The Dark Ages refers to the period from 400 AD to 1400 AD in Europe. Originally, Christians used the terms "dark" and "light" to describe the darkness before Jesus brought light to the world. Later, the Italian scholar Petrarch described the loss of learning from the Greeks and Romans as plunging Europe into the "dark." Historians then viewed the Dark Ages as a time of little culture, repeated invasions, no central government, and a poor economy and standard of living. However, many historians now disagree with labeling this entire period as a "Dark Age."

1. The Dark Ages in Europe

2. “The Dark Ages is a term applied in its
widest sense to that period of intellectual
depression in the history of Europe from the
establishment of the barbarian supremacy
in the fifth century (400 AD) to the revival of
learning at about the beginning of the
fifteenth (1400 AD), thus nearly
corresponding in extent with the Middle
Ages.”
- The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary
of General Knowledge, 1883

3. 3
‘Colleseum’ by Hubert Robert, 1762/1763

4. Background

5. Why “Dark”?
• metaphor of “dark” and “light” was
originally used by Christians to describe
the “darkness” people lived in before God
sent Jesus Christ to bring “light” to the
world
• Petrarch was an Italian scholar during the
1300s who loved Greek and Roman
writing.
• used the terms “dark” and “light” to
describe learning
• Europe was in the “dark” after the “light”
of the Greeks and Romans was gone

6. Why “Dark”?
• Historians continued to use the phrase “Dark
Ages”
• A time that:
–Did not support learning
–Created very little culture (art, literature,
architecture, etc.)
–Was repeatedly invaded
–Had no central government
–Had a bad economy
–Was basically a miserable place to live
• Today many historians disagree with this term

7. Was the time period between 400 AD and
1400 AD a “Dark Age” for Europe?
Was this a time of cultural decay and
decline?