The Dark Ages...How Dark Were They, Really?: Crash Course World History #14

Summary

This Crash Course World History episode explores the so-called 'Dark Ages' with a critical eye, challenging the Eurocentric view that this period was unenlightened. The video discusses the feudal system in medieval Europe, the cultural and scientific advancements in the Islamic world under the Abbasids, and the golden ages in China with the Tang and Song Dynasties. It highlights the achievements in art, science, and technology, such as the development of gunpowder and the use of paper money, showing that the period was far from 'dark' in many parts of the world.

Takeaways

• 🕯️ The term 'Dark Ages' is often used to describe the period between 600 and 1450 CE in Europe, but its appropriateness is debated due to significant advancements in other parts of the world during this time.
• 🏰 In Europe, the Middle Ages were characterized by less trade, fewer cities, and a decline in cultural output compared to the Roman Empire, but life expectancy slightly increased due to smaller scale wars.
• 👑 Feudalism was the dominant political and economic system in medieval Europe, with a hierarchy of lords, vassals, and peasants, but it lacked social mobility and reinforced the status quo.
• 🌍 The decentralization of power to local lords during times of political stress is a common historical pattern observed in various regions, including China and Afghanistan.
• 📚 Despite the perception of the Middle Ages as a period of ignorance, scholars like Thomas Aquinas and Hildegard of Bingen made significant contributions to philosophy, music, and literature.
• 🕌 The Islamic world, or Dar al-Islam, experienced a golden age of learning and culture, especially under the Abbasid dynasty, which fostered an environment of tolerance and intellectual curiosity.
• 📘 The Abbasids' capital in Baghdad became the center of scholarship, with the House of Wisdom and its immense library, where works of Greek philosophers and scientific texts were translated and preserved.
• 🌐 The Islamic Empire's openness to foreign ideas led to advancements in various fields, including medicine, with ibn Sina's 'Canon of Medicine' becoming a standard textbook, and mathematics, with the adoption of concepts like zero from India.
• 🏙️ In Spain, Islamic Cordoba emerged as a center for arts and architecture, with structures like the Great Mosque of Cordoba showcasing the region's engineering prowess.
• 📈 China's Tang and Song dynasties also experienced golden ages, with advancements in government, art, poetry, and technology, including the invention of gunpowder and the use of paper money.
• 🌾 Agricultural innovations and trade in China led to economic growth, with porcelain being exported worldwide and the production of iron surpassing that of 18th-century Europe.

Q & A

What is the common term used to describe the period between 600 and 1450 CE in Europe, and why is it called so?

The period between 600 and 1450 CE in Europe is commonly referred to as the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. It is called the Dark Ages because it is often perceived as a time of reduced cultural output, fewer cities, and less trade compared to the Roman Empire, and it was supposedly dominated by superstition and religious debates.

What was the life expectancy of Europeans during the Middle Ages compared to the Roman Empire?

The life expectancy of Europeans during the Middle Ages was slightly longer, at 30 years, compared to the Roman Empire period, where it was 28 years.

What is feudalism and how was it structured in medieval Europe?

Feudalism was a political and economic system in medieval Europe based on reciprocal relationships between lords, who owned land, and vassals, who protected the land and were often knights. The lords were also vassals to more important lords, with the king being the most important. Below the knights were peasants, who worked the land in exchange for protection.

How did the Islamic world contrast with Europe during the so-called 'Dark Ages'?

During the time referred to as the 'Dark Ages' in Europe, the Islamic world, or Dar al Islam, experienced a golden age of learning and cultural efflorescence. This was characterized by advancements in philosophy, medicine, and poetry, with Arabic becoming the language of culture, and the establishment of centers of scholarship like the House of Wisdom in Baghdad.

What significant event led to the overthrow of the Umayyad Dynasty in the Islamic world?

The Umayyad Dynasty was overthrown in 750 CE by non-Arab Muslims who were dissatisfied with the hierarchy that placed Arabs at the top and prevented fraternization between Arabs and non-Arab Muslims.

