Things School Didn't Teach You About The Dark Ages

[@mikitz]

It is a surprisingly ancient notion that people who want to be in power are usually the last people who should elevated to such a position.

[@phrontifugist]

And yet modern capitalist societies are saturated by businesses run by people praised and promoted for pursuing those objectives.

[@oakfat5178]

@@phrontifugistEvery capitalist enterprise is a sh*t sandwich factory. Some are more humane or less destructive than others, some more successful than others. They all have shareholders, whose interests have legal priority over any other interested party, including society, and even civilisation. I can't speak for other countries, but in Australia, the board of directors is there to act in what they determine to be the shareholders; interests. Sadly, imo, very few people manage to become directors who see shareholder interests as being anything beyond the amount of the dividends.

[@phrontifugist]

@@oakfat5178 Agreed

[@oakfat5178]

With governments, we can't exclude people on how badly they might behave in office, but disincentives could be used, such as two terms out of office and politics between each term served. Another would be much tougher barriers to using political inside knowledge in work done while not in office, and mandatory government-appointed lobbyists only, acting as government employees, at no cost to the client, beyond being deprived of undue influence.

[@topogigio7031]

​@@oakfat5178bro, we all agree with you here. It's the GOP we need to convince

[@bennoble3177]

The term 'Dark Ages' was originally coined by historians as there was a lack of contemporary written sources for the period, thus making them 'Dark' to us.

[@tommyrotton9468]

It was a time of slavers, bandits and waring rulers so unsafe to travel too far. But we did invent better armour, fortifications and weapon technologies than the Romans during these ages. As for Turkey, who knows, they were sacked by Islam and the Persian before them, records of the last Roman refuge in the world lost to war no doubt.

[@amirferdhany3177]

@@tommyrotton9468 technically it was serfs, which one can argue are just slaves. And apparently this time was also the Islamic golden age, before everything collapsed due to conflicting beliefs within Islam. Sunni vs Shia is a legendary rivalry.

[@tommyrotton9468]

@@amirferdhany3177 or was it? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGeveomAiK2indE&ab_channel=ThomasAlexander these German/Franch discoveries tell a different history to the standard Islam narative

[@garretth8224]

​@@amirferdhany3177The Mongols sacking Baghdad didn't help either.

[@amirferdhany3177]

@@garretth8224 ah yes, Chingis Khan

[@julianaylor4351]

In the UK the guilds still exist, but as ceremonial and charitable bodies connected to cities and various professions, which elect their own leaders, which is why some UK cities still have guildhalls. They also sometimes intervene in job rights, much like the later unions. In my local area stonemasons were brought in from India, to build a Hindu temple. When the Stonemasons Guild, found out they were not being paid the UK rate for the job and had no proper accommodation, they intervened and forced the employers to pay a proper wage per hour and provide proper living conditions.

[@tgranger3504]

I think in London they are still essential in the mayor election system. Don’t remember how it works tho.

[@julianaylor4351]

@@tgranger3504 The election of the Lord Mayor of The City Of London, which is a ceremonial position concerns them, but the elected London Major is nothing to do with them.

[@GrantJames72]

Thanks for sharing that story. Any writeups in papers ?

[@julianaylor4351]

@@GrantJames72 Yes it was in the local press in my area and was mentioned on the local television news.

[@reign5563]

And I het they only done that in the hopes of them just hiring locals since they was forced to pay a higher wage. If others agree to do the same job cheaper fuck off.

[@timleber2257]

The Islamic Golden Age serves as both an example and a warning. It is an example of how society can blossom and grow when the education and ideas are freely exchanged and valued. The fall of the Islamic world when the religious zealots took over and denigrated anything that didn't follow their own narrow beliefs is a dire warning to modern societies that letting opinions trump facts is a very dangerous path to go down.

[@eekee6034]

It would be so much better if some people would realise that things presented to them as facts aren't necessarily so. I've grown to hate commenting on science channels because of the number of people who just regurgitate dogma they've been fed in the name of science.

[@gentlemanvontweed7147]

​@@eekee6034I know right! Like people who use "science" to claim that the earth is round.

[@eekee6034]

@@gentlemanvontweed7147 Nice punchline! 🤣But what I mean is people who genuinely want to be good scientists, but outside their own field they really believe in long-disproven theories and philosophies.

[@gentlemanvontweed7147]

@@eekee6034 Hahhah yes I get you. And sorry I couldn't resist. 😂

[@oakfat5178]

A big founder of faith over reason was an 11th Century Persian scholar called Al Ghazeli. Now there are "Biblical Truth beats reality truth" so-called Christians are trying to do the same thing to Western civilisation.

[@igorlopes7589]

4:38 It is important to remember why the Carolingian Renaissance was so clerical. After the Fall of Rome the new elites were germanic warriors, the middle class generally vanished since society was now rural and the low classes were illiterate even at Roman times. *So the only social class really interested in maintaining knowledge after the Fall of Rome was the Clergy.* Charlemagne himself was illiterate until later in his adult life when he started his whole renaissance project. 6:19 Europe was a mess after the death of Louis the Pious. No Emperor after him had enough power to maintain Charlemagne's project, for the Empire was divided and decentralization increased a lot. This without taking into account the effect of viking raids.

