Everything you always wanted to know about the Dark Ages. The god-soaked still live there.

Wikipedia - Early Middle Ages (aka Dark Ages)

The Early Middle Ages or Early Medieval Period, sometimes referred to as the Dark Ages, are typically regarded as lasting from the 5th or 6th century to the 10th century CE.^{[note 1]} They marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history. The term "Late Antiquity" is used to emphasize elements of continuity with the Roman Empire, while "Early Middle Ages" is used to emphasize developments characteristic of the earlier medieval period. As such it overlaps with Late Antiquity, following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, and precedes the High Middle Ages (c. 10th to 13th centuries).

The period saw a continuation of trends evident since late classical antiquity, including population decline, especially in urban centres, a decline of trade, a small rise in global warming and increased migration. The Early Middle Ages was labelled the "Dark Ages" in the 19th century, a characterization based on the relative scarcity of literary and cultural output from this time. However, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, continued to survive, though in the 7th century the Islamic caliphates conquered swathes of formerly Roman territory.

Many of these trends were reversed later in the period. In 800 the title of emperor was revived in Western Europe by Charlemagne, whose Carolingian Empire greatly affected later European social structure and history. Europe experienced a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the feudal system which introduced such innovations as three-field planting and the heavy plough. Barbarian migration stabilized in much of Europe, although the north was greatly affected by the Viking expansion.

Contents

• 1History
  • 1.1Collapse of Rome
  • 1.2Migration Period
  • 1.3Byzantine Empire
  • 1.4Rise of Islam
  • 1.5Birth of the Latin West
    • 1.5.1700–850
    • 1.5.2Italy
    • 1.5.3Britain
    • 1.5.4Frankish Empire
    • 1.5.5Feudalism
  • 1.6Viking Age
  • 1.7Eastern Europe
    • 1.7.1Bulgaria
    • 1.7.2Kievan Rus'
• 2Transmission of learning
  • 2.1Science
  • 2.2Carolingian Renaissance
  • 2.3Byzantium's golden age
  • 2.4Islamic learning
  • 2.5Monasteries
• 3Christianity West and East
  • 3.1Christianization of the West
• 4Holy Roman Empire
  • 4.110th century
  • 4.2Founding of the Holy Roman Empire
• 5Europe in 1000 CE
• 6Middle East
  • 6.1Rise of Islam
  • 6.2Islamic expansion
  • 6.3Caliphs and empire
  • 6.4European timelines
    • 6.4.1Beginning years
    • 6.4.2Ending years
• 7See also
• 8Notes
• 9References
• 10Further reading
• 11External links