[MR] RE: *WH* Demo any one?

[Alianora Munro]

Just as a note though, and perhaps you pointed this
out, the term 'medium aevum' ('the middle age') was
not applied to the period between the fall of Rome and
approximately 1500 DURING THAT PERIOD.  The term --
like 'Gothic' to describe the architecture of the last
couple centuries of that period -- was coined by the
humanists of the soi-disant Renaissance.  

The humanists in question had a decidely negative view
of their immediate predecessors.  Hence they called
themselves the Renaissance, the *rebirth* of classical
learning, when in fact classical learning hadn't died
out; indeed, Europe after the fall of the empire
treasured what Roman learning remained to it, and it
was the much maligned monks who had preserved the
legacy of the empire.  Likewise the architecture of
the preceding centuries was designated Gothic in the
sense of 'it looks like it was designed by the
barbarians who toppled the glorious Roman Empire' to
distinguish it from the neo-classical architecture
which became popular after 1500.  And the 'medium
aevum'?  Merely an unfortunate millennium separating
the empire from its 'true descendants' in the persons
of the humanists.

A lot of our language for describing the period
between AD 476 and AD 1500 comes directly from people
who were actively hostile to the culture and tastes of
that time.

regards,
Alianora 
wearing her velvet biretta this morning

--- "C. Brian Towey" <cbt at ib-ent.com> wrote:
> First, we talked about the "middle ages" and what
> they might be in the
> middle between.  This was a new idea for the kids. 
> They had all heard of
> the fall of Rome, but really had not thought about
> spending a thousand years
> looking backward to a superior age of wealth, power,
> and knowledge.

=====
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dame Alianora Munro, OL
the website: http://hometown.aol.com/noramunro/Chateau/index.htm
the blog:  http://damenora.diaryland.com


		
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