education into arts and music was paid for and taught almost entirely by the church during the middle ages. peoples lifestyles became culturally rich beyond our beliefs. It truely was a colorful time quite foreign to us in the bleak grey future, far removed from our heritage
@@Richard-Swift And the current state of every western country is allegedly better because we have gys marrying and people being turned into tr°°ns. All the while having such high crime rates that did not exist in the 1950s, high rates of depression, divorce, single mother homes, extreme lack of social cohesion. And like a talking head said not too long ago when trying to retort El Salvador Bukele and his rise to power, it's simply "democracy means having to put up with everything that is wrong and is causing our society to worsen". Wow, definitely not at all backwards to value gy sh°° and tr°°ning over stable and cohesive societies. And yet those like you wonder why just about every western country has a labeled "nerzees fer rite" rising in their nations. Ireland especially couldn't be anymore blatant that Europeans and those of European descent who make up the founding stock of every western nation abroad, are fed with this bs experiment of turning their country into some sh°° hole where this gy/troon crap and where whole world is invited invited into their country and for the Irish they're 1 just example of being fed up with having a government mandating that they be forced to house them in their small towns
@@Richard-Swift his point is that even making the cathedral takes great knowledge time and patience, the planning of one in of itself is grand. Infact the skill and artisians of a Gothic Cathedral interior and exterior isnt something stagnant
Another myth: The Church crushed science. Modern science wouldn't exist without the Church. Many Priests and Monks were the original scientists. The Gregorian calendar that is plagiarized by academics now adays (CE/BCE) is nearly a perfect celestial calendar. I appreciate that you use the proper BC/AD designation
@@augustin5611 Common Era Before Common Era Although their use still doesn't make much sense since the point they use as a reference point is the birth of Christ
What you don't consider is that the church had a monopoly of education since they imprisoned people and burned books they considered heretic.Also people like newton didn't believe in the holy trinity.If he said his beliefs out loud he could get himself killed.
The overwhelming majority of the myths people believe about the Middle Ages (and past times in general) come from the Industrial Revolution and the 19th century in general. The awful conditions, the absence of spirituality and a higher-goal, and the need to create entire societies of mindless drones who work in factories and don't make a fuss, all those things meant people had to be convinced that the past was worse, instead of the present being good. And this continues today with our sick societies that have no qualities of their own, so they have to project and amplify their own flaws onto the past.
1200-1300 Europe is probably the most interesting era because Western Europe would have what's basically a mini scientific revolution along with a mini industrial revolution.
Also, the attacks of the Middle Eastern and North African pirates in the Mediterranean sea caused European states within the continents to develop better connections and diplomacy which I think somehow contributed to the creation of the European Union.The economic rise of Switzerland also began because the lands of Switzerland became a transit route between Rome and Northwestern Europe (Ireland, Britain,Belgium etc)
Also, a big chunk on the dirtiness of the people in the Middle Ages should be debunked. The documentaries by Terry Jones demonstarated that people in the Middle Ages attended public baths at least once a week (rich people had tgeir own bathtubs), used soap for personal hygiene and clothes washing and even cleaned their teeth with the mixture of dried herbs and salt. There used to be a saying of the times in Latin "fleas in fur coats are inevitable, but headluce are shameful". Most of the famous public baths in Germany were founded in 1200's as well as soap manufactures in Austria, France, Italy and Germany.
The so called "dark ages" are portrayed as such, because they were the most christian times. So the atheists want to draw a connection between christianity and "dark" times. I think that medieval people would look at our current degenerate times as being "dark ages". We in our times are not as smart as we think, we are just benefiting of the inventions of our ancestors. When people try to portray peasants as dumb working slaves, they dont get, that the peasantry was very proud of their work, because working an honest job is exactly what god wants us to do (ora et labora). Do you actually think, that working in a grey and boring office for 250 days in a year for a small wage and a millionaire boss is better than working with your family on your own farm? Thanks for setting these thinks clear, Pax Tube!
The term 'Dark Ages' was coined by an Italian scholar named Francesco Petrarch. Petrarch, who lived from 1304 to 1374, used this label to describe what he perceived as a lack of quality in the Latin literature of his day.
True. The myth is spread because atheism wants to win. Unlike real atheists, which were nihilists and took themselves put the equation, these one try to fill the gap of ☦️✝️ *Truth* ✝️☦️ with inventions!
