And they also had the "Truce of God" and the "Peace of God" and neither one was. Just like the "Pax Romana" and the "Pax Americana" -- neither was or is Pax, unless you realize that there's nothing quite so peaceful as a corpse.

But I give credit where it is due: without some monk using Archimedes as a palimpsest, we wouldn't have the manuscript at all (most likely). Without marginalia in prayerbooks, in scriptures, and in other manuscripts, we'd be without a lot of stuff like short poems, observations on life, and so on. Without scribes copying manuscripts just because they are there (and yes, making errors) we'd be without a lot of stuff.

I'm not praising the burning of "witches" or the crackdown on Copernicus or the Inquisition or the crusade against the Albegensians or the Index Librorum Prohibitorum or the squelching of Roger Bacon or any of the rest. God, no!! I'm simply giving a little credit where it is due, and much of the "Dark Ages" only deserves credit because our ancestors managed to survive.