Medieval Europe: A Complete Survey (500–1500) From the fall of Rome to the dawn of the Renaissance — a clear, panoramic journey through one thousand years of European history.

How did Europe transform from the ruins of Rome into a world of kingdoms, cathedrals, crusades, and cultural rebirth? This course gives you a structured, accessible, and academically grounded overview of Medieval Europe across its full millennium — 500 to 1500 — in one unified, concise survey.

Designed for history enthusiasts, strategy gamers, and lifelong learners, this course blends narrative lectures, maps, timelines, primary source analysis, and quizzes to help you understand not just what happened, but why it is important for the development of the modern world.

Across 11 sections and 38 lectures, you will explore:

Early Middle Ages (500–1000)

The fall of Rome and the transformation of the post‑Roman world
Barbarian kingdoms, Christianization, and early medieval society
Justinian and the Byzantine reconquest of Italy, North Africa, and Iberia
Merovingians, Carolingians, and the foundations of medieval kingship
Papal authority, monastic networks, and the rise of Christian institutions
Anglo‑Saxon England and early English identity
The Viking Age and northern expansion
Europe at the millennium:
- Byzantium
- Iberia
- Holy Roman Empire
- Armenia
- Italy, France, England

High Middle Ages (1000–1300)

Feudal power structures and political consolidation
Gregorian Reform and the rise of papal monarchy
The First Crusade and the Crusader States (overview)
Byzantium and the Crusades
Iberia and the early Reconquista
The Holy Roman Empire and the Investiture Controversy
Economic and demographic growth across Europe

Late Middle Ages (1300–1500)

The Commercial Revolution: towns, trade, and guilds
Universities, scholasticism, and intellectual culture
Gothic architecture and medieval art
The Black Death and social transformation
The Hundred Years’ War (overview)
Byzantium’s final centuries and the fall of Constantinople
Iberia on the eve of 1492
Europe’s transition toward the early modern world

Why This Course Is Different

Most Medieval Europe courses focus narrowly on Western Europe. This one does not.

You will explore the entire medieval world, including:

Byzantium
Iberia
Armenia
Kievan Rus
The Holy Roman Empire
The Islamic–Christian frontier
Northern Europe and the Viking world

This panoramic approach gives you a complete understanding of how Europe developed across regions, cultures, and centuries.