Darkest Things About the Dark Ages
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- Опубликовано: 5 июн 2024
- Explore the grim realities of the Dark Ages in this eye-opening video. From the absence of centralized government to barbaric medical practices, discover the harrowing truths of this era.
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The dark ages was so deadly, that not a single person from that time is still alive today. That’s just wild to me.
100% fatality rate! Scary!
😂
Idk man have you seen the president?
That's like on of those stats that are hard to believe. Like, the time between the Big Bang and the T-Rex is longer than the time between Cleopatra and us. 🤯
@@doinmypart7417Cleopatra lived closer to our time than the construction of the pyramids
Not a cellphone in sight, just people living the moment
rofl thank you for saying this :D
#borninthewronggeneration #800's baby
Ah yes, the good ol days 😂
If you weren't leeched, did you even have a childhood?
I think most were “dying in the moment” 😂
I can’t help but put myself in the victim’s perspective and it gets nauseating thinking that was people’s existence…
It's not over, that's just the appetizer. WIckedness knows no bounds and has not completed itself yet.
@@MyNameIsChristBringsASword I fear you are all too right. For me I can't help but think that the Right in the US thinks of this as the "good ol days". Everyone is worried they want to bring the 40/50s back. Just imagine if they found out the world is older than that , and just gets worse.
@@grimd8788 The destruction of the family, the confusion of gender, the obedience to false prophets and teachers. It's just the beginning of sorrows. There is a storm coming.
@@grimd8788stop making it a political thing between left and right. There are bad people on both sides of the political fence. The race riots perpetrated by the left was simply an excuse to steal from their own race. It did more harm to black people than it did good.
One day there will be people that feel that way about our era, they will see the totality and they will not be wrong. They don't live here though, as part of the fabric and not just victims of it.
Now we’re in the Dumb Ages.
Stay off TikTok and you should be ok 👍
@@ILikeSkulls666 I’m fine. It’s the dumb arses that are the dangerous ones.
Truth. Quite literally living out the movie “Idiocracy” here in the states.
💯
@@JN24185 not only in the stated
I used to work as an EMT and honestly I would probably make a killing in the dark ages as a surgeon just knowing the basics of medicine and cleaning my tools
I was just thinking this, what do you reckon someone with little medical knowledge such as myself could implement back then resulting in the biggest changes in health?
All I can think of is washing your hands more, access to clean drinking water, and disposing of feces outside of village walls. Maybe cleaning wounds with alcohol and bandaging them, instead of just resorting to draining humours?
If you saved to many people from things that Doctors normally cant, you would have probably been burned at the stake for witchcraft by the church or something.
Witchcraft!
I used to work as a veterinary technician. Sometimes I still boggle the mind of my husband. I would’ve been labeled a witch--just like my great great great great x many more great grandmother Mary Clements Osgood
You would most likely have been tortured and executed as a witch unfortunately. The church took great offence to science. Much more than it does today. Religion is truly the bane of intellectual progress. Even if you saved every life that you came across, word of mouth would spread to the wrong ears at some point and you would rue the day you went back to that dark time
When I took medieval history, the one thing that really stuck with me was when the professor said 99% of people not only never read a book in their lifetimes, but they never even SAW a book. Their understanding of the world was like a child's. Lesson here: READ!
What kinda idiot professor u had? Of curse they didn't read books when u had so few of them and they are own by churches and nobility. Rest of people didn't care about books because they main concern was how to survive. Between 18 hours work, hunting, bringing water, wars, illness, making sure u don't get burn for saying something that is against fairytale churches and nobility and rest, books are last thing they think about. What they have has oral traditions stories from the past longer then books that they memories. I still remember few that my grandmother was telling me when she was putting me to sleep and they date from 14 century. And ask your professor and your self what is % of young people now that are reading any books? Tik tok and texts messages are only thing this generation is reading and they don't have any other skills. Today people wouldn't make day in old world especially Americans that are 26 at world in education and probably on last place in having any useful skills for survival
@@cancermcaids7688 In practical necessities, yes. They could monitor the weather, knew how to handle their crops, yes. Throw a modern and a medieval peasant in the wild, and the peasant survives. But beyond the scope of their village they knew nothing of the world or how it works. How could they? They never traveled to gather knowledge first hand, they couldn't read about anything, they had no science. In these respects, they were like children and easily manipulated by authorities. We have choices, though too few use them.
@@cancermcaids7688 "we are quite lazy due to everything being written down"
Socrates warned this would happen ... centuries earlier!
The author of Sapiens over simplified much of history, and some of what he wrote is not even scientifically confirmed (like an intelligence surge in the Paleolithic).
Just like most of the USA today...
It's a wonder anybody made it out of the dark ages alive.
I mean... technically no one did...
