieval era was witnessed after the fall of the great Roman Empire. It was characterized by a significant impact on the socio-economic and political structure of the modern society today. Unfortunately some like-minded scholars have argued that it was only in the renaissance period that was characterized with the world’s civilization the resulted into the modern society. It is worth noting that an intense study, research and analysis on the Dark Age be carried out to establish the impact of development that humanities had in the modern society. Introduction As history studies man’s past, present and future chronological accounts in relation to his environment, so do study of humanities helps in the exploration of human beings and their way of life. The study of humankind reflects on the changes that take place in the environment as well as in human beings in different historical epochs (Calise, 2002). In whatever work we do in the modern world, it should be understood that humanities of our forefathers might have had effect in that field. The main purpose of the study is that humanity is never stagnant and keeps on changing day by day. Therefore, the study of humanities gives an important explanation that gives an understanding of where human beings have been, where they are presently and their best preferred destination. Discussion In simple definition, civilization is an advanced stage of human society, with a high level of technology, culture and a form of government that benefits all her subjects. Civilization is a gradual process that can never happen in a fortnight, it takes time depending on a number of factors such as environment among others. And it is very wrong to only associate civilization with the advanced stages of Neolithic Revolution (Calise, 2002). This is just but an advanced stage; the early stages are a time when man hunted and gathered food from the forest, then got civilized and move to domestication of plants and animals and later on there was transition to agrarian revolution as well as industrial revolution. All these stages are associated with advanced level of human society, high level of technology and various forms of government, hence civilization. This is contrary to the stand of scholars that civilization was only witnessed during the renaissance period. Dark Age is a period in the history of the world the in which human civilization was ongoing though it was still at its primitive levels. At this period of time, there was significant high rate of reduction in human population due to low levels and poor ways of handling diseases and food. It is a period of disorganized socio-economic and political structures which was marred with significant problems to humanity (Calise, 2002). The world at large suffered from production methods, primitive tools and limited knowledge of science. It occurred from 6th to 13th and it emphasizes the cultural and economic deterioration experienced in Western Europe that is supposedly attributed to the decline of the Roman Empire influence. However, this period went through series of changes and by the time it ended, there was an improvement in the social order and development in humanity. The Dark Age era was divided into three different periods; that is, The Early Middle Ages, High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. It is in the early Middle Ages that the whole world suffered a big blow in relation to human development. Probably it is this stage that made the whole period to be called the Dark Age, as most scholars would wish to compare it with the enlightenment period, it was a period of backwardness and intellectual darkness due to loss of classical learning (Calise, 2002). The little knowledge that was available only survived in the monasteries and the few schools that were existed by then. The few scholars whose innate interest is not yet fulfilled argued that this era began in the 11th century after “The fall of Rome”, but it is important to note that the eastern part of the Roman Empire was never conquered by the Barbarians. Here, human development still continued, people went to school and made various infrastructural improvements, pieces of art work still flourished (Detweiler, et al.2001). The great civilization rapidly grew and spread to the rest of the world and humanity was embraced as witnessed in the various developments that took place Misleading scholars only characterize this era with little or no education, less writing and improper means of production. They are also quick to point out that there were many leaders with kings possessing less legitimate powers as most countries were sub-divided into smaller parts that were ruled by the feudal lords. Moreover, they argue that there existed many barbaric tribes that had different laws that governed them and cared less about humanity. This is contrary to the real fact on the ground that middle age was not an era of backwardness and ignorance as ascertained by some few individuals, but somewhat it was an epoch in which Christianity flourished in Europe and the rest of the world where it spread by time (Bishop, 2001). It is the church that helped preserve ancient writing and biblical writing that were used to enhance education; this resulted into the unification of people as it was the only stable factor to enhance humanity. Before Christians were persecuted in the Roman Empire, but later on after the unification, Christianity was legalized, Christians could now worship openly as a result more churches were built to help liberate human beings. As was witnessed in the earlier periods, the entire world was not a peaceful place to be, all other nations were war-like minded; people fought, lives were lost and property destroyed. A good example was Western Europe, but in the 11th century things changed to be normal; people interacted freely because there was peace and stability that enabled trade hence the prosperity of humanity (Detweiler, et al.2001). Through such interaction and the exchange of ideas, there was development of infrastructure such as roads, railways and buildings, and the very first structures to be built in the west were referred to as (Roman-like) simply because they resembled the architecture of the ancient Rome. This made it possible for humanity to experience greater change that has not been changed to date. The early middle age was then succeeded by the high Middle Ages, an epoch where all that had fallen were being revived once more (Bishop, 2001). It is at this time that the larger Roman Empire into smaller political entity, the present day countries. It was also the period that gave way to the formation and the rise of modern universities where people got the required skills, knowledge and abilities to be able to improve in their living standards. There was specialization as people now went to school to on different profession such as lawyers, teachers, doctors among others. Conversely, people were now free and liberated to do whatever they wished and were never at all to be dogmatic in their thinking. Literature was studied, there emerged song writers, comedians and many laureates. Christian art which was primarily assertive in nature started to shift away from naturalistic depiction and as an alternative pushed towards generalization (Detweiler, et al.2001) .Later on artists started leaving classical creative conventions that only made their pieces of art to look real and never observed in their work as they now gained freedom. These made the visual arts prosper as people as there was much love for the aesthetic values; humanity therefore was moved to the next level. With the establishment of medieval universities there emerged medical students who studied under a master physician. Add today the medical knowledge and skills gained still serves as the background to be referred to by the modern doctors of the world. Public debates among students and their lectures were encouraged on medical issues, these resulted into more research and diagnosis of diseases and medical related matters were carried on and more discoveries were made that are still in use to date. Of course to get an entry into the university must have gone through other learning institution to have prior knowledge and skills. Schools were established were students were taught in Latin language. Even though teachers were less, church-based schools such as cathedrals were established all over for training boys to become priests (Bishop, 2001). Government offices, the church system of government, businessmen and other wealthy organization all needed educated people to help them in book keeping and the smooth running of their offices so as to realize more profits. Those boys who were exemplary in their school work got the opportunity to continue with their education in the university. Conclusion In a nutshell the study of humankind is a clear reflection on the stage of evolution that has take place in the environment as well as in human beings in different historical epochs. The main purpose of the study is that humanity is never stagnant and keeps on changing day by day. Therefore, it is very important to even employ the multi-disciplinary approach the study of humanities to give more explanations and an understanding of where human beings have been, where they are presently and their best preferred destination. References Bishop, M. (2001). The Middle Ages. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin. Calise, J. M. P. (2002). Pictish sourcebook: Documents of medieval legend and Dark Age history. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press. Detweiler, M., Detweiler, L., Bustard, N., & Veritas Press. (2001). Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation. Lancaster, PA: Veritas Press. Read More