14/05/2016

BacktotheDarkAges|HistoryToday

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Back to the Dark Ages

By Kate Wiles (/author/kate-wiles)

(/author/kate-wiles) Posted 5th May 2016, 12:42

The 'Dark Ages' is an outdated stereotype abandoned by

historians years ago, which makes its use by English Heritage all
the more disappointing.
To academic historians the Dark Ages are a thing of the past. And yet English
Heritage, in their timeline of the Story of England (http://www.englishheritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/)from the prehistoric to the modern
period, shows that, after the Romans left Britain, the nation fell into the Dark Ages
before resurfacing for two distinct Middle Ages, neatly chopping medieval England
into pieces.
The term Dark Ages found a foothold in the 17th and 18th centuries, with historians
like Edward Gibbon writing about the darkness of the period, and reached its peak
in the mid-19th century as, with a fervent belief in the dawn of a modern age, a
growing Empire needed to build a dark past from which to emerge. The Dark Ages
cling to Victorian ideals.
As a concept it is steeped in intellectual and cultural superiority used to dismiss the
early Middle Ages as a period of intellectual darkness before the Renaissance. In

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Monogram at the start of the Gospel of Matthew, from the Lindisfarne Gospels (c. 700 AD)

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fact, we know far more about late Anglo-Saxon England than we do about Roman
Britain.
The phrase feeds into a romanticised view of the period: lost to the mists of time,
savage and lawless. But that could not be further from the truth. We might not have
the overwhelming wealth of materials of later periods but enough survives to see
the extent of their intellectual and cultural development. Pre-Conquest England was
not without law, culture and politics.
The Anglo-Saxons had an elaborate legal system, which was written down in law
codes (http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk) from the early seventh century, and
these were often written in Old English, one of many intellectual innovations unique
to Anglo-Saxon England. The law codes predate Magna Carta by 600 years and laid
the groundwork for it. Yet it is Magna Carta that we now credit as the foundation of
English law.
Certainly there was instability, as various powers fought among themselves and
against interlopers, but it is out of this instability that the concept of a unified
English people and, later, England was born.
Anglo-Saxon England was peopled with learned men and women, highly educated in
Latin and English, who circulated and read Classical texts as well as composing their
own, continuing the traditions they had inherited. There survives a large corpus of
literature showing a deep understanding of the physical and the metaphysical and
many productions showing great learning take the writings of Bede, who is still
regarded as the father of English history.
Charters show that laws, administration and learning were not just for an educated
elite. Laypeople were involved in the ceremonies and had documents created for
them: land grants, wills, dispute settlements (take, for example, the Fonthill Letter,

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which exerts considerable bureaucracy on the theft of a sword and some oxen). And
the coinage across the period shows an elaborate and controlled economy. This was
a well-managed society not given to lawlessness and chaos.
The Anglo-Saxons were also skilled artists. It is impossible to look at manuscripts
like the Lindisfarne Gospels or the Benedictional of thelwold and conclude that
this was a society living in intellectual darkness. They drew influence from Classical
art and developed their own distinct artistic styles with as much skill and flair as
later medieval artists. And we must not forget the breathtaking metal-, glass-, goldand garnet-work of sites like Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard, worn by
warriors who would have sparkled in the sunlight. This was not just craft for
necessity; they had the means and the ability to create objects of beauty for its own
sake.
The Norman Conquest of 1066 saw the start of a closer political relationship with
the Continent, but this was not the first time England had connected with Europe.
Similarly, the end of Roman Britain did not mean Britain was suddenly isolated and
fell back into savagery. These great feats of cultural production would not be
possible had Anglo-Saxon England existed in isolation. They had trade routes
stretching across the known world and were familiar with and able to buy spices,
pigments and cloth from thousands of miles away (many manuscripts use a blue
pigment made from lapis lazuli, brought from Afghanistan, for example).
From the end of the late sixth century and the beginning of the seventh, AngloSaxon England was a part of the Christian world. The English church was in close
contact with Rome, with correspondence travelling back and forth; new bishops
would be sent to Rome to collect the pallium; and King Alfred visited the city as a
young boy. Later in life he collected around him a group of learned men influenced
by the cultural life he encountered through contact with the Continent. English men
in turn influenced the Frankish kingdoms under the Carolingians.

