Dark Ages

:This article is about the term "Dark age(s)" as a characterisation of the (Early) Middle Ages in Europe. For other uses of the phrase, see Dark Ages (disambiguation).

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The phrase the Dark Ages (or Dark Age) is most commonly known in relation to the European Early Middle Ages (from about A.D. 476 to about 1000), but it is also used to denote other periods from which events are relatively obscure because of our lack of knowledge of them, usually through lack of written record.

Related Topics:
Europe - Early Middle Ages

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This concept of a "Dark Age" was first created by Italian humanists and was originally intended as a pejorative sweeping criticism of the character of Late Latin literature. Later historians expanded the term to include not only the lack of Latin literature, but a lack of contemporary written history and material cultural achievements in general. Popular culture has further expanded on the term as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its pejorative use and expanding its scope. The rise of archaeology and other specialities in the 20th century has shed much light on the period and offered a more nuanced understanding of its positive developments. Other terms of periodization have come to the fore: Late Antiquity, the Early Middle Ages and the Great Migrations, depending on which aspects of culture are being emphasized.

Related Topics:
Humanists - Late Latin - Popular culture - Archaeology - Periodization - Late Antiquity - Early Middle Ages - Great Migrations

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Most modern historians dismiss the notion that the era was a "Dark Age" by pointing out that this idea was based on ignorance of the period combined with popular stereotypes: many previous authors would simply assume that the era was a dismal time of violence and stagnation and use this assumption to prove itself.

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In Britain and the United States, "Dark Ages" has occasionally been used by professionals, with severe qualification, as a term of periodization. This usage is intended as non-judgmental and simply means the relative lack of written record, "silent" as much as "dark."

Related Topics:
Britain - United States

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