---
title: "The gap between the collapse of the Western Empire in 476 and the emergence of recognizable modern states like France or England spans five hundred years at least. The post-Roman twilight lasted twice as long as the Western Empire itself."
date: 2015-08-22
author: Drew Breunig
tags: ["kindle"]
url: https://www.dbreunig.com/2015/08/22/the-gap-between-the-collapse-of-the-western-empire.html
---

> The gap between the collapse of the Western Empire in 476 and the emergence of recognizable modern states like France or England spans five hundred years at least. The post-Roman twilight lasted twice as long as the Western Empire itself.

—Norman Davies, in [_Vanished Kingdoms_](http://amzn.to/1h4lN6b)