The High Middle Ages

By: Philip Daileader, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Philip Daileader

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

At the dawn of the last millennium in the year 1000, Europe was one of the world's more stagnant regions - an economically undeveloped, intellectually derivative, and geopolitically passive backwater, with illiteracy, starvation, and disease the norm for almost everyone.

Yet only three centuries later, all of this had changed. A newly invigorated cluster of European societies had revived city life, spawned new spiritual and intellectual movements and educational institutions, and had begun, for reasons both sacred and profane, to expand at the expense of neighbors who traditionally had expanded at Europe's expense. This series of 24 lectures, filled with memorable detail, examines how and why Europeans achieved this stunning turnaround. By its conclusion, you will be able to describe and analyze the social, intellectual, religious, and political transformations that set into motion this midsummer epoch of the medieval world - an epoch you will come to know very well through Professor Daileader's vivid descriptions and examinations of its people, including

• the warrior aristocracy of knights, castellans, counts, and dukes;
• free and unfree peasants; and townspeople, both artisans and merchants;
• its vibrant stirrings of religion and intellect, including monastic life and charismatic figures like Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas;
• the lives of those outside the religious mainstream, especially heretics and Jews;
• and its major political developments and events, including the First Crusade, the Norman Conquest of England, and the granting of the Magna Carta.

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

©2001 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2001 The Great Courses

40000 foot view

By the instructor’s own admission this is a fairly superficial covering of the High Middle Ages I would have liked a little more detail in what people’s lives were like. Otherwise I found this lecture series to be very enjoyable and not tedious as some are.

Wonderful Introduction

Dr. Philip Dialeader introduces the High Middle Ages with concietiousness, balance and humor. His course blends various historical approaches with great story telling and as with all his courses for the Learning Company, he turns a compassionate eye on all the many players of the medieval stage as he considers their struggles and triumphs. Anyone wanting to know more about this fascinating and transformative period of Western history will be delighted by Dialeader's lectures for The Great Courses.

excellent history and characters

Part of a trio - excellent chapters on many aspects of the period - plenty of detail, colorful detail

Great content, great lecturer

This guy makes the content so intriguing. I am an avid fan of history, but I can be turned off if the format is not too interesting. In this case, I simply could not stop listening. I will be seeking out anything else Professor Daileader has on Audible as soon as I have finished the other Middle Ages courses

Annnnnnd

I enjoyed this unbiased lecture series. I now see the high Middle Ages as a active growth period in the development of history. Annnd I got a kick of how the professor says connecting words.

DAILEADER IS THE BEST 🏆🏆🏆🏆

I found Professor Daileader while watching History Channel's - the Dark Ages - video series. He is an excellent lecturer. I love his Early, High and Late Middle Ages Series.

Informative and entertaining

Any additional comments?

I was looking for the lectures that cover the high and late middle ages after finishing the course from Yell by Dr. Freedman which I enjoyed very much. Apparently, these lectures are as good. They are well-structured, informative, entertaining with a bit of humor and detailed. I wish I had the same experience in school.

Thoroughly enjoyed this!

This is Part 2 of an excellent 3-part series on the Middle Ages. However, each part can be listened to as a "stand-alone" and can definitely be enjoyed without having to listen to either of the other audios, but to truly appreciate the full scale of the era it is good to listen to all three audio courses and in order.
I've been a lifelong fan of this time period but still learned so much that I wasn't aware of, especially concerning the time frames of certain events and what led up to and influenced them, all of which were presented in a perspective that was easy to grasp and understand.
Professor Daileader is very passionate about his subject and that really came through with his presentation. He was easy to listen to and I will be keeping an eye out for any other course he offers.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this course, and recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Middle Ages.

Great overview and pacing was on point at 1.5x

Had to speed up the lecturer to suit my own tastes but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and how they were presented.

GROUNDED HISTORY

Who really cares about the Middle Ages? It would be a mistake to gloss over these events that have shaped the world we live in today. One can see how power and greed shape much of political intrigue. But it is important for us to understand the driving forces of human nature. Philip Daileader’s presentation effectively tied in the notable events of the High Middle Ages with the structures and situations of today.