No one, they are all dead now
Well, most of these “tortures” were used as a deterrent and not actually put in physical use. The tortures were used to scare and put the people in line.
Numbers.
Climate change and white supremacy.
I see people here criticising Simon for over simplifying sections of this video. Try to use a bit of common sense. This is a 13 minute RUclips video. If you want an in depth look at the dark ages go find an hour long documentary or series about the subject. There are plenty of them out there. Well done Simon. Especially for emphasising that the plague and the black death was an on going problem. Not limited to a few certain years.
Even more, I would say that multi hour documentaries still aren't comparable to reading books and studying sources... but yeah this is a video made for entertainment.
I disagree. The video could still be roughly the same length without mischaraterising things. There are simple and small things he could have added that would have made a whole lot of difference.
I think those people would get bored and would have changed the documentary to something shorter, anyways.
Yep,,, most people don’t know that what we call the “Black Death” (plague) was around for years,, and it killed thousands of people,,, but it wasn’t until a slight deformity in the virus which caused it to become “bubonic” (meaning that it can now be spread through airborne contact) did the real horror of the plague start….
The bubonic plague wasn’t originally “bubonic”,,,,, fun fact?
Thoughty 2 managed to cover it more in 10 minutes.
Apparently I’ve been eating like a Middle Ages peasant
Well the definition of dark ages we are in part 2 rn
Cost of living for ya. Been surviving on baked potatoes
Haha same here
Thanks dementia Joe!
need to pray to your Lord, God King Trump.
When I visited Salzburg, I went to the museum that had their torture devices. People can imagine horrific ways to punish others.
Yeah I’ve been in one such museum too. And I must say I have strong stomach but it still makes me sick when I think about some things I saw there
Yes humans are special.
Sadism is a thing in many human beings. Having said that, be careful thay many of those museums were constructed as tourist atractions later on. It sounds weird, but morbid is also a thing.
Been there as well
There is also a torture museum in San Giminagno in Tuscany.
My understanding of the benefit of ale was not the fermentation it was the boiling of the liquid (wort) first. That would kill the bad bacteria and then the fermentation would add alcohol to inhibit future growth. Just the thoughts of a homebrewer who watched “How beer saved the world” too many times. The history of brewing might be a good megaproject.
Excellent idea!
Shout out to my ancestors for living through all this shit, whenever i feel overwhelmed i think about what just a tooth abcess or broken limb would be like when you don't have penicillin or painkillers. Even the worst American prisons look like a holiday compared to these tortures.
True … healthcare back then was pure torture as well …
Great video Simon, just didn't expect something like this on sideprojects
But it is also full of inaccuracies.
Pseudo relationships like this are so weird
My understanding of the term Dark Ages is that nowadays it is meant regarding information. We know more about the periods before and after, making this period dark. A lot of knowledge was lost, and poor records were kept even in places where more people were literate.
It depends on the area (you dont have "dark spots" in the history of italy and in western europe were the Merowinger and later Karolinger while eastern europe didnt have great record keeping until the christians started keeping records). The term dark ages doesnt really fit mainly because you have large parts of the globe we hardly know anything about during the roman empire... (as the history prof said: Any attempt to catalog ages is bound by the area, the americas were in the stone ages when the europeans came, feudalism existed in france until the french revolution ect.)
I think it's also from the time when city of Constantinople decided that having pretty art was "worshipping false idols" as said in the bible. They enacted a rule and destroyed all art during that time period, before the ruling was later overturned. But the damage was done, and very little remained of that time period in the Eastern Roman empire.
(Edit it's called Byzantine Dark Age('s) caused by Byzantine Iconoclasm. )
It's a dark ages of sorts for the European world, for the Islamic world however, it was a golden age. Also, what a lot of people don't realize is that there were multiple renaissances during this period, not just the Renaissance that is so famous.
Life was shittier too
@@garymaidman625I like Civilization (videogame) definition of golden and dark ages. Highs and lows for a civ during specific period. But because the media is largely West-centric we see it just blanket term "dark ages" for centuries that were a decline for multiple former Roman colonies... they also call the period we associate with Mongols destroying our capital then feasting on top of defenders bodies "the Renaissance" smh.
7:21 to be fair to them, that's still quite a popular theory these days - too much cleaning has removed the bacteria that helps to create and boost children's immune systems was a headline everywhere not that long ago.
We all see a dirty hippy from time to time, just trust your nose. The evolution did a good job one this one!
Not cleaning but high levels of soap usage. It washes away all your body oils. clean your body with just a washcloth and a slight amount of soap to clean off dirt and old oil. Do a deep soapy clean once a week.
When you look into immunology there are some research papers that have been upheld upon peer review that find that the removal of allergens from the environment of a young child leads to an increase in allergies. So not quite excessive cleaning but keeping children in a sterile environment, and not a difference to the immune systems but an increase in the chance of forming allergies.
