Hocbigg - Medieval History
Contents
Summary
The Medieval History curriculum is a complete education in Medieval History using online materials.
Organization
This repository is organized into three main components:
- Core Curriculum (this page): the foundational knowledge of the field;
- Advanced Topics: focused study in specific areas;
- Projects: support learning through practical application throughout the curriculum.
Process: Learners may work through the curriculum independently or collaboratively, and either sequentially or selectively.
- For simplicity, courses in the Core Curriculum are ordered according to their prerequisites.
- The Core Curriculum provides a shared foundation and is intended to be completed in full.
- Advanced Topics are optional; learners are encouraged to select one area of focus and complete all courses within that topic.
Practical work is integrated through the Projects section and may be undertaken alongside coursework.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings.
Communities
- Forums:
- Subreddits:
- You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
-
Join our Discord server (for discussions around this and other curricula):
Curriculum
- Foundations: Thinking Historically About the Medieval World
- Global Frameworks I: The Post-Classical World c. 300–1000
- Global Frameworks II: Systems of Power and Belief c. 1000–1300
- Connected Worlds: Trade, Travel, and Exchange
How to use this curriculum
Core Sections
Study them in this exact order:
-
Foundations: Thinking Historically About the Medieval World
Start here. This section teaches you how historians actually work with medieval evidence and ideas. Finish it before moving forward. -
Global Frameworks I: The Post-Classical World (c. 300–1000)
This gives you the big picture of how the ancient world broke apart and new societies took shape across Eurasia. -
Global Frameworks II: Systems of Power and Belief (c. 1000–1300)
Next, you learn how political systems, laws, and major belief systems became organized and powerful during the central medieval centuries. -
Connected Worlds: Trade, Travel, and Exchange
This section shows how all these regions were linked through long-distance networks, completing the main story of the medieval period.
Foundations: Thinking Historically About the Medieval World
How historians study a non-modern, non-universal past
| Subject | Resource |
|---|---|
| Historical Method & Evidence | John Lewis Gaddis, The Landscape of History |
| Global Historiography | Georg Iggers, Historiography in the Twentieth Century (selected chapters) |
| Periodization & Anachronism | Kathleen Davis, Periodization and Sovereignty (intro chapters) |
| Reading Scholarly History | Booth et al., The Craft of Research |
Global Frameworks I: The Post-Classical World (c. 300–1000)
Continuity, collapse, and transformation across Eurasia
| Subject | Resource | Online Course |
|---|---|---|
| Late Antiquity (Comparative) | Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity | Yale HIST 210: The Early Middle Ages, 284–1000 |
| Roman, Persian & Han Legacies | Chris Wickham, Inheritance of Rome | |
| Byzantium Emerges | Judith Herrin, Byzantium | Yale HIST 210 lectures on Byzantium (see "The Splendor of Byzantium" and related) |
| Rise of Islam | Hugh Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests | Yale HIST 210 |
| South Asia after Gupta | Romila Thapar, Early India | |
| Tang–Song China | Mark Lewis, China Between Empires | Harvard ChinaX (relevant parts on imperial China) |
Global Frameworks II: Systems of Power and Belief (c. 1000–1300)
| Subject | Resource |
|---|---|
| Kingship & Statecraft (Comparative) | John Watts, The Making of Polities (Archive.org) |
| Law & Governance | Wael Hallaq, An Introduction to Islamic Law |
| Christianity, Islam, Buddhism | Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom |
| Confucian Revival | Peter Bol, Neo-Confucianism in History (open lectures via Harvard/Yale-style channels; Bol's related talks) |
| Education & Knowledge | George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges |
Connected Worlds: Trade, Travel, and Exchange
| Subject | Resource |
|---|---|
| Silk Roads | Valerie Hansen, The Silk Road |
| Indian Ocean World | K.N. Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean |
| Nomads & Empires | Thomas Barfield, The Perilous Frontier |
| Mongol Eurasia | Timothy May, The Mongol Conquests |
Congratulations
After completing the requirements of the curriculum above, you will have completed the equivalent of a full bachelor's degree in Medieval History. Congratulations!