The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham

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• 
  caesar963
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  Truly excellent upload, Merida (also it’s good to see that you’ve relented from British imperialist uploads) - the “Dark Ages” being applied to the medieval period was always a contrived misnomer (it drives medievalists crazy!). The Middle Ages represented a phase of extraordinary cultural richness. The conception of human personhood altered absolutely from the Classical period. You won’t like this, but Irish monks, inter alia, did their bit by preserving Koine Greek. Thanks!

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  Merida769
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  What, still protesting over there Caesar? Why am I not surprised, the downtrodden never get a day aff it seems.
  Ach away to add MEDIEVAL to my tags then sigh, no pleasing some people innit ;)
  Irish monks, I love Irish monks! I might need to rephrase that…

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  caesar963
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  I’m one of the MOPEs (Most Oppressed People Ever) - I’ve even got a grammatically incorrect placard. Irish monks saved Northern Europe - you’re very welcome.

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  pryderi
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  I’d have to admit I’m a great believer in the Dark Ages. When we swapped clean water, Europe with no borders, and the rule of law, for State Religion, anti-Semitism and Original Sin - I’m not convinced that was a move forwards.
  Still, it’s an interesting millennium, and we probably need to know how things got so bad so quickly.
  Thank you Merida769.

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  Merida769
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  Where’s a time machine when you want one! Not sure how I’d manage without my modern creature comforts though, can’t even cope with camping, so the middle ages with be a tough gig I suspect.

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  Merida769
  February 27th, 2019
  

  *would be (that glass of wine is blurring my edges)

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  caesar963
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  There was a genuine Dark Age - in Greek history (interval between the collapse of the Mycenaean civilisation, around 1200 BC, and the Greek Archaic Period, around c.800 BC). This term was then intentionally misapplied to the period following the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

  How things got so bad in the immediate phase following this event is explained by a huge influx of so-called barbarian tribes. The borders could no longer be held. One of the reasons that the Greeks had a properly-termed Dark Age was that literacy was lost during that period and actually had to be re-learned. The system of monasteries which developed throughout Europe, not only preserved literacy, but also the products of Classical Civilisation which we so value. This, in spite of repeated attacks. Europe remained in this beleaguered state for a very long time.

  However, the Catholic Church did manage, during this time, to create and develop the university system. Canon lawyers also developed the concept of human rights (based on the individual, dignified human soul) and formulated a framework of international law. And the discipline of economics, etc. Agriculture also evolved, which it could not have done under Roman domination, as they could depend on a slave workforce. Consequently, they were not required to adopt more efficient measures.

  The Classical period generally had a concept of the human being which was impoverished, morally empty and materialist (brutal torture as public spectacle and entertainment; people were not seen as rights-bearers, that developed in the middle ages) - much like the view of personhood which is gaining ground in the West at this moment in history. Indeed, it has been proposed that the last century, with its unprecedented levels of savagery, could be described as a new Dark Age.

  Unfortunately, anti-Semitism existed long before the era under discussion, and exists amongst people of all faiths and none to this day.
  This book (and many others by experts in the period) should help in disabusing folks of misconceived notions. They are understandable errors however, given the current state of historical knowledge. Don’t rely on 4th hand mendacious stereotypes - Sapere aude!

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  caesar963
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  There was plenteous wine to be had, Merida (and beer for us less refined types). They even had vineyards in the south of England, the climate was so warm (none in Scotland, sad to say). You could quaff your vino while perusing Chaucer, Boccaccio, the Venerable Bede and Dante. Then you could take a (wobbly) stroll through the sublime and magnificent Gothic cathedrals, enjoying the beautiful choral music. You could chat to King Arthur, Robin Hood and William Wallace or experience both the Carolingian Renaissance of the 8th Century and the 12th Century Renaissance. If your time machine is still viable, that is.

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  Merida769
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  I can still take a walk through gothic cathedrals and quaff wine in these here times, thank goodness - but I’d need some very strong smelling salts indeed to have a chat fo King Arthur or William Wallace (or my trusty steed aka the time machine). Very educational thread Mr Caesar sir, “hic”……

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  caesar963
  February 27th, 2019
  

  

  They would be a bit whiffy, I’ll grant you that - but we should look to the content of their characters, rather than that of their washing baskets (they had a bath once a year, whether they needed to, or not).

  But you could see the cathedrals in all their novel splendour, instead of the atmospheric, modern grime of, say, Glasgow Cathedral?

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham
• 
  Senbonzakura
  March 3rd, 2019
  

  Now that’s the most civil dissing match I have witnessed in the comments section of any website!

  The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 - Chris Wickham

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