When did the dark ages begin in Europe?

Answer 1

It might be safest to say the Dark Ages lasted from the 5th century to the 10th century.

The term Dark Ages is not really clearly defined, and in fact has fallen from use quite a bit.

Originally, the idea of an age of obscurity was used to describe the period after the fall of the West Roman Empire. At the time the concept of Dark Ages was first described, in about 1330, the Renaissance had not yet started, and the writer, Petrarch, regarded himself as living in the dark ages.

Later writers regarded the Dark Ages as the time from the fall of the West Roman Empire to the Renaissance, and so dated them identically with the Middle Ages, from the 5th century to the 15th.

During the 19th century, historians came to understand the the Middle Ages had a lot going on, too much to be called Dark, in the sense of decline or decay. They began to make the time equal to those parts of the Middle Ages when there was little written, meaning the time of the 5th through 10th centuries. This idea had already been around for some time. Under this scheme, the Middle Ages were between the Dark Ages and the Renaissance.

The idea that the Carolingian Renaissance and Macedonian Renaissance, with their growth of culture and education, happened during a time of decay and decline, seems to fly in the face of logic. So many historians refer to the time from the 5th to 10th centuries as the Early Middle Ages instead of Dark Ages. Under this scheme, the term is not used at all.

There have been people who had different, specific ideas of what the Dark Ages were.

Answer 2

Many historians put the the start of the Middle Ages ( dark ages) when Rome fell in 410 AD because everything fell apart and there was no government or services to the start of exploring in 1400. When people began to explore they brought back new ideas, foods, thoughts, and inventions.

actually, Rome didn't fall until 476 AD. however in 410 AD the Rhine river froze allowing multiple Germanic tribes to invade which later led to the sack of Rome. The dark ages officially began after the sack of Rome. There is much debate on when the "dark ages" actually ended. I believe that the dark ages ended during the 8th century, due to the revival of learning, agriculture, and to a certain extent architecture, the Frankish empire provided. This was largely due to the work of Charlemagne. I hope i helped.

Answer 3

In historiography, the term Dark Ages or Dark Age most commonly refers to the European Early Middle Ages, the period encompassing (roughly) 476 to 1000.

Answer 4

around AD 410 when the roman empire finally lost its influence although rome stil had an empiror until AD 476and some would argue that that is when the dark ages began.

Answer 5

476 a.D.