Were the "Dark Ages" really Dark?

Of course, the term "Dark Ages" is used differently by different people - some use it (especially in pop-culture) to refer to all of the Medieval Era, while others use it more precisely to describe Western Europe between the Fall of the (Western) Roman Empire and the Rise of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire (the period roughly from A.D. 476-800).

It may well be that one day people will think of our own time as a "Dark Age" as well, as so many things seem to have declined since the late 20th Century.

IN any case, Oliver Murray, a high-church Anglican has another thought-provoking video on this that is worth chewing on (maybe even arguing with at points).