[@pikestance8851]

the middle class didn't generally exist to vanish.

[@igorlopes7589]

@@pikestance8851 It kind of partially existed in urban ancient Rome, but I was just anticipating an argument, to be fair. If there was any middle class pre-Fall it ceased to exist when society became rural and agrarian. If there was none to begin with then my point still stands

[@matthewryan2060]

Yes, the Roman Empire just transformed into the Catholic Empire essentially.

[@pikestance8851]

@@igorlopes7589 No actually. In Roman society, there were the super-rich, the slaves, and the poor (bread and circus). In the early Middle Ages society gradually collapsed and you had the landed class 9rch) and the peasants. There was a small cadre of people just above the peasant class, but it would be a stretch to call them the middle class. The middle class gradually came into existence until the establishment of trade and cities BTW it is semantics to argue "generally didn't exist" wth Partially existed."

[@pikestance8851]

@@matthewryan2060 Essentially, no. The Roman empire was a temporal empire while the Roman Catholic Church was a spiritual empire. Kings and Emperors acted on their own accord chasing every ambition imaginable. Moreover, the Roman empire didn't disappear, it still existed in what "we" call the Byzantine Empire. They called themselves Romans despite being "Greek."

[@HikuroMishiro]

I thought it was the dark ages because there were so many knights...

[@charlie11ng42]

This is correct

[@JCavinee]

No, that is not correct even in the slightest. What the hell even gave you that idea to begin with?

[@ReverendMeat51]

@@JCavinee Do you know what puns are?

[@garretth8224]

@@JCavinee Lol. I see wordplay goes over your head.

[@ryanb3731]

Golf clap

[@davidcashin1894]

It is fascinating how scaling down curriculums to fit everything into schooling has such an impact on attitudes and perceptions. But it also shows just how tough it can be to determine what is in and what is out.

[@Sopmylo]

There is confusion when you conflate the Dark Ages and the Medieval period as one and the same. For example, Britain went through a very real dark ages between 5th and 7th centuries, when contemporary records almost completely disappear. This is long before they entered what we think of as feudal, medieval England.

[@SheenyPebble]

Interesting!

[@kasahadragon9499]

He quickly skips over it at 8:19

[@Voron_Aggrav]

​@@natbrownizzle1387 and the fact you say Ottoman clarifies to me You don't know what you're talking about, As the house of Wisdom and Baghdad Wasn't part of the Ottoman empire till after that golden age, it's the Arabic Empire that had Baghdad as their capital during that time, And the Islamic world did have great value from the work that was done in the House of Wisdom, The main difference is in how the religions have their main focus, which these days is a far cry from what their prophet brought into the world, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed would have a hard time recognising the modern interpretations of their teachings because of the corruption of time and power hungry people,

[@Matty002]

so instead of the 'dark' age it should be something like the 'age of citations needed'

[@NordicRonin]

Made me laughout loud! That was a great one

[@SheenyPebble]

Thank you, that's brilliant!

[@alicewilloughby4318]

😂

[@a.nonimus6705]

Kinda means the same thing, doesn't it? A lack of citation leaves you in the dark

[@chaoticdusk1316]

Man I gotta start using this XD

[@yskitv5118]

Could you do more videos on the Middle East’s Golden Age during the Dark Ages? That was pretty cool!

[@DaDunge]

I reccomend the history of philosophy without any gaps. It goes into the Arabic golden age in great detail.

[@Living_Despite]

This is the kind of content I subscribed for. Bravo. You didn't even have to walk off camera.

[@angstysoftbean]

So I'm born raised and still living in greece to this day. I was one of those bottle bottom glasses kids up until maybe 13, when they finally gave me a good pair. From ages 11 to 18, I was reading so much extracurricular historical fiction from all over the world, books my parents had in the house or that I found interesting, I learned so many things from them, I actually had my parents called to the principal's office in high school, cause I got in trouble for "correcting a professor" one too many times... This just to show you, it's not only the english-speaking world that centers itself throughout history. This just shows how important it is to never, never stop reading. And always read outside your comfort!!!

[@bridgetmccormick6130]

What an interesting and informative video. Seriously thank you! You blew my mind! In school I only learned (very very briefly) that the Middle East had advances in math and astronomy but I didn’t know any details. The details are important! Again thank you!

[@JohnTreacy-ix3wr]

It may have been the Dark Ages in Britain and western Europe. But Ireland was busy saving civilization during its golden age of enlightenment.

[@thelonewolf8050]

Hi Mr. Simon, I don't know if you will see this but, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy and appreciate your historical content, for example this video Sir, I am a bit of a history buff myself, and I enjoy general world history, military and modern history, so thank you for the care that you and your writers put into these history videos on your channels Sir. Keep up the hard work you and your team of writers.