Most people i've talked to are actually aware that dark ages didn't encompass the entirety of the medieval period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire all the way to the Renaissance. The Dark ages generally refer to the time period from the fall of the Rome in 476 to around the Times of Charlemagne in the early 9th century. Which you can't deny was indeed a relatively miserable period at least for Western Europe, not so miserable for the Byzantine Empire, the Abbasid and Umayyad Caliphates, for the Pāla Empire in India or for the Tang dyansty in China.
@@torum6448 True. It was the time before the integration of the Germanic peoples into the Christian world, which in turn meant that the much of the Roman knowledge that was preserved was yet to be available.
Let's not sell King Alfred the Great short. He's venerated as a Saint in the Orthodox and Catholic Church for his enormous monastic revival in the west; increasing literacy rates for monks and layman alike.
@@duncanharrell5009 he isn't for catholics Henry VI attempted to push it but there was no evidence of miracles or intercessions so Eugene IV denied it. The Russian Orthodox holy synod made him a saint of the isles in 2007 and Anglicans venerate him as a hero. Overall i would agree with anglicans he doesn't look like a saint just a good Christian.
The crimerate was actually much lower, a channel called academic agent went into it. The source of the claim basically picked one of the most crime ridden places in their worse year in the records and then exaggerated even that number to the point of lying.
Research by professor Frost of Laval Université also posed that medieval "ultimate justice" might have had a role in reducing criminality on the genetic level, by ridding society of the more aggressive/amoral (aggresiveness and morality are both heritable and the measure of both predict criminality) people before they had offspring... So even if it were true that there was more per capita crime in medieval times in a general sense, (of which there's no clear evidence, interesting indeed, since we even know minute details of history like the GDP of specific areas in the world for almost every decade (or even year in some cases) since the advent of the written word, but I digress,) it would then still just be another nuisance to society we can thank medieval people for reducing...
I'll have a look at it, but just note that some of what we would consider crimes today would not have been in the middle ages or even at any time period. Context is key.
If I remember correctly, this age is because of the higher infant mortality rate. Most people who survived childhood would live into their 50s, but the average age is dropped due to children dying young. So average lifespan of 35, but typical lifespan of 50s.
@@somehowstillhere8766 and we can also do the math. Lets say that a child would die at 6 yo, that means that 2 other people lived until 50 (50 + 50 + 6) ÷ 3 = 35
With the way the "Dark Ages" are described, I wouldn't be suprised if in 700 years (if everything will go perfectly for humanity that is, which I think will happen) the 2020s will be described the same
It was a sad moment when I realized that the Presidents who are promoted by pop culture were all authoritarian monsters. And that the most hated Presidents were anti-authoritarian and brought about the greatest gains for the average citizen. It's even worse that opinions were generally the opposite, just a century ago.
Great video! One of the key comparisons to confirm this myth is by looking at Spain. Al-Andalus is held up as this hyper-advanced diverse state yet it was nothing of the sort. When the Muslims showed up they were completely overawed and amazed by every aspect of Visigoth Spain (which was supposedly in a dark age). These invaders were essentially primitive and they didn't even understand wagons or other technology that the Spaniards completely took for granted. Life in Al-Andalus during Muslim rule was far less advanced than life in Europe and any of the technology these people understood and arrived with was simply adapted in inferior form from the lands they had taken from the Eastern Roman Empire. These are the people that these Enlightenment type historians want you to believe were in a 'Golden Age' whilst Europe was in a 'Dark Age'. Perhaps Andalusia is a PaxTube myth that needs busting at length?
So I would argue that the "modern man" is stupid compared to the midevil one. If we got EMPed, most people would die in a year due to no running water, electricity, gas, and ability to catch and cook your own food. The modern man is hopelessly prideful in their actual ability
“Europe’s rise is written in the terms of Christianity & Monarchy, Europe’s decay in the terms of Republicanism, Progressivism, & Godlessness.” -Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
The actual “Dark Age” was the 400 years after the fall of Rome. Not because it was terrible and depressing, but because record keeping was not very consistent in they period. I’m sure the people of that “Dark Age” lived much happier and joyful lives than half the people in the modern west.
@Bashbekersjiw look at you desperately spamming in every single reply section trying to spread your anti european enlightenment nonsense lmao. you know people are abandoning atheism and it’s nonsense whig history and you’re in full on panic mode kek
@@bun197 whig? ....the rot brain of abrahimic fan Is showing .....iliiminat era Is a facts ..wizzards and zombie are non senso ..kek? Ahh a 12 brain old indevelop
There's a historically accurate village in Europe, where all the houses are charming, clean, painted with vibrant colours and people dress with colorful attire. But sometimes someone goes there to record some middle age /fantasy movie, and they made all the actors wear dark clothing, covered in dirt, paint everything with dark colors and add some dark blue filter to the film, so everything seems moody and hopeless. Cause middle ages were terrible and people that time loved to live in squalor and dark, right?
