Dark Ages

The **Dark Ages** were a time period in the Middle Ages of the Historical Era of Earth; the name is something of a misnomer, as it was a period of cultural flourishing in many parts of the world. They began around 474, when the Age of Empire ended with the collapse of the Roman Empire, and ended about the year 1000, with the failure of the Apocalypse to arrive. They were followed by the Gothic Era.

## World

The term "Dark Ages" is of course Eurocentric; many areas of the world flourished during Europe's post-Roman Empire collapse.

## Technology

The Dark Ages were highly reliant on muscle power--human and animal.

## Characters

### Britain

#### Camelot

Arthur

Galahad

Gawain

Guenevere

Hank Morgan

Isolde

Lady of the Lake

Lancelot (482-

Mark

Merlin

Mordred

Morgana la Fey

Nimue

Tristan (d. 526)

Uther Pendragon

Valiant

### Other Britain

Aethelred the Unready (966-1016)

Alfred the Great (849-899)

Austin (d. 604)

Caedmon

Columba (521-597)

Cuthbert (634-687)

Godric Griffindor

Helga Hufflepuff

Rowena Ravenclaw

Salazar Slytherin

Saint Swithin (800-863)

Taliesin (534-599)

Venerable Bede (672-735)

### Ireland

Brendan the Navigator (484-574)

Bridget (451-525)

Patrick

### France

Alcuin (735-804)

Bluebeard (d. 554)

Charlemagne (742-814)

Charles Martel (688-741)

Clovis (466-513)

Oliver (d. 778)

Roland (d. 778)

Rollo (860-930)

### Italy

Boethius (480-525)

Gregory the Great (540-604)

Theodoric (454-526)

### Scandinavia

Beowulf (495-583)

Eric the Red (950-1003)

Hamlet (d. 850)

Hrothgar

Ophelia

Ragnar Lodbrok

### Arabia

#### Mecca

Ali (601-661)

Fatima (605-632)

Hussein (625-680)

Mohammad (670-632)

Omar (584-644)

### Mesopotamia

Harun Al-Rashid (763-809)

Jafar (767-803)

The Mahdi (b. 869)

### China

Bodhidharma (483-540)

Monkey King

Wu Zetian (624-705)

### Others

Benedict (480-547)

Saint Cyril (825-869)

Dionysius the Short (470-544)

Genji (b. 822)

Justinian (483-565)

Quetzalcoatl

Siegfried

Empress Theodora (500-548), Byzantine Empress

Walpurga (710-770)

Wenceslas (907-935)

## Creatures

Certain creatures thrived during the Dark Ages--some of them more common then than at any time before or since.

Dragons

Basilisks

Cynocephali

Elves

Giants

Gryphons

Hippogriffs

Manticores

Merfolk

Ogres

Rocs

Unicorns

Yales

## Timeline

### Age of Camelot

**480** On the death of Uther Pendragon, Arthur removes the Sword in the Stone and is proclaimed King of Britain.

**483** Arthur receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake.

**493:**

**February 2:** Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, becomes ruler of Italy. While bringing much of the former Western Empire under his sway, he finds time for many feats of monster-slaying, which he performs under the name Dietrich.

**March 17:** Death of Saint Patrick

**497** Shaolin Monastery founded.

**499** Discovery of zero--India.

**500** Lancelot (b. 482) arrives at Camelot and becomes one of the Knights of the Round Table.

**509** Clovis (466-511) becomes the first King of the Franks, founding the Merovingian dynasty.

**516** The Battle of Badon, in which King Arthur decisively defeats the Saxons, holding back their invasion for a generation.

**522** Silkworm eggs smuggled out of China to the Byzantine Empire.

Merlin trapped in a hill by Nimue.

Guenevere and Lancelot betray Arthur

**524** Boethius (480-525) writes *The Consolation of Philosophy* while awaiting execution for a false charge of treason against King Theodoric.

**525** Beowulf slays a dragon.

**525** Dionysius the Short invents the Anno Domini calendar, displacing Jesus' birth by five years.

**526** Galahad arrives at Camelot and is seated in the Siege Perilous. The Quest for the Holy Grail begins. King Mark of Cornwall kills his nephew, Sir Tristan, over a love triangle with Queen Isolde.

**527** Justinian the Great (483-565) becomes Byzantine Emperor.

**527** Bodhidharma comes to China, teaches kung fu to the Shaolin Monastery.

**528**

**June 19:** Connecticut Yankee Hank Morgan arrives at King Arthur’s court, transported there from the year 1879.

**529** Saint Benedict (480-547) founds Monte Cassino, the first monastery of the Benedictine Order.

**530** Voyage of St. Brendan the Navigator (484-574)

**533** Queen Guenevere's affair with Sir Lancelot is revealed, sparking civil war among the Knights of the Round Table.

**534** An enchantress gives birth to the bard Taliesin (d. 599).

**537** The Battle of Camlann, in which King Arthur and his bastard son Mordred fall. Sir Bedivere returns Excalibur to its lake. Arthur is removed by the Lady of the Lake to Avalon, where he will sleep until Britain most needs him.

**\* \* \***
**554** Bluebeard, having murdered six wives, is slain by the brothers of the seventh--Armorica

**555** Taliesin (534–599) becomes Royal Bard of Britain.

**563** Saint Columba (521-597) founds the monestary at Iona, confronts the Loch Ness Monster and converts the Picts.

**568** Lombards invade Italy.

**570**

**April 26:** Birth of the Prophet Mohammad--Mecca.

**590** Gregory the Great (540-604) becomes Pope; fond of chanting, but not an enthusiast for calendar reform.

**595** Pope Gregory sends Saint Austin (d. 604) to evangelize Britain, where he becomes the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597.

