The Dark Ages

The Dark Ages refers to the Early Middle Ages or occasionally the entire Middle Ages in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It occurred from the 5th to the 15th centuries.

The term 'Dark Age' was first coined by the Italian scholar Petrarch in the 1330s.

Petrarch regarded the post-Roman centuries as 'dark' compared to the 'light' of classical antiquity.

<p>The phrase 'Dark Age(s)' derives from the Latin saeculum obscurum, originally used by Caesar Baronius in 1602.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The concept characterizes the Dark Ages as a time of economic, intellectual, and cultural decline in Western Europe, marked by 'darkness' (ignorance and error) compared to earlier and later periods of 'light' (knowledge and understanding).</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The term &quot;Dark Age(s)&quot; as a historiographical periodization originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar Petrarch.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The concept employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's &quot;darkness&quot; (ignorance and error) with earlier and later periods of &quot;light&quot; (knowledge and understanding).</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The Latin phrase &quot;saeculum obscurum&quot; translates to &quot;dark age&quot; in English.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The term &quot;saeculum obscurum&quot; was originally applied by Caesar Baronius in 1602 when referring to a tumultuous period in the 10th and 11th centuries.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>The concept of the Dark Ages came to characterize the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance.</p> Signup and view all the answers