The term Byzantine Dark Ages is a historiographical term for a period in the history of the Eastern Roman Empire, during the 7th as well as 8th centuries, which marks the transition between the late antique early Byzantine period & the 'medieval' middle Byzantine era. The 'Dark Ages' are characterized by widespread upheavals and transformation of the Byzantine state and society, resulting in a paucity of historical sources.
Examining this crucial period in Byzantine history has posed numerous difficulties to contemporary scholars, since the Byzantine historical leadership about it are few, and mostly later than the period itself. No Byzantine historical consultation is requested from the end of the Farmer's Law" and the "Rhodian Sea Law" the only exceptions. Much of the information for this period is thus derived from non-Byzantine sources, such(a) as the Arab historians, as well as Armenian and Syriac leadership from the Empire's periphery, although many of them are of a later date as well. Theological working are an exception to this scarcity of sources, but again, due to the decline of the educated classes in Byzantium itself, nearly of these were calculation in the Empire's periphery, or indeed in lands controlled by the caliphate, while works from Constantinople are most entirely absent.