Ward Symes, Dixie State University
Humanities
Some people think a heavy blanket of intellectual darkness was thrown over Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire and not lifted until the Renaissance. Were the Dark Ages a time of total illiteracy when learning and education ceased to exist? Did the Dark Ages only end with the emergence of great milestones like the invention of Gutenberg’s movable type printing press and Martin Luther protesting the Catholic Church?
Many events, linked together over hundreds of years by the Catholic Church and the English Monarchy, ensured that learning and translating the English language would overcome tragic events of the Dark Ages. The conversion of the English people to Christianity, English nobility and the dedicated work of Catholic clergy and Benedictine Monks advanced and perhaps ensured the survival of the English language into the Renaissance period.
From humble beginnings, the Christianization of England brought the Catholic Church and a religious order to the island. Together with the English monarchy, great efforts were made to transcribe, translate and advance the English language, placing it on solid footing, strong enough to withstand the challenges to come from yet another invader nation.