Sam Clark
Period C
How much is clear about medieval times? Not much, according to William Manchester.
Knowledge was not valued in Europe and most, including the Holy Roman emperors, were illiterate.
Because of this and the many horrors during this time, the 600 years between 400 AD and 1000 AD is
known as the Dark Ages. However, in Manchester’s A World Lit Only by Fire, the lives of medieval people
are described, notably their poor education, and communication. Luckily, the world didn’t stay in the
Dark Ages with the birth of the Renaissance.
Most believe the Middle Ages to be filled with romantic, chivalrous knights. However, this is far
from the truth; the knights were not very romantic or chivalrous and the peasant population was the
majority. More than eighty percent of the population was peasants and they had very hard lives.
Everyone from toddlers to the elderly labored day and night without modern tools. The peasants lived in
small, poor houses with clay floors while knights lived in castles with tiled floors and walls with
tapestries. Marriage was usually decided when the bride-to-be, who was in her early teens, started
showing her pregnancy. The Dark Ages were very different than the world today.
Education during medieval times was limited unless you could afford it. Three types of
education were available: popular education, apprenticeships, and courses of studies at schools and
universities. Popular education was what the majority of the medieval population was taught, which
included reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. Apprenticeships and universities were only attended to
by the wealthy; no peasants or laborers were allowed. Apprentices were taught the skills they would
need to succeed in their trade. Universities taught far more than the others; accounting, mathematics,
and foreign languages. Literacy was mandatory with the growth of industry. Even though medieval
universities were a far cry to current ones, it was still better than what the peasants learned.
Medieval has another meaning other than relating to or belonging to the Middle Ages; it means
“old fashioned” or “primitive”. Primitive is an accurate word to describe communication during the Dark
Ages. If a village was attacked, most of the nearest villages to them would never know. Telephones were
a long way from being invented and it would take days for a messenger to go to another town.
Communication between countries was virtually nonexistent. It was only during the Renaissance when
people in Italy could send a message to people in England, though it would take a few weeks.
Manchester’s book explains the medieval people, especially their bloodthirstiness, in great
detail. He wrote that the conversion of people to Christianity was very easy since the devout Christians
threatened anyone who did not convert with death. He describes Charlemagne’s murder of forty-five
hundred people who didn’t convert unremarkable, saying every flourishing religion has been watered by
the blood of its own faithful. Manchester also says that the medieval world was not a civilization as
civilizations have a relatively high level of cultural and technological development, meaning the
medieval people hadn’t been advanced at all.