World History Before 1500 Prompt #2In class we watched the History Channel “The Dark Ages,” which chronicles the history of Europe during the Early Middle Ages. The history channel uses many historian, pictures, image, animation, maps and reenactments that they try to compare and portray as the previous history.
The history channel is trying portray this film so it will catch attention from views and sponsor. The focus for the film lies on more entertainment then accuracy. The history channel sells the early middle ages as a time that brings war, destruction and death, by making all its characters evil in a way, portraying only bland colors to us, and showing us every little detail to everyone death from blood platters to thousand men dead.The history channel sells the dark ages as a dark time for roman empire. In this film the roman was branded as brutish, violence, nasty and uncivilization. The images in film show them hunched over with dirty clothes on yelling grumpy angry men. In the “life and miracles of ST. Benedict” they not once describe the men to look as so.
The description dark ugly hideous never crossed my mind while reading this book. One thing I notice in this film it tends to romanticize the roman empire but we all have to that Rome had slaves, crucified people. These facts tend to be ignored.
The film maker is very dramatic with ever detail The company makes this film every eye-catching in many ways ,all the men in the film are big strong healthy men, they all have nice hair that flows in the wind, and they have beautiful horses and nice shields to fight with look like they order them off amazon. ha-ha. The film maker opens this film with fighting, plague war. This shows the film maker is very interested in entertaining the views.in this film everything is dark every one wears gray and bland colors. The book as I read the image wasn’t dark and gray. He had miracles and food and storms and villages I didn’t image bright color but just everyday like the author of the book didn’t detail negative colors or moods.
I detected notice, it says with a map of color that Poland was invaded. It says they was made part of Charlamagne’s Empire. But in class I don’t remember that ever being said. The western Slaves on the west side of the Oder were subdued and became allies of Charlamagne.
And also caught that the film will make you think that the Vikings simply retreated from Alfred “The Great” because of the defense mechanisms and didn’t have anything to do with this part of history. The simple agreement was also left out the film. I also notice the film maker allowed the talking head to make comments like the Viking named “skull splitter” in the film the Viking wasn’t shown with horned helmets. They also called them bone crushes and the film made them seem out of control and saying they would kill anything. I know Dr.
Osman showed us the picture in class with them with horns on but its just a meth. From class we learn that king Clovis is the first king to become catholic. He the leader of the franks. He united all his people with other with no fear. Holy war fought in his name. in class we also learn that the Europe gain science and medicine from the crusades. The results of the crusades we lost all but the first crusades the gain tons of knowledge from this.
The was a lot of violent against the Jews during the crusades. Against muslins in Iberia. In life and miracles of st. benedict, he didn’t ike blessing people he wanted to get away when all the people came to see his miracles in the dark ages they didn’t portray it like that they so him blessing tons of people it said he was trying escape from the people to go study what he believed in never sed that he did such a thing he had his miracles of his choice but the book didn’t say that he collect a line.