One major problem that arises when arguing that prior to the Renaissance in 1500s, Europe was a poor, uneducated, backward and scientifically iliterate place to be alive because externally it did not resemble Classical Antiquity; is that the premise itself refutes the possibility for something like the Renaissance to happen in the first place. It would be an act of utter lack of foresight to believe that you can expose someone who had no prior refined knowledge of concepts like logic, literacy, arythmetic, basic mechanical sciences and aesthetics to things like classical texts, art and ancient culture and expect any break through to take place.
True, also many people claim such things because "people in the past were backwards and stupid" but consider an even older period to be more civilized and advanced, which contradicts their notion of the past. Once you realize people were not as dumb as you think, and that history does not march in a progressive line... a lot of ideological bubbles start bursting.
@matsanw A lot of knowledge from the past has been lost. With the limited tools, look what they could build. A lot of thinking is done for us today by technology.
@@FrancT- Knowledge was lost, but it was due to the lack of any central political authority that could oversee its preservation on a continental schale. The task of preserving and expanding classical knowledge after the collapse of Western Roman Empire was transfered to new scholarly groups operating within the Nicaean Church, who occassionaly recieved patronage from landed aristocracts. This doesn't mean that Europeans were technologically backward during the medieval period, specifically those from the Middle Ages and early High Ages. Yes, there were no large cities built with marble or symmetrical avenues and town squares displaying pompous statues, but that was because there was no unfied political authority to coordinate resources from three different continents to supply such projects. An example of exceptional medieval stone masonry, archiectural and technological advancement can be found in the construction of the Notre Dame Catherdral. It's modern appearance took about 150 years to complete from 1160- 1310; it displayed sophisticated stone masonry craftsmenship and its inside could rivaled many roman construction due to its pompous glass mural inside. This structure itself could have rivalled any roman building because it was way taller, displaying two symmetrical towers and the fact that a minor island in the Seine was able to support its weight is an astounding feature of medieval engineering. Romans themselves would have probably never been able to design something in part as tall and lavishly decorated the walls and towers out of fear that it would not survive an earthquake - Emperor Augustus even issued a decree in 10 B.C that prohibited Roman engineers and builders from constructing something that was taller than four stories high, out of fear that an earthquake would cause it to collapse. Attempting to build something so radical in romans times and on a fomer swamp island no less would have made anyone look like he was either a fool or an outright madman. And also I have to remind that when Notre Dame was started, the kings of France who oversee the construction of such a project ruled an area of territory that was slightely bigger than the island of Corsica, thereby having no access to natural deposits of limestone, marble, iron or lead required for the building. This just shows that even in those times, Western Europe was sufficiently developed and interconnected to undertake such monumental tasks. I hope you find this text to some use.
@rennor3498 Thanks for the reply. It was insightful! The point of my previous comment was that people of our times tend to see people from the ancient period or medieval period as "dumb," while I totally disagree with that notion. If you take the average person today, we know a lot within a short amount of time, but a lot of our knowledge isn't as useful as we might think. Just because a big portion of societies were illiterate, doesn't mean they weren't knowledgeable on crafts that would form pillars of the societies. I'm from Europe, and I travel to historical destinations most holidays. Every time, I'm amazed at architecture dating back hundreds of years. Germany is an underrated country in terms of ancient/medieval attractions to see. Definitely visit Trier one day, it's quite a pretty place if you like history.
Didn’t the renaissance occur because of the fall of Constantinople? After that a lot ancient greek works were translated into latin, which then sparked the scientific revolution.
Many people today seem to think that we are smarter and more rational than our ancestors. This is utterly false. Our ancestors were just as smart, rational, emotional etc as we today are. This is especially said about the Middle Ages, where many portray peasants, and nobles and priests as either unintelligent, or insane. I cannot tell you where these ideas came from, as for me, even thinking about it for a second tells me that they were, logically, like we are today, or perhaps even better. Anyhow, i rambled a bit there, but this was a good video.
@@VictorianEra. the avg person just has a better mindset for learning and knows more. Also in no world are people from the past more logical or smarter than us
It’s amazing how ignorant these educated people can be. “Dark ages” refers to a period that we don’t have a lot of information on, not a period that was horrible.
