hi,
Generally we speak of " dark ages " . However, Historians prefer the terms "late antiquity " or "high middle ages" ( it cover the periode from 476 A.D to circa 1000 AD
Civil
Though Gandhi might not to have agreed it was called that. At least copying the Americans.
Yes, at least, the colonists considered it so. It made it very difficult and expensive for all colonists to get goods.
The Black Death was a plague that started in Central Asia in 1338 then it reached to China in 1346 One false rumor was that the moguls started it which was not true It affected the Black Sea port by 1347. It killed from 75 to 200 million people. Then Europe was a victim of The Black Death 1346 and lasted until 1353. Cracow and Poland were not affected by the Black Death.