If you are talking about the period in European history, then no, they weren't literally dark. Of course there was still night and day.
The Dark Ages refers to the Early Middle Ages, the period of cultural, political, technological, and economic degradation that occurred after the fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire and Renaissance are referred to as "light" because of the great advances in culture, economy and technology. In the Dark Ages there were no such advances, and society went into a backwards state where people had simple lives and there was no government, or a very weak one, and barbarians ruled their own territories. There was little to no commerce because trading over long distances was too dangerous.
The Dark Ages ended when the High Middle Ages came. Barbarian attacks ceased, the European population grew, feudalism became popular, and trade began once again.
The term, "Dark Age," refers to a period traditionally given the dates of 476 to 1000 AD. In fact, this period can be divided into shorter periods that are very different from each other. There earlier of these is a time when Germanic tribes set up kingdoms in what had been the West Roman Empire. The later time began in the 8th century with the establishment of the Carolingian dynasty of Frankish kings.
The earlier part of the Dark Ages was a time for which we have few records, and much of the history is in the dark, so to speak. This is the reason the time is called the Dark Age. The idea of darkness carries connotations of depression, ignorance, and even decline, and so the term Dark Age itself colors our impression of the time in a way that might not be helpful.
The decline of Roman civilization may have begun in the second century, but clearly was well under way by the middle of the third. There were periods of recovery, but they were not long, and the empire never regained its earlier glory. By the time the West Roman Empire fell, in the 5th century, things in the land were very chaotic.
The period of confusion may have continued for about one or two hundred years, as the Germanic tribes that took over established kingdoms, formed legal codes, and started building their economies. Nevertheless, the first schools opened by these groups appeared during the 6th century, less than a hundred years after the date usually used for the fall of the West Roman Empire.
But Roman civilization also continued, even under these new governments, and even to the point that schools and other institutions continued to operate in some places. The University of Salerno, for example, originated with medical schools that moved to Salerno in the late 5th and early 6th centuries, and had been opened before the empire fell. Another example is the Roman Senate, which continued to meet until 603, five years after the oldest school in England, King's School in Canterbury, opened.
By the middle of the 8th century, about half way through the time called the Dark Ages, the Franks had built a large kingdom which became the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne, its great emperor, promoted literary arts and learning, reestablished a healthy economy based on the old Roman system of coinage, promoted the establishment of a unified dialect of Latin to be used for institutions of learning, and established libraries. This period is called the Carolingian Renaissance. After a brief decline, it was followed by the Ottonian Renaissance, on the continent, and a time of heightened culture in England of King Alfred the Great.
I think the overall trend here is obvious. The so-called Dark Age, which many scholars prefer to call the Early Middle Ages, was not a period of decline and chaos at all. It was a time of recovery and growth from the decline of the old Roman Empire. That being the case, I would say the Dark Age was truly not dark.
The Year 1300 is on the dividing line between two periods called the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. The period for the Dark Ages is not usually referred to as the Early Middle Ages, which lasted from about 476 to 1000 AD. There are people who refer to the entire time of the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages; it is not a precisely defined term.
Although the science of medicine did not make many advances during the 19th century, it really cannot be considered the Dark Ages because learning did advance in many areas. The real Dark Ages were a time when scientific knowledge was repressed in the name of religion, and they occurred during the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages began in the 5th century and end in the 15th century.
Burlap was probably available in India during the Middle Ages, but it was not exported from India until the 19th century. I would assume it was not available in medieval Europe.
It is roughly the 5th century to the 15th century. The middle ages timeline is normally regarded as being from 410 to 1485, the death of King Richard III.
The 14th century was in the Middle Ages or medieval times, but the Middle Ages lasted from the 5th century to the 15th, and so included much more.
A person was considered old when they were in their 40s.
In the Middle Ages (19th Century)Also now.
No, cars were not developed until the very end of the 19th century.
False, Queen Victoria reigned in the 19th century.
The middle ages.
No. The middle ages was 410 AD to about 1500.
The Franciscans, Dominicans, and Benedictines are examples of religious orders that were not founded in the 19th century. These orders have long histories, with roots going back to the Middle Ages and even earlier in some cases.
The first formal articulation of the theory of glacial ages was in the early 19th century by Swiss geologist Louis Agassiz around the 1840s. He proposed that vast ice sheets had once covered large parts of the Earth during what he termed "Ice Ages."
In the middle ages the word referred to a bed tempered individual. By the 19th century the word was used to describe an unfashionable person
No, the Middle Ages ended in the 15th century.
In fact it is the other way around. "Gay" has had the meaning happy for ages. In the 19th century it started to get a naughty meaning, when brothels were sometimes called "gay houses". Only around 1920 the word was first used for homosexuals, who were considered joyful and naughty until not too long ago. So - it's not gays that are considered happy, it's homosexuals who were considered gay.
Knights were prominent in Europe during the Middle Ages, which spanned from the 5th to the 15th century. The peak of knighthood and chivalry was during the High Middle Ages, roughly from the 11th to the 13th century.
Officially, in mid-19th century, unofficially in the Middle Ages in England.