[@julianaylor4351]

The knowledge that the Islamic world got from ancient Greek and Roman texts, was often translated by Jewish scholars, who had had contact with all three civilisations, having been forced out of parts of the Holy Land, after the Masada Rebellion in Roman Palestine.

[@lucietigger1641]

I was just pondering something and your comment just added to it. The Dark Ages as it was termed, an apparent time of a halt to any significant advancement....was at a time where it seemed a lot of this advancement was happening in Islamic countries and this was being fed to European areas via Jewish scholars. Culturally there has been a religious bias against the peoples of Islamic and Jewish faiths, so in western history lessons is a lot of this left out to avoid recognising the contributions made by non-christian faith peoples?

[@alysdexia]

Exemplum of cognitive dissonanty as all three Abrahamisms believed Earth was flat and small and heavens were a lake where the stars swam above a bowl that held up the rain and it had been 800 years that latitude and longitude had been known yet Earth was supposed to be spread out like a rug to Muslims.

[@frenchfrog4622]

@@lucietigger1641 while it's true that the notion of dark ages is inherently eurocentric I don't think it comes out of a wish to erase non christians contributions to the development of science around that time but rather a simple lack of knowledge. Furthermore the trend you're describing here of interfaith communications and the spread of knowledge was very limited, if not non-existant. Really the moment that islamic medicine and goods started being imported to europe in significant quantity was after the crusades and the creation of the latin crusader states, through their commerce with europe all this knowledge started to spread but before that really it could be said that exchanges were very limited and often quite hostile.

[@manoz6194]

Yes, the Muslim world is happy to have Jews in their land as long as the Jews do not have any power, you give Jews power it's spells the end of humanity, hence the age we live in, the true dark age

[@AKG77]

​@@alysdexia that's talking without proof. The quran mentioned the earth is spherical shaped. And the scholars of the time followed greek method and found it to be similar and closer to modern measurement of earth circumference. And although it was wrongly assumed at that time just like the people before them, their understanding was earth at the centre of the universe and other celestial bodies circling

[@Anti_Woke]

The dark ages are 'dark' because there are fewer records to illuminate it than during the earlier Roman age and the later medieval. The term has no negative connotations for the period, just indicates we don't know much about it.

[@michaelkaminski84]

Thank you, as a former archaeology student, this often does not get cited. When the term was coined, archaeology didn't exist, scholars were looking at textual remains and realized it all slowed to a trickle because the bureaucracy collapsed. The record trail "went dark." Modern science and archaeology has since shown us quite a bit about the era. There are similar textual "dark ages" in Mesopotamia history because that area was prone to cycles of empire collapse as well.

[@Ashley-wi4ng]

The fact this is not common knowledge is wild to me.

[@bromson4459]

Well, in popular understanding "dark" has a negative connotation. If you add that most people seemingly slept through history class it does not suprise me that for many 500ce- 1000 ce =bad

[@backcountry164]

Had no negative connotation. That has obviously changed.

[@spokenme08]

@@bromson4459 I don't remember doing the Dark Ages much in school. During that time period we were mostly in the Americas, the European stuff started in the 14th century. I was in school from 1996-2008.

[@glennallen2605]

Hi Simon! 57-y/o US guy here. Not sure if it helps, but some guy had a slew of bks about little known/unknown facts called "The Bathroom Reader," & had volumes of this stuff, all in 1-page snippets, perfect for lav reading, w/1-2 sentences in small type on the bottom of each page (to maximize the news feed), & they're page turners! FYI if you're looking for more info! Thank you again for your so-newsy videos! :-)

[@jeffdingle9677]

During the dark ages in England, the King or Sovereign was elected by a group of nobles known as the "Witan", who still often elected a late King's off-spring, sometimes his eldest son but often another was selected if they were viewed as the best candidate for the country. They didn't want an idiot after all - they needed a leader, someone who could defend the realm, balance the economy, ensure that food production was plentiful, and that the church was protected from the heathens. It was William I who introduced "primogeniture" the policy and practice of passing the crown to the eldest son (and if he was an idiot, he likely got murdered by the next in line).

[@theoriginalkyttyn7724]

Exactly what the US Electorate does. The popular vote or the common vote, i.e. the vote of individual US citizens, is a multitool used to divide, distract and entertain. The popular vote essentially does nothing with respect to who gets elected President.

[@kevinmcqueenie7420]

Yep, that's exactly how Alfred the Great (still the only English monarch to be given that title, with the exception of Cnut, but he was also King of Denmark) came to the throne of Wessex, as he was chosen over his elder brother's first born son Aethelwold who was considered too young at the time to fight against the growing Danish/Norse threat.

[@jonathandemy-geroe4991]

Not sure about England, but elected monarchies in Eastern Europe tended to be more about electing the weakest and easiest to control leader so that the more powerful noble families could maintain and expand their own powers at the expense of the crown. Hungary for instance had very few strong monarchs after the extinction of the Árpád family.

[@kevinmcqueenie7420]

@@jonathandemy-geroe4991 probably true in England too, I just used that specific example as it’s one I know about fairly well!