Who were the Abbasids and what changes did they bring to the Islamic Empire?

The Abbasids were a family from the Eastern, more Persian provinces of the Islamic Empire. After taking over in 750 CE, they moved the capital to Baghdad, welcomed non-Arab Muslims into positions of power, and fostered an environment of tolerance and curiosity, leading to a golden age of Islamic learning.

What is the significance of the Battle of the Talas River in the context of the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasids?

The Battle of the Talas River was a significant conflict between the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasids. The Abbasids' victory defined the spheres of influence, with the Abbasids dominating to the west of the river and China dominating to the east.

How did the Song Dynasty contribute to advancements in Chinese society and economy?

The Song Dynasty saw significant advancements in Chinese society and economy. They innovated in metallurgy, producing as much iron as Europe would in the 18th century, developed high-quality porcelain, introduced paper money due to a shortage of metal for coins, and documented the recipe for gunpowder, which had profound impacts on warfare and technology.

What was the cultural and technological impact of the Islamic Golden Age on the world?

The Islamic Golden Age had a profound impact on world culture and technology. It saw the translation and preservation of Greek, Buddhist, and Hindu manuscripts, advancements in medicine with works like the Canon of Medicine by ibn Sina, and the adoption of mathematical concepts from India, including the concept of zero and the development of Arabic numerals.

What is the significance of the Great Mosque at Cordoba in the context of Islamic Spain?

The Great Mosque at Cordoba, built by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rahman I in 785-786 CE, is a significant architectural achievement of Islamic Spain. It exemplifies the artistic and engineering prowess of the Muslims in Spain and is still one of the most impressive mosques in the world.

How did the Chinese innovations in agriculture and trade during the Song Dynasty support population growth and global commerce?

Innovations in agriculture, such as new plows made from the abundant iron production, allowed for increased agricultural yields, which supported population growth. High-quality porcelain and the introduction of paper money facilitated global commerce, with Chinese goods being traded extensively and contributing to the term 'china' being used for porcelain.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 The Dark Ages and the Eurocentric View

John Green introduces the topic of the Dark Ages, challenging the Eurocentric view that this period was unenlightened and inferior to other historical eras. He emphasizes the importance of perspective by comparing personal best and worst years to historical periods, suggesting that what one might consider the 'worst' could be the 'best' for others. The script discusses the Middle Ages in Europe, characterized by less trade, fewer cities, and a decline in cultural output compared to the Roman Empire. Despite the lack of central planning, life expectancy slightly increased due to fewer large-scale wars. The feudal system is explained, highlighting its limitations in social mobility and reinforcing of the status quo. Green also notes the global nature of the period, suggesting that while Europe may have experienced a decline, other regions like the Islamic world and China were experiencing their own golden ages.

05:03

📚 The Abbasids and the Golden Age of Islamic Learning

This paragraph delves into the Abbasid Dynasty's rule and their significant contributions to the Islamic Golden Age. The Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad and embraced non-Arab Muslims, leading to a Persian-influenced empire. Their rule became more indirect, resulting in a patchwork of smaller kingdoms. The Abbasids are credited with fostering an environment of learning and tolerance, where Arabic became the language of culture, and significant advancements were made in philosophy, medicine, and poetry. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad and the translation of Greek and Indian works are highlighted. The paragraph also mentions the development of algebra and trigonometry, and the cultural achievements in Spain, particularly in Cordoba, with its Great Mosque and advancements in agriculture and engineering.

10:03

🏺 China's Golden Age and Technological Innovations

The final paragraph focuses on China's Golden Age during the Tang and Song Dynasties, emphasizing the cultural, artistic, and technological advancements of the period. The Tang Dynasty is noted for its meritocratic government and diverse art, reflecting the empire's multiculturalism. The Song Dynasty is highlighted for its significant iron production, agricultural innovations, porcelain manufacturing, and the introduction of paper money due to a shortage of metal for coins. The Chinese invention of gunpowder is mentioned as a pivotal development in history, influencing both warfare and entertainment. The script concludes by reinforcing the idea that the so-called Dark Ages were not universally dark, but rather a time of progress and enlightenment in different parts of the world.

