History

In this course, Professor John Arnold (University of Cambridge) explores heresy and the church in Medieval Europe. In the first module, we think about the growth of heretical movements up to the beginning of the Albigensian Crusade. In the two...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) considers three questions related to the First Crusade, 1095-99: (i) Why did Pope Urban II launch the First Crusade?; (ii) What motivated warriors and pilgrims from across ...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) considers four questions related the Second Crusade, 1147-49: (i) How did the Crusader States survive and grow in the decades following the First Crusade?; (ii) Why did the ...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) thinks about the military orders in the Crusader States between 1119-87, focusing in particular on the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller ...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores the Third Crusade (1189-92). We start by thinking about the origins of the Third Crusade, focusing in particular on the annihilation of the Crusader forces at the Battle of...

In this course, Professor Jonathan Harris (Royal Holloway, London) explores the capture of Byzantium by the Ottomans in late May 1453. We begin by thinking of the decline of the Byzantine Empire, and the growth of the Ottoman Empire, in...

In this course, Dr James Ross (University of Winchester) explores the reign of Henry VI of England (1422-61). We begin by thinking about Henry's birth, his upbringing, and the legacy he inherited from his illustrious father, Henry V. After that,...

In this course, Dr Hugh Doherty (University of East Anglia) explores the reign of Henry II, 1154-89. We being by considering the nature of evidence for Henry's reign, focusing in particular on the later accounts of his reign, but also...

In this course, Dr Amira Bennison (University of Cambridge) explores the rise and spread of Islam. The course begins by considering the situation in the Arabian Peninsula before the rise of Islam—focusing in particular on the extent to which the...

In the course, Professor Rosamond McKitterick (University of Cambridge) explores the rule of Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire. The course begins by considering the sources available for historians of the period—including Charlemagne’s...

In this course, Dr Nicholas Morton (Nottingham Trent University) explores the Fourth Crusade (1202-04). We begin by thinking about the origins of the Fourth Crusade, focusing in particular on the preparations made by Pope Innocent III, the deal...

In this course, Dr Benjamin Pohl (University of Bristol) explores Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest. The course begins by considering where the Normans came from, focusing in particular on the Viking raids of the ninth and tenth...