The European Middle Ages spans more than a thousand years, from approximately to AD, and includes the many different political, cultural, and ethnic communities of Europe and the Mediterranean.
There was not one medieval civilization, but many medieval civilizations, related in some ways to each other, but distinct and constantly changing. This class will be an introduction to the history of the Middle Ages through its culture and ways of life. Because the period to be covered is so vast, we will focus our attention on six moments in time and space that are representative of some of the communities of the Middle Ages.
We will look at villages and cathedral towns, manor houses and cities, and for each, we will consider who lived in the community, what activities they took part in, what the community looked like physically, and what aspects of medieval life, politics, and culture are represented there. In order to access parts of this website, you will have to use a special class username and password, which can be found in the Announcements section of Canvas; do not use your IU login.
This website includes the daily schedule, with all the relevant links. It has copies of the images of the various sites that are discussed in class. Other useful resources, including all the powerpoint presentations used in class, will be placed in the Files folder on Canvas.
Readings in this course come from two sources. One of these is a textbook, for sale in the Bookstore:. If you prefer to use the 4th edition, which is available electronically via IUCAT, page numbers for the readings are found in parentheses on the syllabus.
