I always thought that the Dark Ages /was/ the middle ages and that dark referred (at least initially) to the lack of records. Wikipedia agrees but I am certain

I always thought that the Dark Ages /was/ the middle ages and that dark referred (at least initially) to the lack of records. Wikipedia agrees but I am certainly no expert in this: The "Dark Ages" is a historical periodization traditionally referring to the Early Middle Ages or Middle Ages, that asserts that a demographic, cultural, and economic deterioration occurred in Western Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire.[1][2] Petrarch, who conceived the idea of a European "Dark Age". From Cycle of Famous Men and Women, Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla, c. 1450 The term employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's "darkness" (lack of records) with earlier and later periods of "light" (abundance of records).