“Dark” and “light” were originally used as a metaphor by Christians to explain how people lived in “darkness” before Jesus came into the world to add “light” to the people's lives. Petrarch, an Italian scholar, used these terms of “darkness” and “light” to illustrate learning, as opposed to how Christians used the terms. Petrarch believed that the “light” was the Greek and Roman empires, but once they disappeared, Europe became “dark.” Since Petrarch's theory that this time period was a “Dark Age,” other historians began using the term “Dark Age.” The “Dark Ages” were used by these historians to describe the fall of the Roman Empire and the loss of Roman knowledge and culture. From the choice of words in the term “Dark Ages,” people have had the perspective that this time period was simply full of bad things. Other historians argued that the term “Dark Ages” was not the correct term for this time period. There was debate as to whether this time period from 400 AD to 1400 AD was a “Dark Ages” or not. It can be demonstrated across economics, government and society that “dark ages” is not the correct term to use. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Some historians argue that this time period was a "Dark Ages" due to the fall of the Roman Empire and the difficult times during this historical period. These historians claim that this term is correct, but in truth there are not many documents from this time period and some of them have been lost to history. From preserved documents, it is possible to demonstrate that this time period is not a “Dark Ages”. Although there were difficult times in culture when society, politics, and economics were in decline, many of the problems led society to find new ways to improve the overall time period and future. Magna Carta The Magna Carta was a document that contained the rights of English citizens. This document originally failed in 1215, when the Charter failed in its objectives with the renewed Magna Carta, which quickly resulted in the outbreak of a civil war. The Magna Carta was renewed successively in 1216, 1217, and 1225. After King John's death in 1216, the throne passed to his son, Henry III, who was nine years old at the time. Henry's advisors and John's successor, together, renewed the Magna Carta and removed some conditions that had not been agreed upon by the public. This seemed to cause even more conflict. The Magna Carta had few downfalls that affected the king, citizens, law and system of government. All the following issues unfolded and arose after the renewed document of Magna Carta in 1225. Magna Carta did not prevent the king from causing wars without reason and increased taxes. These were important issues, but Magna Carta established laws for all and gave citizens the right to due process which influenced future laws. Economy/GovernmentThe economy and government were tense because “No sheriff, constable, coroner or any other of our bailiffs is to entertain the petitions of our crown.” In simpler terms, no one below the highest social class can or will rule with the crown. This law can be considered unfair in many different ways. Since only some ranked people can rule with the crown, it shows inequality and injustice among the people. Discrimination against people can lower their self-esteem. It is commonly known that low self-esteem lowers one's work ethic, which negatively affects the economy as it does not get donea lot of work or the quality of the product decreases. The economy is hit very hard because there are no equal rights. Many other economies have also experienced inequality, but the English economy is negatively affected by inequality which defines it differently to other countries. Another reason why this law can be considered unjust is because the upper class that rules does not usually interact with citizens of cities and spend most of their time with other upper class people. By not interacting with the citizens of the cities, the King does not personally know the needs of the poor and other citizens of the city. This prevents him from making the necessary changes in society. The government is affected because it cannot help its citizens as it could if the government were run by someone from the lower class who personally experiences what the citizens need. Some historians believe that this inequality and the designated Kings help demonstrate that this is a “Dark Age” because the government is not run as it should and the economy suffers. Even though some laws negatively affected the government, there were laws that helped the government and influenced the future laws of the English government. For example, “The city of London will have all its ancient liberties and customs. Furthermore we desire and grant that all other cities and towns and villages and the barons of the Cinque Ports and all the ports have all their liberties and free customs". In other words, these cities had the freedom to establish their own laws and customs. This influenced some of the laws still in place today. Currently, US states have their own constitutions which allow them to decide some of their own laws to some extent. This Magna Carta law influenced and developed into the law that is intact now. This law which was part of the Magna Carta helps demonstrate that this time period was not a “Dark Ages”. This law helps demonstrate that “Dark Ages” is not a correct term because there was still some “light” like this law that helped influence and develop future laws. There were some laws in the Magna Carta that negatively affected the economy, but there were also many laws that helped the economy. “If the heir of such a person is a minor, his lord shall not have custody of him and his land until he has received homage from the heir, and after such heir has been in custody, when he comes of age, that is, at twenty-one years old, he will have his inheritance without facilities and without fine, except that if, a minor, he is made a knight, his land will nevertheless remain in the custody of his lords until the aforementioned term". In other words, if someone dies and the member of the family who inherited the land is under twenty-one years old, the government takes care of the land until that family member reaches the age of majority. This law helps the economy because the government takes care of the land and makes good use of it to benefit the economy.The economy benefits because the government has used the land for production.The land is taken care of well until the family member is old enough and mature enough to take care of the land by himself Magna Carta helps demonstrate that “Dark Ages” is not a correct term because this law shows “light” or good in this time period. This law is “soft” because the government takes care of its land for free until it can be properly cared for and this benefits the economy. Society A law that negatively affects the king, along with the citizens is: “The heirs must marry without contempt”,”. The definition of contempt is marrying someone who is not of the same social rank. To clarify this.