Manufacturers Old Glory - Range includes Byzantines, Anglo Saxons, Normans, and Vikings. Magister Militum - Range includes Byzantines, Bulgars and Other Steppe Peoples, Viking, Rus, Muslim conquest Arabs, Goths, Huns, Ancient Irish, Normans/Franks, and Saxons. Time Period The Dark Ages is a period of European history that is usually defined as the time after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (476 CE) until the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Historical Background In Western Europe the remnants of the Roman Empire were being fought over by the various barbarian kingdoms of Saxons, Franks, Normans, and Vikings. In the East, the still strong Byzantine Empire fought off barbarian incursions from Europe and their implacable foes to the east, the Sassanid Persians. One of the most notable battles of the period was the clash between William the Conqueror's Norman army and the Saxons of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.