@@theshadowoftruth7561 I assume you mean removing the fatty acids from skin raising the pH of the skin and dissolving outer layers of the skin. This is true if and only if using a highly basic, lye-based soap. Of course, the fatty acids in your skin will be completely restored by your body within minutes if you have a healthy diet and the layers of skin repaired within hours. But yes if you wash excessively with old-school lye-based soap this will happen.
Modern soaps use different compounds in a lipidic suspension (fancy words for being absorbed in oil or fat based compoinds) to clean skin effectively, and that don't have the same effect of depleting fatty acids and removing layers of skin. There have been a number of studies into this.
Unfortunately the "all you need to stay clean is water and a deep clean once a week" myth is exactly that: a myth, and a potentially harmful one at that. If you are regularly exposed to biological pathogens (including handling raw meats, doing gardening or just wiping your bottom after going to the toilet), then clean your hands regularly.
Thats straight from the 70s … the obsession to kill bacteria back then had significant consequences … sad if that had to be brought up again!
so mad i didnt discover this channel sooner. but also happy because i can binge it now!
He has so many and they're all this quality or even better.
@@morgan258 That's not something to boast about.
Hi Simon! Love the videos - just for my own curiosity, have you parted ways with Bio/Geographics?
They told him to drop the fake accent.. He wouldnt.. so they told him to kick rocks 😂
I think “Dark Ages” seems pretty fitting for this time period.
Stupid comment
'The past was the worst.' -Simon Whistler
Makes no real sense … to many the present and future to expect are worst!
The past was far better than the present and certainly better than the future.
About medicine, you have to remember that most medieval medical theory came from the Greeks and Romans. The best example is the blood-letting, which was recommanded since Hippocrates who also theorised about humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile). So those bad practices normally associated with the Middle Ages actually come from Antiquity. It is true though that after the Black Plague, people started to wash less and less, but it wasn't a sudden stop and took 200 years before becoming widespread in Europe. Also, medieval doctor at least tried to save people during the Black Plague. We accounts of Romans doctors simply fleeing whenever they encountered a plague.
I mean can you blame them though? They probably tried to help at first. Though none of their techniques worked until they got the point where they were seeing body’s hourly. Wouldn’t you lose all hope back then too and run for the hills to try and save yourself?
The greeks did operate and that was completely forbidden in the middle ages... It sounds like you are saying that medival doctors took the worst 10% of medical knowledge the greeks had for everything and thats why its the greeks fault that they were bad doctors...
It isn't generally known that there were steam baths in medieval times.
@@TemptationsEnd Indeed, but medieval doctors didn't run and died trying to save their patients! My reference, in French only, is Weill-Parot, Le vrai visage du Moyen Âge. It debunks myths about the Middle-Ages.
@@PhilippusPistor The French always ran, or surrendered
The red in the barbers pole was synbolic of their surgical duties. Red being a symbol for blood.
Lies!
Never forget what happens when a religion takes over governments.
yeah we should instead be more like China or the USSR are that oppressed Religions.
Interesting to note, surgeons in the UK are not referred to as Dr because they originated as barber surgeons. They’re called Mr or Ms etc
Its related to their training back then … you did not need to go to university … did not get a degree … so could not become a Dr … today patients and colleagues call them Doctor … paperwork indeed still says Mr/Mrs.
Feudalism was actually a lot more complicated than this video makes out. For starters it was officially introduced by the Normans in England after 1066 - i.e. what most of us think of as the *end* of the dark ages. Prior to that, under the Danelaw at least, many peasants did own their own land, and a middle class was beginning to develop. Lords and church institutions also had obligations to support the poor, and the peasantry had rights to common lands, outside of royal estates at least. (The word "forest" originally derives from "forris" which refers to areas of land outside the normal set of laws and customs that guaranteed the peasants a certain degree of rights. Obviously mediaeval life was no utopia, but the acts of enclosure and dismantling of the commons at the dawn of the modern age destroyed a substantial non-monetary economy and screwed over the poorest in society.
Normans were old scandinavians right?
Its weird how we are the only ones in europe that didnt have feudalism but we still have our hands in creating it
The modern day drive to push green energy creation like wind farms is similar to the enclosures of the early 1800s. Its just another way to transfer wealth upwards from us peasantry to the wealthy.
For example, the father of a previous prime minister is paid £1,000 a day for him to allow wind turbines to be placed on a section of his land. That's £365,000 a year from the poor for nothing, we also pay all the maintenance costs, etc.
When we look at things with a cold eye and some knowledge of history, we see that nothing has changed.
@@forlorndream1400 Lmao. As if you weren't subsidizing fossil fuel extraction before that. Either through direct incentives and tax breaks to the extraction companies, or indirectly through interventions in the Middle East to stabilize supplies. I wonder how much money your government gave to oil companies to stabilize prices after Russia invaded Ukraine?