Someone with a bachlor in History. The Medieval Period was a period of tremandous social progress, even by our modern standards. Slavery was actively combatted by the church, and completely illiminated in many parts of Europe, the first hospitals and orphanages in European history were built, instead of throwing the orphaned and the dissabled into litteral garbadge. Also, in the early middle ages, some great dynastic conflicts made like 8 deaths, which is minuscule compaired to conflicts that would happen latter. As for torture, yes, it was somewhat common, but the people in the Middle Ages weren't willing to spend fortunes on it, unlike in the Renaissance, or even Antiquity. The executions ordered by Ancient Rome were absurdly expensive in terms of money, building material and labor. It was the romans who invented the games of the circus, which and the Renaissance that made the witch-hunts. The witch-hunts were stupidly expensive for the populations that practiced. Also, no society could be perpetually starving for 1000 years less it would fall appart over and over, and how could an improvement in agricultural technology could result in more people starving ? It doesn't mean they weren't famines, but...Societies run on their belly. Also, yes, some lords did abuse their peasants, but it really wasn't in their interest. Firstly, weapon technology wasn't what it is today, and agricultural tools could be converted into weaponry. Secondly, and it's the biggest concern, the more healthy peasants there are, the richer the lord was. Other systems to limit abuse also existed. Also, the early middle ages had some Volcanic explosions that created a few years without summer. No growing season on one half of an entire continent.
@@drpepper3838 Of course we do and I like my history a lot even though it's way shorter/clear cut and not as complex as European history, but my favorite topics of American history have to be Western Expansion, Barbary Wars, and the Gilded Age.
@@drpepper3838yes, the history of the most powerful civilization ever concieved, that brought more peace and more people out of poverty than any nation in history. The phone you are joking on was invented by American achievements. Pax Americana
@@WhydoIsuddenlyhaveahandle You mean the computer invented by the English Alan Turing, running on the three phase AC current invented by Serbian Nikola Tesla, using a battery first conceptualized by the Italian Alessandro Volta
@@WhydoIsuddenlyhaveahandle every nation was at once the most powerful. Merica isn't special. Many powerful countries existed long before your baby country. Now go sniff some fentanyl
Just look at the beauty and elegance of medieval churches and cathedrals. Especially large cathedrals in gothic style are the most impressive and beautiful buildings that people ever built. Compare it with crap soulless generic architecture we build today and you will see where the real Dark Ages are.
I'm neither Christian nor European, but I came to respect the Christian religion and its rich historical impact more when I gave in to my curiosity to do more research, learning about it through books, articles and, of course, videos like yours. I honestly feel unjustly deceived all my life that I learned in the public schools of my country under the socialist governments of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva since the 2000s. Even though I don't believe in any religion, especially Christianity, I felt deceived throughout my youth with the myths propagated against Christianity, Europe and the history of these two. I'm no victim, but I have very unfair/anger feeling for being fooled as a young student at the time. I feel this way in many other aspects as well, not just religion. History, politics, values, nature, language, et cetera. It's only now that I've come out of many dystopian/fallacious movements that I was previously in as a young teenager girl years ago. The bad thing is that I was growing up with my hard-headed idiot teenager who didn't want to hear otherwise. Now in my mid-20s, I'm much calmer, more humbled and can listen a bit better than before. I realize how many adolescent mistakes I made, especially in politics and history. Sorry for the little vent. Thank you so much for sharing the true history of the Middle Ages, Pax Tube. Keep going. 👏👏
It was called the dark age first by the common people because due to two volcanic activities, the world was engulfed in ashes. Hence the dark ages. And the world first burbonic plague (Justinian plague) happened right after. That and because the Eastern Rome lost their steam and begin to lose Spain, North Africa, Italy, and eventually the Levant and Egypt. The dark age is now known as the early middle ages.
@@marvalice3455 To be fair, my university experience has been studying medicine in Lithuania ten years ago. The situation didn't seem entirely unsalvageable, but I could imagine how much worse off the humanities in the West might be...
Yeah but that's not schools are designed for, I think you missed the latest drama about the teacher who got fired for turning a JK Rowling hating NPC in a thinking individual.
It's not a modern concept though. The term dark ages was created during the Renaissance by Humanists to contrast the past to the present and to promote the ancient cultures of Rome and Greece. So they also were wilfully misrepresenting the past.
