To begin with, the fall of the Roman Empire appears to be a highly crucial chapter in global history. The political, economic, and religious reasons that provoked this played a pivotal role in the further transition into the Middle Ages. Overall, the fall of the Roman Empire served as a driving force for the enhancement of the social, cultural aspects, and especially the Christian prosperity in the Middle Ages.
Considerable military losses of the Roman Empire were a primary reason for its fall since the territory was not thoroughly protected and could fall from any invasion. However, not only the outside forces resulted in the fall of the Roman Empire — the financial crisis was severe to the land as well (Cole & Symes 19). The inequity between the rich and the poor due to inflation was weakening the empire (Cole & Symes 19). The constantly changing leaders and the governments made it even more arduous for the Roman Empire to maintain its powerful position among other kingdoms (Cole & Symes 21). Unfortunately, many Roman citizens lost their trust and realized that they could not rely on the leaders of their land. Another critical point is that the rise of a new religion, Christianity, appeared controversial and provoked innumerable arguments. Nevertheless, the military, economic, and political factors still had a more significant impact on the fall of the Roman Empire (Cole & Symes 35). As a matter of fact, the fall of the Roman Empire was crucial for the further development of the Middle Ages. Precisely the next era was the time for the advancement of cultural and social aspects of people’s lives (Cole & Symes 36). The transition into the Renaissance from the idolized Roman empire did not erase many Roman concepts, so the community still respected and followed them. However, the most prominent achievement of this period is considered to be the solidifying of a new religion, Christianity, which was initially born in Roman times. To be more particular, the Roman Empire provided Christianity with the means for the development of a complex culture with its own foundations: schools, hierarchy, and even studies of law (Cole & Symes 37). In addition, after the Roman Empire’s fall, the Church managed to gain powers as an individual institution and no longer relied on the government. By and whole, the Church’s emergence in the Roman Empire allowed it to thrive and have an even more significant impact on society in the Middle Ages.
To sum up, the Roman Empire’s fall is not recognized as unfavorable since it yielded fruitful benefits for the further development of the Middle Ages. The reasons for the empire’s destabilization encouraged people to change politics, economy, and especially social aspects of their lives. As a result, the thriving of a new religion was crucial for the enrichment of the community’s culture on the whole.
The somewhat drastic transition from the idealized Roman Empire into the Middle Ages resulted in the unity of conflicting traditions and beliefs since the people followed different cultures and concepts. Therefore, the medieval community lacked an understanding of the social and cultural aspects of their lives. As a result, this era is often considered a dark age as people were not educated enough, which led to the creation of an incredibly undeveloped culture.
The solid footing of Christianity affected the cultural production in the Middle Ages considerably. In addition, the community was transformed by Germanic invaders and Islam that brought its concepts to the formation of medieval culture (Cole & Symes 39). As a matter of fact, numerous impacts on the culture and diversity of the community in the Middle Ages led to its identification as a dark period due to the era being culturally empty (Cole & Symes 39). To be more particular, it was a gap between the past culture of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance. Still, even though the people of this period were considered faithful, they did not fully understand the complexity of their religions. Nevertheless, the Middle Age is known for its art and especially literature that still identifies Western communities’ primary ideas and concepts (Cole & Symes 40). By and whole, most medieval literary works were either about faith or the power and significance of the physical force. The most popular pieces were also based on the conflicting traditions, which once again proved the medieval community’s lack of culture. In addition, the ignorance of medieval society might be identified by the attitude to women: only males were associated with intellect, strength, and power. Overall, the Middle Ages culture can be characterized as conflicting and empty due to the medieval community’s lack of knowledge about crucial aspects.
To sum up, the emptiness and dullness of medieval cultural production stemmed from the community diversity and incompetency in crucial aspects. In other words, the culture of the Middle Ages could not be enriched due to society’s ignorance and prejudiced attitude. Overall, the darkness of this era is indeed evident due to the people misinterpreting the religions and, consequently, blindly following the beliefs they did not even understand.
Work Cited
Cole, J., & Symes, C. (2020). Western Civilizations (Brief Fifth ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.