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Iron Age

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The era between the death of Charlemagne and the close of the Carlovingian dynasty is so called from its almost ceaseless wars. It is sometimes called the leaden age for its worthlessness, and the dark age for its barrenness of learned men.

Iron Age. The age of cruelty and hard-heartedness. When Hubert tells Prince Arthur he must burn his eyes out, the young prince replies, “Ah, none but in this iron age would do it.” (Shakespeare: King John, iv. 1.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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