Early Dark Ages (500-800 A.D.)

[CyberspaceVoid]

Does anyone know of a catalogue of coins from this era, especially of northern Europe? (picky, picky ) My daughter is planning to go to grad school at Cambridge this fall concentrating on the period and it has peaked my interest.

 

Thanks,

 

Wendy

[EVillageProwler]

You may have to have several references: Merovingian, Carolingian, early Anglo-Saxon, Frisian, etc.

[Oldtrader3]

+!, It appears that the Dark Ages were a misnomer by historians lumping partial facts and by region (they were by current accounts, if at all, during 400-700 AD, BTW). Dark ages where? Certainly not in the eastern Roman empire, nor in parts of the Carolingian Empire or parts of England (York, Lancaster).

[CyberspaceVoid]

Well, my "zone of intrigue" is bounded about the time when the Romans left Britain thru the barbarian invasion era. I used the generic term "Early Dark Ages" since there is not just one period involved. This era saw huge shifts in both military, governance and socio/economic influences ... but of course, due to the relatively vast area (for the time) and various degrees of civilization they would have occurred at differing times, much like a wave accross all of northern Europe. It should be interesting to see how these changes affected the various cultures thru their coinage.