Heh. I first came across this at the age of 15, from reading the Da Vinci Code of all things. Did some further reading which led me to more interesting things...

(At the time I was on "study leave" and at home alone all day. We had dialup internet which was expensive, so I'd wait until my parents went out, make a list of all the Wikipedia articles I wanted to read, go online, download about 50 articles in 10 minutes, then spend the next few hours reading them and eating instant noodles. Then the next day I'd write down interesting links from the previous day and repeat).

I went from reading about Gnosticism, to a bunch of different religions, Satanism, from there to Ayn Rand, Nietzsche, from there to Transhumanism and the Singularity... trippy stuff for a high school kid.

I would say anything gnostics are afraid of is worth looking into. The 'dark ages' were times of action because abstract reason and metaphysics met the real world very solidly.

First thing I would do as a serious student of history is retire the now-obsolete term "Dark Ages."

Oh Sebastian! I thought you were about to rip out some epic tract on Gnosticism. The sweat was almost pooring off me in anticipation when I read the title... I thought, here we go... Sebastian on Gnosticism, this is going to be the shit! Anyway, the book to read if you're interested is Cormac McCarthy's - Blood Meridian. Cuts to the core..Epic beyond belief. A work without equal. Then check out Leo Daugherty's interpretation in Gravers False and True.