Why did earlier historians consider the medieval period the "dark ages"? the time had no electricity, and so it was an age that was quite dark. a limited amount of written records survived to shine light on this time period. castles were very dark and did not let in much light. the power of the church stamped out the many bright pagan rituals.

Earlier historians consider the Medial Period the 'Dark Ages' due to the absence of written records which could have survived, which would have shone some light on this otherwise unknown period in time. The Dark Ages are often thought to be the years between 500 and 1500 CE, between the endings of the Roman Empire and the beginnings of the Italian Renaissance.