the.com/dark ages
the centuries historians once trashed for lacking selfies and paperwork.
means a once-popular label for early medieval europe, roughly 500 to 1000 ce, implying cultural collapse after rome fell.
from coined by petrarch in the 1330s, who compared his own era's ignorance unfavorably to classical rome's light of learning; the term stuck and got applied backward to the centuries after rome's fall.
actual innovationheavy plow, horse collar, and windmills all emerged then
historian revoltmost medievalists now reject the term entirely
islamic golden agebaghdad and cordoba thrived while europe supposedly went dark
charlemagne's revivalcarolingian renaissance sparked literacy around 800 ce
for instance
fall of rome — 476 ce, western empire ends, term's traditional starting point
beowulf — anglo-saxon epic poem written sometime in this supposedly barren era
lindisfarne gospels — illuminated manuscript, circa 700 ce, hardly a sign of ignorance
book of kells — celtic monks produced this masterpiece around 800 ce