[@t.c.2776]

so is this were the opposite of "witan" is "wittless"?🤔

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

It’s great to see the Middle Ages get some of the recognition it deserves, so often it’s portrayed overly negative.

[@gomahklawm4446]

Well, it was for 99.9% of the people alive....

[@igorlopes7589]

​@@gomahklawm4446 By this logic so was the Ancient Age

[@rustyyb8450]

The age of Islam's colonization efforts. How do you think Bagdad came to collect the materials in that library. Slavery really got popularized when Muhammed banned Muslims slaving Muslims. The coasts of all the Mediterranean to Iceland were subject to raids for slaves. Cordova boasted the most lucrative (export) slave market surpassed only by Bagdad.

[@igorlopes7589]

@@rustyyb8450 Shhh... muslims got their Golden age from nothing. It started miraculously out of thin air!

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

@@igorlopes7589 Same with the Islamic Empire, Roman Empire, Aztecs, Assyrians, etc… The worst part for Europe during the Dark/Middle Ages was they were generally targeted in the slave trade (mostly by the Islamic Empire). Europe was clearly the weaker and less unified world power during this time. Then the mongols arrived and messed everyone up… China, Europe, Russia, Persia, almost everyone in the Eurasian supercontinent got beaten up by the mongols.

[@ForsakenGrevas]

On ectopic pregnancies and "treatment." The treatment is abortion. Which was condoned by both the ancient Islamic and ancient Christian worlds. Both holy books contain directions for abortifacients. Always important to remember that the modern religious insistence that abortion is somehow wrong is in direct opposition to the scriptural position that a fetus does not have a soul until its first breath.

[@jannetteberends8730]

That’s not true. In different Islamic schools abortion is not prohibited until the fourth month. In Christian countries abortion was possible until you could hear the heart of the child. This changed not so long ago. But I don’t remember when exactly.

[@barlotardy]

1:44 heh heh heh....masterbaker.

[@KaptajnKaffe]

I masterbake with my friends! 😮

[@richardclark.]

...and then anthropologists were led to believe that Beavis and Butt-head was a documentary.@hyndscs

[@kennylynch9317]

It's funnier the more you think about it lol. "Just give me like 5 more minutes Sire."

[@donnadees1971]

Prior comments are WAY out of line. Sarcasm,? I am so thankful for this video… get out of my way.

[@_Buggariffic-]

Masterbaking over baps

[@curiousworld7912]

I thought the general time span covering the so-called 'Dark Ages', was roughly 400ce to 1000ce. The Romans didn't all leave Western Europe en masse, or on the same schedule. And, what is referred to as the 'Late Middle Ages' (roughly 1200ce to 1500ce), saw many advances that made the Renaissance possible. Many of the things you touched upon, happened during that 'late' part of the Middle Ages - not, so much, the 'Dark' ages.

[@marks3582]

Yeah, this video was kind of a mess.

[@saramurphy345]

I am new to your channel & I "liked" & subscribed. I really learned interesting history and look forward to learning more from future works. May I ask you to slow down a little!? With my lousy phone volume & my lousy hearing, Im missing what your saying b/ c you are really speaking quite quickly. Thank you and best wishes.

[@timeameyer2661]

Yes I agree it feels like a race of knowledge. I love the history, but its too fast hard to enjoy.

[@DuckAllMighty]

There's one thing I got to realize after I got out of school and started to explore history in a much wider scale, and that is, that the World where way more interconnected, than you are led to believe. You are always told, that farmers where bound to the land, and that they would live and die in the same spot, and that is true for the most part, but that's not to say that they didn't travel, most peasants travelled to the local market and occasionally to the city. It was almost expected for a peasant to at least once in their life to go on a trip to the Holy Land, and it was quite easily accepted by the Lord. Traders also travelled the known World with their wares. As Simon said, the Islamic Golden Age was a foot note, if mentioned at all, and China is not even a foot note, but they had some serious stuff going on too. The Medieval Ages are truly fascinating and saw some of the most defining advancements and inventions in World history. One area, that improved substantially, was metallurgy, leading to better tools, weapons and armour. One tool that was invented in particular, is the heavy plough, but other things where also invented. But the most defining invention of them all, that completely changed the World, is of course black powder.

[@oakfat5178]

I'm not sure it was an invention, but transcription was an innovation. In Europe, where Classical texts could easily have been mistranslated, misunderstood, stolen or lost. Only the Church, or very wealthy individuals, might have owned Classical texts in the West. Islamic universities translated a lot of Classical texts, and copies made their way around Mediterranean shores, to be translated into Latin, Greek, English and other European languages.

[@pedigreeann]

@@oakfat5178 The Eastern Roman Empire (later called the Byzantime empire) had never fallen to the extent the Western one had and continued to maintain a Christian, literate and innovative civilization; we still don't know the exact formula for Greek Fire, for instance.

[@oakfat5178]

@@pedigreeann The Eastern Roman/Byzantine millennium started with an empire and ended with a principality. At some point, here wouldn't have been enough scholars left to operate as widely as the more learning-oriented Islamic dynasties and domains.

