History Crash Course: The Dark Ages

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe fell in to a time of famine, war, and plague. This was a time known as the “Dark Ages.” Now modern historians see this time period differently than before, for in the midst of despair, there were also glimmers of human development and advancement. Ancient Rome as the world knows it was gone, a figure to be romanticized by the ages; in its place, Europe was heading towards a religious and cultural revolution. Four hundred years following this period, Europe would enter the Renaissance. That is why, per academia, this time is now categorized as the Early Middle Ages. 

For this class, we will be following the standard timeline for the Dark Ages period, which runs from the 6th century AD/CE to the 10th century AD/CE. It will be done in a lecture format and since it is a crash course, we will only have two meetings, each being an hour long. Though I welcome any additional discussion or questions regarding this period and for the students who are interested, I can provide a reading list that will include college level reading material.


Lecture 1 will be on the topics of:

•	The Definition, Timeline and Myths of the Dark Ages
•	The “fall” of Rome 
•	The beginnings of the Byzantine Empire

Lecture 2: For this one,  we will look into the religious aspects of the period from a purely objective standpoint:

•	The beginning of Christianity in Europe and early Church conflicts 
•	The conversion of Scandinavia 
•	Early Islam
•	The rulers: Clovis and Charlemagne