The phantom time hypothesis is a historical conspiracy theory advanced by German historian and publisher Heribert Illig (born 1947) which proposes that the Anno Domini dating system was fabricated, adding in a period of “phantom time” in the Early Middle Ages, from AD 614 to 911. According to the hypothesis, events dated to this period in Europe and neighbouring regions either occurred in a different period, or did not occur at all. The hypothesis suggests a conspiracy by the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Pope Sylvester II, and possibly the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, to fabricate the Anno Domini dating system retrospectively, so that it placed them at the special year of AD 1000, and to rewrite history, inventing the heroic figure of Charlemagne among other things.

Illig believed that this was achieved through the alteration, misrepresentation, and forgery of documentary and physical evidence.

Source: Phantom time hypothesis – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia