By Zeke 
January 27, 2021 

When people think of the Middle Ages, it is often thought of as a magnificent time of tenacious knights, intrepid kings, and massive castles. However, it was an era filled with war and destruction for Europe. The Middle Ages started with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the late 5th century. All the stunned Romans could do was flee as the ferocious tribes of barbarians desecrated their once great structures. Knights and castles did not even come about until the late 900s, and even then most people were dressed with poorly made rags, and lived in fetid, dilapidated shacks working day and night for the wealthy noblemen. By then all of the glorious art and education from the Roman Empire had been long forgotten, and the Dark Ages had begun.