The most simple way for me to put it when explaining this to people is that at the beginning of the Middle Ages, Europe was invaded from all parts, and at the end of it, it was the most advanced society on earth and was conquering the world. This idea of a stagnation is nonsense ; the growth of this era was phenomenal. A literal anomaly, actually, which proves how immensely effective the Church and the Feudal system was. And the modern era is the direct evolution of this, not a rupture with the past as it's so commonly presented. So yes, this self-hatred is part of a pretty malicious post-modern/decolonial interpretation that makes us discredit the Middle Ages even more, as a way to sever the roots of the Western Civilisation and make it crumble. Anyway, excellent video ; you covered the subject pretty well!
Spealing of myths needing debunking: The Roman Empire didn’t collapse until the 1450s. Saying it ended in 476 because it got smaller is like saying the US collapsed if it lost everything up to the Mississippi. Getting smaller does not equal going extinct. Furthermore, the concept of the Byzantine Empire was a Renaissance retcon to delegitimze the Roman Empire since the Pope named a different entity the "holy" Roman empire.
That's a bit like saying the Frankish Empire never collapsed because Germany and France still exist today. It is generally conceded that the Western half collapsed, and that part was dominated by a different people, language and culture. The Western half was dominated by the Latins, who spoke Latin, who's city was Rome in Italy. The Eastern half was dominated by the Greeks, the main language was Greek, and the city was the Rome of Anatolia, also known as Constantinopel. Even before the demise of the Western half the East didn't see themselves as part of a continuous Empire.
If the US lost everything up to the Mississippi, I would never respect anyone who claimed that isn't a collapse. I'm assuming you mean everything _west_ of the Mississippi. If so, this would be indestinguishable from collapse for me. Further, everyone living easy of it would have their lives so fundamentally changed that it would be as if the "US" were a whole new country.
@@sandercohen9712 this "Even before the demise of the Western half the East didn't see themselves as part of a continuous Empire." is the dummest thing ive ever heard
@@sandercohen9712 the Greeks started to identify themselves as Roman. At some point the term roman was even used as synonym for Greek-speaking orthodox christians.
Mainly because he had a feel good voice and knew how to look good in front of a camera (remember, he's remembered as a science communicator first, astronomer second). His student Neil deGrasse Tyson has picked up on that as well. Combine this with the fact that a lot of the astronomy and space enthusiasts crowds are either irreligious or atheists who grew up watching Sagan on TV, they kinda of just accept Sagan's take on religion as a form of absolute truth. I'm a big space enthusiast but I absolutely hate Carl Sagan as a person (and most other space enthusiast for that matter since many of them keep repeating the mantra of "defund the military and give the money to NASA"). His influence has probably been an overall net negative on society.
I once saw a video where some nasty piece of work claimed that knights regularly pissed in their armour, because it was too hard to get off. Thank you for correcting these ugly misconceptions.
Carl Sagan was an intelligent man but not necessarily a wise man… He famously reduced all of life on earth to speck of dust in the galaxy which itself is a spec of dust in the universe. From this he preached a philosophy of nihilism. Carl Sagan was not always an atheist though. He grew up in a Reformed Jewish family. I wonder if his hostility towards the Middle Ages was motivated by his atheism or his heritage. Given that Jews in the Middle Ages lived quiet comfortable lives but were not allowed to take positions of power in society, positions which they began to dominate in the 17th century immediately after the renaissance and of course the reformation. I wonder if the Jewish influence in popular culture for the last 100 years shaped this misunderstanding of the Middle Ages… It wouldn’t be the first time popular culture was used to influence once abhorred but now accepted political paradigms. Bobby Fischer was an intelligent Jewish man that was also very wise.
Their people have a tendency to promote atheism, nihilism, and other such ideologies to other peoples societies. But they won't promote it to their own people.
Also, include their worldly advancement due to Napoleon’s favors to them. He was aiming to be their “messiah” and some regarded him as such. Remember, he tried to capture Jerusalem with that in mind. But that fell through because of pressing issues back in France and Europe which forced his return.
Medieval Europe had a lot in common with Feudal Japan. Both had local counties or Daimyo, ruled by a military Lord or Samurai Clique that was largely independent of the Leader chosen from heaven King/Emperor, as well as a nobility class that ensured a significant class divide between them and peasant commoners. Yet I don't see anyone portraying medieval Japan as some "backward shithole" where everybody was stupid and uneducated
Not to mention, how the Japanese treated the christians (japanese chiratians) during the early Edo Period.... they always pass it as "traitors of the country" or "not real japanese"..... because they can't support the narrative of "christians being the oppressed", they should always be "the evil oppressors". Same thing with the historical "Shimabara Rebelion", in which a relatively large amount of japanese christians tried to resist the Shogunate's overtaxation and the persecution of portuguese missionaries and traders..... people nowadays, always pass it as "a bunch of stupid peasants, trying to defy the might and noble Shogunate!!".
