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Did the Middle Ages Actually Exist? One Crazy Theory Says No.
What if hundreds of years were fabricated right under our noses?
What if Charlemagne, his empire, and his dynasty were wholly made up of a group of power-hungry men? That is what adherents of a conspiracy theory known as the phantom time theory believe. This theory came from the mind of a man by the name of Heribert Illig who was an active member of a group called Gesellschaft zur Rekonstruktion der Menschheits- und Naturgeschichte (Society for the Reconstruction of Human and Natural History.) In 1991, Illig wrote out his theory, which claims that 297 years of history were completely fabricated by powerful Medieval figures.
What makes phantom time theory interesting, like all good conspiracy theories, is that it is just plausible enough to tickle the imagination. And, unlike many other so-called conspiracy theories, this theory includes an actual conspiracy.
The Great Calendar Conspiracy
Illig asserts that three men, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Pope Sylvester II, and Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, conspired to change the calendars and reset the dating system to further their own political agendas. The theory says that Otto III, looking for legitimacy as Holy Roman Emperor, conspired to pad the calendars by 297 years to make the year AD 1000. The year 1000 was seen as a special year and one in which great things would be done. Many also believed that Jesus Christ might return during that year after a millennia away.
Through a concerted effort, these men fabricated documents, tweaked the calendars, made official proclamations, and bullied the populace into accepting the new dating system. As a result, Illig claims that the years AD 614–911 never took place but were made up. If this theory were true, the current year would be 1727, not 2024.
These missing years are referred to as “phantom time” or a made up time that doesn’t really exist.
The years in question are commonly referred to as the Dark Ages (though that term is no longer in vogue) because records from this period are sketchy, and the world was suffering from a spate of violence and regression compared to the Roman era. But does that mean that…
