European Dark Ages History

The Dark Ages have long been cast as a murky, unknowable period – a void between the worlds of Rome and later medieval Europe. That picture is wrong. In this sweeping history of Europe between AD 500 and 1000, Oxford historian Alice Rio brings a long-obscured era into intimate focus. Told...

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages started with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. Population decrease, counter-urbanization, the collapse of central authority, invasions of countries, and mass movements of tribes, which had started in late antiquity, continued into the early Middle Ages. The massive movements of tribes formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. Explore more about this long time in history, a dark time when people faced countless challenges to their survival.