In 22 lectures, Yale historian Paul Freedman takes you on a 700 year tour of medieval history. Moving from 284–1000 AD, this free online course covers “the conversion of Europe to Christianity, the fall of the Roman Empire, the rise of Islam and the Arabs, the ‘Dark Ages,’ Charlemagne and the Carolingian renaissance, and the Viking and Hungarian invasions.” And let’s not forget St. Augustine and the “Splendor of Byzantium.”
You can stream all of the lectures above. Or also find them on YouTube, iTunes and this Yale website.
The Early Middle Ages, 284–1000 will be added to our list of Free History Courses, a subset of our meta collection, 1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities. Below, we’ve added a list of the key texts used in the course:
- Charlemagne’s Courtier: The Complete Einhard. ed. Paul Edward Dutton, Broadview Press, 1998.
- Gregory of Tours: The Merovingians. ed. Alexander Callander Murray, Broadview Press, 2006.
- Procopius, The Secret History. ed. Richard Atwater, University of Michigan Press, 1961.
- Wickham, Chris, The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. Viking, 2009.
- Richards, Julian, The Vikings: A Very Short History. Oxford University Press, 2005.
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Seems like a great guy
Do these courses count towards a degree?
What book does one recommend along with Paul Freedman’s course on medieval history? I’d like to follow up with something written. Please advise.
I donate monthly from my checking account.
Dr Feedman is a superb lecturer and is quite engaging. Excellent use of vocabulary and knowledge.
How and when can I start
I would like to enroll in the above course.
Is the subsequent course on the high Middle Ages also available online? This first course is fascinating — a wonderful professor.
A thorough and engaging set of lectures. Professor Freedman’s expertise and enthusiasm make the early Middle Ages a joy to study.
This is a great idea that we can watch live teaching.
Professor has very interesting model of teaching. All the best from Serbia.
Berislav Kangrga, a history teacher
I am a Filipino. I am very interested to listen as history is my interest.
How can I join?
Is this Yale University?
Thank you very much.
My contact number is 09195391119.
Truly yours,
Atty. Renato M. Esmale
There is nothing on the arch of Constantine that depicts messages in the sky.
When does it start?
As this course has been made a free online course, I would like to start doing it.
I have looked through the course materials and found almost everything. What I seem to be missing is the readings for each lecture. As I understand it you read parts from at least from the key text as preparation for a lecture and possibly some extra reading stuff.
I see a reading list per lecture, but that seems to be a list of optional additional reading stuff on the lecture, not anything that must be read to prepare for a lecture. Is there such a list.
Thanks and regards
jan spiljard
Never mind.
Found it.
No medieval history is reliable and comprehensive as long as it skips (very intentionally and against all scientific methodologies) the 700 years of that brilliant European history crafted by Arabs in Andalusia