They have a different type of myth where every samurai runs around with a katana. And all of them are willing to charge headfirst into any problem even if they know they’ll die. It’s pretty much swapping out stupid civilians for stupid military tactics.
People worked less, ate healthier, had families, there was no wokieism nor communism. Also, music notation was invented and developed during the MA, as well as musical instruments, dancing and singing. The MA were amazing times.
@@IndianaJonesTDH Medieval peasants never worked more than 8 hours a day. That is a complete lie and joke that they worked more, and "harder". They had breaks for breakfast, lunch, an afternoon nap, refreshment breaks throughout the day, and were done well before dinner time. One day's work was considered half a day, and if a serf worked an entire day, this was counted as two "days-works." The ancien règime in France is reported to have guaranteed fifty-two Sundays, ninety rest days, and thirty-eight holidays. In Spain, travelers noted that holidays totaled five months per year. Our modern concept of "work" is a complete joke.
Imageries of dreams reveal a gracious age: Black armour, falling lace, and altar lights at morn. The courtesy of saints - their gentleness and scorn, Lights on an earth more fair than shone from Plato's page. The courtesy of knights - fair calm and sacred rage. The courtesy of love - sorrow for love's sake born. Vanished, those high conceits! Desolate and forlorn, We hunger against hope for the lost heritage. Gone now, the cavern work. Ruined, the golden shrine. No more the glorious organs pour their voice divine. No more the frankincense drifts through the holy place. Now, in the broken tower what solemn bell still tolls, Mourning what piteous death? Answer, o saddened souls! We mourn the death of beauty and the death of grace. -Lionel Johnson
@@fwMMVII Sorry for the belated response. The title of the poem is "The Age of a Dream", the poet being, as mentioned, Lionel Johnson. I might have gotten a word or two wrong, writing this from memory.
Great Video! But... It does NOT mentioned the as clearly the main point here, Vikins, Goths, Gauls... They all gain prosperity because of the medieval church. Birka, a viking center, gained prosperity and stop to kill infant girls because of the Christian faith. Even a Harvard study display a quite strong correlation between medieval church influence and psychological variation. Ive made this bibliography available on youtube.
The best thing that kept the Middle Ages alive were its values. They couldn't afford to be different from one another, but stayrd together in good and bad.
its called the dark ages by a certain group because for their rootless existence, it wasn't a great time once you realize that common thread, a lot of lies start to unravel
The real dark ages were the Islamic aggressions, the Magyar raids, and the Viking golden age. Also, Carl Sagan wasn't an atheist, he was a Jew. Any surprises here?
As an academic, I have never seen a single peer-reviewed paper or scholarly-historical textbook call the Middle Ages, “the Dark Ages.” Even in academia, no one uses this term because they realize how misleading it is as even during the Middle Ages people were still innovating and inventing.
All those things happened during the Middle Ages: the Renaissance of the 12th century, the medieval warm period, the Latin translation movement, the Christianization of central & eastern Europe, the Macedonian Renaissance & Komnenoi Restoration in the Eastern Roman Empire, the Irish golden age, the birth & spread of universities, the establishment of an international community of scholars despite the ethnic and state differences, big advancememts in agriculture thst were only surpassed in the 18th century, many new inventions, the origins of modern science (scientists at Paris & Oxford, the Oxford Calculators), the orignis of modern legal system, the origins of the doctrine of natural/human rights in the canon law of the Church, the establishment of Latin Christendom, the so called Medieval Synthesis, peak of metaphysics with scholasticism, the Romanesque & Gothic architectures, the monks spreading civilization among many places, origins of many vernacular literatures.
Medieval historian and economist here. I’d like to add some points. Firstly, bread was nutritious (if any insect and vermin presence is factored out, along with fine bits of millstone). The wheat used now compared to back then has 19x (!) the amount of gluten in it. That only started in the mid-1960s. Big Ag upped the gluten in order to make consumers feel full. I have had einkorn bread. It does not taste like store bought products or even artisanal bread. I now understand why such bread was a staple. “White” bread was actually tan in color. The flour was triple sifted (at least). The second quality bread was brown and would beat out artisan bread today. What with the near twenty times jump of gluten in bread, no need to wonder where gluten intolerances and related problems come from. “Dark Ages” was a term coined by the Renaissance writers to wallow in their superiority over ages past. The Hollywood/film/authors’ misrepresentation of dull, drab clothing options (excepting the rich) is totally false. Plant dyes may not have usually been colorfast, but English commoners and peasants (farmers) had a rich variety of dyes to choose from that were cheap and plentiful. Except for Scotland, whose nobles set high taxes on imported dyes. Surprisingly, smuggling dyes common in England across the Scottish border occurred rather frequently, save in times of war. I hope this helps. Cheers!
