Humanitas: High & Late Middle Ages Program

About this curriculum

Unlike most contemporary approaches to history, which reflect the fashions and biases of the fleeting present,  Humanitas  offers students something more substantial. Following C.S. Lewis’ stout defense of reading primary sources in “On the Reading of Old Books,”  Humanitas  will help “persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but it is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.” Geared towards history, humanities, and humane letters courses, the  Humanitas  series offers a continuous, unfolding narrative of Western Civilization through a collection of carefully curated primary source documents. Full program includes: Humanitas: High & Late Middle Ages Humanitas High & Late Middle Ages Books 1 and 2   begin with the establishment of feudal society following the Norman Conquest and trace the growing tension between Church and state while the Crusades bring Europeans to the Holy Lands. The Black Death ravages Europe, the Peasants’ Revolt and Hundred Years’ War disrupt social stability, and Constantinople eventually falls. Yet the medieval mind and imagination is resilient and fruitful…