**600** Smallpox arrives in Europe from India.

**600** Establishment of Cahokia, North America’s largest city and mound complex.

**605** Birth of Fatima, Mohammad’s favorite daughter.

**610** Mohammad (570-632) begins receiving revelations from the Archangel Gabriel.

**616** Mohammad convinces Omar, one of his fiercest opponents, to convert to Islam.

**618** Tang Dynasty founded in China--lasts until 907

## The Hijra

**622** Flight of Mohammad from Mecca to Medina. Year One of the Islamic calendar.

**624** The King of East Anglia is buried in his ship at Sutton Hoo.

**626** Birth of Hussein to Ali and Fatima

**626**

**September 4:** Taizong (599-649) becomes Emperor of China; under his rule, the empire experiences its greatest period of peace and prosperity.

**629** The Chinese monk Xuanzang journeys to India, accompanied by the Monkey King.

**630**

**January 11:** Mohammad captures Mecca.

**632**

**June 8:** Death of Mohammed--Medina.

**634** Omar becomes Caliph.

**637** Muslim conquest of Syria

**639** Muslim conquest of Egypt

**642** Muslim conquest of Persia

**642** The final destruction of the Library of Alexandria, at the order of Caliph Omar: “If the books contradict the Koran, they are heresy; if they agree with the Koran, they are superfluous.”

**647** Muslim conquest of Libya

**650** First paper money issued--China.

**656** Ali becomes Caliph.

**657** Caedmon, the first English-language poet, writes his Hymn.

**661**

**January 27:** Assassination of Ali (b. 599)

**664** Muslim conquest of Kabul.

**672** The Byzantines invent Greek Fire, an incendiary weapon for naval warfare.

**680**

**October 10:** Hussein killed by the Umayyad Caliphate--Karbala, Mesopotamia. His death split Islam into its Sunni and Shi’a branches.

**685** Saint Cuthbert (634-687) becomes Bishop of Lindisfarne.

**690**

**October 16:** Wu Zetian (624-705) becomes the only reigning Empress of China.

**691** Dome of the Rock built on the site of the Second Temple--Jerusalem

**711** Moors begin conquest of Iberia.

**730** *Necronomicon* written by the mad Abdul Alhazred.

**730** Iconoclasts begin smashing icons in Constantinople.

**731** The Venerable Bede (672-735) writes his *History*.

**732** Charles Martel (688-741) defeats the Moors at the Battle of Tours, halting the expansion of Islam into Western Europe.

**738** Al-Hazred devoured by an invisible monster--Damascus

**751** Saint Walpurga (710-777), known for her witch-fighting skills, becomes an Abbess--Heidenheim.

**768** Charlemagne (742-814) becomes king of the Franks.

**786** Harun Al-Rashid (763-809) becomes Caliph--Baghdad.

**778**

**August 15:** Roland and Oliver killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles

**782** The English monk Alcuin becomes tutor to Charlemagne's court--Aachen

## Viking Era

**793**

**June 8:** Raid on Lindisfarne begins the Viking era.

**794** Court of the Japanese Emperor relocated to Kyoto.

**800**

**September 2:** Death of Archbishop Turpin, Charlemagne's spiritual adviser.

**December 25:** Crowning of Charlemagne (742-814) as Holy Roman Emperor.

**800** Building of Borobudur, the Buddhist temple, begins--Java.

**803** Jafar (b.767), vizier to Caliph Al-Rashid, is executed by the Caliph for his affair with the Caliph’s sister--in Baghdad

**839** Prince Genji (b. 822) is reduced to the status of an aristocrat for political reasons, but this doesn't slow down his amorous adventures.

**841** Founding of Dublin by Vikings

**850** First Norse settlement of Iceland

**850** Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, tries to avenge his father and ends up killing pretty much everyone he knows.

**855** Pope Joan, disguised as a man, serves as Pontiff for two years

**859** House of Flying Daggers emerges to fight the Tang Dynasty

**862** Saint Cyril (825-869) invents his alphabet--Moravia.

**862** Vikings found the nation of Rus, later known as Russia--Novgorod

**July 2:** Death of Saint Swithin, Bishop of Winchester. His feast day of July 15, which can be used to predict the weather, is not the date of his death but the anniversary of his body being moved indoors.

**869** Birth of The Mahdi, the Twelth Imam, who will return at the End Times to bring peace and justice to the world--Samarra

**870**

**May 1:** Canonization of Saint Walpurga

**871** Alfred the Great (849-899) becomes King of Wessex.

**872** King Harald Fairhair unifies Norway with the aid of Berserker troops--Hafrsfjord, Norway

**878** Alfred, in hiding at Aethelny, is scolded for burning the cakes.

**899** Abandonment of the Mayan city of Tikal.

**904** Gunpowder first used as a weapon of war--China

**907** Birth of Good King Wenceslas--Bohemia

**911** Vikings sign a treaty with the King of France and are given Normandy to settle down in.

**923** Quetzalcoatl begins reign as the King of the Toltecs.

**930** Althing, the world’s first parliament, founded--Thingvellir, Iceland

**947** Quetzalcoatl departs for the east, promising to one day return.

**978**

**March 18:** Aethelred the Unready (968-1016), age 10, becomes King of England too soon.

**982** Eric the Red (950-1003) discovers Greenland.

**993** Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry founded by Godric Griffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin--the leading British wizards of their day.