The Dark Ages Explained - Part 1

this video is brought to you by captivating history the misconception of the dark ages the term dark ages refers to a period of approximately six centuries that is largely lost to recorded history following the fall of Rome in 476 ee the entire dynamic of Europe underwent a complete shift in power structure and culture there is much dissension in terms of the window of time in which this period may have actually occurred for this presentation the Dark Ages is thought to have covered the era between the fourth century when Rome fell to the beginning of the 11th century when the landscape of the primary countries of modern-day Europe began to take shape in terms of the Dark Ages most historians agree that the label is a misnomer the term Dark Ages was coined by an italian scholar named Francesco Petrarca better known today has simply petruk he believed the literature and innovation of this period were stunted when compared to the Roman Empire perceiving the era to be void of the culture and progressiveness that existed in Western Europe before the Roman Empire lost control of the continent historians today now refer to the Dark Ages as the early Middle Ages which is truly a more accurate description the fall of Rome and the world after for about 100 years before the fall of Rome the city was in steep decline infighting petty ambitions and greed were commonplace within its leadership this poor leadership and inefficient governing would lead to the inevitable loss of control of the conquered territories within the Empire Rome's inability to provide for the people on the outskirts of their borders would serve as the impetus for the attacks signaling the beginning of the end of ancient Rome skirmishes like the Battle of hadron Ovilus in 378 C II and the invasion of the Visigoths in 410 ze indicated ropes loosening grip of power and triggered other Germanic tribes to challenge Rome for their own previously conquered territories in 476 C II a weakened Rome fell to the Germanic warlord Oh to wacker Oda wacker killed the father of the child Emperor Romulus Augustus took control of the rest of his military and offered the young Emperor the option of retirement the emperor wisely accepted and fled into exile for the rest of his life this series of events was the end of the Western Roman Empire the fall of Rome since shockwaves across the continent Western Europe splintered and regions that had considered themselves under Roman rule began taking control of their own much smaller domains the ensuing reconfiguration of the Fallen Empire naturally triggered many Wars as different tribes began to reclaim lost ancestral territories strong men from all corners attempted to take advantage of the power vacuum the defeat of Rome had created the rise of the Christian Church the Roman Empire practiced its own religious belief system which we observe as Roman mythology still the Empire would typically allow conquered regions to continue with their own beliefs the exception was when something or someone directly challenged Roman authority this more lazy fair approach to managing their conquered territories created an ideal climate for the rise of Christianity as a religion as Christianity grew across the region's more and more of the Germanic tribes began to follow the teachings of Christ by 313 C II Emperor Constantine the first issued the Edict of Milan a proclamation granting legal status to a number of religions within the Roman Empire including Christianity in 325 C II the emperor introduced the Council of Nicaea whose core purpose was to establish the primary beliefs of Christianity the council created the Nicene Creed which cements the basic precepts and beliefs of Christianity in concise form these events and the resultant recognition legitimized Christianity to the empire and the entire continent by 476 C E Christianity have become a clearly recognizable and powerful religion so when Rome fell to the Germanic tribes who were Christian people saw the Empire's defeat as a sign that the Roman gods were not as powerful as the Christian God with so many onlookers in Europe perceiving the fall of Rome as a religious sign Christianity saw a vast and meteoric rise on the continent Rome continues the Byzantine Empire the sacking of Rome and the removal of the last Roman Emperor was not entirely viewed as an end to the Roman Empire there were two major cities that ruled the Roman Empire each of which had its own ruler Rome was certainly where the Empire started but it became so large at its peak that required a second city and second ruler to manage the far eastern side of the Empire Constantinople Constantinople preserved the history and culture of the Roman long after the fall of the illustrious city as well as establishing its own distinct culture the split of the Empire occurred in 285 C II under Emperor Diocletian by dividing control with the city to the east governing the two vast regions became more manageable Rome was the capital for the western portion of the Empire and Byzantium was the capital of the eastern side Byzantium would later be renamed Constantinople Constantinople continued to thrive for many centuries but inevitably fell to the Ottoman Empire and citizens who were able to fled west as the city was attacked taking with them the knowledge and the cultures of both historic Rome and Constantinople back to Rome and Italy it is not a coincidence that the Italian Renaissance began near the end of the Byzantine Empire Western Europe was by no means the uneducated barbaric place that it is often portrayed to be during the Dark Ages but it did not have the same connection to the Roman Empire as the inhabitants of Constantinople the rise of the Caliphate as Christianity continued to evolve and envelop much of Europe new religion was forming in what we now know as the Middle East under the Prophet Mohammed he held religious and political power over those who followed him and asked the seal of the prophets those who followed Muhammad believed that he was the last prophet sent by God to walk the earth because of this belief Muhammad's teachings were thought to be the final word from God superseding the words of all other