The Early Middle Ages

De: Philip Daileader, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Philip Daileader

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.

©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great Courses

Awesome history lesson

This is a great series of lecture about a fascinating period of history. The professor does a particularly great job at explaining the historiography of this topic, and weaving that into our understanding of the early middle ages. It turns out there aren't too many primary sources a historian can pull from when it comes to this topic, but what is extrapolated is fascinating nonetheless.

My only small complaint about this course is that Professor Daileader's tone sometimes takes on an air of "this is too complicated to explain, but I'll painfully try to explain it to you." It's not quite condescension, it's just a very apparent "pained" tone he sometimes takes on. I found this occasionally distracting.

Great course!

Great overview of early Middle Ages and cultural changes. The professor is outstanding. A good deal of variety in topics.

Good, but with some errors

I am by no means an expert in medieval times, but I do have a degree in History and I am Scandinavian, so although I did enjoy the course I did find a few weird statements and an error or two concerning my own history, so I wonder how many there are over all, but of course this is mainly meant for entertainment so I will accept some errors or misleading statements, but just for my own piece of mind let me state as an absolute truth; Scandinavians do not use waterplanes to get around because the land is impossible to traverse! Denmark is flat as a pancake, and Norway, Sweden and Finland have loads of mountains that have been blown a hole in to make roads, or that they climb up and down by road, Greenland is ice, snow and mountains, so again no need for waterplanes, and Iceland is basically one big vulcanic rock. The Faroe islands are maybe the only place in Scandinavia that waterplanes might have some use, but I've never heard of it. Also he makes the statement "many of us have heard that history never repeats itself, but unfortunately in this case it did", history always repeats itself! It is basically the only constant throughout human history!

Surprisingly entertaining and enlightening course!

Great presenter who is able to convey a lot of info in a very clear and straightforward manner. I learned a lot. Well worth a listen.

Riveting

Professor Daileader is one of my favorites. A fantastic storyteller: I listen to his courses for entertainment as much as for learning. This is my second listen, and I got a lot out of it.

This course gets medieval on your ...

great course, it delivers exactly what it promises, you'll learn how the ancient evolved into the medieval

A Solid Starting Point

This is a series of mostly easily comprehended lectures about The Early Middle Ages. I was able to listen to these lectures while commuting and could follow them. I took notes and did follow up study. I learned a lot and can recommend this product without hesitation to anyone interested in developing a baseline of information for further study. Thank You…,

Bright Light on the Dark Ages

Brilliant! Philip Daileader is a magnificent storyteller with a wry sense of humor and a splendid vocabulary. I planned to listen to one chapter per day, but became quickly addicted to the charming flow of his narration, and ended up listening to six chapters per day. The story moves smoothly while covering a huge scope, CE 650 until 1000. It starts from pagan philosophies and state ritual of Late Antiquity, then moves into the moral ruminations of Augustine. A digestible and concise two-chapter discussion of Augustine's thought frames the end of consensus paganism, as Christianity gains critical mass.

Daileader guides the listener through the swirling masses of Barbarian invaders [also see included maps for tribal names and mobility]. His masterful explanation of the Viking attacks that used the river systems of Europe was, for me, a highlight of the course. Also, Daileader delivers a continuous flow of rich insights into religious culture and language-change in context of the Christianization of northern Europe. The eye-opening snippet from New Testament in Saxon is itself worth the price of the course!

Presentation Style: Academic treatment of the existing evidence is fair-handed. Daileader's speech is clear and precise in every word pronounced. Descriptions are free of jargon and pitched to undergraduates, making the ideas accessible to any educated adult. His professorial tone of voice follows a steady cadence, with enough variation to stay engaging. In each chapter, I found myself laughing at his gentle jokes about human foibles. The listener can feel his sympathy for the real conditions of life in the Dark Ages.

I have already purchased Daileader's next series, the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages. 100% recommended.

One of the three best courses I ever took

Was a history major in college but we barely touched on the Middle Ages. Yet our world becomes more and more medieval every day. If you want to under how the plague effects society, or dogma influences public discourse, or the unintended consequences of fighting wars in the middle east this time period is the place to look.

Don’t be scared off by the period

As Prof Daileader notes, this is an unpopular period among historians. But he does a great job presenting what is known about the key groups and events that follow the so-called “fall” of the Roman Empire. He’s interesting and actually quite hilarious too.