If anything, green energy is a move in the opposite direction.
You can cut reliance on centralized power generation and have your own independent power supply at economically viable costs.
My understanding is that Normans were either France-living Scandanavians or possibly Norweigans, improperly recognised.
Norman introduction of feudalism was a direct result of the northern English rebellions that necessitated the harrying of the north. The Saxon use of the fyrd meant that every male was trained for battle,and the rebellions showed this was a very bad idea for the Normans as it made control difficult. Feudalism took away the fyrd and put defence wholly in the hands of the Normans.
I am still confused as to how human civilization has lasted this long given how barbaric we are and how vile conditions were...
Thats what Dark Ages is about … the intellectual darkness of the post-Roman period. All advancements being forgotten. Resurfacing during enlightenment. There are human civilisations … not one … whilst Europe drowned in its own sit in the Arabic world they had hospitals and universities to study medicine. Conditions were not vile everywhere … despite hard manageable even in Europe … but many died. Nature itself can be barbaric … hunting animals are not nice to look at … and some hunt down and kill other animals for fun, not food. Why shouldn’t humans last that long … makes no real sense to me. Just one animal species of many.
Hearing Simon say words like myopic makes it feel like everything might just turn out ok. Thank you simon
You got low standards for what might make things okay
@@mintjulius275 or maybe yours are too high.
Great video. Thank you.
The fact any of us are alive today to watch this video is simply astonishing.
Well dead people don't watch videos 😢
i actually think about this allll the time. like every person alive today has had there bloodline somehowe survive all the crap humans have gone threw. the struggles and suffering of all of our ancestors got us here right now.
I had it explained to me that the term "dark ages" referred to a period in time when very little was written down, and we therefore have limited ("dark") knowledge of it.
I want to see the inquisitors in all of these devices. I have plenty of questions for them.
Cool! Is the thumbnail from Cannibal Corpse's newest album artwork
Nice to see the Tax situation has barely changed.
Humanity continues to prove we’ve not really gotten better about how we treat people over time. We’ve just gotten better at hiding it.
Gotten better at justifying it too
@@Tigrera12 that’s straight sad facts
Nonsense.
HAMAS and russian war crime videos prove hiding isn't much better either.
Hiding what? The opposite id the case … tons of clips each day how we slaughter each other. But thats the way humans are.
If we want a real "dark age,“ it would probably be Greece between 1200-800 BC (I might have the years a bit off, but if you know you know). There's just a massive gap in documented history, where one era of Greek culture comes to an abrupt and mysterious halt, and an entirely new Greek civilization emerges centuries later; the age between those two eras literally went "dark."
corruption seems to be the best explenation
Somehow those records got destroyed I'm sure. I still wonder how much amazing historical info we would get if we could recreate the library of Alexandria.
This was the time of the “Bronze Age collapse.” It’s been a while since I’ve studied all this, but as I remember it, 800 BC, and thereafter, was the time the “first drafts” of The Iliad were written down, while the war it memorialized occurred approximately four or five centuries before.
@@mr.frandy7692library of Alexandria being special is kind of a myth. Sure, libraries burned and records were lost everywhere, but there wasn't one big information loss at the specific library at any point in time of major significance.
They most likely became the Sea Peoples but also remember Dark Age Britain. That went super dark.
A lot of historians say the “Dark Ages” is a misnomer. Of course there were plenty of problems back then, but it wasn’t a million times worse than the Early Modern period.
In some respects, it was better. Witch hunts weren't really a thing in the dark ages, and while there were wars of religion, especially against pagans in Scandinavia and the Baltic, they didn't reach the same level as the thirty years war
@@laurencewinch-furness9450 There is theory that witch hunts were way for church to get rid of last vestiges of pagan religions in Europe and that depiction of devil at that time was effected by one pagan god as part of it.
If only he put that in the video
Thank you! This video is so misleading and poorly done. The common knowledge about Middle Ages comes through a 19th century lens and is entirely false.
@@D2.159Those torture devices he mentions in the video weren’t used during the Dark Ages. They were in fact used during the 1500s. Enjoy the torture, witch-hunts, and massacres which were far more prevalent during the 1500s.
Do a video on sawmills and wood production in the early middle ages.
If i had a TV station, i would create a show called "History trough the ages" and another program called "The Darkside" both hosted by none other than Simon Whistler himself.. this man is BRILLIANT!
The Simpsons did it.
Very informative. Thanks
This should have been a into the shadows episode. Good video either way.
It's really hard to say which torture method would be the worst. They all sound excruciating.
And an extremely good deterrent. Would you risk stealing if the punishment was to be sent to a torture chamber?
