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Turning Points in Medieval History, 2nd Edition

Travel back to the incredible world of the medieval past in these enthralling lectures and discover the historical transformations that laid the foundations for the Renaissance and the modern world.
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Turning Points in Medieval History, 2nd Edition

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The Fall of Rome

01: The Fall of Rome

Contemplate the fall of the Roman Empire as a turning point that would shape and, in fact, give birth to the Middle Ages. Consider how Rome's legacy deeply influenced the medieval societies that succeeded it. Then, look at three types of turning points which figure in this course: those that had immediate impact, those that unfolded gradually, and those whose impact would not be felt till later ages.

King Arthur Defeats the Germanic Invaders

02: King Arthur Defeats the Germanic Invaders

Here, observe how the desires of one individual can shape the entire world. Encounter the man who was the historical basis for the legend of King Arthur, who rose to prominence in a military victory against the Germanic invaders of Britain. Grasp the ways in which this event not only impacted the world of its time but has deeply imprinted the cultural consciousness of humanity to this day.

Spain Becomes Al-Andalus

03: Spain Becomes Al-Andalus

The 8th century Islamic takeover of Spain produced a culture that was utterly unique in the medieval world. Witness the entry onto the Iberian peninsula of a Muslim army--an action not intended to conquer the region, but which had that effect. Learn about the remarkably tolerant society of Al-Andalus, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived and worked together in relative peace.

Charlemagne Founds the Palace School at Aachen

04: Charlemagne Founds the Palace School at Aachen

Charlemagne, the ruler of the Carolingian Empire, left an indelible mark on the Middle Ages as a military leader, state builder, churchman, and educator. Dig into his pivotal work in this last category, as the creator of his renowned Palace School. Gauge the priceless legacy of the school, as it preserved a huge wealth of texts and knowledge which would otherwise have been lost to history.

The Scandinavians Go

05: The Scandinavians Go "A-Viking"

In the 8th century, Scandinavian raiders set their sights on Europe and beyond, ushering in the era known as the Viking diaspora. Trace the often-brutal incursions of the Vikings on European lands and how their presence changed the medieval world. Note how rulers from France to Byzantium integrated Viking peoples and mark the founding by Vikings of the community that would become Russia.

King Alfred Burns Some Cakes

06: King Alfred Burns Some Cakes

Alfred of Wessex, known to history as Alfred the Great, passed through almost unimaginable hardships to become one of the greatest kings of Britain. Relive his story, as he was forced to flee Viking invaders before finding the resources to defeat them. Observe how his military prowess, strategic rule, and bold educational measures laid the foundation for what became the nation of England.

The Battle of Lechfeld

07: The Battle of Lechfeld

At the 955 Battle of Lechfeld, invading Magyars from the Asian steppes met the defending Ottonians at Augsburg (Germany). Grasp the ways in which this battle forever changed medieval warfare, with the use of stirrups and charging legions of mounted knights. Take account of its long-term effects, as it solidified the feudal social order of nobles ruling over a warrior class and peasantry.

The Great Schism of 1054

08: The Great Schism of 1054

The 1054 rift between what became the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church had repercussions that persist to the present day. Track the disputes concerning doctrine, practice, and religious authority that erupted into an angry breach between Rome and Byzantium, dividing the two principal branches of Christianity, and shifting the balance of geopolitical power.

William of Normandy Conquers England

09: William of Normandy Conquers England

William of Normandy's conquest of England in 1066 is perhaps the most clearly defined turning point in the medieval world. Learn about the forces leading to the Battle of Hastings, and the motives for William's invasion. Relive the dramatic battle, and assess its massive repercussions, forging England as a feudal society, a people, and a nation, and binding it to the Continent and to France.

Peter Abelard Is Castrated

10: Peter Abelard Is Castrated

Peter Abelard possessed one of history's greatest intellects. Witness how his astonishing abilities brought him both great fame and great misfortune, in the story of his love for the similarly remarkable Heloise, a woman of extraordinary learning. Learn also about Abelard's writings, which both saw him accused of heresy and deeply influenced medieval education, philosophy, and theology.

