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The"Dark Ages" was a designation used by European historians in the 18th and 19th centuries to designate the
period in western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, during which Classical learning and literacy
collapsed, before the renewal embodied in Charlemagne and the rise of the
Middle Ages. New social and economic forms emerged, specifically feudalism. Intellectual pursuits were primarily theological in nature (cf. medieval
literature). The term came into use during the
Enlightenment.
During this period, so-called 'barbarians'—those generally ignorant of
Latin culture—took over the land formerly under Roman Imperial control. It was a period of widespread population movement,
among Germanic peoples (the Völkerwanderung) and others (the Great Migrations). The relative paucity of history writing during this period, combined with its
violent political and social instability, meant that little from that scattered written information survived, which made it a
"dark" interregnum for historians writing before the great archaeological
uncoveries beginning in the later 19th century. Few can stand before the Sutton
Hoo burial treasure and think of "Dark Ages."
Though archaeological finds have changed this situation to some extent, much is still unknown about this period. The decline
of literate culture, the arts and sciences, and organized education, compared to what flourished during the Roman Empire, and the
fact that Christianity, perceived by many Enlightenment intellectuals as a primitive, irrational belief system became the
prevailing culture and institutional form during the period, led to the categorization "Dark Ages."
Other labels for the "Dark Ages"
There are no clear starting or ending points for the Dark Ages, though the half-millennium period from the Vandal sack of Rome (455CE) to the year 1000CE is commonly used, although European politics were
substantially stabilized with the crowning of Charlemange as Holy Roman Emperor in 800CE.
The negative connotations of the expression Dark Ages have made it unpopular among recent historians of this period.
The term Early Medieval is often preferred. The continuities between Dark
Age society and late imperial Rome have been stressed by some writers, who wish to
emphasise that medieval culture was already developing in the empire, and indeed continued to do so in the unconquered eastern
(Byzantine) portion of the empire. However, many of the tribes who took over
imperial land were initially pagan. The development of a solidly Christian Europe, in opposition to an Islamic empire based in North Africa and the Middle East, marks a major cultural and political shift, as does the development of the feudal system. With this, and the cultural developments after the Carolingian renaissance, the concept of the Dark Ages ceases
to be meaningful. The "darkest" period is probably the Seventh Century (600-700CE), co-inciding with the near collapse of the
Byzantine empire from invasion first from the Persian Empire and later the Islamic takeover of the southern and eastern Mediterranean.
The image of constant barbarian warfare amid the ruins of the Roman empire continues to depict popular conceptions of the Dark
Ages, influencing the creation of characters such as Conan the
Barbarian. The literature of King Arthur also emerges from this confused
period, as civilised urban and Christian Roman cultures attempted to defend themselves against expanding pagan tribes. The
struggle between Christian and magical-pagan belief systems in the Arthurian romances epitomises this.
Other "Dark Ages
In the Ancient Near East there are consistent gaps in structures, writing or works of art at many urban sites between 1200 and 850 BCE, the "Dark
Ages" of the Ancient Near East.
The term "Dark Ages" is also used for the period in the history of Ancient Greece between the 11th and 8th century BC from which no records,
and only scant archaeological evidence, survive.
In cosmology's Big Bang theory, the term dark ages refers to periods of comparatively little starlight emission, during the early formation of the
universe. This would have occurred after decoupling and before the first burst of
star formation. Although there was little starlight during this period,
there was a substantial degree of electromagnetic
radiation resulting from the "Big Bang" explosion.
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