Going Towards the Light (Dealing with the Dark Ages)
It has been asked if it is fair to consider the Middle Ages as "the Dark Ages" or was it only a continuation of trends that were long underway by the time the Renaissance occurred. Can we say there was no true political expansion? Would we be accurate in saying there were no new thoughts or ideas? Did our ancestors truly halt all thought and spiritual growth to wait for the Renaissance? I should think not! Although there may have been only one great empire with no great shift of political and religious thought, the Middle Ages were far from being devoid of activity and upheaval. This was an incredible age of transition. This period is integral in the growth of western civilization as it goes towards the light. Dark Ages they were not! For several hundred years, from about the first to around the fifth century AD, Rome was the greatest power in Europe, ruling Britain and the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. However, in northern Europe, there were fierce tribes that were only held at bay by the Romans. Around 400 AD, the Roman Empire began to weaken and the northern tribes moved across the continent of Europe and plundered the city of Rome. The Roman Empire collapsed and was gradually replaced by many small
This helped form a rudimentary form of government known as the Feudal system, which set a "pecking order" for society. This Feudal system gave Europe and specifically the Holy Roman Empire a structure with which it could gain control of the heathen tribes of the north, convert them, and take control of these lands by encouraging expansion of affiliated kingdoms. Feudalism gave people of this time a structure to their society known as the Three Estates-1st Clergy, 2nd Nobility and 3rd Commoners. Commoners worked the lands and in return were protected by the Nobility. The nobility would be protected in their allegiance to one another and their bond with the clergy which was obviously directly associated with the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire was protected by the people as a whole because of the belief of the supremacy of the Pope as the hand of God and the church as the supreme authority in all of life's matters. The Middle Ages also saw several key military events that would alter the course of history. The most important of which is known as the Crusades. The Crusades were actually four separate crusades of which the first was the only successful one. They were brought about because the common belief of all Christians that the unbelievers in the holy land should be expelled. The holy land had recently been taken over by the Turks who were an Islamic based empire. Now, this wasn't wholly the reason for the Crusades as Pope Urban II also saw this as a chance to show Alexius Commonus of the Byzantine's that the Holy Roman Empire was the true representative of the Christian fa
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Approximate Word count = 1080
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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