@AtheistTakes @EKripperino I don't know if by Dark Ages she means the period between the Fall of Rome and the Reign of Otto the Great or to anything before the Fall of Byzantium. Either way the end of both saw further integration between the two
@AtheistTakes @EKripperino I won't say there is a causal relationship between the two. I suspect if there is it's in the other direction- both eras saw the State grow in power.