[@randalmayeux8880]

Actually, a little over 50 years after the fall of Rome, the world literally entered into a dark age. In 535ad, Krakatoa erupted in a massive cataclysm that quite literally plunged the entire world into darkness. Weather patterns changed, crops failed, diseases spread, famine gripped the land and people and animals died.

[@simonmeadows7961]

If anyone wants to follow this up there are two books on the subject i recommend. God's Philosophers by James Hannam Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalili

[@tryllyam]

Thank you for this video! As a former student of medieval history, I can easily agree that it was a much more complex time than we think. And it was only the "dark ages" in Europe. I love that you talked about the Muslim world and the Ottoman Empire in this time period. My history prof once did a couple of lectures on the time of the Crusades from the Muslim perspective and it was truly eye opening.

[@saxon6]

Dr. Thomas F X Noble of University of Notre Dame makes reference to "high school text books and other sources of fiction"when speaking of western civilization

[@ElizabethHernandez-qv5qn]

Awesome. I love learning new things and this was definitely NOT taught in school!

[@omega1231]

It is kinda ironic that people think medieval monarchs were absolutist rulers, in fact most were not and absolutism is for the most part a thing of the renaissance and later, that is for some countries several centuries after the medieval period ended. My country Denmark didn't become absolutist until the early 1700s, up until then the king was partially subject to the nobility and other large landowners, although still with near absolute power, I mean, one of our Kings in the 1200s literally pawned off the entire kingdom to dukes from Holstein.

[@anarchodin]

The king already had absolute rule over Denmark when he imposed it on Iceland in 1662, so clearly it was before 1700.

[@yogachick1955]

I love this video! I have been interested in Middle Eastern history ever since I was first introduced to Alibaba and the 4th thieves and the other fabulous tales from the Arabian nights. One of my great heartbreaks is that I never saw a Baghdad before we bombed it the first time😢 I appreciate you highlighting what Islamic leadership could and should look like. I've read some parts of the Quran, and everything I've read is beautiful. People twisting it into ugliness is the work of humans not God

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:45 - Chapter 1 - (Some) people had the right to vote 4:10 - Chapter 2 - The dark age renaissances 8:30 - Chapter 3 - The islamic golden age

[@elderlord5164]

I learned almost everything I know on my own. School didn't teach much and certainly didn't teach anything about the dark ages. School didn't Even teach spelling, grammar, or punctuation. I had to figure that out on my own. After I aced senior music theory in 10th grade school had nothing left to offer me.

[@pjreynoldsrapify]

I love your voice, Simon, and that you're always reinventing yourself. Everything you publish is always so interesting.

[@seanaguilar2057]

Also: The world's first public library was created in the Dark Ages in Italy. As were the first pair of corrective lenses/glasses. The mechanical clock, etc.

[@maggiemae7539]

That is not so. Ever hear of the library of Alexandria?

[@seanaguilar2057]

@@maggiemae7539 Yes and while impressive, aggressive but impressive, it was not open to the public. All visitors were searched for scrolls and all novel scrolls were copied. But it was a guarded place for Priests/clergy, royals and famous scholars. Joe Schmo couldn't get in.

[@faizalangah6236]

I thought it was called ‘The Dark Ages’ because lightbulbs were not invented yet during that time period.

[@jannetteberends8730]

Everyone of a certain age in France and the Netherlands knows that Charlemagne was the villain that started sending children to school. Thanks to the song Sacré Charlemagne by France Gall, and Kareltje de Grote, by Marijke Merkens

[@perrydowd9285]

I have read a lot about the dissolution of the monasteries in England and the printers practice of using old vellum manuscripts to make the leather binding for their paper books. the purge of Witchcliffe and Duns at the universities while the same thing was occurring in large scale in Paris for industrial and political purposes, I wonder if The Dark Ages may have become dark because post renaissance vandalism.

[@morsumbra9692]

Mr shaw of JM Robinson and Mr. Ugaste of Providence high school. Thank yall for making history fun, pointing out some events the school curriculum didnt, and teaching in an open-minded "who knows whats actually right, thats why you gotta study" mentality. Yall were the best. Unlike Ms. O'Neil and her meticulous notebook.

[@bamdadkhan]

tbh plato's principle about power should be more widely applied today..

[@BruceThaJuiceBanner]

@1:46 If an expert Breadsmith was referred to as a 'Master Baker' in his guild, would a professional fisherman then be called a 'Master Baiter'? Or just Seaman?

[@Corsuwey]

"Master Baker"? Okay... So, what about a professional who baits for fishing? Ah... childish jokes are so much fun!!!

[@randalmayeux8880]

Hooker?

[@jameskingsbery3644]

Phil Daileader has some material on this. One point he brings up is that population collapse in the Roman Empire started in the 3rd century, during the Crisis of the Third Century. On the other hand, when Romulus Agustulus abdicated, not much would have changed practically. So, even the "correction" this video offers still misses some big things.

[@tomholroyd7519]

"Things I was not taught in school" is my favorite topic.

