If the Dark Ages had never occurred, neither would the Renaissance. A main contributor to the Dark Ages was the fall of Rome. The main reason for the fall of Rome was the government being in shambles from the insane Caesars. They would have never been in power if Caesar had never become emperor, so if Caesar had never crossed the Rubicon, he would not have become dictator and set the precedent for an heir. Therefore, Rome would not have fallen at the point it did.
The Crusades were a dark period in history which showed the power of the Church which was a main reason for the Dark Ages, but they were also a time of sharing ideas and migration. In the third major crusade, Richard the Lionhearted was to take on Saladin for the holy lands, but Richard was called home for family issues and killed on the way home. The Muslims maintained the holy lands, but what would have happened if Richard had taken on Saladin? Would the Renaissance have still occurred? A victory would have made the Church even more powerful, delaying a rebirth.
About 1/3 of Europe's population died from the bubonic plague. The sudden influx of mass deaths in Europe created many new jobs for people, but what would have happened if that flea on never jumped on that rat mad carried the disease to Europe? Would the population have remained too high? Would the people still remain poor and hungry? Hunger causes people not to think and create. So would the Renaissance have happened without the Black Plague?
The printing press played a vital role in bringing Europe out of the Dark Ages because one reason for them was the power of the Church. The Church was so powerful because the people of Europe had no other way to read the bible than to hear what the clergymen said was true. But what would have happened if Gutenburg had never received a loan from Furst to invent the printing press? The Europeans would have never been able to read the bible for themselves and think for themselves, so would the Renaissance have happened?
The Medici family played a vital role in the Renaissance, arguably the most important. The Medici family ran a bank in Florence,the birthplace of the Renaissance. They were corrupt, but they made good things happen for Florence. They payed off popes to build amazing architecture, chose the pope, and scavenged to find ancient texts of the once great cities such as Rome. If the Medici family had never become the powerful banking family, what would have become of us today?