History Main / DarkAgeEurope

* ''Film/{{Outlander}}'' (2008), i.e. ''Beowulf''; ''[[RecycledInSpace The Sci-Fi Remix]]''.

-->-- '''Petrarch'''

* DropTheHammer: The weapon was used by some empires and kingdoms around this time period.

Possibly one reason why the idea stuck around for so long, particularly in the English-speaking world, is that the closest thing to a stereotypical "Dark Age" genuinely did occur ''in Roman Britain''. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "civilization" in fact largely disintegrated in England. The population of cities fell and some were abandoned. Literacy declined, trade and commerce was a shadow of its former self, and in many places money fell out of use as people reverted to a barter system and subsistence farming. However, even in Britain this was not the wholesale catastrophe often depicted, and outside of this north-western European backwater, there wasn't anything like this level of societal collapse in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere.

Possibly one reason why the idea stuck around for so long, particularly in the English-speaking world, is that the closest thing to a stereotypical "Dark Age" genuinely did occur ''in Roman Britain''. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "civilization" in fact largely disintegrated in England. The population of cities fell and some were abandoned entirely. Literacy declined, trade and commerce was a shadow of its former self, and in many places money fell out of use as people reverted to a barter system and subsistence farming. However, even in Britain this was not the wholesale catastrophe often depicted, and outside of this north-western European backwater, there wasn't anything like this level of societal collapse in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere.

Possibly one reason why the idea stuck around for so long, particularly in the English-speaking world, is that the closest thing to a stereotypical "Dark Age" genuinely occurred ''in Roman Britain''. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "civilization" in fact largely disintegrated in England. The population of cities fell and some were abandoned entirely. Literacy declined, trade and commerce was a shadow of its former self, and in many places money fell out of use as people reverted to a barter system and subsistence farming. However, even in Britain this was not the wholesale catastrophe often depicted, and outside of this north-western European backwater, there wasn't anything like this level of societal collapse in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere.

Possibly one reason why the idea stuck around for so long, particularly in the English-speaking world, is that the closest thing to a stereotypical "Dark Age" actually did occur ''in Roman Britain''. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "civilization" did in fact largely disintegrate in England. The population of cities fell and some were abandoned entirely. Literacy declined, trade and commerce was a shadow of its former self, and in many places money fell out of use as people reverted to a barter system and subsistence farming. However, even in Britain this was not the wholesale catastrophe often depicted, and outside of this north-western European backwater, there wasn't anything like this level of societal collapse in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere.

Possibly one reason why the idea stuck around for so long, particularly in the English-speaking world, is that the closest thing to a stereotypical "Dark Age" actually ''did'' occur - in Roman Britain. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "civilization" did in fact largely disintegrate in England. The population of cities fell and some were abandoned entirely. Literacy declined, trade and commerce was a shadow of its former self, and in many places money fell out of use as people reverted to a barter system and subsistence farming. However, even in Britain this was not the wholesale catastrophe often depicted, and outside of this north-western European backwater, there wasn't anything like this level of societal collapse in Italy, Greece, or elsewhere.

It used to be claimed (and continues to be claimed by some today) that there was a wholesale and deliberate destruction of "pagan" Roman works by Christians, who threw the entire classical tradition in the trash because they considered it "demonic" and only cared about UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}, and that's why the ages were "dark." This is also not true, but it does starkly reveal the inherent anti-Christian and anti-Catholic prejudice behind the term, most famously by historians like Edward Gibbon, who believed that the Roman Empire was a period of prosperity, enlightenment, tolerance, and stability until Christianity came along and ruined everything. This view persisted in the Anglosphere right up until the late 20th century, and has only fallen out of fashion in recent decades. Historians today conclude that the term has way too much baggage to be used in an objective way, and quite rightly have retired it.

* TheGreatExterminator: Saint Patrick lived during the fifth century and helped spread Christianity to Ireland. However, his most famous act is that he allegedly all of the snakes from the island, a legend introduced about three centuries after his death. However, paleontological evidence suggests that Ireland hasn't had snakes at any point since before the last ice age, meaning there were none to drive out during his time. Nonetheless, he remains the TropeCodifier.

* ''Film/The13thWarrior''

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'', both [[Literature/HowToTrainYourDragon the book series]] and the 2010 movie.

It used to be claimed (and continues to be claimed by some today) that there was a wholesale and deliberate destruction of "pagan" Roman works by Christians, who threw the entire classical tradition in the trash because they considered it "demonic" and only cared about Jesus, and that's why the ages were "dark." This is also not true, but it does starkly reveal the inherent anti-Christian and anti-Catholic prejudice behind the term, most famously by historians like Edward Gibbon, who believed that the Roman Empire was a period of prosperity, enlightenment, tolerance, and stability until Christianity came along and ruined everything. This view persisted in the Anglosphere right up until the late 20th century, and has only fallen out of fashion in recent decades. Historians today conclude that the term has way too much baggage to be used in an objective way, and quite rightly have retired it.

