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
With the exception of a small number of Jews and Muslims in Spain, everyone in Europe was a Christian during the Middle Ages from the richest king down to the lowest serf. This first crusade was successful in that it did "liberate" Jerusalem and helped establish four Levant's (kingdoms) (fig. Feudalism gave people of this time a structure to their society known as the Three Estates-1st Clergy, 2nd Nobility and 3rd Commoners. Although at the beginning of this period they had a very stable and strong pope with supreme authority, towards the end of it, you have kings and nobles getting growingly frustrated with the corruption and power grabs by the papacy. kingdoms ruled by a strong King, Prince or Noble. 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. This was a major shift that directly led to the development of the Renaissance period. However, the Christians were not able to hold the territories for very long and the Turks soon took the holy land back. They were brought about because the common belief of all Christians that the unbelievers in the holy land should be expelled. The Renaissance awaited them and they were to soon embrace it also. But that being said, this was still a way to bring Christian control back to the holy land and the pope would not miss this opportunity. The holy land had recently been taken over by the Turks who were an Islamic based empire. In the end, they even resulted in the Christians attacking Constantinople as they took several of Alexius' actions as disloyal to Christianity. The first crusades main goal was to ride Jerusalem of the Muslims. The Middle Ages also saw several key military events that would alter the course of history.
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Acceptance Essays
