Indeed, and the Carolignian Empire, at its height, had united almost all of Western Europe again and led directly to France and the HRE as successor states. If

Indeed, and the Carolignian Empire, at its height, had united almost all of Western Europe again and led directly to France and the HRE as successor states. If you look at the conquest and governmental structures in the Carolignian Emprie, you'd have a very hard time arguing that they were undeveloped, locked in a "dark age".