The term "Dark Ages" is typically credited to Petrarch in the 14th century, who used the term to refer to what he perceived to be the ignorance, superstition, barbarism and backwardness between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance. It was, out-and-out, a disparaging term used by historians right up until the 20th century.

This period heralded the [[AfterTheEnd fall]] and [[BalkanizeMe division]] of the Western Roman Empire (the Eastern half was able to survive as the Byzantine Empire... which was never called 'Byzantine' until a century after it fell, by Renaissance figures wanting to paint themselves as heirs to AncientGrome. Starting to see a pattern yet?), and the rise of monasticism in Europe.

In the 20th century, historians wanted to present themselves as more objective with fewer value judgements about the past, but at the same time they didn't want to retire the term "Dark Ages." So, they attempted to redefine it. This was done in two ways. Firstly, rather than applying the term to the entire medieval period (as was done originally), it would be restricted to the early medieval period - the first 500 years or so after the fall of Rome. Secondly, it would be claimed the ages were "dark" because of a collapse of literary tradition and a scarcity of historical records. Even today, some people claim the term "Dark Ages" refers to a lack of medieval written records, and that they are "dark" because we can't see what was going on.

* BladeOnAStick: What most fighters actually had to settle for, when they weren't stuck with [[SinisterScythe farming implements]] or just the stick.

In the 20th century, historians wanted to present themselves as more objective with fewer value judgements about the past, but at the same time they didn't want to retire the term "Dark Ages", so they attempted to redefine it. This was done in two ways. Firstly, rather than applying the term to the entire medieval period (as was done originally), it would be restricted to the early medieval period - the first 500 years or so after the fall of Rome. Secondly, it would be claimed the ages were "dark" because of a collapse of literary tradition and a scarcity of historical records. Even today, some people claim the term "Dark Ages" refers to a lack of medieval written records, and that they are "dark" because we can't see what was going on.

It used to be claimed (and continues to be claimed by some today) that there was a wholesale and deliberate destruction of "pagan" Roman works by Christians, who threw the entire classical tradition in the trash because they considered it "demonic" and only cared about Jesus, and that's why the ages were "dark." This also is not true, but it does starkly reveal the inherent anti-Christian and anti-Catholic prejudice behind the term, most famously by historians like Edward Gibbon. It was believed that the Roman Empire was a period of prosperity, enlightenment, tolerance, and stability until Christianity came along and ruined everything. This view persisted in the Anglosphere right up until the late 20th century, and has only fallen out of fashion in recent decades. Historians today conclude that the term has way too much baggage to be used in an objective way, and quite rightly have retired it.

It used to be claimed (and continues to be claimed by some today) that there was a wholesale and deliberate destruction of "pagan" Roman works by Christians, who threw the entire classical tradition in the trash because they considered it "demonic" and only cared about Jesus, and that's why the ages were "dark." This also is not true, but it does starkly reveal the inherent anti-Christian and anti-Catholic prejudice behind the term, most famously by historians like Edward Gibbon. It was believed that the Roman Empire was a period of prosperity, enlightenment, tolerance, and stability before Christianity came along and ruined everything, and Europe groaned under the retrograde tyranny of Popery and Catholic clerics for centuries until the Renaissance. This view persisted in the Anglosphere right up until the late 20th century, and has only fallen out of fashion in recent decades. Historians today conclude that the term has way too much baggage to be used in an objective way, and quite rightly have retired it.

The term "Dark Ages" is typically credited to Petrarch in the 14th century, who used the term to refer to what he perceived as the ignorance, superstition, barbarism and backwardness between the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance. It was, out-and-out, a disparaging term used by historians right up until the 20th century.

The term "Dark Ages" is typically credited to Petrarch in the 14th century, who used the term to refer to the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance as what he perceived to be a period of ignorance, superstition, barbarism and backwardness. It was, out-and-out, a disparaging term used by historians right up until the 20th century.

The term "Dark Ages" is typically credited to Petrarch in the 14th century, who disdained what he perceived as the backwardness and ignorance of his time as compared to the glories of ancient Greece and Rome. The term "Dark Ages" was originally supposed to refer to the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance as a period of ignorance, superstition, barbarism and backwardness. It was, out-and-out, a disparaging term used by historians right up until the 20th century.

The term “Dark Ages” only makes sense if you understand the technical definition of the word “history”, which is: “The study of stuff people wrote about themselves back in the day.” The Dark Ages were dark not because they were DarkerAndEdgier, or because there was a shortage of candles, but because for the first half of the period (roughly), relatively few of their writings have survived to the present day - and even that varied depending on time and place. Nevertheless, History was somewhat in the dark about what things were like. We cannot tell for certain whether the Dark Ages were darker and edgier than the eras that came before and after, though the evidence strongly suggests not - which is not to say that it was perfect, as the dismantling of the Western Roman Empire left a vacuum of power that a number of players struggled to fill. In fact, there is absolutely no evidence at all that there was any kind of 'technological Dark Age', rather the evidence favors continued gradual development.

