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Why were the Early Middle Ages once called the "Dark Ages"?

Great cities have been reduced to rubble. People work the land of feudal lords, bartering for goods in a moneyless society. Wild animals wander through the ruins of a once-famous sports arena. The people turn to their lords to protect them from violent bands of warriors who invade villages on horseback, fighting viciously for power and territory.

These images may sound like scenes from a science fiction movie about life after a global apocalypse, but they also describe life in Western Europe during the Early Middle Ages, a time that historians once called the “Dark Ages.” From the final fall of Rome in 476 CE to about 1000 CE, Europe struggled to recover from the loss of Roman law and order. What was life like in Europe at this time? This video clip will help you understand.

PDF Download Once Rome no longer had the power to control Europe, pagan tribes that had resisted or endured Roman rule turned on the Empire. Goths, Vandals, Franks, Britons, Lombards, and more drove back the Roman army, claiming land for themselves. Once the Roman Empire fell, they fought each other for dominance, creating small kingdoms that were constantly at war. This turmoil meant that people left the cities, which were constant targets of attack, and lived in small villages. Each village belonged to a warlord who allowed the people to farm his land in return for some of the crop and, importantly, his military protection from invading warlords. Roman sewer systems, aqueducts, and villas disappeared, replaced by slop buckets, wooden shacks, and drawing water by the bucketful from wells. Roman civilization was gone. But the seeds of a new civilization were being planted, one that would change Europe forever.

Transcript

Question

What were some of the consequences of the end of Roman law and order in Europe?

Without Roman authority to impose order, tribes such as the Goths and Vandals overran Europe and violently claimed small pieces of territory as their own. Sewer and water systems and other public services broke down, leading to the spread of disease. During the Dark Ages, illiteracy was the norm, and people were forced from the cities into a rural way of life.