A lot of good people were tortured and still are today.@@Trebor74
The worst torture method is not even a Middle Age torture method. I dont remember where it was used, but the victim would be fed a massive amount of milk and honey, then they would be sealed inside a hollowed out log with their head, arms, and legs exposed. Then the log would be put into a swamp. The victim would be given plenty of water, milk, and honey to make sure to keep them alive while at the same time giving them diarrhea. Their waste would build up inside the log. This would attract all manner of insect that would eat the waste and breed in it. Then the insects would start to eat into the victim, colonizing and eating them from the inside. This would kill the victim extremely slowly.
@@sherrykathman3309 I think its called scafism..something like that. All torture methods would suck. I think being flayed would be pretty horrible.
@@Trebor74 Such a system would be abused as hard as Tatiana gets me from her lapdance.
0:00: 🌑 The term 'Dark Ages' originated with Petrarch and referred to a perceived decline in culture and society, though modern historians view it as myopic and inaccurate.
3:20: 🏰 Peasants in medieval times faced high taxes and little support from their lords, leading to a difficult and precarious life.
5:52: 💉 Barber surgeons in the Dark Ages performed various medical procedures, including amputations, using sharp razors and their barber skills.
11:07: ! The video discusses various forms of torture involving iron chairs and wheels used in ancient times.
Recap by Tammy AI
Most of the points in the video are quite inaccurate.
@@LamiNalchorAs your comment is … ‘most points’ … 😂 … it is an over-simplified 13 minute clip … you get what you choose … makes no sense to chose this format and criticise it is too superficial …Welcome to the Dark Ages again!
You raise that ‘an over-simplified 13 minute clip is inaccurate’ … this makes zero sense … none of the info you provide are in any way essential to explain The Dark Ages … ironically you spread incorrect information yourself … the term Dark Ages does NOT originate from Petrarch … the concept of light vs dark describing the post Roman societies as intellectually dark and seeing it as a historic period does go back to him … the term Dark Ages was introduced about 300 years later after the middle ages by Baronius … none of which is relevant in such a format …
How, just how, I already sub to about 3 channels this guy hosts. I have said it once I will say it again, this is the hardest working content creator.
A great bearded man once said, "The past was the worst."
Those silly dark age doctors, good job we're not so ill informed now **looks around Boots at shelves full of water with an infinitesimally small dilution of a herb/mineral in it that's been shaken vigorously a few times**
@@hnewc1919Idiot.
I see what you did there :D
This makes zero sense at all … most has nothing to do with real medicine … what are you aiming at … commercial food supplements … often unnecessary and wellbeing oriented. And we know we do not really need them, but we feel better using them. Or do you refer to OTC medicines? What you describe is what certain medicines are based on … a small dose of an active substance diluted in a carrier … the dose differentiates between poison and medicine. Thats also the basis of homeopathy and proven to be effective as is Traditional Chinese Medicine. To say ‘silly Dark Age Doctors’ … they had pretty advanced knowledge … especially in the Arabic world. In the UK they were in the grip of the Dark Ages referring to the intellectual darkness, all the advanced knowledge of ancient world in the post-Roman world gone. Most people never saw a doctor … people got treated by herb-women … Priests or barber. The herbal treatments were actually potent medicines.The more irritating what you are pointing towards.
The term “dark ages” is so ridiculous that we don’t have a term for that in french
Yeah, because when in current France ruled Merovigians and Carolinians, Angles and Saxons were practically on the trees.
but... Guillotine is a french word! 😂
French is an ugly language spoken by ignorant people who keep getting beaten in wars. If the whole country burned down we could plant something that would growmand eventually mature. Not like now.
Just because you do not know or grasp the concept its not ridiculous … why should it be ridiculous? During the early middle ages, the post-Roman period … Europe faced an intellectual and cultural decline … a lot of knowledge, skills and concepts of the ancient world appeared to be lost, forgotten. Hence the concept of light vs darkness was created … referring to a period of intellectual darkness … the term itself Dark Ages was born 300 years later … during the enlightenment ancient concepts were picked up again and developed further … that there is no term or terms to reflect a concept of light vs darkness (which I doubt) in French is rather pretty embarrassing and nothing to be proud of … makes zero sense … according to French history books there are terms in French for ‘Dark Ages’ … Âges obscurs … and … Âge sombre … but the only concept discussed is that it is a time we only have little written records about … the original concept of intellectual darkness which explains later periods like enlightenment are not given.
@@GanymedeXD historian don’t use the term anymore
holy shit im glad i wasnt around for this stuff , great work on the video never heard of most of this stuff
The past was the worst I suppose...
Someone should make shirts saying "The Past was the Worst!" 😅
And the back should say but it’s just as bad
1:05 - Chapter 1 - No centralized government
4:50 - Chapter 2 - Medical "science"
7:35 - Chapter 3 - A culinary nightmare
10:15 - Chapter 4 - Torture
Nice going, Simon … but I learned everything there is to know about -The Dark Ages- The Middle Ages in the _”Bring out your dead”_ scene of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”.
