Why I say “Early Middle Ages”

For me, the Early Middle Ages is from the sixth to the eleventh centuries. I find it a vital and admirable era, full of drama and entertainment, and in some ways superior to the eras that surround it. Although the era has the popular name of “Dark Ages,” this term was coined by the Renaissance author, Petrarch, who neither saw nor understood the times, and many modern scholars think that the term should not be used. The era saw many discoveries and innovations as it emerged from a Europe dominated by Roman empire, and it cannot today even be claimed that facts concerning the era are either unknown and obscure. It is a misunderstood era that I greatly appreciate and feel comfortable with, and I sometimes feel my primary responsibility is to let people who put the era down see why it is that I bear so much affection for it!