The Middle Ages lasted from about 500-1500, the time between the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. The Early Middle Ages were probably the time that most fits the term Dark Ages, even though even they weren't all bad.

Christianity spread a lot throughout Europe during this time, thanks in part to rulers like Charlemagne and Clovis who converted whole lands. But while many people were Christian by name, and the pagan religions were dying out, most people didn't practice it. One reason for this is that hardly anyone was literate, so they couldn't read the Bible. Most clergy of the time were even illiterate, and led very secular lives. It was a disgraceful time for the Church, because there was a lot of corruption, such as priests who lived with women and bought their positions.

The economic life for most Western Europeans was not much b

The magnetic compass and other navigational tools also helped when exploring, so that ships could go farther and stay on a planned route. All of these developments helped western Europe become as powerful as it later did, and led them into the Renaissance. So, the Middle Ages were not dark ages after all, and without all the contributions to thought, technology, and government we wouldn't be so far along today as we are.

However, in the eighth century Charlemagne succeeded in starting a small renaissance and uniting much of the frankish territory. He preserved some of the Latin literature that might've otherwise been lost and started a few schools to educate monks. Even though the empire fell apart after the death of Charlemagne and Europe once again regressed to an unstable period, it had given a sense of unity to the people and had managed to spread Christianity and some intellectual achievements that lasted until the High Middle Ages when they were renewed again.

In 1095 Pope Urban II called the first Crusade. The purpose of the Crusade was to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims. The pope had the full support of the people and the Crusade was fully successful. The westerners thought it was their duty to get rid of all non Christians, and took it upon themselves to kill all the Muslims and Jews. Even though the Christians lost the following Crusades, they still gave them a stronger faith and sense of purpose for their lives.

etter than the religious and intellectual quality. There weren't really any great cities and most common people worked in agriculture to provide what they could to keep their families a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Middle Ages, Paris Bologna, Western Europeans, Years' War, Charlemagne Clovis, Jews Christians, Black Death, Charlemagne Europe, middle ages, Jerusalem Muslims, Dark Ages, dark ages, renaissance middle ages, middle ages dark, technological advancements, ages brought, late middle, war helped, renaissance middle, ages dark, late middle ages, ages dark ages, middle ages brought,
Approximate Word count = 1107
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)