A point on "The Dark Ages"

Today's mini - history lesson is to correct the common misconception that the Catholic Church somehow extended or worsened the dark ages. Anyone who has actually studied this period can easily tell you this is false. In the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church became the only major social institution still standing. This meant they took up many of the functions of civil government along with their spiritual duties. It was also in this period we saw Catholic monks and priests preserve and create many histories and works of the ancient Romans and other people's of Europe during and before this period. To claim they somehow stagnated the growth of knowledge is basing hundreds of years on incidents in the early renaissance.