Five Questions

Why was it called the Dark Ages?

The phrase ‘The Dark Ages’ is a periodisation traditionally referring to the era of time immediately following the decline and collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Its name has been attributed to come from the Tuscan Scholar Petrarch, who attributed it to a literal battle against darkness. It was a comparison between Classical Antiquity, seen as the highpoint of cultural achievement, and the deterioration of civilisation that followed. This view, shepherded by Christian scholars would be echoed throughout the Medieval and Renaissance periods, seeing the period through the lenses of religious academia. At the divide between historical scholarship and religious scholarship broadened and we entered the period known as the Age of Reason (17/18^th Century) we see notable historians such as Edward Gibbon in his seminal text The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire expressing contempt for the name of the Dark Ages. Many of these scholars would attribute the name to a lack of secular achievement, ironically the opposite to what Petrarch’s original naming was about, depicting a period dominated by Christianity and the Papacy.

In modern scholarship, the ‘Dark Ages’ is barely used, referring to the period as the Early Middle Ages. But here in this blog, I have chosen to use the Dark Ages as the name for the period of British history between the 4^th and 11^th Centuries. I have used this not in part because I view it as a particularly barbaric period in British history, but because of how the name contrasts with the reality.

Was it all about Vikings and barbarians?

t is all too easy to dismiss this period as one of just invasions, barbarisms and brutal battles. But the reality of this period is completely different to that we see today. It is important to note that many of those scholars writing at the times would be writing of what they found important, and many monks for instance would be depicting Viking threats and raids on their wealth and churches more so than land reform or legal disputes! A lot of the evidence we have of the period is varied in scope and the popular perception of ceaseless Viking raids, of Great Heathen Armies is far more nuanced than we have often believed. This blog will feature Vikings, and British tribespeople, but it will also feature the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Anglo-Danish kingdoms and much more. Each of these civilisations has an impression that we still see today, an impression that simplifies the reality. Remember the term ‘barbarian’ used to mean someone who did not belong to a great civilisation such as Greece or Rome!

Did Ragnar Lothbrok really exist?

One of the most famous figures from the Dark Ages, Ragnar was a warrior, explorer and King who existed between the 8^th and 9^th centuries. He is depicted in the tv show Vikings and mentioned in nearly every film, tv series or documentary that depicts the Viking invasions. He is the subject of a saga known as The Tale of Ragnar Lothbrok (the subject of a future analysis on Saga-days). Yet…there is no evidence he even existed. No burial mound has been found, and no hard, physical evidence. All we have are the sagas written about him and tentative links between him and the Great Heathen Army, supposedly led by his sons. The truth, as with much of the period, is that we simply do not know. That there was a Viking figure known as Ragnar alive at this time may be true, we certainly have accounts of him, but did he achieve all the things his saga said he did? What is more important, is not whether he was real, but what do the tales of his life tell us about Viking life and culture?

Why is the period so focused on the Anglo Saxons and Vikings?

This is one of the great tragedies of historiography and comes from a simple fact – we have more evidence of them than we do of the other great Kingdoms around in this period, and it has been often seen as more ‘exciting’ to study those Kingdoms. Yet we look beyond the Anglo-centric viewpoint that has dominated British history in the Dark Ages and we see a rich history of Kingdoms beyond the veil of Anglo-Centrism, of drama, heroism and intrigue that I can only begin to mention in a short blog post.

So what is the purpose of this blog?

This blog is an attempt to assess and digest primary evidence from across the Dark Ages and bring the period into the light. To see that it was far more nuanced than dramas such as Vikings or Last Kingdom depict it to be. I will be looking at sagas, at chronicles, manuscripts, prose, physical evidence and providing analysis to highlight just how the period is so different to how we view it today. I am not attempting to be a mighty academic scholar to be cited in a dissertation, but to provide a stepping stone into the history of the period.