Why do historians call the period after the Romans left britian the Dark Ages?
Because it is a period when not much is know about what exactly was going on because there wasn’t a lot of writing going on at the time. It is the period when the legendary ‘King Arthur’ is said to have ruled Britain, although he is not mentioned at all by the few written records that we have from this period, like the writings of the monk Gildas for instance. Britain was soon re-converted to Christianity and learning began to flourish again. A really fascinating book about this period is the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ by Bede, which was written in the 8th century and is a really exciting chronicle of kings and queen and saints and battles and miracles, a truly remarkable work. Another really good book is ‘In Search of the Dark Ages’ by Michael Wood.
In European historiography, the term Dark Age(s) refers to the Early Middle Ages, the period encompassing (roughly) 476 to 1000 AD. This concept of a Dark Age was created by the Italian scholar Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) in the 1330s and was originally intend as a sweeping criticism of the character of Late Latin literature. Later historians expanded the term to refer to the transitional period between Classical Roman Antiquity and the High Middle Ages, including not only the lack of Latin literature, but also a lack of contemporary written history, general demographic decline, limited building activity and material cultural achievements in general (for example, as shown in the impoverishment of technologies, such as pottery). Popular culture has further expanded on the term as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its pejorative use and expanding its scope.
“Dark Ages” is a generic term describing the early medieval period of western European history referring to the time when there was no Roman (or Holy Roman) emperor in the West; generally the period between about 500 and 1000 A.D., which was marked by frequent warfare and a virtual disappearance of urban life. Mostly it was a transitional phase between the Romans and the emergence of distinct European cultures and states influenced by the legacy of Rome and the Christian Church,but not as developed socially,politically and economically until much later in the Middle Ages. The term is now rarely used by historians because of the value judgment it implies.
