What was the appeal of Christianity to the warriors and tribesmen beyond the frontiers of the Roman Empire? How did the church contribute to the survival and spread of civilisation in Europe? In this course we look at how church and society interacted in early medieval Europe, from Ireland to Russia, and the role it played in enabling Roman civilisation to survive.

DELIVERY MODE

• Hybrid (F2F & Online simultaneously)

SUGGESTED READING

• Fletcher, Richard: The Conversion of Europe, Fontana, 1988
• Brown, Peter: The Rise of Western Christendom, Blackwell, 1996
• Herrin, Judith: The Formation of Christendom, Princeton, 1987
• Wickham, Chris: Medieval Europe, Yale, 2017

COURSE OUTLINE

• The fragmentation of the Western Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity into the countryside and beyond the Empire * Monasticism, inculturation, divisions in the church, growth of papal power
• Christianity in the British Isles
• Christianity in the Iberian peninsula; the impact of Islam
• Christianity in the Germanic world, the Viking impact
• Russia and the Balkans, the final split between Rome and Constantinople

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Explain why Christianity was attractive to the elites of Barbarian Europe
2. Recognise the role that language and culture have played in Christian divisions
3. Evaluate the role of monasteries in the Christianisation of Europe

4.Understand why Christianity was able to put down deep roots in European Society