Conventional Misconceptions about the Dark Ages across Europe (Essay Sample)

Reasons Why the Dark Ages Were Not Necessarily Calamitous
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Reasons Why the Dark Ages Were Not Necessarily Calamitous
All ages of the past are invariably considered dark given that ancient events were widely dreadful. The failure of historical narratives and inextricable archeological evidence are partly responsible for the vast generalization of history. The Dark Ages, in particular, have long been misinterpreted as a period of utter drudgery, suffering, and intellectual regression. Notably, so much focus is given to the aftermath of the Roman empire’s collapse that the era is often surmised as absolutely catastrophic. Although the Dark Ages entailed a massive cultural disintegration in Europe, the period was not necessarily dreadful as it was also characterized by the rise of Western values, the decline of European monarchs, and an agricultural boom.
Fundamentally, the Dark Ages were marked by a tremendous enrichment and spread of Western values, which stressed literacy advancement. Most critics of the rise of monasticism mischaracterized the Church as the perpetrator of dogmatic principles that deterred intellectual progress (Pruitt, 2018). This belief stems from the