There are comments down below talking about how the Dark Age myth is rooted in both the desire by modern day atheists to discredit Christianity and Industrial Age politicians who recognized how terrible conditions at the time were, but would rather exaggerate how awful the past was rather than talk about the benefits of their present (as that would lead to discussion about the problems of their time). I’m not here to disagree with these statements or discredit the posters. I just want to add some extra points. As Kraut discussed in one of his videos, a lot of the myths propagated by Industrial Age thinkers were actually taken from statements made by those thinking men of the French Revolution. Their intention being to discredit and destroy the monarchy they were rebelling against. Yes, THAT French Revolution. As in, the one where, during the Reign of Terror, the Committee of Public Safety executed thousands of people in a frenzy to purge of country of all those who didn’t fit in with their ideal of a “virtuous utopian republic.” Ironically enough, those same revolutionaries would follow their victims to the guillotine. So yeah, the Dark Age myth is really lies built atop lies built atop even more lies.
The fact you cited Kraut just brings something interesting given that no right winger today takes Kraut seriously due to his actions towards right wingers back in the late 2010s. Then again, he also has plenty of critics from the far left as well. Also, Pax made a video about the French Revolution as well. You should check that out as well.
The 1st time the easter parade was filmed in NY. Like 8 women was smoking cigarettes in front of the cameras. It was shocking I know The ladies wasn’t rebellious or brave women. They was paid actors to sell cigarettes to women and it worked
"Torches of Freedom" Selling unhealthy or destructive products by attaching them to a political cause. Similar to expensive drugs and surgeries for transgender procedures today.
The Roman culture continued in Germanic Western Europe by religion. Chalcedonian Christianity was the state religion of the Roman Empire. When the Western Imperial Government collapsed, its Church survived. It represented the last connection and remnant of the Western Roman Empire. The Catholic Church thus carried the Roman legacy of institution, Latin knowledge and theological ideology of Universalism: Roman Empire as an eternal, prosperous, mighty and civilised universal Christian empire on Earth. Such a great “Christian-Romanophilic” concept was the ultimate dream and goal of every Medieval European ruler.
That's not this guy's job. Part of learning difficult truths is knowing when it is prudent to bring them up, and when you would just do more damage to the search for knowledge.
Feudalism is a legitimate form of governance. The consent/contact economy allows for someone to be a taskmaster without any duty to care for your needs. Now socialism doesn't solve this issue, but it's absolutely an attempt to address it.
As a Historian it is good to hear the accurate and well researched facts in this video. It is annoying that Rome and similar societies are romanticised when the Germanic groups are not recognised as much for their societies and their huge impact on Europe and the world. The advancement that was driven by them is unmatched. In reality, looking at the last 1500 years the Germanic people have made an enormous contribution with the majority of invention and innovation coming from the various groups and in addition the exploration of the world with the formation of countries like England, America, Australia, Unified Germany and so many more. On a separate note an interesting incident to look into is the siege on Caffa which took place around the time that the black death emerged, during this incident the Mongol attackers launched dead soldiers that were infected with an unknown illness over the walls of the city, following this European traders fled the city sailing to the Genoa and Venice region, upon arrival many had died or were dying from a sickness. At this point a wave of what is now called the black death swept across Europe. There is potential for the incident in Caffa being the source for the Black death with researchers stating that it could have potentially originated in the Eurasian/Central Asian steppes and been spread along trade routes before being contracted buy the Mongol soldiers. If this is the case it would be the largest incident of biological warfare in history, although entirely unknowingly.
I'm 15 years old, and this viedo, was the first time I realised what "Middle Ages" meant. Because of the media, I always thought the "Dark Age" was just about the Black Death, and Europeans being dumb. Thanks for this video Pax! Continue your great work!
This video hits the nail on the head. These days people think that living in the past was pure hell and people were dumb. its like people think that we are always progressing in one direction in history all the time, forever. And the past is intentionally described as evil and backwards, dark ages being one of the worse terms coloured by a narrative. I've seen comments on videos about even as recent as 1950s that girls shouldn't wish living simpler life like their grandmothers because they would get beaten up by their husbands if they lived back then. Although their idea of 50s america is different to what were the traditional gender roles of the past.