Pope Urban II Calls the First Crusade

11: Pope Urban II Calls the First Crusade

In 1095, Christian armies embarked for the Middle East in the first of the Crusades, to wrest control of the Holy Land from Muslim rulers. Examine the multiple factors--social, demographic, religious, and economic--that triggered the campaign. Note that this Crusade marked a major turning point in the relation of religion to warfare, and in the relations between Christianity and Islam.

The Battle of Hattin

12: The Battle of Hattin

The Christian kingdoms in the Middle East, created in the First Crusade, came under increasing threat with the rise of the Islamic leader Saladin in the late 12th century. Visualize the events that led to the Battle of Hattin, where Saladin's forces brought devastating defeat to the Crusader armies. Gauge the battle's impact, as it signaled the death of the dream of a Christian empire in the East.

Eleanor of Aquitaine Gets Divorced

13: Eleanor of Aquitaine Gets Divorced

Encounter the extraordinary personality and actions of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the 12th-century heiress to the huge province of Aquitaine in France. Track the story of her marriage to king Louis VII of France, her subsequent petition for a divorce, and her remarriage to Henry II of England. Assess the massive impact of her divorce, as it reshaped the European political scene and power balance.

No More Roman Numerals: The Liber Abaci

14: No More Roman Numerals: The Liber Abaci

In the late 12th century, Leonardo de Pisano observed the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals by traders in North Africa. Learn about his game-changing book, the Liber Abaci, which introduced the numerals to a Europe struggling to use Roman numerals in business dealings. Note the ways in which the new system transformed mathematics, banking, and trade, and galvanized the economy of the Middle Ages.

King John Accepts the Magna Carta

15: King John Accepts the Magna Carta

Uncover the story of the Magna Carta, signed in 1215 by England's King John to ease tensions with nobles, and then repudiated by the monarch. Note how articles of the charter were later seen as articulating key principles of justice and human rights, forming the basis of English Common Law, the legal system of the US, and core elements of modern government constitutions and charters.

The Fourth Lateran Council

16: The Fourth Lateran Council

The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 utterly transformed Western Christianity. In the Council's decrees, observe the foundations of the Catholic Church we know today, in matters from the doctrine of transubstantiation to the sacrament of marriage, clerical celibacy, broad access to learning, and more. Grasp how the Council's edicts affected people at all levels of the medieval world.

The Persecution of the Jews

17: The Persecution of the Jews

From the 11th to 13th centuries, follow the rise of a "persecuting society" in Europe, with various marginalized groups being ostracized. Focusing on the treatment of Jews, examine the economic and ideological factors that gave birth to anti-Semitic sentiment and episodes of terrible violence against Jewish communities. Note the successive expulsion of Jews from England, France, and Spain.

The Little Optimum

18: The Little Optimum

From about 1000-1300CE, the global climate became warmer following the Little Ice Age, in a period known as The Little Optimum. Discover how this warm period produced profound changes in medieval life. With hotter seasons, mark the upsurge in food production, population, trade, sea travel, and urbanization across Europe. Observe how this climate shift had both positive and negative societal impacts.

Agricultural Advances

19: Agricultural Advances

During the warmer climatic period between 1000 and 1300, medieval peoples made innovations in agriculture, to maximize the yield of the land. Learn about the technology of the heavy-wheeled plow, the horse collar, and the three-field rotation system, which dramatically improved agricultural output. See how food surplus produced a boom in trade, a revival of cities, and vast wealth for the church.

Genghis Khan and the Rise of the Mongol Empire

20: Genghis Khan and the Rise of the Mongol Empire

The legacy of Genghis Kahn was so far-reaching that he is acclaimed by some as having "made the modern world." Track Kahn's astonishing rise to power, and his creation of the largest land empire to ever exist. Take account of his administrative genius, his legendary military tactics, which terrified medieval Europe, and the dissolution of his empire as the medieval warm period ended.

