Chapter I: Front Matter

PERIODS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY

PERIOD I., 476-918

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Periods of European History

General Editor, ARTHUR HASSALL, M.A.,

STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.

Crown 8vo. With Maps and Plans.

The object of this series is to present in separate Volumes a comprehensive and trustworthy account of the general development of European History, and to deal fully and carefully with the more prominent events in each century.

It is believed that no such attempt to place the History of Europe before the English Public has yet been made, and it is hoped that the Series will form a valuable continuous History of Mediæval and Modern Europe.

Period I.—The Dark Ages. A.D. 476-918. By C. W. C. OMAN, M.A., Fellow of
All Souls College, Oxford. 7s. 6d. [Already published.

Period II.—The Empire and the Papacy. A.D. 918-1273. By T. F. TOUT,
M.A., Professor of History at the Owens College, Victoria
University, Manchester. 7s. 6d. [Already published.

Period III.—The Close of the Middle Ages. A.D. 1272-1494. By R. LODGE,
M.A., Professor of History at the University of Glasgow. [In
preparation.

Period IV.—Europe in the 16th Century. A.D. 1494-1598. By A. H. JOHNSON,
M.A., Historical Lecturer to Merton, Trinity, and University
Colleges, Oxford. 7s. 6d. [Already published.

Period V.—The Ascendancy of France. A.D. 1598-1715. By H. O. WAKEMAN,
M.A., Fellow of All Souls College, and Tutor of Keble College,
Oxford. 6s. [Already published.

Period VI.—The Balance of Power. A.D. 1715-1789. By A. HASSALL, M.A.,
Student of Christ Church, Oxford. 6s. [Already published.

Period VII.—Revolutionary Europe. A.D. 1789-1815. By H. MORSE STEPHENS,
M.A., Professor of History at Cornell University, Ithaca, U.S.A.
6s. [Already published.

Period VIII.—Modern Europe. A.D. 1815-1878. By G. W. PROTHERO, Litt.D.,
Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh. [In
preparation.

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THE DARK AGES

476-918

BY

CHARLES OMAN, M.A., F.S.A.

FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE
AND LECTURER AT NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD

AUTHOR OF ‘A HISTORY OF GREECE,’
‘THE ART OF WAR IN THE MIDDLE AGES,’ ETC.

PERIOD I

RIVINGTONS
KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN
LONDON
1898

Third Edition

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All rights reserved

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AUTHOR’S PREFACE

In spite of the very modest scale on which this book has been written, I trust that it may be of some use to students of European History. Though there are several excellent monographs in existence dealing with various sections of the period 476-918, there is no continuous general sketch in English which covers the whole of it. Gibbon’s immortal work is popularly supposed to do so, but those who have read it most carefully are best aware that it does not. I am not acquainted with any modern English book where the inquirer can find an account of the Lombard kings, or of the Mohammedan invasions of Italy and Sicily in the ninth century, or of several other not unimportant chapters in the early history of Europe. I am in hopes, therefore, that my attempt to cover the whole field between 476 and 918 may not be entirely useless to the reading public.

I must acknowledge my indebtedness to two living authors, whose works have been of the greatest possible help to me in dealing with two great sections of this period, Doctor Gustav Richter, whose admirable collection of original authorities in his _Annalen des Fränkischen Reichs_ makes such an excellent introduction to the study of Merovingian and Carolingian times, and Professor Bury of Dublin, whose _History of the Later Roman Empire_ has done so much for the knowledge of East-Roman affairs between 476 and 800. Nor must I omit to express my indebtedness to the kindly and diligent hands which spent so many summer hours in the laborious task of compiling my index.

A word ought, perhaps, to be added on the vexed question of the spelling of proper names. I have always chosen the most modern form in speaking of places, but in speaking of individuals I have employed that used by contemporary authorities, save in the case of a few very well known names, such as Charles, Henry, Gregory, Lewis, where archaism would savour of pedantry.

OXFORD, _November 1893._