[@jeffdege4786]

Roman agricultural productivity was in continuous decline from the 2nd Punic War on. This decline wasn't obvious because Rome was looting from larger and larger areas. Meanwhile there was a significant technological revolution going on in the Middle Ages. Starting with horse collars and plows that could handle the deep northern soils. And according to the Domesday Book, there were more water mills in England in 1086 than in the entire Roman Empire at its peak.

[@YoungGandalf2325]

We are currently in the Simonian Renaissance, the true Golden Age.

[@wolfy8006]

This Golden Age is as bright as our messiah’s forehead.

[@aceundead4750]

​@@wolfy8006the glow from Fact Boi's head will guide us into the future with knowledge, hilarity, and cocaine for all.

[@tommyrotton9468]

the Golden age of his favourite cereal shining from the bowl

[@GooseGumlizzard]

Simon doesn’t know shit, he’s just good at reading a script. People act like he actually possesses all this knowledge smh

[@tommyrotton9468]

@@GooseGumlizzard I believe I heard he went to Uni, got a qualification. Thats a bit more than just remembering stuff after reading it from a script. It's like knowing 1 is 1 and 2 is 2, but also the application of raw facts so you can add them together and get 3

[@anthonyklanke1397]

Another great vid 👌 thanks for the brain food!

[@katsmeow6946]

Great vid! I wouldn’t mind one just on the Muslim Renaissance. That’s one I’ve not heard of.

[@calebash82]

Agreed 👍🏻

[@samizdat113]

@0:08 Ah the good ol' days. I love that painting.

[@polluxblack9438]

I really love history, and I'm genuinely angry that American public schools don't cover any of this! We didn't learn much about the Middle Ages at all! Let alone whatever was going on in the Middle East!

[@slimyturtle4665]

Simon i love your content but imma have to sit the rest of this one out its bringing up too much trauma from my AP world history class 😭

[@ericreativecuts]

My big take away from my Medieval Jewish Thought and Institutions class was that it was way way better to be a Jew in Muslim countries than in Christian ones for the vast majority of the history of the Abrahamic religions, especially during the Islamic Golden Age. In fact the Rabbinic golden age also corresponds to this time when the Mishnah and the Talmud and Kabbalistic exegesis were being written , largely in Baghdad. Meanwhile Jews were being expelled from most Christian European countries or worse tortured into forcible conversion or just outright massacred. One of our most haunting prayers, Unetanneh Tokef, comes from one of these martyrs (probably) who was tortured by an archbishop for not converting and was delivered on a shield to his synagogue on the holiest day of the year (Yom Kippur) where he sang the prayer and died. This prayer is actually quoted in the Leonard Cohen song Who By Fire. Anyways all that to say I'd rather pay some extra taxes to the Caliphate thanks. History always sucks, it just sucks differently at different times depending on who you happen to be.

[@Naptosis]

But Christians would let us keep our fořeskıns. 🕊️

[@sayuas4293]

Yeah, muslims today are so progressive, and would never attack jewish communities in their countries right? Oh wait, all the jewish communities in islamic countries are almost entirely gone because of persecution.

[@canagoblinpaint6364]

Amazing video and full easy digestible information, would love to see a video on the muslim golden age please i need to know more 😅😊 thank you

[@danjohnston9037]

The irony being that Simon probably got more views labling this as " Dark Ages " video rather than a " Golden Age " video

[@Rugad]

In my studies I learned to distinguish the Carolingian, Scholastic and Humanistic Renaissance, focussing more on the history of philosophy. While the Carolingian Renaissance would focus on PRESERVING and REPLICATING thoughts from the antiquity, the scholastic Renaissance of High Middle Age would go beyond that and SYSTEMATIZE these antic sources. Scholars in this time really went deep into the antic texts and thoughts to understand them, and use them to answer questions which arose at the time. Best and greatest example is St. Thomas Aquinas. Finally, the Humanistic Renaissance went beyond that and ultimately formulated new thoughts which were unheard of before.

[@philiphumphrey1548]

The so-called the Islamic golden age was largely a pooling of the knowledge of the cultures and civilisations that the Muslims had conquered roughly between 632 and 732. Most of the translation work was done by non-muslims from those cultures. When the Islamic empire reached its limits and ran up against serious resistance, the flow of newly conquered peoples and their knowledge dried up. The empire became less diverse as more converted to Islam and the golden age quickly died. Europe technologically overtook Islam during the so-called dark and middle ages.

[@philippbobkaufmann4004]

As a historian specialised in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, I like how it starts off with "The Dark Ages" and immediately ends up talking guilds (i.e. after 1300) and starts using paintings from the 17th century. Are you having us on?

[@parvuspeach]

Being from the Iberian Peninsula we are very well aware of the islamic golden age, we almost entirely skipped the dark ages because of their occupation at the time.

[@Luis_SellsHomes]

Simón I love your videos! Your content is right up my alley as if you created this channel knowing that I love this shit you talk about!

[@CommitSudoku7]

We are going through somewhat of a dark age right now, an era of moral decay, decadence, gluttony and science denial.

