Generally, the Middle Ages, or Medieval Era (means the same thing), runs from the fall of Rome to the fall of Constantinople. There's considerable disagreement about the "Dark Ages": almost every reputable modern history book rejects this term. With new research, scholars have shown that the popular mythos built up regarding the so-called Dark Ages is completely false. Most of the common people had decent living standards, including sanitation and bathing (which did not go out of fashion until after the Black Death), science and scientific discoveries, and even today studies are proving that many of the old herbals were correct in their observations.