The Story of Medieval England: from King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest [repost]

Evidence of Great Britain’s legacy to the English-speaking world—indeed, to most of the Western world itself—is all around us, woven intimately into the fabric of almost every aspect of daily life.

We see it in

* the laws and system of justice that help guide our behavior;
* the political principles that underpin our representative governments;
* the nature of those governments and their relationship to the governed;
* much of our most glorious literature and art; and
* our very language itself, from its most subtle meditations to its most powerful vulgarities.

But while many of us in search of the roots of this shared heritage often focus our attention on the contributions of modern Britain, the answers we seek are actually to be found much earlier.

For it is in the medieval history of England, Britain’s most important realm, that our search must begin, from the withdrawal of Rome’s legions to the beginning of the Tudor dynasty in 1485.

Even if you have a solid familiarity with medieval history as a whole, understanding the lessons of medieval England is essential to rounding out your knowledge of the period. Moreover, these lessons are a key to understanding much of the Western world that followed, including the social, political, and cultural legacies by which that world has been enriched.

The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest tells the remarkable story of a tumultuous thousand-year period. Dominated by war, conquest, and the struggle to balance the stability brought by royal power with the rights of the governed, it was a period that put into place the foundation of much of the world we know today.

Taught by Professor Jennifer Paxton, an honored scholar and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America, The Story of Medieval England’s 36 lectures feature a level of detail and attention to key figures that set this course apart from those with a more narrow focus.

Grasp the Emergence of the Themes that Shaped the Western World

As you journey through The Story of Medieval England’s largely chronological narrative—occasionally interrupted for lecture-long explorations of specific topics—you’ll see the course’s key themes emerge. And as you do, Professor Paxton explains their impact and place in the larger historical picture:

* The long process of creating a unified English state by assimilating successive waves of ethnically diverse invaders, developing a particular sense of “Englishness,” and forging the growth of English nationalism
* The competition for power as different individuals struggled to establish rule and demonstrate the skills demanded of a king who would rule successfully
* The tense relationship between kings and the nobility, including changes in the nature of noble rebellion
* The role of the most persistent of those tensions—over money and taxation—in the creation and evolution of both the Magna Carta and Parliament
* How changes in economics, religion, law and justice, literacy, disease, and other factors affected everyday life for English people of all classes

And because so much of history is driven by specific individuals and not just historical circumstance, each lecture is rich in intimate portraits that reveal those individuals at the key moments of their historical destiny. Among the extraordinary figures you’ll encounter are many who are undoubtedly familiar, including these:

* Alfred the Great, whose leadership against the Vikings, in the face of overwhelming military superiority, laid the foundation for what would become the first ruling house of a united England
* William the Conqueror, the extraordinary ruler whose name tells only part of the story, with his reign serving as a demonstration of how to truly consolidate and maintain power
* Eleanor of Aquitaine, the powerful French wife of King Henry II whose network of patrons fostered the spread of courtly literature and provided support for writers such as Chretien de Troyes
* John Wycliffe, the Oxford cleric whose attacks on some of the core tenets of the Catholic Church contributed greatly to Protestant doctrine at the time of the Reformation.