• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Science / When Were the Dark Ages and What Does the Term “Dark Ages” Mean?

When Were the Dark Ages and What Does the Term “Dark Ages” Mean?

May 17, 2020 by Karen Hill

Hypatia’s murder was an omen of what was coming.

In A.D. 476, Rome fell to barbarian tribes and the Dark Ages began.

The Dark Ages were the period in Europe from the 400s to the 900s, when very little scientific discovery took place.

There were several reasons why this happened.

There was no longer a strong prosperous civilization like Greece or Rome to create a secure society.

As Christianity became the most popular religion in Europe, most scholars became more interested in theology, the study of God, than science, the study of nature.

Fortunately, some of these religious scholars preserved the ancient works of the Greek and Roman scientists.

During this same time, Arabic scientists were carrying on the scientific tradition of the ancient world and making some discoveries of their own.

They made advances in medicine, but they did not use the experimental methods that would eventually lead to the development of modern science.

Their greatest contribution was probably the introduction of the Arabic number system into Europe. This system used only 10 different numbers to express all possible measurements. Ease of measurement would lead to a rebirth of science.

Starting in the 1100s and 1200s, scholars like Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas started proposing ways to combine Christian beliefs with the scientific ideas of the ancient world.

Universities were established throughout Europe. The world of learning, especially science, was about to undergo a rebirth of knowledge and discovery.

It was called the Renaissance.

The term “Dark Ages” refers to the period of cultural and economic deterioration and disruption in Western Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire.

Related Facts

  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed Our Lives Forever
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed the World
  • Who Were the First Explorers of Ancient Civilization?
  • The Best 20 Inventions Ever Invented
  • When was the Dark Ages and how did the term Originate?
  • What is the difference between The Middle Ages, Dark Ages, and Medieval Times?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « How Did the Greek Scholar Hypatia Die and Why Was Hypatia Accused of Witchcraft and Black Magic?
Next Post: Who Was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and What Was Leeuwenhoek’s Most Important Contribution To Science? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy