Frequently Asked Questions
The Dark Ages is a term traditionally used to describe the early medieval period in Europe, roughly from the 5th to the 10th century (c. 476–1000 CE). It began after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE and lasted until the early Middle Ages, when cultural, economic, and political stability began to recover.
The term “Dark Ages” originally implied a time of cultural and intellectual decline, but modern historians generally avoid it because it oversimplifies a complex period. While there were hardships—such as the decline of urban centers, loss of centralized government, and Viking and barbarian invasions—this era also saw the preservation of knowledge in monasteries, the rise of medieval kingdoms, and the foundation for later European developments.
DarkAgesHistory covers a wider time period than the Dark Ages period simply because we liked researching and writing articles on history at either ends of the Dark Ages. So, we now cover events from the Fall of Rome in the Fifth Century that led to the Dark Ages. While stopping the content at events that occurred after 1000 CE – a rather abrupt and arbitrary end to the Dark Ages period – meant we were missing out on some great stories from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
The traditional labels BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) have been increasingly replaced with BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) to create a more inclusive system that accommodates all religions.
The US-based History Channel uses BCE/CE notation in articles on non-Christian religious topics such as Jerusalem and Judaism, while the World History Encyclopaedia only uses the the BCE/CE.
Some historians have been using the system for over a century. They argued that the BC/AD system was inherently tied to Christianity, making it potentially controversial in a global context. These historians felt that a more neutral terminology was appropriate to avoid alienating non-Christian communities.
Another reason for this shift stemmed from a miscalculation of Jesus Christ’s birthdate. Many historians now believe Christ was born around 2 BCE, making the traditional AD/BC system technically inaccurate. The BCE/CE system, while still following the same numerical structure, avoids explicitly linking its reference point to Jesus’ birth.
Despite the introduction of the BCE/CE system as an alternative, the BC/AD dating convention remains widely used across the world, particularly in religious and historical contexts. However, DarkAgesHistory uses the more modern naming convention of BCE/CE as it is in the English language (not Latin) and as it reflects a neutral unbiased view of historical events we try to present. We have an international audience of readers who recognize many different belief systems, and aim to be welcoming to all.
The traditional labels BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) have gradually been replaced with BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) to create a more inclusive system that accommodates all religions.
Many historians have been using this system for over a century, arguing that the BC/AD system was inherently tied to Christianity, and that a more neutral terminology was appropriate to avoid alienating non-Christian communities.
Another reason for this shift stemmed from a miscalculation of Jesus Christ’s birthdate. Many historians now believe Jesus was born around 2 BCE, making the traditional AD/BC system technically inaccurate. The BCE/CE system, while still following the same numerical structure, avoids explicitly linking its reference point to Jesus’ birth.
Despite the introduction of the BCE/CE system as an alternative, the BC/AD dating convention remains widely used across the world, particularly in religious and historical contexts. However, darkageshistory uses the more modern CE/BCE as it is English language (not Latin) and reflects the neutral impartial approach to history that we try to take.