Diana Dubitskaya

902
Mrs.Weissman
3/5/14

Europe during the middle ages


The Middle Ages stretched from roughly 500 AD to 1500 AD. Some people say
that during the The Middle ages , Europe experienced Dark ages. The Dark ages were
characterized by Decentralized Government, loss of learning and loss of common
language. The western part of Europe changed after the fall of the Roman Empire
because of the Plague.Europe developed a political system called Feudalism as a way
to protect themselves from Barbarians. Feudalism was a very positive aspect of the
Middle ages because people could live inside the manors and people created this
themselves for a really short period of time. It would seem to be dark, but theres also
many aspects of positive thing happening during this period of time. I think that Middle
ages had both positive and negative aspects.

One of the reasons why The Middle ages were called DARK is that the plague
happen. Even if Middle Ages sounds very good, because of madams and knights,
people in this period of time were very dirty, because they didnt wash themselves and
they throw their waste out of the windows there were a lot of mess in the city. Of course
people with the higher class could wash themselves more than once a year , but this
was only a few people from whole Europe. Of course people who lived next to the
rivers and seas could wash themselves more than once a year. All this dirt in the city
and the smell from people brought black rats to come to the city. As well as the rats
were brought by trade with the east, brought by the mongols to the Byzantine
Empire,then by trading ships across the Mediterranean sea. With rats lice/fleas
appeared. This brought a deadly disease. The symptoms of the disease were : cold,
they were hot (when i say hot its very hot!!!) Most of the people died because they had
no power to stand against this disease.(Document#1) They died by the hundreds, both
day and night, and all were thrown in...ditches and covered with the Earth,-this means
that people were dying by hundreds,and all dead bodies were thrown into special
ditches.There were also those who were so sparsely covered with earth that the dogs
dragged them forth and devoured throughout the city-this quote means that bodies
were barely hidden in the Earth and dogs dragged them all around the city This smell
of dead bodies was everywhere and more and more rats came to the cities. Because of
this reason many people died (and to be exact , of the population) during this period
of time. This proves that the Middle Ages were truly dark.

However, there were some positive aspects happening during The Middle Ages.
One reason why The Middle ages werent that bad, is that people created a political
system called Feudalism, to protect themselves from Barbarians (Document #2). The
Feudalism is a political system , people also created a Feudal Contract. feudal contract
says that the lord of the land have to provide protection and land to people who live in
this Manor, and this people also have to give a part of their goods like: milk, meat,
vegetables, wheat, water, and money to the lord.Everything was perfect, except that
thing that Church wanted to get all the power that kings had.Barbarian invasions were
no longer happening and the Byzantine Empire needed help from the west. East and
West sides of Europe split because of the differences in the religion. One-Christian
religion split on two different categories, and two- arbs wanted to introduce muslim
culture. On the other hand , feudal system provided everything jobs,land and
everything, but it also created a social hierarchy from which you could not escape from.
This supports that The middle ages are not truly dark.

Instead of living peaceful life, with no wars, People in Middle Ages decided to
start getting over the lands,which brought them having wars.Popes wanted more power
over the kings and kings didn;t wanted them to have it. Since people during The Middle
Ages were very religious and they believed that every disease they get is a give back
from the God for the sins they made.Church used this power over the king to reunite
east and west. If the king is no more a member of the church , people who live in his
manor also would be counted as not a members of the church,thats why the king lost in
this bottle. This is another reason why Europe split up on two sides. Arabs and Turks
attacked the Romania and killed many Christians (Document#4) . According to Frantz
Funck-Brentano, Hungarians burned churches, sacked towns and villages The
Hungarians swarm over the Eastern provinces...they sacked town and village,and laid
waste of field.They burned down the churches and then departed with the crowd of
captives. Just As this was happening,There was no longer trade ,only unceasing
terror., there was no trade because of all this mess happening in Europe.This proves
that the Middle ages were truly dark.

On the other hand , during The Middle ages, there was a lot of institutes were
open(Document #7).People had learning even when it was a hard time . Art was very
famous at this time. Few large stones buildings were constructed between the
Constantinian basilicas of the 4th century and the 8th century, although many smaller
ones were built during the 6th and 7th centuries. Also there were many other art things
created ,like- Gothic style accessories. Most of the churches were decorated in Gothic
style. Gothic art is a style of a Medieval art that developed in northern France out of
romanesque art in 12th century AD. The word "Gothic" for art was initially used as a
synonym for "Barbaric", and was therefore used pejoratively. Its critics saw this type of
Medieval art as unrefined and too remote from the aesthetic proportions and shapes of
Classical art. Things that were not valuable at that time, a very valuable
now(Document#6).So its actually very good, because now according to all information
was given from that time, we can now study it and gain information of what happened at
this period of time.Similar to us , who live in 21 century,people in the Middle Ages
enjoyed their lives and had fun,this is very important to stay happy even in the bad
times( Document #3). This also proves that The Middle Ages were not truly dark.

As my conclusion , I can say that the Middle ages seem to be dark, but theres
also many aspects of positive thing happening during this period of time. I think that
Middle ages were both positive and negative aspects.I think that the Middle ages would
be much better if things such as Plague, and the end of the Feudalism, Arabs and Turks
attack would never happened, but , we passed this time,and now its a part of our great
history. :D !!!