Dark Ages is a term once used to describe the Middle Ages—especially the early Middle Ages, which lasted from the A.D. 400’s to about 1000. The term referred to a supposed lack of learning in this period. Some Renaissance writers of the 1300’s and 1400’s thought there was a large gap in culture and learning between their own time and the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece. Their ideas influenced some later historians, who called the Middle Ages a “dark” time of poverty and cultural decline, especially in western Europe.
Most historians now believe that the end of the Roman Empire in the 400’s was less disruptive than previously thought. Trade and government institutions survived, though on a smaller scale, in the kingdoms that replaced the empire in western Europe. Monasteries, cathedrals, and palace schools preserved many ancient Roman writings. People created new art and building styles.
The Byzantine Empire, heir to the eastern half of the old Roman Empire, also preserved many features of Greek and Roman life. Muslim Arabs spread a splendid civilization from Spain to the borders of China. Starting around the 1000’s, increasing contact between these cultures and western Europe reintroduced some ancient writings that had been lost in western Europe and inspired new achievements in art and learning. Scholars now see the Middle Ages as a time of lively expansion in art, culture, language, religion, and society. See Byzantine Empire; Muslims.
