ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the management, content, and delivery of Dark Age public communication which falls into Watson's helpful category of proto-public relations: public relations-like strategies and actions that occurred before publicity and public relations became discussed entities in the late 19th century. The Early Medieval is, known as the Migration Period, when peoples were uprooted by conflict, invasion, famine, population pressure and the eventual collapse of the Roman frontier. High Medieval churchmen produced their own songs and praise poems, but the early media of the Early Medieval eventually passed away. The public communication vehicles of classical antiquity simply could not be applied in such diminished economic and civic circumstances. Successful public relations must be mindful of the latent communication potential of artifacts that a target audience encounters or desires. Strong political rule was a prerequisite if the Roman Catholic Church was to revive and help stabilize society.