*Life. Death. Mud. Entrepreneurship. Stubborn old bastards. Bribery* … It’s all in there!
The term Dark Ages does not cover the entire Middle Ages … it originally referred to the early Middle Ages only.
It truly is astonishing that we survived this period.
We are still IN this period in the majority of the world outside western cultures.
@@haveaday1812 That's very true, and they will continue to be it such a state indefinitely.
The Past is the worse....
Worst *
Another reason I’ve heard for the term the dark ages is the effect of a massive volcano. Iirc based around the Canary Islands. This plunged the world into a 6 year winter ( similar to those described in your geographical video) and led to the end of many civilizations, and the beginning of new ones.
That's not why anyone called it "The Dark Ages", it was always just a retroactive term used by Renaissance and enlightenment guys to show how they were smarter than the Church. It's basically a propaganda term that just stuck.
Who the hell told you that?
@@genuser9758it was on a documentary, the event is also described in a variety of texts from countries around the world from that time. It’s probably a reason for a lack of historical reference from that period, and civilizations were struggling to survive, never mind write about it.
@@spooksmalloyYeh it was, one of many hypotheses, including that it is simply because it’s an era with very little record.
@@546268 I think you might be misremembering the documentary and possibly conflating ideas. The volcanic winter of 536 being accounted for by multiple cultures has nothing to do with it being called the "dark ages". As this video has already said, the term 'dark' to describe an age was only introduced into language by Petrach who lived during the 1300s, the onset of the late medieval, a period indeed characterised by plague, war, and chaos. And he was using it to describe his own time. How exactly would later historians have named the early medieval after an obscure and relatively unknown weather event that happened for only a few years? The early medieval is more than a 500 year long period. The age may indeed have been called "dark" because of the indirect effects of the volcano such as widespread famines, droughts, and plague but it was never named that because of the volcanic winter.
The fact that Simon didn't say at the end, "The past was the worst!" is a travesty.
Jesus!!! That was so confusing, got my head around it eventually 😂, very into... thankyou.
Living through the modern dark ages right now!
Not the dark ages , but Roman physician's were pretty advanced. They even performed cataract surgeries with implements dr's today would recognize. Clean hospitals with good ventilation and light etc. A lot of knowledge was last (or at least misplaced).
What does it mean ‘not the dark ages’? The concept simply refers to the advanced Roman civilisation as light vs the intellectual darkness that followed in the post-Roman period. People regressing … ignorant towards the ancient world’s progress which was picked up again during enlightenment.
Although peasants normally weren't allowed to hunt, and livestock was often reserved for their lords, they *were* allowed to fish. They did have meat, if only the least filling kind.
Thanks Simon! I'll make sure I get my GIMP'S permission before I try any of these.
Real talk, I don't think people understand how what we consider "basic rights" in many parts of the world today came from centuries of humans doing awful things to other humans without punishment or recourse. Not saying corruption and cruelty don't exist today, but I'd argue we have a substantially larger amount of landmass and populations with rulesets in place that better protect the individual from the powers of the state and church.
@@hnewc1919 lmfao, what culture do you have??? Yeast infections and shooting kids in the face with an AR-15, then denying it happened???
Maybe you mean all the plague spread by “whites” because yall didn’t know how to bathe yourselves until the Native Americans got so tired of smelling you from miles away they took pity and introduced general hygiene to you….
Holy moly,,,, people have no idea just how torturous life could actually get……… The POOREST people from developed nations live better than the richest Kings and Queens of the dark ages…..
My life sucks butt but thank god I wasn’t born in 1289 haha
Booze instead of water!!! I think those Dark Age dudes were more enlightened than we give them credit for!!! 🤪🤣
Hell yeah brother
Enlightenment came after the Middle Ages! Beer instead of water … the beer back then only had little alcohol.
I like learning about this because it makes me take a second to understand that my constant pain living in society is only 2x max the constant pain inflicted on people in the past
@@hnewc1919 awwwwww your fragility is showing
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ i agree
Even your name rings alarm bells
Snowflake
The subject of the dark ages heavily influenced my interest in playing Dungeons & Dragons for 30 years.
That and my first Lord of the Rings books.
Great video
The concept of intellectual darkness in Europe during the post-Roman period? What does this have to do with D&D and LotR?
Groovy episode
I thought the term Dark Ages was used to describe a period of time that is largely unknown because of the lack of information available due to it being lost to time or other reasons, not just because oooh, it was dark because evil and sadness. Guess I was wrong.
Well, that too. We're in a dark age because we store so much digitally and it's likely not compatible with what the future will have, even assuming it's still intact.
It originally referred to the i intellectual darkness and ignorance of the post-Roman period that was much more advanced than the Early Middle Ages. Some indeed refer to a lack of information which does not make much sense. But means you are nit that wrong.