Keywords

💡Dark Ages

The term 'Dark Ages' refers to the period between 600 and 1450 CE in Europe, often characterized as a time of cultural and intellectual decline following the fall of the Roman Empire. In the video, it is discussed as a misnomer, suggesting that while Europe may have experienced a decrease in urbanization and cultural output, other parts of the world, such as the Islamic world, thrived during this period.

💡Feudalism

Feudalism is a political and economic system that was prevalent in medieval Europe, characterized by a hierarchical structure of lords and vassals. Lords owned land and provided protection to vassals, who in turn provided military service and loyalty. The video explains that this system was well-suited to the local threats of the time but lacked social mobility and reinforced the status quo.

💡Life Expectancy

Life expectancy is the average number of years a person is expected to live, often used as an indicator of the overall health and well-being of a population. The script mentions that during the medieval times, life expectancy was slightly longer (30 years) compared to the Roman Empire period (28 years), suggesting some improvements in living conditions despite the perceived 'darkness' of the era.

💡Islamic Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age refers to a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the Islamic world, particularly under the Abbasid Caliphate. The video highlights this era as a time of significant advancements in various fields such as philosophy, medicine, and mathematics, with Baghdad becoming a center of scholarship and translation of important works.

💡Abbasids

The Abbasids were a dynasty that overthrew the Umayyads and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 750 CE until 1258. The video describes how the Abbasids moved the capital to Baghdad, embraced non-Arab Muslims into positions of power, and fostered an environment of learning and cultural development, contributing to the Islamic Golden Age.

💡House of Wisdom

The House of Wisdom was a major intellectual center in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate, known for its vast library and scholars. The script mentions it as a symbol of the Abbasids' commitment to knowledge and learning, where works of Greek philosophers and other scientific texts were translated and studied.

💡Zero

Zero is a fundamental concept in mathematics, representing the absence of quantity and serving as a placeholder in our number system. The video script pays a humorous tribute to zero, highlighting its importance in mathematical history and its adoption from India by the Islamic empire, which significantly advanced the field of mathematics.

💡Cordoba

Cordoba was a city in Islamic Spain known for its cultural and scientific achievements, particularly during the time of the Umayyad dynasty. The Great Mosque of Cordoba, mentioned in the script, is an architectural marvel that exemplifies the city's contributions to art and engineering during this period.

💡Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was a golden age in Chinese history, characterized by a meritocratic government, territorial expansion, and cultural achievements. The video discusses the Tang Dynasty's influence in art and trade across Asia, as well as its contributions to Chinese poetry and the development of gunpowder.

💡Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty succeeded the Tang Dynasty and is noted for its advancements in technology, agriculture, and the economy. The script highlights the Song Dynasty's innovations in metallurgy, porcelain production, and the introduction of paper money, which facilitated trade and economic growth.

💡Gunpowder

Gunpowder is a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal, which has been pivotal in both warfare and pyrotechnics. The video mentions that by the 11th century, the Chinese had documented recipes for gunpowder, which had a profound impact on the course of history, especially in the development of modern weaponry.

Highlights

Introduction to the Dark Ages as a period of Eurocentric bias and its impact on historical perspective.

The concept of personal best and worst years as a metaphor for the subjective nature of historical periods.

The Middle Ages in Europe, characterized by less trade, fewer cities, and less cultural output compared to the Roman Empire.

Feudalism as a political and economic system with reciprocal relationships between lords and vassals.

Life expectancy in Medieval Times was slightly longer than during the Roman Empire.

The Abbasid Dynasty's rise to power and their more inclusive approach to non-Arab Muslims.

The golden age of Islamic learning in Baghdad, with emphasis on philosophy, medicine, and poetry.

The translation and preservation of Greek, Buddhist, and Hindu manuscripts by Muslim scholars.

Ibn Sina's 'Canon of Medicine' and its influence as a standard medical textbook.

The adoption of mathematical concepts from India, including the concept of zero.

The harmonious relationship between science and religion in the Abbasid Empire.

