The dark ages happened because of Islam. Centuries of Muslim sourced warfare, raiding, slaving and piracy disrupted commerce and society. The enlightenment didn’t end the dark ages, the ability of Europeans to better defend themselves against Islam and therefore restore commerce did ... something built on the backs of Europeans taking back control of the seas, itself an outgrowth of internal rivalries and colonialism, at the same time the heathens of the Islamic Ottman were rotting in their own pot under ideas such as there being no cause and affect
In the midst of all that all that the RCC gained purely worldly power largely in the absence of the Western Empire as one of the few things in the West that had any cohesion. Of course it moved to solidify that power ... but it didn’t cause the circumstances from which it could grow into a political power vacuum.
a very balanced post, thank you Rurudyne