@@rustyjones7908Whats that supposed to mean? Not compatible? Once digitally available there is no problem to establish ways to make it compatible.
@@GanymedeXD First off, no it isn't. Second, that effect will compound over the centuries.
I love these vids but I really wish you guys would raise the audio levels in post. Simon's voice is always so much quieter across all his channels.
Even in the podcast versions, I can't listen to his stuff in the car because it is so quiet!
0:51 Regardless of whether one refers to it as the Dark Ages or the Early Middle Ages - arguably a meaningless administrative difference if there ever was one - this period did *not* last up until 1450. That would be lumping it in with the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages and, for Italy, the first couple centuries of the Renaissance.
Exactly. Very little in this video actually applies to the Dark Ages
@@reddixiecratThe concept of the Dark Ages itself referred to the whole period of the Middle Ages … the term itself created 300 years later rather to the Early Middle Ages … hence depends on what you refer to.
@@GanymedeXD The term Dark Ages was invented in the 1300s. You are wrong
I so get why historians are so done with people talking about what they think was the “dark ages” 😫😭😩
Now that I think about it daily alcohol consumption in low amounts makes sense. We've been doing it so long to kill off bacteria we've probably evolved a bit for it to be beneficial.
Utrecht, Netherlands, where I live used to have over 800 breweries that used canal water and even kids drunk this because it was safer than water.
But it had significantly less alcohol than today.
I feel very lucky. The fact that i am here means that every single one of my ancestors survived to be old enough to have children. Whether it was my grandparents in 900 AD , or my Neanderthal grandmother 35,000 years ago , they all made it. If just one of them died too early , I don't exist.
Neanderthal’s were a different human species … not that many have those as ancestors. I do not get the logic of … if only one died early … many did die early … many children died … many women died giving birth … regardless … people had many children to bring some through … means they had maybe 10 and 2-3 or less made it to adulthood … and your ancestors are those that made it.
Petrarca used the term "tempi scuri". Scuro in italiano can mean dark, but rather in the sense of being obscure. He was referring to the lack of documentation on the era as much as anything else.
The past really was the worst
I can totally relate, FIFA daily content is so poor these days it's torture.
It really is amazing the level of creativity and ingenuity that people put into killing, maiming and torturing each other.
It’s wild anyone survived. How crazy is it to think we are only here because a direct line of our ancestors survived. To be alive today is a marvel, because your ancestors survived in a time when it was rare to do so.
A few corrections about torture and dates. Firstly the Greco-Romam empire was v good at torture. We even have job ads for torturers. There is little the "Dark Ages" could teach them. Secondly the Cathrine Wheel was a Roman torture. Thirdly, as others have already observed, the Dark Ages probably finished by around 1000-ish and then we're into the Middle Ages. By 1400-1500 we're well into the Renaissance.
Generally I really enjoy your vids but this one felt as if the research was a bit rushed/incomplete?
The writer likely read up on sources that are basically just regurgitating the Renaissance propaganda about how bad 500-1300 was and how they are so much better as they read the Greek/Roman classics. I've noticed there is a vast difference in videos that use the much more up to date historical understanding of the period, and those using the older stuff that was popular up through the 90s.
The Dark Ages could not finish 1000ish AD as they stretch into the High Middle Ages up 1200ish AD … if you consider the original concept of intellectual darkness vs light seen as the Roman period. It was about all the advancements of the Ancient World having been forgotten, hence the Dark Ages. They mainly refer to the early Middle Ages, early High Middle Ages … the term Dark Ages itself came up 300 years after the original concept around 1660 AD and often referred to all of the Middle Ages. ‘Till 1000 AD and then we are in the Middle Ages’ … the Middle Ages started 500 years earlier … sorry that makes zero sense … the Middle Ages stretched from 500-1500 AD. And the first 700 years are basically called the Dark Ages. Its those parts of the Middle Ages where people were ignorant towards previous advancements of the Ancient World.
There is a nuanced misconception about ale being developed only to provide sterile drinking water. Ale was actually drunk mostly for the easy calories that peasants needed to work on the fields. Contaminated water was only a recurring issue in the biggest urban centres during the Middle Ages. Most villages and rural communities had natural springs to source clean water from
I've always found it strange that if ale was safer because it had been boiled they could have just boiled the water...
@mattblack6414 people that drank tea had less illness than those that consumed plain water
Bulk ideas 🎉
They weren't drinking ale for the calories, either. That kind of light ale has minimal calories compared to the food they ate. They drank it for the same reason we drink sodas and beer: it tastes better than water. More was consumed within cities because the water was more polluted and therefore smelled and tasted even worse.