Cordoba's significance as a center for arts and architecture during the Islamic period in Spain.

The Tang Dynasty's contributions to Chinese government, art, and poetry.

The Song Dynasty's advancements in metalworking, agriculture, porcelain, and paper money.

The invention of gunpowder and its historical significance in warfare and pyrotechnics.

The production team behind Crash Course and their roles in creating the series.

Transcripts

Hi there my name’s John Green, this is Crash Course World History and today we’re going

to talk about the Dark Ages, possibly the most egregious Eurocentrism in all of history,

which is really saying something.

(We’re Europe! The Prime Meridian Runs Through us; We’re in the Middle of Every Map; and

We Get To Be a Continent Even Though Were Not a Continent.)

But let’s begin today with a pop quiz:

What was the best year of your life, and what was the worst year?

Mr. Green, Mr. Green: Best 1994, Worst 1990.

Oh, me from the past. It gets so much better, and also so much worse.

For worst year I’m gonna go with 2001; best year 2006.

Alright now it’s your turn, dear pupils: share your best and worst years in comments during the intro.

[theme music]

Right, so what you will quickly find is that your worst year was someone else’s best year.

So, too, with history.

The period between 600 and 1450 CE is often called the Middle Ages in Europe because it

came between the Roman Empire—assuming you forget the Byzantines—and the beginning

of the Modern Age.

And it’s sometimes called the Dark Ages, because it was purportedly unenlightened.

But was the age so dark?

Depends on what you find depressing.

If you like cities and great poetry, then the Dark Ages were indeed pretty dark in Europe.

But if like me your two favorite things are Not Dying From Wars and not dying from anything else,

the Dark Ages actually weren’t that bad—

at least until the plague came in the 14th century.

And meanwhile, outside of Europe,

the Dark Ages were truly an Age of Enlightenment.But we’ll get boring Europe out of the way first.

Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

Medieval Europe had less trade, fewer cities, and less cultural output than the Original Roman Empire.

London and Paris were fetid firetraps with none of the planning of sewage management

of places 5,000 years older like Mohenjo Daro in the Indus Valley Civilization, let alone Rome.

But with fewer powerful governments,

wars were at least smaller, which is one reason why Europeans living in Medieval Times—

Uhh THOUGHT BUBBLE I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO DO THAT.

Anyway, people in Medieval Times lived slightly longer — life expectancy was 30 —

than Europeans during the Roman Empire — when life expectancy was 28.

Instead of centralized governments,

Europe in the middle ages had feudalism, a political system based on reciprocal relationships

between lords, who owned lots of land, and vassals,

who protected the land and got to dress up as knights in exchange for pledging loyalty to the lords.

The lords were also vassals to more important lords,

with the most important of all being the king.

Below the knights were peasants

who did the actual work on the land in exchange for protection from bandits and other threats.

Feudalism was also an economic system,

with the peasants working the land and keeping some of their production to feed themselves

while giving the rest to the landowner whose land they worked.

The small scale, local nature of the feudal system was perfect for a time and place where

the threats to peoples’ safety were also small scale and local.

But of course, this system reinforces the status quo –

there’s little freedom and absolutely no social mobility:

Peasants could never work their way up to lords,

and they almost never left their villages.

Thanks, Thought Bubble.

One more point that’s very interesting from a world history perspective:

this devolution from empire to localism has happened in lots of places at lots of different times.

And in times of extreme political stress,

like after the fall of the Han dynasty in China,

power tends to flow into the hands of local lords who can protect the peasants better than the state can.

We hear about this a lot in Chinese history and also in contemporary Afghanistan,

but instead of being called feudal lords, these landlords are called warlords.

Eurocentrism striking again.

The other reason the Dark Ages are called Dark

is because Europe was dominated by superstition

and by boring religious debates about like how many angels can fit on the head of a pin.

And while there’s something to that,

the Middle Ages also saw theologians like Thomas Aquinas,

who was quite an important philosopher,

And women like Hildegard of Bilgen,

who wrote all this important liturgical music and also basically invented the genre of the morality play.

