we're moving forward to the early middle ages

The history of the Middle Ages lasts from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries (1000 years!)

It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance. 

The Middle Ages is the middle period of Western history, which includes classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. 

Middle Ages is divided into the early, high, and late Middle Ages. 

What's going on?

1. population decline (like us today in the West), 

2. counter urbanisation (unlike us today globally), 

3. collapse of centralized authority (opposite of us today), 

4. invasions and mass migrations of tribes (like us today), 

The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, made up for new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. 

7th century, North Africa and the Middle East (what had been the eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire) came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, an Islamic empire, after conquest by Muhammad's successors.