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Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest
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Taught By Professor Jennifer Paxton, Ph.D., Harvard University,
New Releases Georgetown University Course No. 8410

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Religion & Theology
Philosophy & Intellectual History
Literature & English Language Evidence of Great Britain’s legacy to the English-speaking world
Business & Economics —indeed, to most of the Western world itself—is all around us,
woven intimately into the fabric of almost every aspect of daily life.
Course Lecture Titles
Better Living
We see it in 36 Lectures
Professional
30 minutes / lecture
High School the laws and system of justice that help guide our behavior;
the political principles that underpin our representative 1. From Britannia to Britain (info)
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governments; 2. Roman Britain and the Origins
the nature of those governments and their relationship to the of King Arthur (info)
governed; 3. The Early Anglo-Saxon
much of our most glorious literature and art; and Kingdoms (info)
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our very language itself, from its most subtle meditations to its 4. The Conversion of the Anglo-
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most powerful vulgarities. Saxons (info)
5. Work and Faith in Anglo-Saxon
But while many of us in search of the roots of this shared heritage
England (info)
often focus our attention on the contributions of modern Britain,
LEARN MORE ABOUT 6. The Viking Invasions (info)
the answers we seek are actually to be found much earlier.
The Great Courses 7. Alfred the Great (info)
What are The Great Courses? For it is in the medieval history of England, Britain’s most 8. The Government of Anglo-

About Our Sales important realm, that our search must begin, from the withdrawal Saxon England (info)
of Rome’s legions to the beginning of the Tudor dynasty in 1485. 9. The Golden Age of the Anglo-
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Saxons (info)
Recommendations
Even if you have a solid familiarity with medieval history as a 10. The Second Viking Conquest
whole, understanding the lessons of medieval England is (info)
essential to rounding out your knowledge of the period. Moreover, 11. The Norman Conquest (info)
these lessons are a key to understanding much of the Western 12. The Reign of William the
"Pure intellectual
world that followed, including the social, political, and cultural Conqueror (info)
stimulation that can be legacies by which that world has been enriched. 13. Conflict and Assimilation (info)
popped into the [audio 14. Henry I—The Lion of Justice
The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor
or video player] (info)
Conquest tells the remarkable story of a tumultuous thousand- 15. The Anarchy of Stephen's
anytime." year period. Dominated by war, conquest, and the struggle to Reign (info)
—HARVARD MAGAZINE balance the stability brought by royal power with the rights of the 16. Henry II—Law and Order (info)
governed, it was a period that put into place the foundation of
17. Henry II—The Expansion of
More Testimonials
much of the world we know today.
Empire (info)
18. Courtly Love (info)
Taught by Professor Jennifer Paxton, an honored scholar and
19. Richard the Lionheart and the
award-winning teacher at Georgetown University and The Catholic
Newsletter Sign-Up Third Crusade (info)
University of America, The Story of Medieval England’s 36 lectures
Be notified of special promotions 20. King John and the Magna
and new releases (privacy policy) feature a level of detail and attention to key figures that set this
Carta (info)
course apart from those with a more narrow focus.
Your email address 21. Daily Life in the 13th Century
Grasp the Emergence of the Themes that Shaped the Western (info)
World 22. The Disastrous Reign of
Henry III (info)
As you journey through The Story of Medieval England’s largely 23. The Conquests of Edward I
chronological narrative—occasionally interrupted for lecture-long (info)
explorations of specific topics—you’ll see the course’s key themes 24. Edward II—Defeat and
emerge. And as you do, Professor Paxton explains their impact Deposition (info)
and place in the larger historical picture: 25. Edward III and the Hundred
Years' War (info)
The long process of creating a unified English state by
26. The Flowering of Chivalry
assimilating successive waves of ethnically diverse invaders,
(info)
developing a particular sense of “Englishness,” and forging
27. The Black Death (info)
the growth of English nationalism
28. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381
The competition for power as different individuals struggled to
(info)
 (info)
establish rule and demonstrate the skills demanded of a king
29. Chaucer and the Rise of
who would rule successfully
English (info)
The tense relationship between kings and the nobility,
30. The Deposition of Richard II
including changes in the nature of noble rebellion
(info)
The role of the most persistent of those tensions—over money
31. Daily Life in the 15th Century
and taxation—in the creation and evolution of both the Magna
(info)
Carta and Parliament
32. Henry V and the Victory at
How changes in economics, religion, law and justice, literacy,
Agincourt (info)
disease, and other factors affected everyday life for English
33. Henry VI—Defeat and Division
people of all classes
(info)
And because so much of history is driven by specific individuals 34. The Wars of the Roses (info)
and not just historical circumstance, each lecture is rich in intimate 35. Richard III—Betrayal and
portraits that reveal those individuals at the key moments of their Defeat (info)
historical destiny. Among the extraordinary figures you’ll encounter 36. England in 1485 (info)
are many who are undoubtedly familiar, including these:

