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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SHARK" data-source="post: 3556664" data-attributes="member: 1131">Greetings!Quote By Pawsplay:"The idea that the Renaissance differs markedly and distinctly from the so-called Dark Ages is pretty much a myth." End Quote.Oh, wow. Pawsplay, there is an enormous and *vast* difference between the “Dark Ages” and the Renaissance, across the board, in nearly every aspect of life and society.Historical Periods As Currently TaughtI--Late Antiquity (ca. 315 to 550)II--Early Middle Ages (ca. 500 to 1000) Historians used to call this period “The Dark Ages”III--High Middle Ages (ca. 1000 to 1300)IV--Late Middle Ages (ca. 1300 to 1500)V--Renaissance (ca. 1400 to 1700)VI--Early Modern Period (ca. 1490 to 1750)The existing primary literature as well as professional works and literature written since these historical periods of time clearly demonstrates a vast change overall, and while usually the immediate changes were subtle or incremental, there were also periods of dramatic and swift change. I have listed a few works below that posters might find of interest in these matters. These books are a small sampling of my private library, and have been quite useful and interesting in my own studies. Bibliography:The Medieval Military Tradition: State, Society, and Military Change in Medieval and Early Modern Europe; Ayton, Andrew and J.L. Price, Eds. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1998). 208 pages.Fighting Techniques of The Medieval World AD 500-AD 1500: Equipment, Combat Skills, And Tactics; Bennett, Matthew; Bradbury, Devries, Dickie and Jestice; (New York: St. Martins Press/Amber Books, 2005); 256 pages.A History of Engineering in Classical and Medieval Times: Important Technological Achievements, 600 B.C. to A.D. 1450; Hill, Donald. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1984); 263 pages.Daily Life in Medieval Times: Life in a Medieval Castle, Life in a Medieval City, and Life in a Medieval Village; Gies, Frances and Joseph. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1990); 397 pages.Medieval Europe: A Short History; Bennett, M. Judith and C. Warren Hollister. (New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2006); 383 pages.The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success; Stark, Rodney. (New York: Random House, 2005); 281 pages.The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason; Freeman, Charles. (New York: Vintage Books/Random House, 2002); 432 pages.A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance; Manchester, William. (Boston/New York/London: Back Bay Books, 1993); 322 pages.Readings In Medieval History, Volume I: The Early Middle Ages, Third Edition; Geary, Patrick J. Ed. (New York: Broadview Press, 2003); 352 pages.Readings In Medieval History, Volume II: The Later Middle Ages, Third Edition; Geary, Patrick J. Ed. (New York: Broadview Press, 2003); 520 pages.Medieval Worlds: A Sourcebook; Anderson, Roberta and Dominic Aidan Bellenger, Eds. (London/New York: Routledge, 2003); 328 pages.Medieval Technology and Social Change; White, Jr, Lynn. (New York/London/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964). 194 pages.Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud; Watson, Peter. (New York: Harper Collins, 2005); 822 pages.Ideas That Changed The World; Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. (London/New York/Melbourne/Munich/Delhi: DK Publishing, 2003); 400 pages.The Mediterranean: And The Mediterranean World In The Age of Philip II, Volume I. Fernand Braudel. (Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press, 1995). 642 pages.Cities. John Reader. (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004). 358 pages.Civilization: A New History of The Western World. Roger Osborne. (New York: Pegasus Books, 2006). 532 pages.The Middle Sea: A History of The Mediterranean. John Julius Norwich. (New York: Doubleday, 2006). 667 pages. Cluny: In Search Of God’s Lost Empire. Edwin Mullins. (New York: BlueBridge, 2006). 245 pages. Becoming Charlemagne: Europe, Baghdad, and The Empires of A.D. 800 Jeff Sypeck. (New York: Harper Collins, 2006). 284 pages.Crusades; Madden, F. Thomas, ed. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005); 224 pages.The Crusades: A History; Riley-Smith, Jonathan. (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2005); 353 pages.The First Crusade; Asbridge, Thomas. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); 408 pages.The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims; Bostom, Andrew G. Ed. (Amherst/New York: Prometheus Books, 2005); 759 pages.Dungeon, Fire, & Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades; Robinson, J. John. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1991); 494 pages.God’s War: A New History of The Crusades. Christopher Tyerman. (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006). 1023 pages.Carlo Ginzburg. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992). 208 pages.END BibliographyQuote By Pawsplay:"There is no date one ends and the other begins, nor any crucial demarcation in belief or culture." End Quote.I note gladly that some other posters, including one or more fellow historians, have generously pointed out to you Pawsplay that the change in society from one of these recognized “eras” to another was definite, sweeping, and profound, though such changes occurred at no single date, place, or time. Rather, they occurred as a *process* in different places, in different times, and by different degrees. The process of change eventually totally transformed European society. I’m surprised you were not taught that in high school or freshman year history at college. Quote By Pawsplay:"Nor is the Renaissance a time of country farmers praising philosophical advancements or cheering on discoveries in the field of astronomy." End Quote.Historian Carlo Ginzberg, author of “The Cheese and The Worms” would certainly disagree with your assessment, as I do. Ginzberg clearly demonstrates that in renaissance Italy, many different folks, from farmers, to millers, tanners, and other craftsman and commonfolk, while not always educated anywhere near to what scholars or priests were, that these people did in fact, show an avid interest and surprising knowledge with various philosophical advancements and discoveries and theories of astronomy. These common people’s knowledge was incomplete, as was their understanding—but they often possessed such written works, were literate, or had literate people read the works to them, and they would often gather at houses or shops, restaurants, or even in the fields by a tree or cool stream to discuss what they read, and what they meant in their published theories and ideas, as well as theology, and church doctrine, history, the gospels, and so on. Interesting conversation here though, for sure. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> Semper Fidelis,SHARK</blockquote>

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