The Medieval World's First Poet Laureate

21: The Medieval World's First Poet Laureate

Take stock of an ideological shift in the 14th century toward humanism, the valuing of the individual, and a revaluing of literature and the arts. Follow the career of Petrarch, the first Italian crowned poet laurate since the Roman Empire. Assess the ways in which his love poetry signaled a movement toward psychological realism and heralded a flowering of great art across the Italian world.

The Black Death

22: The Black Death

Learn about the devastation caused by the Black Death, as it ravaged medieval Europe in the mid 14th century, killing nearly one half of the population. Track the breakdown of infrastructures, and how the plague changed the fabric of society, breaking apart the previous social order for those who survived, and bringing new opportunities and social mobility to the merchant and peasant classes.

Science, Medicine, and the University

23: Science, Medicine, and the University

Trace the development of Salerno, in southern Italy, as a center of medical learning in the 11th century, drawing on Greek and Muslim medicine, and later joined by Bologna and Montpellier as major medical training hubs. Find the medieval origins of universities in informal gatherings of scholars and students, and three models of university education that emerged in Italy, France, and England.

Gutenberg's Printing Press

24: Gutenberg's Printing Press

The invention of the printing press unleashed a revolution in communication and literary production. Chart the rapid profusion of printed books, despite the continued valuing of hand-created manuscripts. Grasp how medieval social movements such as the Protestant Reformation were undergirded by the printing press, and how printing influenced the explosion of writing of the early modern period.

Toward the Early Modern

25: Toward the Early Modern

Conclude with a look at Stephen Greenblatt's 2011 book, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern. Trace the story told within the book, about the 15th-century discovery of a long-lost text by Lucretius, and the broad impact of that discovery. Consider the features of the story as they highlight the kinds of turning points explored in this course, which tell us so much about the medieval world.

Overview Course No. 30940

The medieval era, spanning roughly 500 to 1500 CE, was a groundbreaking and transformative epoch in Western history. Within this phenomenal millennium, we can observe vital pivot points that allow us to see and to grasp how Western civilization developed.

In these 25 eye-opening lectures, Professor Dorsey Armstrong guides you in a thrilling discovery of the preeminent moments of historical change in the Middle Ages, including:

  • The Catalytic Battle of Lechfeld. Observe how this 955CE battle revolutionized medieval warfare and how its outcome served to solidify the feudal social order of medieval Europe.
  • The First Crusade. Grasp the ways in which this dramatic event altered the relationship of religion to warfare and forever marked the interface of Christianity and Islam.
  • The Divorce of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Trace the world-changing consequences of Eleanor’s royal divorce and remarriage, actions which critically shaped the medieval power balance between England and France.
  • A Medieval Climate Change. Explore the medieval warm period from 1000 to 1300, which brought hugely increased food production, agricultural innovation, booms in population, trade, shipbuilding, and navigation, along with the revitalization of cities.
  • The Black Death. Mark the ways in which the plague radically altered medieval society, with major reversals of fortune for merchants and peasants, who found economic opportunity and social mobility that did not exist in the pre-plague world.
  • The Rise of Medicine and Universities. Follow the emergence of major centers of medical learning and practice in Salerno, Bologna, and Montpellier; and trace the origins of European universities in Italy, France, and England.

In Turning Points in Medieval History, 2nd Edition, you’ll enjoy a deep look into the seminal moments of one of the most dramatic, brilliant, and impactful eras in human history.

About

Dorsey Armstrong
Dorsey Armstrong

Join me for an adventure in the medieval past, and a new understanding of how it shapes our own ideas and attitudes in the present.

INSTITUTION
Purdue University

Dorsey Armstrong is a Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue University. She received her PhD in Medieval Literature from Duke University. She is the executive editor of the academic journal Arthuriana, which publishes cutting-edge research on the legend of King Arthur, from its medieval origins to its modern enactments. She is a recipient of the Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, Purdue’s top undergraduate teaching honor.

By This Professor

King Arthur: History and Legend
Years That Changed History: 1215
The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague
Great Minds of the Medieval World
The Medieval World
La Peste Negra: La Plaga Más Devastadora del Mundo
Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything
The Black Death: New Lessons from Recent Research
The Knights Templar: A History Strange and True
Turning Points in Medieval History, 2nd Edition

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