Dark Ages or Early Middle Ages is that historical time period of the Western Europe that came after the collapse of the West Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. It ended when the period of the Renaissance started in the 15th century. The western civilization adopted a number of its ideas and institutions from the unstable and tumultuous events of the Early Middle Ages. It won't be incorrect to state that the culture in West in fact experienced a revolution in the Middle Age. The most important reason why Middle Age can be considered advancement in the humanities is that its effects influenced the world greatly. The significance of this specific time period "has been increasingly recognized as scholarship based on newly published source material, archaeological findings, and studies of demographics and migration patterns presents more accurate and detailed analyses of events and trends" ("Middle Ages," 2013).
Even though there were slow evolutions and accurate dates are not available so that the Middle Ages can be demarcated, a number of historians agree that the period started with the demise of the Theodosius I (Roman emperor) in 395 and ended the Visigoths conquered Rome in 410. In previous times, the whole period of the Middle Ages was regarded as being the Dark Age. However, now the Early Middle Ages is considered to be the Dark Ages i.e. from 450 to 750 ("Middle Ages," 2013).
During this time period, there was no uniformity in the Medieval Europe. Though the region was very large geographically, it was divided into minor units that were diverse culturally and politically and no single authority had domination over them. With the Roman Empire's disintegration, the civilization in Europe was left with Christianity as the standard. The secular authority was acquired by the papacy over time. As a consequence, monastic communities that followed the Rule of St. Benedict were able to preach and spread Latin civilization...
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