HIST 212-01, Medieval Europe, Fall 2009

Abstract

This 200-level introductory course covers the history of Europe from the Christianization of the Roman Empire to the beginnings of the Italian Renaissance, or from about 300 CE to about 1500 CE. Lectures and readings from the assigned texts will consider aspects of the social, cultural, military, political, religious, and intellectual lives of the peoples who inhabited the landmass of Europe (broadly conceived) during those 1000+ years. Emphasis will be placed not only on understanding the world they inhabited and the world they created, but also in understanding how the legacy of the Middle Ages has helped to shape the peoples, ideas, and institutions of the post-medieval world (including our own).