[@TheHikeChoseMe]

yup science denial. like men can become women, biology matters.

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

Good morning and thank you

[@ReverendMeat51]

Kids learn about the dark ages in school? I just learned about slavery and the holocaust every year

[@BandytaCzasu]

1:19 That's not medieval, these are Polish XVIc. magnates by Jan Matejko.

[@markc6571]

The Muslim world had a Golden Age, until their religious leaders turned them away from knowledge, and instead chose to create their own Dark Age. Which they're currently still in.

[@thomasjones4570]

FYI Charlemagne wanted to open education to all his people but it was the constant invasions of Vikings that drained his kingdom of wealth and caused the stopping of his advancements. That is the reason why that advancements ended...the age of the Vikings started in full swing.

[@shakiMiki]

It wasn't dark in the Islamic world. Which in this period alsco covered the Iberian peninsula. Not only was it a rich civilisation in & of itself, it also preserved & extended Greek classical knowledge. Without it the classi cal world would have been lost to us. Hence without Islamic culture the West wouldn't have had access to antiquity & the Renaissance as we know it, wouldn't have existed. This really needs to be foregrounded.

[@richardaubrecht2822]

Clasical world wouldn't be lost to us since the Eastern Roman Empire aka the Byzantinians also existed the whole time. West learned a lot about the Classic period not just from the Arabs but from the Byzantinians escaping from the Turkish invasion. And of course from when the Crusaders conquered Constantinople during the fourth crusade.

[@shakiMiki]

I suggest you familiarise yourself with how it was reintroduced in to Western culture.

[@richardaubrecht2822]

@@shakiMiki I suggest you the same.

[@igorlopes7589]

On the votes thing it is important to remember that places like Spain and Portugal had Cortes Generales (parliament houses) which represented the three "states" of medieval society, nobles and clergymen but also the people. The french had something similar with the Estates General, which also existed in the Low Countries. While there was voter restriction to people who had a certain ammount of money, still the Third Estate wasn't composed by nobility, but of people who had enough money, through businesses for example.

[@monkeytron5061]

Haha, that picture of a trade guild appears to feature the actor Simon Peg. 01:36 Look, what’s he doing all the way back in those days hehe?

[@sd-ch2cq]

Thanks for pointing out that we have stuff from Ceasar and the likes because it was painstakingly copied (which also makes it obvious that we lost stuff simply because it wasn't copied).

[@paulcooper9135]

I would love to watch an hours long video on the advancements credited to the Islamic Golden Age.

[@SheenyPebble]

Most interesting; thank you very much. You might also find Jay Smith's video about the Islamic Slave Trade interesting. He refers to the role of the Nabateans in desert navigation.

[@kyleahmed6345]

1:45 I think I would've been a great leader! Oh wait you said Baker?

[@GhostbustersNW]

Boy, the dark ages really liked their “Renae Sauce.” I guess it was the equivalent of today’s ketchup.

[@RainbowSkyDancer]

thank you for this, it's great you got into the islamic golden age, it's important for today. like u said, it had a profound impact on just about everything science we have now. everyone owes a great debt to them. ifit weren't for the Maya and the Muslims, science would still be 200+ years behind easy.

[@stephenwilhelm]

The basics of Algebra was known in ancient Egypt and Greece, but the first mostly complete description of it came in 7th Century India, mostly attributed to Brahmagupta. India also came up with zero and negative numbers first, and Arabic numerals were pretty much just a copy of Indian numerals. When it comes to math, the Arabs (though al-Khwarizmi was Persian) real genius was in taking things from many cultures and combining them into a coherent whole.

[@SlideRulePirate]

2:46 Cool hoodie!

[@samuel_boivin]

10:40 did they buy paper from Dunder Mifflin Bagdad? 😅

[@barrybarlowe5640]

Didn't touch on a lot of issues that had worldwide consequences during this time period. Various outbreaks of Bubonic Plague, The year without a summer, various conquering cultures, that interrupted and interfered with many of the renaissances. Simon has spoken of these separately in other videos. And while Islam had a few bright lights that have passed down a legacy to this day, it also shaped the culture of Slavery over much of the world. You really should note the bad with the good.

[@DeaconBlu]

Cool vid! Thanks cat! 😎👍

[@carlcassidy185]

Anglo-Saxon Saxon election councils were called Moot Councils, not Parliaments. Parliament as we know it with that name didn't exist until the 1200s. Also, Saxons didn't have hereditary laws, meaning the oldest son didn't inherit everything, that law came in with William I after the Conquest. Generally, a Saxon man would divide his estate between all of his sons, not always the better option as it caused wars within the nobility class When someone says "moot point" they mean "mute point" to "moot" means something is worth discussing. Moot Councils would meet and discuss then vote in who should be the new Lord or King

[@gordonwallin2368]

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

[@Jim-Mc]

It was said that Saxon England was so free of crime that a woman and child could safely travel across the country alone. Criminals were given to Thanes to work off their sentences on farms.

