Dark Ages vs. Middle Ages vs. Medieval - What's the Difference?

hey everybody it's the history teacher this video clarifies the differences among the terms dark ages Middle Ages and medieval the Middle Ages was a thousand year period between the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance roughly from AD 450 to the Year 1450 the Dark Ages refers to the early part of that time span from 450 to the Year 1000 of course it should be noted that dividing history into rigid periods of time is purely artificial and historians can reasonably differ on when certain periods began and ended but the dates used here are typical the word medieval means Middle Ages in Latin which is why the terms Middle Ages and medieval can be used interchangeably so the term Middle Ages and medieval have the same meaning and refer to the same period of time again about 450 to 1450 and the Dark Ages refers to the first portion of that period from about 450 to 1,000 now why are the Dark Ages called the Dark Ages because from the perspective of later historians there was a general decline of culture learning peace and stability compared to the time before and the time after Romans were replaced by barbarians Latin was replaced by Germanic languages or by regional dialects of Latin which became the modern Romance languages like French Spanish and Italian vibrant cities shrank illiteracy increased book production declined and centers of learning such as monasteries were raided and plundered by warlike peoples such as Vikings and Orthodox Christianity was struggling against heresies the age was considered dark because the light of civilization seemed to be snuffed out this description is an exaggeration not reality some of the greatest artwork ever produced was created during this period such as the book of kells and between the years 750 and 850 Western Europe experienced a cultural and educational reawakening called the Carolinian renaissance which introduced new forms of handwriting architecture and music the term Carolinian comes from the Latin word for Charles because the most significant ruler of Europe during that reawakening was Charles the Great or Charlemagne it's important to note too that the dark ages of the post Roman Peyer only refers to europe the surviving eastern half of the roman empire which we call a byzantine empire was very energetic during this period and one of the richest civilizations in the world nor did what we call the Dark Ages extend to China the Americas India or Africa and in the Middle East the latter part of the European Dark Ages is referred to as the Golden Age of Islam so the Dark Ages specifies not just a particular period of time but also a particular area of the world the same is mostly true of the term Middle Ages or medieval period when we think of the Middle Ages we tend to conjure up visions of Knights peasants priests and warlike kings but that image also exaggerated only applies to Europe and particularly Western Europe that cast of characters in the way that we imagine them didn't exist in China Japan India Africa or elsewhere in the world during the Middle Ages so for example although we can refer to medieval China because obviously China existed between the years 450 and 1450 China in the Middle Ages was nothing like France in the Middle Ages the point being that the term medieval world really should be understood to be referring only to Europe the historical periods of other countries have their own names for periods of time that are more reflective of their individual histories sometimes the entire Middle Ages is referred to as the Dark Ages but that is definitely not accurate the Middle Ages were a vigorous productive inventive time for Europeans universities were established such as Salerno in Italy the University of Paris and Oxford and Cambridge in England science progressed especially regarding optics astronomy and cartography technology advanced including the introduction of the horseshoe the horse collar and the moldboard plow the combination of those three along with a horse substantially increased food production and boosted Europe's population eyeglasses and the mechanical clock were also developed during the Middle Ages among so many other everyday things medieval people are often wrongly stereotyped as backward barbaric and stifled by religion but that's wrong the greatest scientists of the period tended to be monks they didn't see any conflict between belief and God and trying to figure out how the world which God created actually works nor did most educate people believed the world was flat or believed in witches medieval people weren't perfect but there has never been a period of time when people have been so to recap the Middle Ages was a period of time between about 450 and 1450 but it's a term most appropriately used to describe Europe the Dark Ages refers to the first portion of the Middle Ages between about 450 and 1,000 people describe them as dark because it seemed dark compared to the supposed glories of the Roman Empire and the later Renaissance finally the word medieval means Middle Ages in Latin and refers to the same time period all right that's it for now thank you for watching and see you next time

Channel: Independent History: Unbought & Unbossed

Views: 42,528

Rating: 4.8737864 out of 5

Keywords: medieval, middle ages, dark ages, viking, charlesmagne, book of kells

Id: EVfPcvj7B_4

Length: 5min 7sec (307 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 07 2016