The course Medieval History is one of the four period survey courses given during the first year of the Bachelor Comparative History. The other periods are Classical Antiquity, Early Modern History and Modern History. Together these period courses provide a global survey of current scholarly insights in European history from Antiquity up and until the present. Within this survey, the course Medieval History (I & II) covers the medieval history of Europe and its neighbours from late Antiquity until the fifteenth century (roughly from 500 to 1500 CE).
 
Without the developments that originated in this period, Europe as it is today would have been completely different. In essence, the topographical map of Europe has emerged during the medieval period. Likewise, many European cities of importance today have medieval roots. During the medieval period, phenomena emerged such as merchant capitalism, the European vernacular languages, banking and credit systems, parliaments, and universities. The medieval period also saw the beginnings of the creation of personal conscience and individuality in the modern sense of the word, as well as enduring methods of textual criticism and hermeneutics. Finally, during the medieval period Christianity became Europe’s dominant religion, a position it still maintains. In this course, we will discuss and contextualise these phenomena.
 
The course Medieval History II focuses in particular on the regions that would later be called France, England, and Germany, as well as on societies within the Mediterranean (esp. the Iberian Peninsula and the Byzantine and Islamic regions).