The period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance is commonly referred to as the Dark Ages. It was a period of prolonged economic contraction during which scientific and technological progress, as well as learning in the humanities, appeared to stand still. Most modern historians reject the notion that a great awakening occurred with the coming of the Renaissance. For example, many features of the humanism that we associate with the Italian Renaissance can be observed in the Carolingian Renaissance of the eighth and ninth centuries. Nevertheless, the dominance of the Church and its interest in propagating canon law greatly limited the scope for the study of the so-called pagan literature until the late Middle Ages when a dramatic change began to take place, particularly in Italy, in the way people viewed the world and their attitudes toward nature.