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The Conquest is a useful boundary, but we must remember both that it is artificial
and that it only applies to England. The Conquest may have marked the end of many
things but it is certainly not the case that Anglo-Saxon England ceased to exist in
1066. This is a moment when England was both Anglo-Saxon and medieval: a stage
of continuities and transition. Many important political, religious and cultural
changes were underway but the Anglo-Saxons did not stop being Anglo-Saxons. As
an artificial divide it also separates Englands story from its European contexts and
puts it out of step with and centuries behind a world it was categorically in step
with.
We should have moved past the image of a savage Dark Ages by now, certainly in
national institutions which purport to authority and to provide public education, but
that seems not to be the case.
I am not denying that the Anglo-Saxon period be considered as distinct from the
later Middle Ages: culturally and politically they were different beasts, although
continuities can and should be recognised. But to dismiss it as a 'Dark Age' is to
ignore a rich and vibrant society, which saw the beginning of so many things we
now think of as inherently English. Civilisation did not begin with the arrival of the
light-bearing Normans.
With this timeline, English Heritage is holding on to a Ladybird book approach to
history, in which a new country can emerge from darkness. It is denying history.
I am indebted to Charles West (@Pseudo_Isidore
(http://twitter.com/Pseudo_Isidore)), Fern Riddell (@FernRiddell
(http://twitter.com/FernRiddell)) and Robert Gallagher (@Hwaetspur
(http://twitter.com/Hwaetspur)) for their thoughts on this piece. #stopthedarkages
(https://twitter.com/hashtag/stopthedarkages)

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Read English Heritage's explanation as to why they used 'Dark Ages'

(http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/eh-responds/thedark-ages)
Kate Wiles is contributing editor atHistory Today.
More by Kate Wiles (/author/kate-wiles)

Related articles
Positively Medieval (/stephencooper/positively-medieval)
By Stephen Cooper

We should resist using medieval as another word

for backward.

(/stephen-cooper/positively-medieval)

11Comments
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Jointhediscussion
Niall 9daysago

Agoodpointwellmade.

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Reply Share

AndrewSmith 9daysago

Thetermisclearlybunkintermsoftheacademicstudyofhistory,butitwillplayonpre
conceptionsandcapturethepopularimagination.OtherwiseJoePublicwillseeyetanotherbitof
academiceseanddecideit'snotforthem.

Reply Share

Larchmont 9daysago

AndbeforetheSaxons?"TheKingoftheNorth"givesafascinatingglimpse.Itsuggeststhat
christianitywasalivebeforetheevangelismfromRome,thattheIrishchurchhadhugeinfluence
butdidnotarrivetofindacountrythathadcompletelyforgottenChristianity(anditdebunksthe
DarkAgesmyththatitwasRomethatrestoredChristianityintheBritain).Itdoeshowever
suggestthattheBritishIslesweresignificantlylesssophisticatedthantheircontinental
counterparts.ForsomereasonittooktheBritons(orwhateveryouwanttolabelthem)moretime
toestablishpoliticalandsocialstabilityafterthecollapseofRomanrule.Isthatbecauseofthe
wayitwasgraduallytakenoverbyseaborneincursions,wasRomanrulesimplynotas
encompassingasincontinentalEuropeorwasdistancefromthesurvivingRomanorByzantium
empireamajorfactor?
YourpointiswellmadeandcouldbeappliedaswelltothepopularmythsabouttheVikingswho
werefarmoreculturedandcomplexthanjustabandofpirates.

Reply Share

ChristopherMonk 9daysago

Greatarticle.Wellargued.UsingDarkAgesisindefensibleinmyopinion.LoveyourLadybird
bookcomment.Spoton.