Yeah they've been driven into a state of absolute hysteria. They have no idea how much better things were. The worst ones are those who lived through it but rewrite their memories to try to earn brownie points.
One problem with your map on 11:08 is that Budapest did not exist till 1873 with the merge of the cities of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest. The medieval capital of Hungary was Buda.
Im very proud of my Spanish Heritage! A thing you didn’t mentioned is the unique Iberian Medieval System of Behetría (which gave peasants more powers, they could become Knights, Elect a Lord, and by election comes also dismissing) Search for *Villain Knights* *Caballeros Villanos* I know it sounds a lot like evil. Basically they were peasants who would accept to resettle in disputed areas between Christian and muslim borders. From time to time they would make a parade to show each individuals their horses, weapons and armours.
TVs and Movies have convinced people they know about something because they saw it in a show. I once saw a woman authoritatively declare to a Roman tour guide that Octavius was the nephew of Cesar because she saw it in the TV Show Rome. She wasn't even convinced after he corrected her, she said she would look into it.
depends on what you consider a better lifestyle? obviously even the poorest person in the west lives a better life than a medieval king if we’re talking about material standards, but in terms of life satisfaction a medieval peasant may have been more fulfilled by his day to day than the average westerner.
When I saw a video about the myth of the Dark Ages, I assumed it was about the Early Middle Ages (i.e. the Dark Age). When historians refer to it as dark, it is due to the lack of written texts from the period, not that the period was necessarily "dark" everywhere. Good video though.
This channel is amazing and crucial, given the many misconceptions people have about the different topics you have covered! Thank you for the awesome work.
Thank you very much for this video! It debunks the modern myth of the dark ages perfectly! The medieval ages marked the beginning of civilized table customs, such as eating with fork, knive & spoon; or of chivalry & virtuos behavior of the warrior class.
The woman singing in the part about monasteries is probably one of the few examples of choir singing that I find genuinely beautiful. It gives off a sci-fi vibe. A wonderful choice!
Fun fact: The myth of the "Dark Ages" was invented and proliferated by Early Modern Romaboos. Enlightenment Philosophes (the same perpetrators of the French Revolution, which PaxTube previously discussed) were obsessed with Ancient Rome as the ideal centralized nation-state, and were willing to blame anyone and anything for its own fall, with Christianity being the scapegoat. In actuality, the Roman Empire was economically stagnant (due to being based on plunder and slavery) and chronically politically unstable (due to being a military dictatorship with no formal line of succession, thus inviting coups and civil wars whenever an Emperor was weak or unpopular), and the Germanic Kingdoms that replaced it (the Visigoths in Spain, the Franks in France and Germany, the Saxons in Britain, the Lombards in Italy) were more culturally sophisticated, politically stable, and militarily advanced than the Romans were by the time the Empire fell.
Nope. French Revolution was perpetrated by those who subvert all European nations, which is also the case here. Never let (((them))) teach you history.
Good point, however in its glory days rome was a great civilisation, don’t make the same mistake as you accuse your enemies of, rome was between 200NC and 200AD had a lot going for it, but I agree with most of what you say
The Enlightement Philosophers were Freemasons. The Lodge of the Grande Oriente and a bitter enemy of the Catholic church. Their values have conquered the modern world.
the whole idea about "dark ages" came from an Italian poet by the name Francesco Petraca who lived in the 14th century, he complained about the quality of literature in his own time, he used the term dark ages, and it spread from there, I do agree some use it today as a sort of revenge over Europe in debates
The title from midievalmadness might be a bit clickbaity but actually quite reasonable. Its a video about how many women died in childbirth, about how much child immortality there was, how lacking healthcare was, how much leadpoisoning and stuff like that there was and above all the black plague.
5:01 totally agree! I hate when people overglorify the Roman Empire as some kind of utopia with high intelligence and science, but then "suddenly it all went down when Christianity arrived!!". 😒
REEEEEEEE REEEEEEEE CHRISTIANITY BAD 500-1500 i wonder who would push that naerative, and who was expeled from various countries 80 times in that 500-1500 period
It's funny how the horrible and awful RU-vid algorithm recommended me the "you wouldn't survive 24 hours in Middle Ages" video and I didn't click it because I knew it would say just merely doubtful information. And the first time I saw your video I immediately clicked it, because I knew it will contain veridical information.
