The term Dark Age was first introduced by historians during the 14th century, denoting that little was known of European history in the centuries between the fall of the Western Empire and the beginning of the 11th century. By the 19th century, however, it had become evident that Roman civilization did not come to an end in 476, not even in the West. The author confronts the conventional proposition that three centuries, roughly between 615 and 915, never existed. The material remains of the 7th century closely resemble those of the 10th, and lie directly beneath them. The very late adoption of a universally-recognized Christian anno domini calendar and the Islamic worlds Age of Hijra (AH) calendar aided in masking the deception. The barbarian princes who had taken control of the Roman Empires western provinces were not mindless destroyers. On the contrary, they adopted Roman civilization as quickly as they could and did everything in their power to uphold Roman institutions and customs. They also minted gold coins emblazoned with the image of the emperor in Constantinople. And they continued to build monuments in the Roman style, including luxurious churches and amphitheaters. At the other end of the scale, the period we now call the High Middle Ages, from the 11th or even late 10th century onwards, could no longer be considered part of a dark age: the great cathedrals and castles of this time still stand in all their glory throughout Europe, revealing an advanced and in some ways astonishing civilization. Using real evidence, archaeological and textual, Emmet Scott shows in detail that these are phantom years, and he suggests why it was that this little fiction was widely accepted and supported, as it served the interests of the ruling elites from Europe to Arabia.
The term Dark Age was first introduced by historians during the 14th century, denoting that little was known of European history in the centuries between the fall of the Western Empire and the beginning of the 11th century. By the 19th century, however, it had become evident that Roman civilization did not come to an end in 476, not even in the West. The author confronts the conventional proposition that three centuries, roughly between 615 and 915, never existed. The material remains of the 7th century closely resemble those of the 10th, and lie directly beneath them. The very late adoption of a universally-recognized Christian anno domini calendar and the Islamic worlds Age of Hijra (AH) calendar aided in masking the deception. The barbarian princes who had taken control of the Roman Empires western provinces were not mindless destroyers. On the contrary, they adopted Roman civilization as quickly as they could and did everything in their power to uphold Roman institutions and customs. They also minted gold coins emblazoned with the image of the emperor in Constantinople. And they continued to build monuments in the Roman style, including luxurious churches and amphitheaters. At the other end of the scale, the period we now call the High Middle Ages, from the 11th or even late 10th century onwards, could no longer be considered part of a dark age: the great cathedrals and castles of this time still stand in all their glory throughout Europe, revealing an advanced and in some ways astonishing civilization. Using real evidence, archaeological and textual, Emmet Scott shows in detail that these are phantom years, and he suggests why it was that this little fiction was widely accepted and supported, as it served the interests of the ruling elites from Europe to Arabia.