Author Description

The Dark Ages is a historical periodization traditionally referring to the Middle Ages, that asserts that a demographic, cultural, and economic deterioration occurred in Western Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire.<br/><br/>The term employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's "darkness" (lack of records) with earlier and later periods of "light" (abundance of records).The concept of a "Dark Age" originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar Petrarch, who regarded the post-Roman centuries as "dark" compared to the light of classical antiquity. <br/><br/>The Dark Ages Collection features:<br/><br/>HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE, by J.B. Bury<br/>THE STORY OF THE GOTHS, by Henry Bradley<br/>THE DARK AGES, by Charles Oman<br/>VISIGOTHS PILLAGE ROME, by Edward Gibbon<br/>HUNS INVADE THE EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE; ATTILA DICTATES A TREATY OF PEACE, by Edward Gibbon<br/>THE ENGLISH CONQUEST OF BRITAIN, by John Green & Charles Knight<br/>ATTILA INVADES WESTERN EUROPE; BATTLE OF CHÂLONS, by Edward Creasy & Edward Gibbon<br/>FOUNDATION OF VENICE, by Thomas Hodgkin & John Ruskin<br/>CLOVIS FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS: IT BECOMES CHRISTIAN, by Francois Guizot<br/>PUBLICATION OF THE JUSTINIAN CODE, by Edward Gibbon<br/>AUGUSTINE'S MISSIONARY WORK IN ENGLAND, by Venerable Bede & John Green<br/>THE HEGIRA; CAREER OF MAHOMET: THE KORAN: AND MAHOMETAN CREED, by Washington Irving & Simon Ockley<br/>THE SARACEN CONQUEST OF SYRIA, by Simon Ockley<br/>SARACENS CONQUER EGYPT; DESTRUCTION OF THE LIBRARY AT ALEXANDRIA, by Washington Irving<br/>EVOLUTION OF THE DOGESHIP IN VENICE, by William Hazlitt<br/>SARACENS IN SPAIN: BATTLE OF THE GUADALETE, by Ahmed ibn Mahomet Al-Makkari<br/>BATTLE OF TOURS, by Edward Creasy<br/>FOUNDING OF THE CARLOVINGIAN DYNASTY; PÉPIN THE SHORT USURPS THE FRANKISH CROWN, by Francois Guizot<br/>CAREER OF CHARLEMAGNE, by Francois Guizot<br/>EGBERT BECOMES KING OF THE ANGLO-SAXON HEPTARCHY, by David Hume