prophets when the Prophet died 632 seee he left his followers without an obvious successor or a system to choose a successor as the new religious leader his followers chose one of Muhammad's fathers-in-law Abu Bakr as their new leader over time a system of succession was developed around the belief that future Islamic leaders should be chosen from descendants of the Prophet or those who were in some way related to him this was the birth of the caliph and the caliphate the term Caliphate refers to the dual political and religious state under Muslim laws and the leader of a Caliphate is called a caliph which is similar in meaning to a king or Emperor during the height of the Caliphate their conquest included the Middle East northern Africa and southern Europe the religion of Islam was adopted and spread to the areas under the caliphs control however the general population was not necessarily required to follow it in that period of history the Caliphate Empire tried to extend into Europe but it soon found that they were no match for the Germanic tribes that had adopted the military tactics of the Roman Empire the Muslim army did have some success however they made their way largely unchallenged across what would one day become Spain between 711 to 713 C II the lombard kingdom the lombards were a particularly interesting Germanic tribe originating in the area around Scandinavia but eventually migrating down to Italy where they ruled for sporadically over 200 years a handful of leaders were successful in expanding their Kingdom beyond their original humble beginnings the lombards were one of the Germanic tribes that were part of the great migration a period believed to be about 100 years between 376 to 476 ee these tribes began to move and settle into new regions and like many other Germanic tribes the Lombard sought to find a place that was more shielded from the hunt a warlike Asiatic nomadic people who ravaged Europe in the 4th to 5th centuries they settled in an area just north of the Danube region by the middle of the 6th century the Lombards leader alvin rose to power unlike previous leaders alvin took a greater interest in developing a more impressive and organized military system establishing a military that was based on kinship the head of each unit was a member of the nobility such as a Duke or count and the people under them were largely related to this leader this was designed to provide a better connection and sense of camaraderie between the soldiers and their leader in 567 seee Alban his army and their allied tribe the avars ended a 20-year war with their enemies the Cabot's by killing the last king of that tribe - namond following that victory tensions surface between the Lombards and the Avars instead of instigating another protracted war with no guarantee of success al Bowen decided that it was time for his people to leave the area since a portion of his military had served in northern Italy the recommendation was to resettle there the men remembered the region being very green and fertile which served as an ideal location for re-establishing their agrarian lifestyle al Bowen and his military had greatly benefited from the years of war and service to other tribes and the remains of the Roman Empire as they progressed across northern Italy the lombards were able to easily take control of many of the cities in their wake to be fair it wasn't much resistance against them the exception to this was pavia where the lombard spent three years fighting before they finally were victorious their march and subsequent section of Italian territories were complete by 572 C e and the lombards had nearly all of Italy under their control Charlemagne one of the most noteworthy names to come from the early Middle Ages was that of Charlemagne his military prowess alone allowed him to conquer a considerable portion of Europe despite how impossible a task it seemed Charlemagne was able to not only take control of the region of his people but to conquer the surrounding regions that have become territories of other Germanic tribes his ability to attract followers and lead his people to victory became legendary and for a brief period in history it seemed he might even be able to accomplish what no one thought would ever be possible again build an empire that would rival that of Rome Charlemagne was born in 742 C II as the scion of the small kingdom of the Franks who lived in what is now Belgium and became king in 771 C II when his brother and co heir to the throne suddenly died Charlemagne had taken an interest in the military at an early age and proven himself in an expert tactician and leader and it did not take him long to apply his knowledge to expanding Frankish control a year after the death of his brother Charlemagne led a campaign into non-christian enemy Saxon territories and attained complete control of the former Saxon territories and in the process forced the Saxons to conversion to Christianity Charlemagne appeared destined to push his control into other regions turning south he took control of Italy and in 778 CE he led an army into Spain and began to drive the Muslims out of Europe within 12 years he was able to unite a large swath of Europe under Frankish control unfortunately when Charlemagne died his military prowess and inspirational leadership could not be matched by anyone succeeding him the empire that he had begun to construct quickly fell apart without him if you want to discover more about the dark ages they check out our book Dark Ages a captivating guide to the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance it's available as an e-book paperback and audio book also make sure to grab your free mythology bundle ebook for free while it's still available all links are in the description if you enjoyed the video please hit the like button and subscribe for more videos like this

Channel: Captivating History

Views: 27,490

Rating: 4.8800855 out of 5

Keywords: The Dark Ages, History explained, History animated, Dark Ages, The Middle Ages, Middle ages for kids, Dark ages for kids, History of Europe, European history

Id: L2hi5Vh8Ig0

Length: 13min 43sec (823 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 28 2020