中世紀早期跨度大約為從公元500年至1000年的五百年之間。在此期間，歐洲的大多數地區基督教化，緊隨羅馬淪陷和9世紀法蘭剋帝國建立後的歐洲大陸卡洛林文藝復興其後的就是“黑暗時代”。與崛起的穆斯林世界發達的貿易車隊，或者當時世界上人口最多的中國宋朝相比，歐洲仍然蠻荒落後。公元1000年君士坦丁堡已有30萬人口，而羅馬當時僅剩3 5000人口，巴黎僅有2萬人口。伊斯蘭世界卻擁有一打從西班牙科爾多瓦到中亞的大型城市，前者是當時世界最大城市，擁有45萬人口。
The Early Middle Ages span roughly five centuries from 500 to 1000. During this period, most of Europe was Christianized, and the "Dark Ages" following the fall of Rome took place. The establishment of the Frankish Empire by the 9th century gave rise to the Carolingian Renaissance on the continent. Europe still remained a backwater compared to the rising Muslim world, with its vast network of caravan trade, or India with its Golden Period under the Gupta Empire and the Pratiharas or China, at this time the world's most populous empire under the Song Dynasty. By AD 1000, Constantinople had a population of about 300,000, but Rome had a mere 35,000 and Paris 20,000. Islam had over a dozen major cities stretching from Córdoba, Spain, at this time the world's largest city with 450,000 inhabitants, to central Asia.