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The Early Middle Ages
- Narrated by: Philip Daileader
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
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The Early Middle Ages
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Summary
The Early Middle Ages - the years from A.D. 650 to 1000 - were crucial to Europe's future social and political development. These 24 lectures trace a journey from Scandinavia across northern and central Europe to the farthest reaches of the Byzantine and Islamic empires, providing an exciting new look an era often simply called the "Dark Ages."
Given the period's dismal reputation and its temporal remoteness from the 21st century, you'll be surprised to learn about some of the most challenging questions historians have ever had to tackle: Why did the Roman Empire fall? Why did the ancient world give way to the medieval world? Why did Christian monotheism become the dominant religion in Europe? You'll meet some of the era's exciting figures, such as St. Augustine and Justinian, and you'll consider the extent to which the historical realities of King Arthur and Charlemagne match up to the legends that have become attached to their names. You'll also look at the era's effect on the Vikings, the rise of the Carolingians, and the golden age of Islamic rule in Spain.
Professor Daileader also explores the contrasting historical theories offered by two extremely influential historians: Edward Gibbon, the English author of the monumental The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, whose explanations closely followed those of the Roman moralists of the 4th and 5th centuries; and Henri Pirenne, the Belgian thinker who injected a newfound emphasis on social and especially economic factors into the analysis of history.
You'll see why the era belies its reputation as dark and dismal, but you'll come away with a new appreciation for this once-lost era.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about The Early Middle Ages
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- John
- 19-02-17
Is he Bill Bryson in disguise?
Great buy. Informative, witty and well-paced. I'm now moving on to The High Middle Ages.
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- Anonymous User
- 28-07-22
Great course
Really capturing and straight forward course. The lecturer does a great job at communicating this part of history.
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- Liam
- 06-08-20
Very good.
I wasn't sure what to expert with this audio book and was pleasantly surprised by it. it was pitched at just the correct level for me. I finished it in a couple of days.
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- Booka
- 24-08-15
Passionate lectures about an interesting period
I've listened to lots of Great Courses and this is one of the best because of his passion and the period.
He covers a long period of 700 years when Saint Augustine and Charlemagne were key players and a part of history that not many people seem to know much about. It's hard to keep track of so many groups of people: the Visigoths, the Arabs, the Vikings, the Merovingians and Carolingians but the course brings them a bit closer to the present.
I'm looking forward to the next one.
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- Kindle Customer
- 14-07-17
Definitely recommend
I enjoyed this course very much. It was structured well so that it conveyed the information well.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Twin dad
- 24-05-20
Fascinating and beautifully presented
This is one of the best Great Courses series I have heard. It is informative and interesting and the lecturer is excellent. I think this guy could read a shopping list and make it sound fascinating! I highly recommend this course.
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- D. J. Wilkinson
- 23-11-16
Riveting overview
This is a fascinating overview of the decline of the Roman Empire and the start of the Middle Ages. Some of the detail is amazing. If you really want to know what happened - it's here.
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- AReader
- 06-08-15
Informative and enjoyable
Really a pleasure to listen to. A random mention of Charlemagne in the media made me realise I knew nothing about all this and I am now much better informed. I had heard terms like Holy Roman Emperor and Byzantium without really focussing on what they meant. I now have a clear general picture of how the Roman Empire was divided in two, how the two entities developed, how this fitted in with historical figures like the Venerable Bede, and how it all led to Western civilisation today.
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- Amazon Customer
- 28-04-16
Excellent introduction and framework
This is a great introduction to a topic which I had never previously tackled in depth. It is entertaining, and educational and gives a great framework in which to build.
I learned about late antiquity and how it developed into the Early Middle Ages. I learned about theories about how population and economic decline occurred early in the period and how a turning point was reached during the lifetime of Charlemagne.
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- Amazon Customer
- 25-07-22
Enlightening
Particularly interesting to hear European history from an American viewpoint and to then have a more objective and possibly modern approach. Also very interesting to look at the basis of why this period was referred to as the dark ages.
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