Dark Ages - Dark or Not?

The brutal accusations and punishments of the dark ages, the poverty and lack of creativity overwhelmed the people  There is a significant difference between the dark ages and the following era known as the Renaissance, this contrast probably also being the reason for the choice of  words to describe the era (dark ages) I believe the name perfectly describes the time period, for it was a depressing age provided with numerous new ideas for torture, many of them for very insignificant reasons such as false accusations, often of witchcraft. There was corruption taking place through the centuries and an excess of diseases or plagues causing thousands of deaths. The absence of a sewage system also lowered the living standards, this resulting in the common use- 'dark ages', preferably called the middle ages.