Dark Ages (thing)

In actuality, the "Dark Ages" are far from a barbarian time of decay. European civilization has been formed during the "Dark Ages", and almost everything that we usually think of as Western Culture has been invented during the "Dark Ages".

Here are just a few examples:

• The nation-state.
• The parliament.
• Constitutions.
• The jury.
• Banks.
• Stock markets.
• Guilds.
• Christianity as we know it.
• Architecture as a science. (Gothic churches, castles.)
• The concept of romantic love.
• The windmill.
• Cursive writing.
• Punctuation. (Including the space between words.)
• Municipal governments.
• The mechanical clock.
• Firearms.
• Scissors.
• Transoceanic ships.
• The printing press.
• Glass (and glasses.)
• Pants and skirts.
• Buttons. (The kind that hold clothes together.)
• The compass.
• The stirrup.
• Fertilizer.
• Crop rotation.
• The first encylcopedias.
• The formation of all modern European nationalities and languages.

This is of course far from a complete list, but should be enough to show the importance of the "Dark Ages" in a global context. We are all, in fact, children of the "Dark Ages" culturally and socially. (At least those of us who have European ancescestors.)