The later Medieval period was one of great economic and population expansion. However, the rise of famine due to too many people to feed without any increase in agricultural production was a big problem in Northern Europe (1315-1317. Of course the arrival of the bubonic plague would then push the population levels further down. Parts of Europe did indeed enter a "Dark Ages" after the fall of the Roman Empire. England was hit particularly hard after the Roman withdrawal , as was the Italian Peninsula after the Gothic Wars, the arrival of the first bubonic plague, and the worsening of the general climate during this time period (560s CE)
