Why the Middle Ages were called the Dark Ages?

One reason that the Middle Ages could be considered the "Dark Ages" is because of the the black plague swept through Europe. The black plague was a horrific disease that killed one third of Europe's population. This was not only a terrible disease, but it was even more horrible to cure, doctors thought the only way to cure a patient would be to drain the "bad blood" of the patient. The other dreadful part of the disease is that the Catholic Church blamed the Jews for this disease.

Because of their hatred for the Jews, the Church forced them to move to housing that would be on the outskirts of the cities. This actually was to the benefit of the Jews because they were actually farther away from the major outbreaks. The disease spread rapidly, it would go onto ships that were making trade routs to different European countries and it would continue to spread through trade as its main form of travel.

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In the Middle Ages there was many wars that broke out. For instance, the hundred years' war was one war that killed thousands of people.

In addition to the thousands of deaths caused by direct combat, attacking knights would go to farms and burn the crops to spread famine throughout the castle. This would completely devastate a castle, and the surrounding territory. The Church on the other hand had built the churches out of the best materials available at the time, most of which are still standing today, because of the money that the Church sucked out of the general public.

Because of the Great Schism, the general public started questioning the Curch's reliability.

In conclusion, it would be appropriate to call the Middle Ages the "Dark Ages". The Middle Ages brought: disease, anti-Semitism, war, famine, and corruption in the church.

References

Bridbury, A. R.. The Dark Ages. Economic History Review, Dec69, Vol. 22 Issue 3, p526-537 Homer, Patricia. The Ancient World/The Dark Ages/The Middle Ages/The Roman World. School Library Journal, Aug80, Vol. 26 Issue 10, p79 Proenza, Crystal. The Dark Ages. Wilmore, Kathy. Junior Scholastic, 2/26/2007, Vol. 109 Issue 13, p12-14, 3p