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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture From: "Ms Brenda M. Cook" <[log in to unmask]> > I have always understood that "Dark Ages" referred to the period from the withdrawal of the Roman Legions (410AD IIRC) to the Norman Conquest (1066) and that the Middle Ages referred to 1066-1495. (This is English history, of course .......) yes. yes it is. the OED suggests an unusually early use of the term "Dark Ages", in a middlevil context: DARK: c. Specialized comb. or phrases: dark ages (often with capital initials), (a) a term sometimes applied to the period of the Middle Ages to mark the intellectual darkness characteristic of the time; often restricted to the early period of the Middle Ages, between the time of the fall of Rome and the appearance of vernacular written documents... 1687 BURNET Trav. III. 11 There is an infinite number of the Writers of the *darker Ages. 1730 A. GORDON Maffei's Amphith. 398 A Theatre..called so in the dark Ages, when such Names were given at random. 1748 SMOLLETT Rod. Rand. I. p. iv, In the dark ages of the world, when a man had rendered himself famous for wisdom or valour, his family..represented his character and person as sacred and supernatural. 1837 HALLAM Hist. Lit. I. §5 Gregory I..the chief authority in the dark ages. 1857 BUCKLE Civiliz. I. ix. 558 During these, which are rightly called the Dark Ages, the clergy were supreme. 1860 C. M. YONGE Hopes & Fears I. x. 370 What was natural science with the one, was natural history with the other. One went deep in systems and classifications, and thrust Linnæus into the dark ages. 1871 GEO. ELIOT Middlem. I. ii. 20 We must have Thought: else we shall be landed back in the dark ages. F. M. STENTON Anglo-Saxon Eng. viii. 267 No other king of the Dark Ages ever set himself, like Alfred, to explore whatever in the literature of Christian antiquity might explain the problems of fate and free will. 1952 CHILDE & SIMPSON Anc. Monuments Scotland 6 The ‘Dark Ages’... Approximately fifth-eleventh centuries A.D. 1953 -------------------- what makes an age "Dark", of course, is the scarcity of written sources to "enlighten" it. in other words, it is *us* who are in the "Dark", not those who happen to live in the ages so designated. c ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html