THE MYTH OF THE DARK AGES

David Baker

The Potter School

Fall Semester

Modern History, Lit, and Comp, #1

Mr. Mailand

9/12/2023
 In his book, The Blessing of Disunity, Rodney Stark argued that the ‘Dark Ages’ were a

time of innovation and improvement, largely due to war. “Chain mail armor probably was

invented by the Celts… and subsequently the Germanics perfected it…” 1 he wrote and

continued to explain that one chain shirt “might contain twenty thousand rings.” 2 Just as World

War II changed the modern world, so the medieval world was changed by the constant warfare

following by the collapse of the pax Romana.

Though warfare was a major instigator of technological progress, the monks played a

major role in the advancement of agriculture, and, more importantly, literature. “Describing the

holdings at his library at York, the great Alcuin…mentioned works by Aristotle, Cicero, Lucan,

Pliny, Statius, Trogus Pompeius, and Virgil…”3 Because of tithes, the monks could focus on more

than simple subsistence agriculture; instead, they could experiment on agricultural techniques

and preserve great literature.

The most important event of the Middle Ages was undoubtedly the crusades which,

along with bringing sugar and coffee to the west, had lasting impact on the European world.

After World War I, “Europeans and Americans continued to characterize it as a noble crusade

and the dead as fallen martyrs.”4 The idealism of a war that fought for justice, peace, and ‘the

Christian cause’ was still present in many minds even after the Ottomans Empire was a threat.

1
Stark, Rodney. 2023. How the West Won. [Simon and Schuster], 10.

2
Stark, 10.
3
Woods, Thomas E. 2012. How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.[ Washington, Dc: Regnery
History. ; New York.] , 16.
4
Madden, Thomas F. 2007. The New Concise History of the Crusades. [New York: Barnes & Noble],