The medieval period is frequently caricatured as a "time of ignorance and superstition" that placed "the word of religious authorities over personal experience and rational activity." This is a legacy from both the Renaissance and <answer>Enlightenment</answer>, when scholars contrasted their intellectual cultures with those of the medieval period, to the detriment of the Middle Ages. Renaissance scholars saw the Middle Ages as a period of decline from the high culture and civilisation of the Classical world; <answer>Enlightenment</answer> scholars saw reason as superior to faith, and thus viewed the Middle Ages as a time of ignorance and superstition.
Along with the Renaissance, during what period were the Middle Ages disparaged?
Enlightenment