Dark Ages the Author of This Report

Dark Ages

The author of this report is asked to answer to a number of questions relating to the Dark Ages. Specifically, the author is asked to define what "Dark Ages" means. Second, the author is asked to ask how this society unwittingly paved the way for a preservation of literature and art from the classical era. In particular, the author is asked to identify how Ireland was instrumental in this re-emergence. Finally, there is to be a summation of the Arthurian legend and how modern ethics is driven in part by this literature and dynamic and a definition of chivalric code is also to be offered.

Questions Answered

In terms of history, the Dark Ages is the millennia or so that followed the end of the Roman Empire. It refers to the cultural and economic downfall that ostensibly happened in Western Europe after the Roman Empire was reduced to waste. For the most part, the Dark Ages is considered to be from when Rome fell in roughly the 6th century AD until the rise of the Italian Renaissance in the 13th century AD. The Dark Ages and Middle Ages mostly intersect in terms of the time periods they cover with the Middle Ages starting in the 5th century AD and the end being around the 13th to the 15th century AD.

The main reason that Ireland is revered in terms of paving the way for the return from the Dark Ages was the fact that the Irish were instrumental in preserving and maintaining the classical and artistic fires that were burning during the Roman Empire. Ireland was able to endure because the Germanic tribes that were invading all the corners of Europe mostly left Ireland alone due to the geography involved. The work of the Irish essentially preserved the beliefs and structures of the Roman Catholic empire and thus allowed for Catholicism to eventually become dominant in Ireland (PBS, 2013).

Arthurian legend was one of the outgrowths of literature in the Dark Ages that lives strongly and vibrantly to this very day, and in many forms. Indeed, many hold that the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable is the most enduring story in Western Literature. This is despite the fact that King Arthur, Sir Lancelot and Guinevere never actually existed. Instead, they were drawn from pure fiction but the ethics and ideals that the stories of Arthur and his comrades, or even his enemies, exuded are distinctive and persevering even centuries removed from when the stories were crafted.

Arthurian beliefs remain quite clear and prominent today. One of those forms is the code of chivalry. For example, standing up for one that is weak and vulnerable when there is a clear option to just look the other way is but one example. For example, if a bully has cornered someone in a closed area and one can intercede and interrupt what is about to ensure, that would be an example of modern chivalry. Another example is being honest and open with one's opinion rather than staying silent or speaking a partial truth or lie would be another example.

There are actually website and organizations that are dedicated to chivalric code and the practice thereof. There are even corners of the World Wide Web that focus on women's place in chivalry. Some go so far as to note that chivalry would not exist at all were it not for women's place in the chivalry dynamic. Indeed, men being well-mannered and of high social standing occurs in large part because of the desire to attract and please the woman. Were the woman not part of the process, there would be less (or sometimes no) reason to act in such a manner (O'Donnell, 2013).

Another way in which chivalry manifests itself today is in the form of when a man should take up arms and be aggressive and when there should be a moderation of tone and response to a potential threat. Taking things a bit further, there are some prominent figures and code that were authored over the years that were inspired by chivalric code. Despite their age, many of them endure to this day and are applicable in large part (if not completely) in a 21st century context. One example would be the Code of Chivalry as espoused in the Song of Roland (Fordham, 2013).

Roland offered more than a dozen precepts to live by. These tenets are as follows:

To fear God and maintain the church

To serve the liege lord in valor and faith

To protect the weak and defenseless

To give the support to widows and orphans

To refrain from the intentional infliction of offense

To live by honor and glory

To despise monetary reward

To fight for the welfare of all

To obey those in authority

To guard the honor of fellow knights

To eschew unfairness/meanness/deceit

To keep the faith

To speak truth at all times

To start what one finishes

(Fordham, 2013)

A similar yet different list of values was offered by the Duke of Burgandy. They are as follows:

Faith

Charity

Justice

Sagacity

Prudence

Temperance

Resolution

Truth

Liberality

Diligence

Hope

Valor

(MLT, 2013)

It is not hard to translate chivalric code and Arthurian ethics to a modern context. Using the second list as a focal point, justice is a major focal point of the civil and criminal justice systems in the United States. Diligence is the art of being thorough and properly exhaustive in making decisions and reacting to certain conditions and events. Hope is the idea of being optimistic and positive despite the challenges that life throws at a person. Being sagacious, which is another way of saying that one is highly observant and vigilant, is important because accurately and completely perceiving a situation allows for the proper reactions to events in life.