According to several historians the reason we have writings from Pliny and other earlier writers at all is because they were dutifully copied by monks. The reason we tend to look down on this period is because in the Renaissance there was a massive upsurge in interest in ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture and a great deal of belittlement and scorn for the previous millennium, including from Petrarch, provider of our page quote and coiner of the term. Part of the reason that we have so few historical documents from the 'Dark Ages' is because many of them were destroyed in the Renaissance, since they were considered worthless. There was also outright systematic destruction of many great Gothic buildings from the Middle Ages (aside from ones that were still under construction, like the Cologne Cathedral - cathedrals take a ''long'' time to build). From a historical viewpoint it would be more accurate to pinpoint this age from 661 (when the Europeans lost contact with Syria and Egypt due to Muslim invasions) to about 1100 (when the Crusades recovered lost information from the Classical Era). We know what happened during those times though, and it is for [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades whatever reason]] a rather touchy subject, so fiction writers do not touch it.

In Hollywood Land, however, this was a time of muck and more muck. The cleanest—and most well-known—figure of this period generally ends up being Myth/{{Arthur|ianLegend}}, King (...ish) of the Britons, who had a round table, around which sat his band of noble and chivalrous [[strike:knights]] blokes with big swords (many of whom proved ''not'' so noble and chivalrous once left to their own devices).[[note]]Many medieval knights were teenagers that worked for their lord as hired muscle, behaving more like modern gang members than the romances would have you believe.[[/note]] Since most accounts of Arthur were written centuries after he supposedly lived, and featured fashion and architecture from the time they were written, many Hollywood 'historians' lump him in with TheHighMiddleAges (but hey, since when have ''they'' been [[AnachronismStew sticklers for accuracy]]?).

This period heralded the [[AfterTheEnd fall]] and [[BalkanizeMe division]] of the Western Roman Empire (the Eastern half was able to survive as the Byzantine Empire... which was never called 'Byzantine' until a century after it fell, by Renaissance figures wanting to paint themselves as heirs to AncientGrome. Starting to see a pattern yet?), and the rise of monasticism in Europe. Hollywood monks are pious men, clad in long brown robes, with rosaries and tonsure haircuts. They spend their days dipping feathered quills into inkwells and scribbling strange script into large books by candlelight. That is, when they're not out chasing lusty, busty tavern wenches. Hollywood monks don't take that whole "celibacy" thing all that seriously. Neither, in fact, did the regular clergy; celibacy did not become a requirement of the priesthood until ''very'' late in the Middle Ages. It ''was'', however, mandated in nearly every set of monastic rules, including those of Benedict. It was also a time of interesting contrasts: during this period, Christian and Pagan folklore and traditions were syncretized in the minds of the public, which gave rise to some of the most famous mythologies and legends of the Middle Ages, such as Literature/{{Beowulf}}, [[Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}} Siegfried]], and the aforementioned Myth/KingArthur.

A time of anarchy and chaos (roughly 500 - 1000 AD), when people were [[TheDungAges disease-ridden and covered with filth]], unless one [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail happened to be king]]... at least, if you believe what ''Hollywood'' says about them -- according to real modern historians this is a load of cobblers based primarily on the fact that we don't have many documents from (approximately) the first half of that time, and Renaissance figures were eager to dismiss everything between them and AncientGrome (which they claimed they were heirs to) as pure garbage and not worth discussing.

The notion of the "Dark Ages" is thus tied in inexorably with the notion of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, since it was Renaissance and later [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment Enlightenment]] and post-Enlightenment European thinkers who argued that the period after the fall of the Roman Empire was an age of backwardness and superstition where the Catholic Church imposed its theological narrative on the world and held back science and progress. In short, it can be argued that it is [[TheWarOnStraw a strawman]] set-up by [[KnowNothingKnowItAll misinformed intellectuals]], often from Protestant countries, and whether Protestant themselves or personally secular, were biased against Catholicism specifically and in some instances religion in general. It also has somewhat [[UnfortunateImplications racist implications]] as the word "Europe" was usually not included at all, meaning that the achievements of Asian and Middle Eastern civilizations during this time was ignored - the Seventh to Tenth Centuries in China, for instance, was the era of [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing the Tang dynasty]], China's Golden Age. Thus, the concept Dark Ages is often used to justify Western imperialism and white supremacy amongst other unpleasant ideas. These days, you are very unlikely to see the phrase "Dark Ages" used in scholarly text at all, unless it's [[DefiedTrope specifically to debunk it]], and the accepted term is the European Early Medieval period.