who called the middle ages the dark ages
Dark Ages (historiography) The idea of a Dark Age originated with the Tuscan scholar Petrarch in the 1330s.[15][12] Writing of the past, he said: "Amidst the errors there shone forth men of genius; no less keen were their eyes, although they were surrounded by darkness and dense gloom".[16] Christian writers, including Petrarch himself,[15] had long used traditional metaphors of 'light versus darkness' to describe 'good versus evil'. Petrarch was the first to give the metaphor secular meaning by reversing its application. He now saw Classical Antiquity, so long considered a 'dark' age for its lack of Christianity, in the 'light' of its cultural achievements, while Petrarch's own time, allegedly lacking such cultural achievements, was seen as the age of darkness.[15]
Middle Ages The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476,[11] first used by Bruni.[5][A] For Europe as a whole, 1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages,[13] but there is no universally agreed upon end date. Depending on the context, events such as Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are sometimes used.[14] English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period.[15] For Spain, dates commonly used are the death of King Ferdinand II in 1516, the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1504, or the conquest of Granada in 1492.[16] Historians from Romance-speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late".[1] In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages",[17][B] but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians.[2]
Dark Ages (historiography) The term employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's "darkness" (lack of records) with earlier and later periods of "light" (abundance of records).[3] The concept of a "Dark Age" originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar Petrarch, who regarded the post-Roman centuries as "dark" compared to the light of classical antiquity.[3][4] The phrase "Dark Age" itself derives from the Latin saeculum obscurum, originally applied by Caesar Baronius in 1602 to a tumultuous period in the 10th and 11th centuries.[5] The concept thus came to characterize the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance; this became especially popular during the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment.[3]
Middle Ages The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is around 500,[11] with the date of 476 first used by Bruni.[5][A] Later starting dates are sometimes used in the outer parts of Europe.[13] For Europe as a whole, 1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages,[14] but there is no universally agreed upon end date. Depending on the context, events such as the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are sometimes used.[15] English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period.[16] For Spain, dates commonly used are the death of King Ferdinand II in 1516, the death of Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1504, or the conquest of Granada in 1492.[17] Historians from Romance-speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late".[1] In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages",[18][B] but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians.[2]