Medieval Europe: from Rome to the Black Death

Description

What were the Middle Ages? This course offers an introduction to an important period of change and development in European history. It seeks to establish the key features of a distinctive western European culture that evolved over the course of a thousand years, a culture which has played a critical role in shaping our modern world.

The Europe of this course is the Europe of knights, castles and crusaders; but it is also the Europe of Magna Carta and the first universities and parliaments. From our system of government to the way we educate ourselves, we live in a world where the legacy of the European Middle Ages is profound. Much of this inheritance is as relevant to Aotearoa New Zealand today as it is to European countries: Where, for example, does the idea of the ‘Crown’ originate? Where does the name adopted by Canterbury’s rugby team come from? The answer to these and many other questions lie in the melting pot that is medieval Europe.

This course will offer a diverse approach to exploring the medieval world, one that will introduce you to a number of different forms of history. These will range from religious to political history via cultural history and the history of political thought. Particularly in the early parts of the course we will even explore what archaeology can tell us about the lives of medieval Europeans.