All that noted, things were certainly brighter in the Islamic world, or Dar al Islam.

So when we last left the Muslims,

they had expanded out of their homeland in Arabia and conquered the rich Egyptian provinces

of the Byzantines and the entire Sassanian empire,

all in the space of about 100 years.

The Umayyad Dynasty then expanded the empire west to Spain and moved the capital to Damascus,

because it was closer to the action, empire-wise but still in Arabia.

That was really important to the Umayyads

because they’d established this hierarchy in the empire with Arabs like themselves at the top and in fact

they tried to keep Arabs from fraternizing with non-Arab muslims throughout the Empire.

This of course annoyed the non-Arab Muslims, who were like,

“I don’t know if you’re reading the same Quran we are, but this one says that

we’re all supposed to be equal.”

And pretty quickly the majority of Muslims weren’t Arabs,

which made it pretty easy for them to overthrow the Umayyads,

which they did in 750 CE.

Their replacements, the Abb(ah)sids, Abb(uh)sids? Hold On...

D’ahh, I’m right twice!

Right, so the Abbasids were from the Abb(ah)si or the Abb(uh)-see family

which hailed from the Eastern and therefore more Persian provinces of the Islamic Empire.

The Abbasids took over in 750 and no one could fully defeat them —

until 1258, when they were conquered by — wait for it —

the Mongols.

The Abbasids kept the idea of a hereditary monarchy,

but they moved the capital of the empire to Baghdad,

and they were much more welcoming of other non-Arab Muslims into positions of power.

And under the Abbasids,

the Dar al Islam took on a distinctly Persian cast that it never really lost.

The Caliph now styled himself as a king of kings,

just like the Achaemenids had,

and pretty soon the caliph’s rule was a lot more indirect,

just like the original Persians’.

This meant that his control was much weaker,

and by about 1000CE , the Islamic Caliphate which looks so incredibly impressive on a

map had really descended into a series of smaller kingdoms,

each paying lip-service to the caliph in Baghdad.

This was partly because the Islamic Empire relied more and more on soldiers from the

frontier, in this case Turks,

and also slaves pressed into military service, in order to be the backbone of their army,

a strategy that has been tried over and over again and has worked exactly zero times.

Which you should remember if you ever become an emperor.

Actually our resident historian points out that that strategy has worked--

if you are the Mongols.

More important than the Persian-style monarchy that the Abbasids tried to set up was their

openness to foreigners and their ideas.

That tolerance and curiosity ushered in a golden age of Islamic learning centered in Baghdad. The Abbasids

oversaw an efflorescence of culture unlike anything that had been seen since Hellenistic times.

Arabic replaced Greek not only as the language of commerce and religion, but also of culture.

Philosophy, medicine, and poetry were all written in Arabic

(although Persian remained an important literary language.)

And Baghdad was the world’s center of scholarship with its House of Wisdom and immense library.

Muslim scholars translated the works of the Greek Philosophers including Aristotle and Plato

as well as scientific works by Hippocrates, Archimedes

and especially the physician Galen.

And they translated and preserved Buddhist and Hindu manuscripts that might have otherwise been lost.

Muslims made huge strides in medicine as well.

One Muslim scholar ibn Sina, wrote the Canon of Medicine,

which became the standard medical textbook or centuries in both Europe and the Middle East.

And the Islamic empire adopted mathematical concepts from India

such as the zero, a number so fascinating and beautiful

that we could write an entire episode about it but instead

I’m just gonna write it a little love poem:

Oh, zero.

Pretty little zero.

They say you’re nothing but you mean everything to mathematical history...and me.

Oh it’s time for the Open Letter?

An Open Letter to Science and Religion:

But first lets see what’s in the Secret Compartment.

Oh, champagne poppers?

Stan, what am I supposed to do with these?

Dear Science and Religion,

You’re supposed to be so irreconcilable and everything,

but not so much in the Abbasid Empire.

I mean, Muslim mathematicians expanded math to such a degree

that we now call the base ten number system

and the symbols we use to denote it “Arabic numerals.”

