HS1001: Medieval Europe

School History
Department Code SHARE
Module Code HS1001
External Subject Code 100310
Number of Credits 10
Level L4
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Professor Peter Edbury
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2015/6

Outline Description of Module

The module provides an introduction to the history of Europe during the Middle Ages. Europe between the years 1050 and 1320 was a dynamic region experiencing rapid  social, economic and cultural change. This period saw the rise of castles and knights, of towns and trade routes, of faith and heresy, new learning and crusades. Old certainties were being challenged and new vistas of knowledge and geographical expansion opened. Modern states and governments began to form, and the old empires crumbled. This module draws on original records and commentaries, written and visual evidence, to examine this transformation of Europe from a continent emerging from the Dark Ages to the dawn of the Renaissance.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

· to introduce students in broad terms to the historical processes that influenced Medieval Europe;

· to enable students to acquire understanding of a range of specialised approaches used within the historical discipline such as political, social, economic, cultural, gender and women’s history;

· to develop student skills in comparative historical analysis.

How the module will be delivered

The module will be delivered via a programme of lectures which will introduce students to the main factual and conceptual issues to be discussed and analyse during the module. Students are also required to attend seminars related to lectures, in which key issues and topics are analysed and discussed further.

Skills that will be practised and developed

Knowledge and Understanding

· demonstrate a broad knowledge of Medieval European History and an understanding of significant general themes in the period ca. 1000-1350

· to demonstrate a critical understanding of a range of historical approaches used to analyse Medieval Europe;

· to demonstrate a critical ability to gather, assimilate and interpret historical knowledge.

Intellectual Skills

· to demonstrate, as a necessary foundation for more detailed analysis in the second and final years of the degree, an understanding of concepts such as gender, mentalities, heresy;

· to use a range of techniques to initiate and undertake analysis of information.

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills

· to identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and/or peculiarities of alternative historiographies;

· to develop causal explanations of historical processes;

· to demonstrate skills in comparative historical analysis;

· to deepen understanding of broad themes and developments considered in the course through case studies of particular historical phenomena.

Transferable Skills

to evaluate the merits and demerits of alternative views and interpretations;

to formulate and justify their own arguments and conclusions about a range of issues in the setting of seminar discussion;

to present, accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form their arguments;

to use a range of information technology resources to assist information retrieval;

to organise their own study methods and workload;

to work as part of a team in seminar or tutorial discussions.

How the module will be assessed

Summative assessment takes the form of one 2,000-word essay (excluding empirical appendices and references).

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 Coursework N/A

Syllabus content

Topics to be covered may include:
1. Western Europe in the 11th century: the Carolingian legacy.
2. The Frontiers of Europe: Byzantium and Islam.
3. Warfare and Society.
4. Medieval Mental Horizons.
5. ‘Purity and Danger’: The Medieval Body.
6. Knights and nobles: fiefs and vassals.
7. The Economic Revolution: peasants, merchants and artisans.
8. Bishops and Priests: cathedrals and parishes.
9. Monks and Friars: monasteries and welfare.
10. The papacy and the Empire.

Essential Reading and Resource List

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Background Reading and Resource List

Malcolm Barber, The Two Cities. Medieval Europe, 1050-1320, 2nd edn (Routledge, 2004)

Robert Bartlett, The Making of Europe. Conquest, Colonisation and Cultural Change, 950-1350 (Penguin, 1993)

William Chester Jordan, Europe in the High Middle Ages (Penguin, 2001)

Marcus Bull, Thinking Medieval: An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages (Palgrave, 2005)

Jacques Le Goff, Medieval Civilisation, 400-1500 (Blackwell, 1988)

Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Europe, 400-1500, new edn (Blackwell, 2005)

George Holmes, ed. The Oxford [Illustrated] History of Medieval Europe (O.U.P., 1988)

R.I. Moore, The First European Revolution (Blackwell, 2000)


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