Great Minds of the Medieval World

By: Dorsey Armstrong, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Dorsey Armstrong

The Middle Ages was a time of major advances in many fields of knowledge, from theology and philosophy to science, medicine, art, literature, and education. Owing to the work of an astonishing range of visionary thinkers, this fascinating period was the era in which the foundations of the modern Western world were laid. In the medieval era’s great minds we find the roots of many aspects of today’s world - from the religious/philosophical thought of Augustine, Ambrose of Milan, and Thomas Aquinas to the scientific innovations of Avicenna and Alhacen, the enlightened statesmanship of Charlemagne and Lorenzo de Medici, and the literary creations of Dante and Chaucer.

In these 24 lectures, Professor Armstrong leads you on an enthralling journey into the lives of the seminal thinkers of the Middle Ages. In this gallery of extraordinary minds, you'll encounter the leading lights of a world-shaping era, including figures such as Maimonides, Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Abelard, and Francesco Petrarch. Professor Armstrong goes to great lengths to bring these historic figures to life, revealing both the great intellectual contributions and the personal strivings, challenges, and triumphs of some of history's most remarkable human beings. These compelling lectures take you deeply into the heart of one of civilization’s most dynamic and impactful eras.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2014 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2014 The Great Courses

Great Minds of the Medieval World

This lecture series is added to my favorites. I recommend checking in out. Thanks!

very ineresting

She makes familiar topics fresh and introduces you to many novel thinkers, people, times, and places. I love how she poses the benchmark of civilization as, if one can make a living as a poet.

Great experience with Great Courses

I love these courses, especially when we're traveling! This one is easy to listen to, as Prof Armstrong has a great voice and is so knowledgeable.

DORSEY ROCKS!!!

Consistently excellent!!! I love all her courses. Her enthusiasm is contagious. I wish she had been a professor of mine in college.

Very informative

This is the third of Dorsey Armstrong’s lecture series I have followed. All of them are fantastic!

Great minds, fascinating people

Somewhat to my surprise, this is one of my favorite Great Courses.

I bought it on sale figuring "Why not?" I had no particular interest in the middle ages, which I imagined as always dark and smelly.

Professor Dorsey Armstrong LOVES this time period, and her enthusiasm and knowledge are contagious. There were quite a few people I'd never heard of. By far my favorites were Hildegarde of Bingen and Christine of Pisan.

They are the only two women with their own chapter (Abelard and Heloise have one together) and they are truly remarkable.

Hildegarde was an eminent scholar respected by the clergy and pope (amazing in this time period) and Christine was a successful writer and businesswoman. Christine, in particular, surprises me because most educated women (that I know of) were either noblewomen or nuns, and she was neither.

The other Greats were also interesting, and Professor Armstrong really helps us understand how their thoughts affected global thinking and learning.

I've purchased (coincidentally) two of Professor Armstrong's courses and loved them both. I will now be looking for more. Turning Points in Medieval History might be next.

Great Jumping-Off Point

I must begin by admitting that I love Prof. Armstrong's narrative style. One can feel her passion for the subject in her delivery.

This series was a fascinating overview of the thoughts and people that shaped an era. After listening, I have a dozen works to explore further.

great content, misinformation re: al andulus

great overview of pivotal thinkers of the medieval ages

gives a misconception regarding al andulus

it was only advanced because muslim invaders conquered and sacked the much more advanced greek roman empire, which is also why the muslims were the conduit for greek philosophical work. not because they were great cultural preservers, but because the culture was preserved despite the islamic dislike for culture

and the so called tolerance to the extent it existed was either strategic treaties the muslims broke whenever it was to their advantage or the second class dhimmitude status for non muslims

additionally, conservative jewish author klinghoffer states it is also a myth the jews were better treated under islamic rule than in chrisendom

otherwise, there were numerous great thinkers introduced that i didn't previously know about, such as hildegard and the mendicis and the caxton printshop

the professor also gave a good sense of historical place to all the thinkers and why they were so important for the historical course of culture, making the interesting point how much the middle age universities and culture were much like our modern culture

Brilliant

The content and commentary is brilliantly selected, organized, and presented. Inspiring. I am a man of science learning to embrace the humanities. In a word, illuminating.

Discovering new heros

I liked learning about many influential thinkers that I had never heard of before. Many of their ideas were encapsulated or recapitulated by later thinkers, so there were no flashes of insight. Nevertheless, hearing who first engaged some of society's thorniest problems provided a very interesting read.

The professor has a thorough understanding and genuine affection for her subject and it makes the lectures very easy to listen to.

Because there was no separation of church and state the figures are heavily involved with the Catholic Church. There's no escaping that in a book like this, but if you are not interested in the medieval church you may not want to invest your time here.