Catalog Search Results
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In this enthralling course, chart the fall and rebuilding of empires; learn about the economics and technology that drove medieval civilizations; map the great medieval trading networks; study the Age of Faith; and explore medieval history, culture, and thought from Europe and Africa to the Middle East, Asia, and beyond.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The Mongol Empire shaped the history of Central and East Asia through the 13th century. See how Genghis Kahn created a vast empire and note the features of Mongol rule, including its religious inclusiveness, strategic control of trade, and freedoms for women. Follow the Mongol conquests of India; Russia; the Islamic world; and, finally, China, establishing the Yuan Dynasty.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The medieval era was an Age of Faith, characterized by world-changing religious events and processes of change. Within Christianity, examine the doctrinal disputes that led to the schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Learn how Hinduism predominated within India, and how Buddhism moved from India into Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, splitting into two main schools.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The 8th and 9th centuries brought a reordering of empires from Europe to the Far East. First, study the reuniting of Northern Europe under the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne, and the rule of Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, who founded the great city of Baghdad. Witness the golden age of China's Tang dynasty and the burgeoning cultures of the Silla kingdom of Korea and the Heian Empire of Japan.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
From 1300 to 1450, a series of disasters destroyed structures of medieval society. Track the climate changes that produced widespread famine across the Eurasian continent. Then investigate the devastation of bubonic plague that swept the world. Witness how the disease spread and take stock of the rebellions and far-reaching societal changes that took place in the wake of the famine and plague.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The High Middle Ages saw a global movement toward a culture of education. Look first at China, and the educational system rooted in rigorous civil service examinations. Study intellectual trends in the Muslim world, and the major advances in medicine, mathematics, and philosophy. Then witness the rise of universities in the West, which set the stage for the post-medieval scientific revolution.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Consider the astonishing feat of navigation through which medieval peoples from Samoa and Tonga settled the Polynesian islands of the South Pacific. Learn about Polynesian societies and culture, highlighting the phenomenal giant statues of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and how they were built. Note how the statue building ultimately had severe consequences for the island's ecosystem.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Grasp the vital relationship in the medieval world between sophisticated, walled cities, and the rural peasants and serfs that supported their existence. Visit the three greatest cities of the early Middle Ages: Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire; Chang'an, the seat of China's Tang Dynasty; and the African kingdom of Aksum, a crossroads of trade, culture, and religions.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In the High Middle Ages, new commerce and trade networks transformed societies and cultures. See how medieval commercial towns arose across Western Europe in order to satisfy the desire for trade. Survey the long-distance trading zones that fed the wealth of these cities. Within Africa, assess the trade-rich Mali Empire, the fabled city of Timbuktu, and the wealthy trade of the Swahili Coast.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Take account of the cultural transformations that Muslim rule brought to its domains and the growth of trade, new cities, and great centers of learning that it fostered. Study the five "pillars" of Islam and its main religious rituals. Assess forces of disunity within Islam, such as the split between Shiite and Sunni factions, and the influences of non-Arab cultures that joined the religion.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Investigate the agricultural methods, based in cultivating maize and other staple crops, that supported highly populated, advanced civilizations in the Americas. Discover the culture, artifacts, and monumental architecture of the Maya in Mexico and the Chimu in Peru. Learn also about the innovative, large-population cultures that thrived in the Amazon rainforest.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
One of the pivotal events of the Middle Ages was the rise of Islam. Learn about the visions of the merchant Muhammad and how his ideas spread as a powerful new religion. Track the expansion of Islam through the conquests of Arab armies and how conquered peoples fared under Muslim rule. Then discover the origins of the European feudal system and the warfare practiced by armored knights.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Trace the effects on warfare of gunpowder, first developed by the Chinese. See how gunpowder weapons spread to the Islamic world, and to Europe in the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Visualize the new armies and military strategy, using cannon, guns, and longbows, and the decline of mounted knights. Witness these currents of events in the extraordinary story of Joan of Arc.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Look into medieval values through daily life in great palaces. Visualize life in European castles, taking account of accommodations, dress, and food and drink. Contrast that with the Alhambra palace of Islamic Spain and its layout, interiors, and separation of men and women. Conclude with China's sumptuous palaces, highlighting the lifestyle of royals, diet, and traditional cultural practices.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
In the Middle Ages, fictional travel writing became more influential than real accounts. Discover The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a hugely impactful work written by a man who never left home. Follow the route and details of his invented travels, drawn from other books. See how his descriptions of nonexistent creatures contributed to the cruelty and exploitation of the later Age of Discovery.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Peoples from Northern Europe also ventured far afield in the Middle Ages. Here, follow the voyages of the Vikings in their fast-moving ships and how they reached North America in the 10th century. Learn about the Viking settlements on Iceland and Greenland and their expeditions further west while seeking hospitable lands, leading to violent conflict with Algonquian tribes and later the Inuit.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The High Middle Ages saw phenomenal growth in civilizations across the world, in the areas of population, wealth, and expansion. Look into the technological innovations that underlay the flourishing of China's Song Dynasty, and the agricultural innovations and new technology for power that fueled prosperity in Europe. Then note the rise of the Seljuk Turks, and the threat they posed to the West.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Religious buildings are perhaps the most visited remnants of the Middle Ages. Begin with the sublime Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul, emblem of the Byzantine Empire and later a mosque. Then study the features and symbolism of medieval Romanesque churches, Gothic cathedrals, synagogues, and mosques. See their Asian counterparts in Angkor Wat (Hinduism), Borobodur (Buddhism) and Chinese pagodas.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
Delve into the landmarks of medieval literature, beginning with the heroic epics of different cultures, from Europe's Beowolf and The Song of Roland to the Tibetan Epic of King Gesar. Then study the tradition of medieval Romantic Love, as seen in works such as Japan's Tale of Genji and the Western Arthurian romances and Romance of the Rose. Consider the enduring influence of these works.
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2022.
Language
English
Description
The medieval Age of Faith was transformed by the 14th-century disasters of famine, plague, and warfare. Learn how these upheavals caused many to question their understanding of faith and the world. Learn how within Christendom, China, and the lands of Islam, people responded by blaming rulers or by appealing to God directly, forcing key changes both within these faiths and in secular society.
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