How The Middle Ages Earned Its Many Titles

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The Middle Ages began around A.D. 500, which was after the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed. They lasted to about A.D.1400 and are referenced as a period of time that experienced violence by Barbaric invasion, feudalism, disease, and strong feelings for faith. The Dark Ages, the Age of Feudalism and the Age of Faith are all appropriate titles however the label that best fits is the Age of Faith because of the political, economic and social influence the church held.
The middle ages are often identified as the Dark Age because of the Black Death, invasions by the Barbarians, and because of lack of enlightenment for the common people. A plague most likely originating from Asia spread throughout Europe. Towns and even large cities had no garbage collection or a sewage system and this caused the crowded towns to become filthy and attract rats (OI). The Black Death caused social unrest and people pondered what was going on; many believed that God was punishing them while others claimed the Jews were to blame. With the Black Death overtaking the lives of everyone there were not many achievements or educational advancements during this time as all focus was on trying to get through the plague. After the fall of the Roman Empire there was no stable centralized government in Rome. Different Barbarian civilizations began invasions in Europe. According to historian Frantz Funk-Brentano they raided and destroyed villages and left the people in terror. Brentano also said that to avoid the violence people tried to abandon their fields (Doc. 1). Churches and entire towns were burned down; the town of Dordrecht was burned down by
Barbarian tribes such as the Vikings triggered chaos (Doc.3). This caused people to abandon their lifes...

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...stood out in height and important in comparison to other structures in the towns (Doc.10). The church also issued a tithe tax, which was 1/10 of a person’s income to go towards building churches, monasteries, convents, and universities (OI). The Church’s control and influence over Western Europe was sometimes used for corrupt purposes and persuasion but that was not only the case because it brought prosperity to the economy.
The Middle Ages can also be stated as the Age of Faith because the main center of attention and one’s purpose in life was to serve God and live righteously. More than one title can be assigned to the Middle Ages due to the overlapping of events but the Age of Faith applied almost continuously to the lives of people throughout the Middle Ages while other labels such as the Dark Age and the Age of Feudalism represented certain periods of it.

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