Barbarians to Angels: The Dark Ages Reconsidered
by By Wells, Peter S.
Category: History , Europe , Medieval

The barbarians who destroyed the glory that was                 Rome demolished civilization  along with it, and                  for the next four centuries the peasants and   artisans of Europe barely held on. Random                  violence, mass migration,  disease, and  starvation were the only way of life. This is                 the picture of the Dark Ages that most                           historians  promote. But archaeology tells a      different story. Peter S. Wells, one of the                     world's leading  archaeologists, surveys the archaeological record to demonstrate that the                Dark Ages were not dark at all.  The kingdoms of                  Christendom  that emerged starting in the ninth     century sprang from a robust, previously                    little-known, European  culture, albeit one that                  left  behind few written texts. This recently            recognized culture achieved heights in artistry,                technology, craft  production, commerce, and  learning. Future assessments of the period                 between Rome and Charlemagne will need to                        incorporate this  fresh new picture.