cptJACK

Why is the early part of the middle ages referred to as the "dark ages". Is it as simple as there were no major advancements in civilizations during this time period? Why dark? Was information lost during this time?

Nick

Due to the fall of the Roman empire many historical documents were lost or forgotten. In this period few had an education or were able to read or write, except for the monks who studied Latin and were the only ones with access to Greek and Roman texts (most of which were in the hands of the Arabs by this time).

Eyza

Nick and cptJack:

Interesting question. Professional medievalists of my acquaintance tend to avoid the term "Dark Ages". The reason for this is that, although Western Europe no longer had the Roman Empire as a "structure", and there were a number of disruptions, there apparently was also a lot of continuity, one way or another. One might look on this period(from about AD 500-1000 or so)as more of a period of "reorganization" rather than a complete break. For example, trade was reduced at times, but it never entirely stopped. Fewer people could read and write, and some population centers shrank in size for a time, but towns and cities never entirely died out, and monasteries were instrumental in keeping at least some learning alive. Furthermore, the Church(for better or worse), took over some of the Roman administrations, and that could be considered something of a unifying force.

This is obviously a very broad characterization, highly generalized, but I'm inclined now to agree with those medievalists who say that "Dark Ages" as an idea ought to be dropped.
Anne G

Commander

Like Eyza said, I always thought of the Dark ages as a period of time when there were fewer books written. People put knowledge and education to the side as the were more focused on learning how to survive the plague and other diseases.

JohnnyH

As others above have said, after the 'light' of the Roman sphere of influence, this era in British history is called 'dark'- wrongly.

We have far fewer written records after 410ad, when the Romans left this island, up to the 8th/9thC, but culture, agriculture and society flourished- some of it Romano-Celt, some ornate jewellery and earthenware being Angle/Saxon/Jutish.

It's widely believed that these peoples- as did the Celts before the Romans invaded- also have sophisticated social structures- far from the merely brutish, paganised image we erroneously have of the people that lived between the 5th & 8thC

Eyza

Kingtaker and Commander:

Well, like Kingtaker said, the British(and other people in those times as well), were more sophistcated than some people living now would like to believe. While the first plague pandemic did depopulate a good deal of Europe, and it did depress things economically, there were still some population centers operating, and trade continued, etc., etc. Social structures remained more or less the same, but government gradually became more "localized", a precursor to the later kingdoms and still later national entities like Fance, England, etc. This is why professional medievalists don't like the term "Dark Ages", because while societies slowed down for a while and "regrouped", nothing ever completely died out. The term "dark ages" seems to imply that something really drastic happened. It didn't, exactly.
Anne G

Commander

what term to medievalists use to describe this period? Or does it not have a specific name?

Eyza

Commander:

Professional medievalists use the term "Early Middle Ages or "Early medieval" for the period from about 500 AD-1000AD. "Later Middle Ages" refers to the period from about 1000 AD-1500AD. Of course, these are rather arbitrary dates, but I think you get the picture.
Anne G

Comet

You are right Anne. The term that we use are the two that you mention above...and although the dates you mention are arbitrary, I would tend to agree with them. I also prefer to use the term medieval rather than Middle Ages...I don't know why...always preferred that term better I guess.

Eyza

Comet:

I suspect most medievalists prefer "medieval" to "Middle Ages", though to my presumably uneducated mind, they pretty much refer to the same thing. So I kind of tend to use them interchangeably, having no particular preference. OTOH, I don't mind it if you, for example, do have such a preference. In any case, I think we both agree that "dark ages" is really a misnomer.

Incidentally, for those who wish to learn more, there is an e-mail discussion group called Mediev-l. It's mostly scholars, though there are some reenactors and novelists there. It's also a bit "stuffy"(or at least some of the the people there are a bit "stuffy", unlike the anthropology e-mail list I also inhabit). Otherwise, it's really quite good. This is the place, incidentally, where I learned that "dark ages" is not the best of terms to use for the earlier medieval period. Oh, and they have quite a lot to say, if you ask them, about "feudalism".
Anne G