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Why Was The Time Period Ever Called The Middle Ages

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The Dark Ages and the Middle Ages are the same time period. It is called the Middle Ages because it fell between two very well known time periods, the Romans and the Renaissance. Why was the time period ever called the Dark Ages? There were advances in government, arts, and literature. Many other time periods also have the same advances, yet they are not called dark. The historians are the main contributors to the incorrect interpretation of the era and it’s name.
The Middle Ages are known as the Dark ages due to the fact that there was not much known about the time period. Document A states that the term came to use because the historians were “in the dark”. The term eventually became used to describe the people of the time as well. They were thought to be in a time of ignorance and miserable living. In time, documents of the Middle Ages came to light. After analyzing the documents the historians realized this age was not so dark after all and stopped using the term to describe the time period. One of the documents they discovered was the Magna Carta. …show more content…

Document B states that King John needed to be sure he kept the support of his nobles after losing a battle to France. The Magna Carta’s influence can even be found in more recent documents, such as the United States Constitution. It was created because King John had abused his power by spending excessive amounts money without conferring with his nobles and deciding court cases based on his own opinion. The document limited his power because he had to respect the rights listed, which include the church to be free from governmental interference, the rights of all free citizens to own and inherit property and to be protected from excessive taxes. This began to pave the road for democracy by taking away the absolute monarchy. Later, the historians began to discover art and

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