And religion was at least part of what pushed all that learning forward.

Like the great philosopher Ibn Rushd argued that

the only path to religious enlightenment was through Aristotelian reasoning.

And Muslim mathematicians and astronomers developed algebra

partly so they could simplify Islamic inheritance law.

Plus they made important strides in trigonometry

so that people understand where to turn

when trying to turn toward Mecca.

You were working so well together, science and religion,

but then like Al and Tipper Gore, just couldn’t last forever.

Nothing gold can stay in this world, nothing gold can stay.

Best wishes, John Green

Baghdad wasn’t the only center of learning in the Islamic world.

In Spain, Islamic Cordoba became a center for the arts, especially architecture.

This is perhaps best exemplified by the Great Mosque at Cordoba,

built by the Umayyad ruler Abd al-Rahman I In 785-786 CE.

That’s right, this building,

still standing today and one of the most amazing mosques in the world, was built in a year,

whereas medieval cathedrals typically took, like, a million years to finish.

The Muslims of Spain were also engineers who rivaled the Romans.

Aqueducts in Cordoba brought drinkable water into the city,

and Muslim scholars took the lead in agricultural science,

improving yields on all kinds of new crops,

allowing Spanish lives to be longer and less hungry.

Everybody wanted to live in Spain, even the greatest Jewish philosopher, Maimonides,

wanted to live in Spain, but sadly he was expelled and ended up in Alexandria Egypt.

There he wrote his awesomely titled defense of rationality, A Guide for the Perplexed.

I’m translating the title, of course, because the original text was written …in Arabic.

Meanwhile, China was having a Golden Age of its own:

The Tang Dynasty made China’s government more of a meritocracy,

and ruled over 80 million people across four million square miles.

And they might’ve conquered all of Central Asia

had it not been for the Abbasids, whom they fought at

the most important Battle You’ve Never Heard Of,

the Battle of the Talas River.

This was the Ali-Frasier of the 8th century.

The Abbasids won, which ended up defining who had influence where with the --

with the Abbasids dominating to the west of the river and China dominating to the east.

The Tang also produced incredible art that was traded all throughout Asia.

Many of the more famous sculptures from the Tang Dynasty feature figures who are distinctly not-Chinese,

which again demonstrates the diversity of the empire.

The Tang was also a golden age for Chinese poetry

with notables like Du Fu and Li Bo plying their craft,

encouraged by the official government.

And the Song Dynasty, which lasted from 960 to 1258,

kicked even more ass-it’s-not-cursing-if-you’re-talking-about-donkeys.

By the 11th century, Chinese metalworkers were producing as much iron

as Europe would be able to produce in the 18th century.

Some of this iron was put to use in new plows,

which enabled agriculture to boom,

thereby supporting population growth.

Porcelain was of such high quality that it was shipped throughout the world,

which is why we call it “china.”

And there was so much trade going on that the Chinese ran out of metal for coins,

leading to another innovation – paper money.

And by the 11th century, the Chinese were writing down recipes for

a mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal,

that we now know as gunpowder.

That becomes kind of a big deal in history,

paving the way, as it does,

for modern warfare and arena rock pyrotechnics, and—

ohhhh, THAT’S WHY.

Not so dark after all.

Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next week.

Crash Course is produced and directed by Stan Muller,

our script supervisor is Danica Johnson.

The graphics team is Thought Bubble,

and show is written by my high school history teacher Raoul Meyer and myself.

Last week’s Phrase of the Week was also good advice: Quit Smoking!

If you want to suggest future Phrases of the Week or guess at this week’s, you can do so in comments

where you can also ask questions about today’s video that will be answered by our team of historians.

If you liked today’s video please click the thumb’s up button.

You can also follow us on Twitter @thecrashcourse or on Facebook.

There are links in the video info.

Our writer and historian, Raoul Mayer,

also tweets awesome Crash Course pop quizzes, so there’s a link to follow him as well,

and me, you know, because I’m a narcissist.

[music outro] We get to be a continent, even though we're not a continent...