Here’s What You Don’t Know and Weren’t Taught About the 'Dark Ages'

What we were taught about the "Dark" or "Middle" Ages is that the Roman Empire was sacked and fell, and until the "Enlightenment", Europe/Western Civilization languished in disease and superstition and nothing was done or accomplished. A lot of the problem, we were taught, was because of Christianity . It was anti-science, anti-creative, and kept people mired in superstition. Then, bang, the Enlightenment happened, and humanity was back on track because of reason and rationality sans Christianity. But we all know nothing is sudden when it comes to humanity.

The fall of the Roman Empire left a vacuum. Close to anarchy reigned and government was mostly non-existent. Little monarchies and tribes were waring with each other. How was knowledge to be kept, and the people fed? The key to the restructuring were monasteries. I think we have mostly St Benedict, in the mid sixth century, to thank for this. He formed libraries in the monasteries to preserve existing knowledge. A lot of these books and manuscripts ended up too in Ireland, and I recommend Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization" for that. The monasteries also lead the way for building and planting.

During this time we developed or invented the heavy plow so tilling wasn't so labor intensive and productivity was increased substantially. We got the system of crop rotation developed. The true age of iron began; the Romans were bronze age, and that's what they left behind. So with better farm equipment and agricultural techniques, more people were better fed, and with more nutritious food. Without investigating, just going on a hunch, I suspect the peasants living and working near monasteries were much better off and healthier than the slaves of Rome in the same position.

In the twelfth century the Cistercians came on the scene expanding the monastic system. By this time too, this system was hugely successful economically. During this time, wool production, especially in England and France, skyrocketed. Iron production increased dramatically because the Cistercians came up with new ways to use the water wheel and were effective in promoting that use for smelting. Resulting from that use of water power, water wheels began being used for grinding, crushing and fulling mills, and forge hammer and tanneries were mechanized to a large degree. I think the machine age began then. Labor saving devices that lifted so much physical burden from men.

Clocks came out of that time too. If you can organize your time, you can be more productive. (I think that good idea is often used to an unhealthy level in both the industrial and information ages...a subject for another essay.) This of course was important to monks because they had a strict worship regime, and this was helpful meeting that need.

Medicine was a serious study and practice coming out of the Benedictine monasteries, based on empirical observance and documentation. That in turn laid the foundation for hospitals for the poor. Monasteries may not have been able to apply much in the way of medical care, but just think that if you were poor and sick, there was someone to provide at least comfort, food and drink. This had never been done before.

We got the horizontal-axle windmill, a huge labor saving device. The blast furnace was developed. The use of steam power was developed. The manufacture of paper was mechanized along with improvements to the printing press. Musical notation was developed, pipe organs were developed, eyeglasses, and the first crankshafts. The first glider, by a monk at Malmesbury Abbey flew several hundred feet.

It was on all this that the 'enlightenment' was built. Rationality and reason was mankind's salvation. I think not. I think it was, and is, Christianity. What we believe and were taught about those times just isn't so.