[@jimbo33]

Are you in a contest to see how fast you can cover the material? Slow down a little please, you are covering very interesting history that deserves more consideration than allowed by your speeding through the topic!

[@necrotenkiwongwat2359]

The Arabic numerals' origin actually began in India. After originating in India, the system was adopted by Arabic cultures before making its way to Europe. For this reason, the system is commonly known by the name ''Arabic numerals'' even though it was first developed in India.

[@lDemonAngel]

Teaching accurate history that holds all parties responsible for their actions in a unbiased manner seems to be a thing of the past, but hopefully it returns in the future

[@DonCristoBaal]

One important aspect missing is that during the Golden Age of Islam, everyone was accepted to learn and teach in Bagdad, that meant muslims, christians, hebrews, hindus were learning and sharing ideas between them. When Europe was under religion boot, the Islam world lead the scientific movement ... fast forward to 11 century and Europe was pushing aside the religious dogma and the Renaissance era begin while Islam world embraced isolationism, religious dogma and the dark age of Islam begun (and remained like that up to this day). Really hope the next event will not happen again exactly but both West and East will push religious dogma aside and fluorish!

[@JeffreyDeCristofaro]

To be honest, there's a lot of things about certain things that public schools didn't fully teach.

[@vetinaris1297]

Like where the money came.from to build the public school in the first place.

[@nola281]

One of the things forgotten about the Islamic empire during the dark ages was that their medical practices were light years ahead of Europe at the time. You had a far better chance at survival from basic ailments in iraq than Europe.

[@Debbie-henri]

That is true, and some of their herbal medicines are still in use to this day. Nigella sativa is a good example. When my husband was diagnosed with cancer, I researched into all different cultures, searching for 'sensible' treatments, coming across Nigella as an ancient Arabic treatment (it should not be used as an alternative to modern medicine, however). Nigella sativa seeds were difficult to find at the time, sold only in small amounts then. Now, they are available in the herb and spice section of major supermarkets. We both take some daily mixed in our porridge oats.

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

I believe they also invented significant improvement in math (algebra), re-created the slave trade (after Rome’s fall), re-started international trade, and defeated much of the Byzantine Empire in jihad.

[@mdjey2]

Lightyears apparently is just a couple of centuries.

[@CyrilleParis]

Very good! Thanks!

[@galeng73]

As a mathematician, the Islamic Golden Age is inspiring for me. Yes, I've read a great deal about it. It's a shame that we can't say that it's the same today. I wonder how historians will view the past 100 years when they sum it up for still wet-behind-the-ears pupils of the future.

[@fosterfuchs]

The same trend is happening in the western industrialized world. Scientific consensus is regarded by many as a global conspiracy. We're supposed to believe people who monetize their social media channels instead.

[@Nanakinsz]

"Remember, clumsiness has it's charm." ~Kelly #QuoteofTheDay. This video was altogether charming, Miss Kelly, and I thank you very much for the perspective, the inspiration, and, as usual, the kick in the pants. ❤

[@devil00923]

To my history junkies that may be curious about the Arab Nations and their history; Hikma History has great content, and there are some other great channels that focus more on the history side if it's what you're craving

[@DaDunge]

There were several more renaissancess. There was the 12th century or crusaders renaissance and the Sicilian Renaissance. Both happened as Christians made contact with learning from the Arabic world.

[@microb8169]

Hey this is great !!!

[@nunyabeeswax9463]

I learned about Islam's Golden Age while learning about the Islam. The west is lucky that during Islam's rise to power, it's leaders understood the power of knowledge. Just after the first hundred years of Islam , many of it's followers learned to read because a standard Quran was finally agreed upon. One of the Caliph's ordered the destruction of every Quran during the 2nd century of Islam. Perfectly preserved???? This is one topic that makes me go Hmmmm. The easiest and least bloody path for World Peace is a full blown scholarly critique of the Quran and the Hadith's. I'm a novice historian, but if my dumbass can see the holes in the standard Islamic narrative? Why hasn't anyone tried to grab that brass ring of scholarly fame?? Oh, that's right, Muslim's wouldn't like that and we know how the Religion of Peace behaves.

[@the-chillian]

"Font" is the wrong word unless we're talking about a printing press with movable type. "Script" is more like it.

[@JustinMShaw]

When I was much younger I had been fascinated by the nasty rise to power of Western Europe, and similar to the theme at the end of this video, I didn't feel like I had the answer until I had learned a lot more about the Ottoman Empire than I was taught in k-12.

[@Naptosis]

I think you'll find we rose to power because we're scientifically awesome, and really, really, ridiculously good-looking. 🇬🇧

[@JustinMShaw]

@@NaptosisFunny joke, but no. This isn't a new question, it's something I answered for myself several decades ago.

[@Yupppi]

I'm sorry if you live in Europe and your school didn't teach any of this. I always thought the talk about Finnish school system was somewhat exaggerated, but if this wasn't taught in school in the rest of Europe, I guess there's something to it.

[@justjukka]

I knew about the multiple Renaissance periods thanks to Rifftrax (check out their “Eragon” riff)!