Western Roman Emperor was Romulus Ausustulus. When the Western
Roman
Empire finally broke up in 476 AD, an era, so to speak, of confusion began.
The
empire was considerd a "world state", mostly because it had lent a common
characteristic to all of the land that it conquered. For nearly half a millenium,
the
empire had given western Europe a history it could be proud of. Knpwledge
of the
arts and sciences had flourished, and debate was encouraged, a far cry from
the
culture that would form during the Dark Ages.
The Dark Ages were brought on by steadily weaker domestic ties. The
lack of
unity gave foreign invaders a major advantage. Various Anglo-Saxon warrior
groups
slowly shattered the Roman Empire. Destruction reigned for the decades
immediately after the fall, eventually the people forgot their gloried past and
settled
into the feudal lifestyle that was common in the Middle Ages. The reason as
to why
the period was called 'The Dark Ages' is not because there is very little
written from
that time, but because of the lack of connections between the separates
states.
In this new period, an new reign began in Western Europe. While it
could
never become what it once was, it had the chance of becoming something
totally
new and different. There was a consolidation of the Teutonic invaders into
unified
but separate nationalities. An important change was the rise of the Papacy
and the
resulting birth of the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne the Great.
The Dark Ages show us the resilient nature of the Western World.
Despite an
abrupt political, economic, social and cultural collapse and a 5000 year period
that
followed, Western Europe has come back as one of the richest areas of the
world, in
terms of knowledge and wealth.
Resources:
Middle Ages & Ancient History. 10 December 2003.
<http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/M/MiddleAg.html>
The Middle Ages. 10 December 2003
<http://mithec.prohosting.com/history/content/dark%20ages.html>
