Middle Ages

Middle Ages is the period roughly from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries A.D., that is, from the fall of Rome in 476 A.D. to the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg (1400?-?1468) and the discovery of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). During most of this period the leaders of the Roman Church considered the taking of interest (usury) unjust. This period, particularly the earlier part of it, is also known as the Dark Ages because of its intellectual and economic stagnation.