Concerning the Dark Ages
Posted January 15th, 2009 by Paula Baxter, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Art & Architecture
Dark Ages
It might depend what you mean by seeming more remote! I will give a couple of reasons why it probably doesn't seem so to me.
The first, as you say, is that archaeologists and historians have really stopped using the term - except to show that it wasn't a dark age in any cultural sense. One example out of many might be the trade between Anglo-Saxon communities in England and the lands of Byzantium, in the form of ornate, probably ceremonial buckets; see here for more.
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/archive/timeteamli...
The other is vaguer and is what I might call a feeling for the period in popular culture today. Quite a lot of the enthusiasm for the period is, I think, the way that its history has flowed recently into such things as computer games and even films. Recall the recent film of Beowulf.
Of course, medievalism and interest in it stems from the 19th c and before and the enduring mythology surrounding the Arthurian legends shows how pervasive the "Dark Ages" have been on their influence on our culture today, if refracted through the concerns of people in the past.
Great points! I will mention
Great points! I will mention this in upcoming blog. You're quite right about notion that they weren't dark ages anymore with what we know about them.
I think the real problem is me - I just didn't study this period that much in any of my schooling
Dark Ages
The Church spent a long time trying to maintain the draped costumes from this period. They were seen as chaste and hid much of the natural curves of the body, so there was little or no emphasis on any sexual allurement.
Tailoring spelt the end of the Dark Age costume. The Church did not give up without a fight but Court fashions were such an exciting new innovation that nothing could really stop their development.
You're so right about the
You're so right about the Church. Do you think that in the case of clothing and fashion, human nature won out over implanted morality?
Human Nature
It seems that Human nature is irrepressible. We have always prided ourselves in our appeance and have taken extraordinary lengths to sculpt our hair, tatoo our bodies and add jewellry (piercings etc). We enjoy projecting an image to others, whether that be a 'come and get me' or 'approach at your peril'.
I think the Church tried (both Catholic and later Puritan/Calvinist), but you can't keep a good dandy down for long!
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