What type of document is this?
During the early Middle Ages much of Europe passed through a time of
turmoil and confusion, of ignorance and lawlessness . . . The early Middle
Ages may justly be called the Dark Age . . .
During the early Middle Ages, from 476 to about 1100, European
civilization slipped back into semi-barbarism. The chief cause of this
decline was lack of a government which could keep order. The Germanic
Kingdoms which had been set up by 476 were unable to suppress violence.
There were so many highway robbers that travel became dangerous.
Europe suffered a decline in commerce and manufacturing, in education, in
literature and the arts, and in almost all that makes possible a high
civilization. Cities grew smaller and in some cases practically disappeared,
and western Europe became a region of poverty-stricken farming
communities, each virtually isolated from the rest of the world