Most of us romanticize the Middle Ages. We picture knights of King Arthur's Round Table, castles, lords and ladies, wandering minstrels, and crusades to liberate the Holy Land. But these images weren't created until the last part of the medieval period. Actually, most of the Middle Ages—some eight hundred years of it—was largely a period of spiritual and cultural darkness.
In the fourth and fifth centuries, Germanic tribes from the north of Europe invaded the western Roman Empire and bit by bit brought down the great imperial state, eventually turning it into a collection of feudal kingdoms. The brilliant civilization that the Roman Empire once had been crumbled into an eight-hundred-year period of shadowy ignorance. It's no wonder that during this time the world almost lost its hold on Bible truth.
By the end of the second century a.d., classical civilization had come to an end. The Roman Empire was on the decline—weakened by corruption, economic disintegration, and the ever-present threat of barbarian invasion. The emperors became more despotic than ever—imposing military conscription and heavy taxes. And they persecuted Christians periodically, as they had almost from the beginning.