That makes no real sense … people had to get water … had to carry it from origin to house where they had to store it … standing water was a no go, it was difficult to store and you needed a clean spring or well to have proper drinking water. Even with that they had a problem that there sometimes were contaminants in the water … a dead animal, general poor hygiene of those handling it, fears of it potentially being poisoned, people mishandling drinking water, elements, the water getting dirty from wind, storm, dry times. Beer water was boiled and after brewing it it was storable for up to 6 months. Its usually the brewery beer histories that describe the hygiene aspect as myth which is nonsense. When they were out and about it was safety as they did not know the water source and quality when offered water.
Nutrients …. Most calories are in the alcohol and beers were rather weak … the morning beer weaker than later beer for lunch or dinner … it also has some carbs from malt … was called liquid bread … in summary it has nutrients, but hardly any of those that you really need when engaging in hard physical work especially as it is dehydrating. Like our energy drinks … they do not substitute a meal … the nutritious effects are limited …
Videos like this really make you appreciate the little things in life like not having to eat only cereal, or not accidentally having to fight your neighbor to the death, or not dying at 24 from a now entirely curable disease. Though ngl the coed public baths should be a thing
Your videos volume is disproportionately quiet compared to the advertisements that pop up and frighten the crap out of me when I'm trying to keep the volume to a minimum.
Archaeologists have recently stated that medieval people had teeth in far better condition than ours today. It was due to not consuming sugar as it wasn't available then. Also, the mainly veggie diet with little meat eaten by peasants was a lot healthier than our diet today.
Still, I'm glad I'm alive now and not then.
For sure try 250 + years ago where we didn’t eat as much sugar but still had teeth problems and had to take a trip to our local blacksmiths 😅
Torture is alive and well in some places
What is the ruined castle/keep shown by drone footage in this video? It's amazing.
How many channels does this fella have damn
The Judas Cradle reminds me of the time I was climbing out of the bathtub. I had one leg on the bathroom floor and one still inside the bath. Unforturnately BOTH feet slid suddenly and I fell hard onto the rim of the bath. My lady parts were sore and I could hardly walk all day.
Oh god xd
Man's inhumanity to man is entirely human! We do it so often and are good at it!
Medieval and middle ages were so metal. What people survived and did to just live. Im so grateful I was born in this age, whichever age im in. I have had four spinal surgery, lost my left kidney to cancer. And god so many things. Even something as simple as antibiotics. People were dying from an infected paper cut. We are lucky and we should be more grateful.
As a historian, I call it the “dark ages”. It’s a bit crude, but it gets the point across to most laymen.
For those familiar with Python’s ‘Holy Grail’: recall, if you will, the moment Chapman’s ‘Arthur’ greets Palin’s mud-clawing ‘serf’. That would’ve been an ancestor of mine. I’ve traced my paternal family back to 1598 & they were all fuckin’ poor. My maternal great grandfather lived in a poor-house in the East End of London. For 2000yrs British people have endured invasion after invasion, serfdom, civil war, religious turmoil & a class system that KEPT people poor into the 21st century. So, the next time anyone moans about slavery or colonialism, tell them to fuck off.
And the poorest of Brits largely went along with it because, hell, at least they weren't Irish. As we see to this day, giving your oppressed masses someone else to look down on is an incredibly potent weapon in the arsenal of the powerful. Trouble is, oppressive class systems are a much harder sell than "white people are the worst". People like easy narratives.
Hmmm let's see, Europe in the dark ages or among the indigenous of the American Plains during the same times? I'll take the American Plains for the win!
Who wrapped your guts around a tree
Staked you out in the sun
Maybe on an ant hill
Good times
If you survive in European dark ages your descendants will see some cool stuff and end up one of the best places on earth.
As an Indian, if you survive, your descendants...well, it doesn't get the great for them a thousand years later.
"How dark was the dark ages" talks about the 13-1600s
11:00 funny fact, in germany we still say "ich fühl mich wie gerädert" when we feel bad or sick, what meant something like "I feel wheeled".
The past was the worst. Am i right, Peeta'h?!
What we do in the shadows is amazing
I honestly didnt expect Simon to be reduced to clickbaity thumbnails, but alas, here we are.
Lol when Kellogg’s is telling us to eat cereal for dinner
"The Dark Ages" being frowned upon is new information to me. Next time someone says it I'm just going to frown at them. 😂
The red and white barbers pole represents blood soaked bandages, so this is the shop to go to for surgery. (USA introduced blue due to their flag) These surgeons/barbers were called Mr and not Doctor to distinguish then from physicians that made medications. That why surgeons are still called Mr (or Ms) and not Dr.
Up here in canada we've been experiencing the Justinian plague for 8 years now
Good and informative video about a very rough period. I am now going to remove it from my watched history so that YT doesn't start suggesting all sorts of gruesome and disturbing history videos.
No booze for kids.
You can't have them pissed at work now