# Where to live in 600 AD: Early Middle Ages in Europe

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 15, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344 "2010-06-15T19:54:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344/21 "2010-06-16T17:48:07Z")

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Hey for once I won the thread. I doubt that ever happened before. 🙂

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**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344/22 "2010-06-16T21:48:17Z")

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> [@Quartz](#):
>
> the Irish monks who settled Iceland

???

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344/23 "2010-06-16T22:13:25Z")

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> [@ratatoskK](#):
>
> ???

Irish monks are thought to have settled in Iceland at about this time. [Reference](http://converter-currency.com/icelandic-krona-currency). [Wiki article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settlement_of_Iceland).

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344/24 "2010-06-16T23:13:41Z")

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What are conditions like on the south shore of the Mediterranean at this time? It was still considered culturally part of “Europe”, wasn’t it?

Or then there’s Timbuktu. 🙂 Were the West African empires up at this point?

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**Author:** ![Drew\_Kit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Drew\_Kit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drew_Kit)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-live-in-600-ad-early-middle-ages-in-europe/543344/25 "2010-06-16T23:42:08Z")

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Constantinople was on the up in 600 AD and had a higher life expectancy than most of Europe. Smallpox was about to arrive though.

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