How dark were the Dark Ages?

His explanation seems directed at a contextual misinterpretation of the term “dark”, insinuating that the Dark Ages are called so solely because of their grimness and absence of creative inspiration.

My understanding is that the Dark Ages are called so because there were very few written records, leaving much of their history to speculation. It was the invention of the printing press in the 15th century that put an end to the Dark Ages, turning the figurative light on. Esolen doesn’t mention this.