Medieval History (MA)

Course content

• a core module
• skills options, typically Latin and Palaeography
• taught option modules
• 14,000–16,000-word dissertation

Modules Dissertation Modules Core modules Perspectives on Medieval History Option modules You will study three option modules in total, one of them a skills option. Examples can be found below. Some option module combinations may not be possible. The options available to you will be confirmed after you begin your course. Death, Commemoration and Memory in the Viking World The Uses of Writing in the Dark Ages Trans-Asian Trade along the Silk Roads All the City’s a Stage? Performance and Ritual in Late Medieval Europe Extreme States: Religion and The Self in the High Middle Ages Medieval Lives Public Intellectuals: Authority and The Medieval University The Idea of Empire in the Early Islamic World The Centre for Medieval Studies also offers a variety of option modules which may be available to Medieval History students, subject to availability. You will also be able to choose from other option modules in the Department, such as: Mending the Past: History and the Politics of Guilt and Reparation Women in Early Modern England: Gender, Print and Politics Smell and the Past Reading the Middle Ages skills options Students may study Arabic, or two other medieval languages, or a language and palaeography. Language options include Latin, Old English, Old Norse and Old French; palaeography options are early book hands, administrative hands, or late book hands. Many students include Latin as one of their skills and the teaching programme caters fully to the needs of complete beginners as well as those with some acquaintance with the subject. Either: Multilingual Middle Ages (20 credits) Or: Reading Medieval Texts (20 credits) Or: Arabic for Research (20 credits) Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff, and in line with Department/School academic planning. Dissertation Research Dissertation You will write a dissertation of between 14,000 - 16,000 words on a topic of your choice. Using source materials and analysis techniques, you will draft up the findings into an independently researched dissertation. You will receive support, advice and guidance from your dissertation adviser throughout your project. The range of expertise of our staff and of our source materials means we can provide you with guidance on a wide range of topics. You will have five one-to-one meetings with your dissertation adviser across Semester 2 and the summer period (June/July). In these meetings, you will discuss the feasibility of your project and receive feedback on two draft chapters of your dissertation. Past dissertation titles have included: "A heap of all I have found" The study of Sub-Roman Britain through the Context of Time in Early Medieval History Beneath deep and dark waters: An ecocritical study into Old Norse perceptions of water in the Íslendingasögur, with references to eddic mythology Gentiles in Gwynedd: Assessing possible Scandinavian Settlement and Control in Medieval North Wales (AD 750- 1250) "Now she has been made the nest of dragons and the pasture of ostriches,”: Orientalism, Othering and Place in Crusade-era Animal and Monster Sources Theft in the Nottingham Borough Court Rolls, 1322-1366 The Right to Remain Silent: Understanding Marguerite Porete Through Her Decision Not to Speak The Royal Pardon and Chivalric Culture: Political Reconciliation during the Reign of Edward IV Books in Late Medieval English Wills, c.1300-c.1500