Alfred the Great, whose leadership against the Vikings, in the face of
overwhelming military superiority, laid the foundation for what would become
the first ruling house of a united England
William the Conqueror, the extraordinary ruler whose name tells only part of
the story, with his reign serving as a demonstration of how to truly consolidate
and maintain power
Eleanor of Aquitaine, the powerful French wife of King Henry II whose network
of patrons fostered the spread of courtly literature and provided support for
writers such as Chrétien de Troyes
John Wycliffe, the Oxford cleric whose attacks on some of the core tenets of
the Catholic Church contributed greatly to Protestant doctrine at the time of the
Reformation.

Learn How History Can Be Shaped Even by Those in Its Shadows

But there are others, as well. You’ll meet men and women visible to history only for
what they represented as members of a group. These include people like the
anonymous craftsman taking up arms in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, enraged
that the dramatically reduced work force left by the Black Death still could not
command a living wage.

And you’ll meet some who achieved fame chiefly among historians, like the
Pastons. The story of this family’s 15th-century rise from the yeomanry to the
gentry bursts forth from the treasure trove of letters they shared for generations
and that have survived to this day. As scholars have pored over them, a great
amount of detail has emerged that gives us real insight into the achievements and
hardship of these new practitioners of upward mobility.

The precious historical legacy represented by the Paston correspondence,

however, represents only one of the ways in which Professor Paxton keeps the
course vibrant and moving. Presenting her material in a cheerful and comfortable
style, she continually unveils fresh perspectives on the lives of the men and
women who determined England’s history, from the wealthiest noble to the
hardest-working serf.

She reads from Chaucer, reveals details from the unprecedented collection of
information in what would become known as The Domesday Book , and leads you
onto the bloody soil of some of history’s most memorable battles—each time
turning history into spellbinding narrative.

Medieval British History Made Crystal Clear

Just as important, she does it while making the meaning of each historical
moment crystal clear, while also illuminating its role as part of a greater whole.
Periodically, she pauses in the overall chronology to devote entire lectures to
specific issues, such as Chaucer and the rise of English, or the evolution of
knighthood and chivalry, so that your view of history’s forest is never overwhelmed
by your nearness to the trees.

The result is a course that winds up being not only informative but deeply
entertaining, with each lecture drawing you in with its own particular fascinations,
including

a probing look at the scope of the Black Death and its social, economic, and
religious implications, including its role in ultimately bringing about the
Peasants’ Revolt decades later;
a realistic examination of the legends of both King Arthur and Robin Hood,
revealing whether there is indeed a core of truth at the heart of the stories we
have heard;
a riveting description of the Battle of Bosworth Field, where the defeat of
Richard III marked the beginning of the Tudor reign and ushered in a new age
in English politics;
an insightful look at the origins of the role of the coroner, and what an
 examination of early records of death can tell us about the ways in which
English people lived during the late Middle Ages, and
a discussion of the surprisingly nuanced penalties of the early Germanic law
codes, which reveals the tremendous social complexity among the Germanic
settlers in Britain in spite of the lack of any organized “state.”

Throughout The Story of Medieval England, including a tour de force final lecture
in which she tightly weaves together the course’s main themes and events,
Professor Paxton consistently delivers a fresh level of understanding about
medieval England, its rulers and subjects, and their significance for the world we
live in today. The chain of theme and event that links our world to theirs will never
be clearer, rewarding every moment you spend with this course.

About Your Professor

Dr. Jennifer Paxton is Professorial Lecturer in History at Georgetown University,

where she has taught for more than a decade, and Visiting Assistant Professor of
History at The Catholic University of America. The holder of a doctorate in history
from Harvard University, where she has also taught and earned a Certificate of
Distinction, Professor Paxton is both a widely published award-winning writer and
a highly regarded scholar, earning both a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and
a Frank Knox Memorial Traveling Fellowship. She lectures regularly on medieval
history at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia, and has also been
invited to speak on British history at the Smithsonian Institution and the
Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC.

Professor Paxton’s research focuses on England from the reign of King Alfred to
the late 12th century, particularly the intersection between the authority of church
and state and the representation of the past in historical texts, especially those
produced by religious communities. She is currently completing a book, Chronicle
and Community in Twelfth Century England , that will be published by Oxford
University Press. It examines how monastic historians shaped their narratives to
project present polemical concerns onto the past.

Should I Buy Audio or DVD?

While this course works well in all formats, the DVD version features more than
1,000 visual elements to take you back to medieval England, including 3-D
animations, detailed maps, rich images and illustrations, and on-screen text.

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