HIST 202   Europe in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were a period of enormous transformation and creativity in Europe. This course examines the emergence of medieval civilization from the ruins of the ancient world and the subsequent evolution of that civilization into modern Europe. Themes to be covered include the fall of Rome, the spread of Christianity and the conflicts within the medieval church, the rise and fall of Byzantium, the challenge of Islam and the crusades, the Vikings, the development of the medieval economy, the feudal revolution, the 12th-century Renaissance, the origins of law and government, the effects of the Black Death, and the Italian Renaissance. (EU)