Dark centuries (middle ages)

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As dark ages (or age dark ) periods are referred to, for the few sources available. The lack of written reports, numismatic and partly also archaeological finds makes historical research and evaluation of these times difficult .

description

Depending on the region, different time periods are referred to as "dark". In Europe, this applies to parts of the early Middle Ages , as in the period of the Great Migration , in Britain the time after the withdrawal of the Romans and the subsequent conquest of the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th and 6th centuries. Century.

However, the term "dark centuries" or "dark ages" is very problematic, as it arouses false associations with regard to the cultural level. In older research, the term sometimes also served to disqualify certain periods of time, for example with regard to the transition from late antiquity to the early Middle Ages or for the subsequent period, as this time was often only assessed as a period of expiry from the point of view of classicist older research. This view is no longer tenable today. More recent research argues in a more balanced way and evaluates the epoch of late antiquity as a time of transformation, especially since there are also sources for the period from the end of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century to the fall of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th century, but they are often interpreted are problematic.

In the English-speaking world, the term Dark Ages was sometimes applied negatively to the entire Middle Ages. Aaron Jakowlewitsch Gurewitsch writes:

“The 'Middle Ages' are almost synonymous with everything dark and reactionary. Its early period is known as the 'gloomy centuries'. The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language even extends the term Dark Ages to the entire Middle Ages. Such a relationship to the Middle Ages, which in the 17th and 18th centuries can be explained to a certain extent, [...] has long since lost all legitimacy. "

Sources

It cannot be denied that, for certain time periods and with different regional characteristics, the source base varies and in some cases can be extremely unfavorable or vague (e.g. based on early medieval England or Scandinavia ). Likewise, in the course of Christianization , in the end of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, the majority of ancient literature was lost . In the former west of the empire, font production was below the ancient level for a long time and the cultural level also decreased, at least compared to the Roman period. But new forms of art and literature also emerged, just as society changed dramatically. Meanwhile, more of the ancient heritage was preserved in the east ( Byzantium ).

Even where the sources are poor and there are only a few written evidence, the sources never dry up completely - this is especially true for Byzantium from the middle of the 7th century, where mainly only the chronicle for the subsequent period up to the early 9th century des Theophanes are available as a narrative source, possibly also the Chronicle of Nikephorus . If one assumes for a narrower version of dark periods with a low point in written work, then the dating of Latin-language works in the collection of the Patrologia Latina is helpful.

Works of the Patrologia Latina after centuries
century Migne No. Works
7th century 80-88 8th
8th century 89-96 7th
9th century 97-130 33
10th century 131-138 7th
11th century 139-151 12
12th century 162-191 39
13th century 192-217 25th

There is only a small list of creations available here for the period after late antiquity. However, this list of the Patrologia Latina is only of limited use, as it does not take into account all works that were written in early medieval Latin Europe (see early medieval literature ). In western Europe (in contrast to Byzantium) the level of education fell significantly in the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. This period was followed by the Carolingian renovation of the 9th century, in which there was a significant increase in the creation of works, just as the foundation of Carolingian libraries counteracted a further loss of ancient works. But as early as the 10th and 11th centuries, Latin-language work began to decline again significantly. The revival of intellectual Europe in the so-called high medieval "Renaissance" of the 12th century brought about an increase in creative output, which in part declined again in the 13th century, but provided important foundations for the actual Renaissance epoch from the 14th century. With the spread of book printing from the 15th century onwards, the lack of written works in historical research largely ended.

literature

  • Orsolya Heinrich-Tamaska, Niklot Krohn, Sebastian Ristow (editor): Dark centuries in Central Europe? Conference contributions of the Working Group on Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages 1. Rituals and Fashions (Xanten, June 8, 2006) 2. Possibilities and problems of archaeological and scientific cooperation (Schleswig, October 9-10, 2007) . Kovac, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8300-4175-7 ( Studies on Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages 1, ISSN  1867-5425 ).
  • Chris Wickham : The Inheritance of Rome . Allen Lane, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-7139-9429-2 ( The Penguin history of Europe 2).
  • Felix Biermann : About the “dark century” in the late migration and early Slav period in north-eastern Germany. In: F. Biermann / Th. Kersting / A. Klammt (ed.): The early Slavs - from expansion to gentes and nationes. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 81, Weißbach, 2016 ( online )

Remarks

  1. ↑ Brief overview from Franz Georg Maier : The transformation of the Mediterranean world . Fischer world history . Frankfurt a. M. 1968, p. 10 ff. ( The legend of the "Dark Ages" ), especially p. 14 f.
  2. ↑ cf. Wickham: Inheritance of Rome ; see also the relevant volumes of the Cambridge Ancient History (Vol. 13 and 14) and the New Cambridge Medieval History (Vol. 1 to 3).
  3. ↑ Aaron Gurewitsch : The world view of the medieval man . Translated by Gabriele Loßack. VEB Verlag der Kunst Dresden, 1978, DNB 790047187 , pp. 6-7. New edition: CH Beck, Munich, 5th edition, 1997, ISBN 3-406-42350-7 .
  4. ^ For a differentiated analysis, see John Haldon: Byzantium in the Seventh Century . 2nd edition Cambridge 1997.
  5. ^ Schaff, Philip (1882). History of the Christian Church , Vol. IV: Mediaeval Christianity, AD 570-1073 , Ch. XIII, § 138. Prevailing Ignorance in the Western Church