Reply Share

JohnScottHarley 9daysago

Excellent.ClearlytherearestillsomeamongstheneedtostudytheirHistoryinmuchmoredetail.
Itwasduringthesocalled'DarkAges'thatwomanwereconsideredequaltomentheycould
inherit,possesspropertyorevenbewarriorsandshouldtheybeinjuredortheirhusbandkilled
theattackerwasrequiredtopaycompensationforthewife&anychildren

Reply Share

Oscarthe4th 9daysago

Goodcomment.Itisamisnamedperiod.
However,Ithinkthearticleoverstatesthelevelofeducationandcommunicationin500s900s.
WhencomparedtotheheightoftheRomanEmpireaswellastotheHighMiddleAges,there
werefarfewercommercialandintellectualexchanges.Literacydeclinedbadly,asdidthe
assumptionthataleadershouldbeliterate.Charlemagne'shagiographercelebrateshisattemptto
learntoread.
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learntoread.
Also,agriculturaltradedeclined.Iassumethatwasduetoadeclineinagriculturalefficiency,but
whateverthecause,lessagriculturaltradeincreasedthepossibilityforstarvationinisolated
areas.
Sowhileit'snotadarkage,thedesignationwasnotsimplyaresultofmisplacedcultural
superioritybutalsoofarealdeclineinlivingstandardsformanypeople.

Reply Share

222adam222 9daysago

Certainlyadebateworthhavingbuttheanswertowhetheritwasorwasnota'darkage'depends
onwhatitisonewantsilluminedandfromwhoseperspectiveoneislooking.Theinvasionsfrom
theContinentthatfollowedtheRomanwithdrawalcausedinstabilityanddarknessforalarge
proportionofthepeople.Sofromahumanperspective,itwasformanya'darkage'.Muchofthe
Romanlegacyintermsofroadsandotherstructuresfellintodisrepair.So,fromtheperspective
ofengineering,itwasalsoadarkage.Asfortrade,Ithinkitisabitofastretchtoimplythatjust
becausesomeluxuryitemsarebeingconsumedinBritainthatthismeanslongdistancetrading
forBritishmerchants.ItismuchmorelikelythatthelongestdistanceaBritishmerchantwould
havetravelledistotheContinent,certainlynottoAfghanistan.

Reply Share

JonathanDore 7daysago

Asillyarticledebunkingastrawmanposition.Ifthetermhaseverbeenusedtorefertothewhole
ofEuropeforthewholeperiodbetweenthecollapseofthewesternempireandthe12thcentury,it
certainlyisn'ttoday,andhasn'tbeenforalongtime,andtopretendotherwiseissimplydishonest.
Inmyexperienceitreferstotheageforwhichit'spreciselyappropriate:Britaininthe5thand6th
centuries.SinceyoulinktotheEHpageexplainingwhytheyusetheterm,whynotlookatthe
boardinthephotographthatclearlyshowsthedefinitionthey'reusing?"Inthe5thand6th
centuriesAD,afterthecollapseofRomanrule..."
Inthosetwocenturiesalmostallthewrittensourcesandmaterialcultureartefactsavailablefor
RomanBritainbefore,andfortheAngloSaxonsfromthe7thcenturyonwards,aremissing.Two
centuriesforwhichthenumberofcontemporarytextualsourcesproducedin,orabout,Britain
canbecountedonthefingersofonehand.SincetheearlyASsettlersalsohappenedtoleave
verylittlearchaeologicallydurableremains,thehistoricallacunacoincideswithanarchaeological
one(eventheseveralcenturiesbeforetheRomanconquesthaveleftmorearchaeological
remains).
Itisn'tavaluejudgementtopointoutthat,untilyouturnthelighton,awindowlessroomisdark.
1

Reply Share

jordan 7daysago

Doanyofyouknowofoneoracoupleofgood,authoritativebooksonAngloSaxonEngland?
I'vereadPeterAckroyd'sFoundations,butIwantsomethingalittlemorescholarly.Anyhelp

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wouldbegreatlyappreciated

Reply Share

PaulGardner>jordan 6daysago

Jordan,it'sgettingonabitnow,butofyoucanfind'AnfloSaxonEngland'bySirFrank
StentonpartoftheOxfordHistoryofEnglandseries,itprovidesagoodstartingpoint.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anglo...

Reply Share

Jordan>PaulGardner 6daysago

Thankyouverymuch,Paul!

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