Did you go to Harvard? That’s the kind of history they teach. In many respects the Renaissance was a period of decline, as a result of the Black Death. the Muslim invasion of Europe, the decline of papal authority, and the Hundred Years War.
Fortunately I did not go to a nest of liberalism, but to a fine engineering school. I will admit I skimped on my humanities work...
I believe the whole Dark Ages label which used to be rather innocuous is now used to demean Western Civilization while at the same time to trumpet other non-Caucazoid civilizations
ala Boas and Diamond
the Dark Ages were not dark.
they were latin mostly pre-printing press