Image of Lom Stave Church (circa 1210) in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway. (Image by Professor Anne McCants).
Instructor(s)
Prof. Anne McCants
MIT Course Number
21H.306
As Taught In
Fall 2003
Level
Undergraduate
Translated Versions
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course surveys the social, cultural, and political development of western Europe between 500 and 1350. A number of topics are incorporated into the broad chronological sweep of the course, including: the Germanic conquest of the ancient Mediterranean world; the rise of a distinct northern culture and the Carolingian Renaissance; the emergence of feudalism and the breakdown of political order; contact with the Byzantine and Islamic East and the Crusading movement; the quality of religious life; the vitality of the high medieval economy and culture; and the catastrophes of the fourteenth century.