Free register and download UseNet downloader, then you can FREE Download from UseNet.

    Download without Limit " TTC Video - Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest (Paxton 8410) " from UseNet for FREE!

Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest course no. 8410
Taught By Professor Jennifer Paxton, Ph.D., Harvard University, Georgetown University.
Evidence of Great Britain’s legacy to the English-speaking world—indeed, to most of the Western world itself—is all around us, woven intimately into the fabric of almost every aspect of daily life. We see it in
* the laws and system of justice that help guide our behavior;
* the political principles that underpin our representative governments;
* the nature of those governments and their relationship to the governed;
* much of our most glorious literature and art; and
* our very language itself, from its most subtle meditations to its most powerful vulgarities.
But while many of us in search of the roots of this shared heritage often focus our attention on the contributions of modern Britain, the answers we seek are actually to be found much earlier.
For it is in the medieval history of England, Britain’s most important realm, that our search must begin, from the withdrawal of Rome’s legions to the beginning of the Tudor dynasty in 1485.
Even if you have a solid familiarity with medieval history as a whole, understanding the lessons of medieval England is essential to rounding out your knowledge of the period. Moreover, these lessons are a key to understanding much of the Western world that followed, including the social, political, and cultural legacies by which that world has been enriched.
The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest tells the remarkable story of a tumultuous thousand-year period. Dominated by war, conquest, and the struggle to balance the stability brought by royal power with the rights of the governed, it was a period that put into place the foundation of much of the world we know today.
Taught by Professor Jennifer Paxton, an honored scholar and award-winning teacher at Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America, The Story of Medieval England’s 36 lectures feature a level of detail and attention to key figures that set this course apart from those with a more narrow focus.
Grasp the Emergence of the Themes that Shaped the Western World
As you journey through The Story of Medieval England’s largely chronological narrative—occasionally interrupted for lecture-long explorations of specific topics—you’ll see the course’s key themes emerge. And as you do, Professor Paxton explains their impact and place in the larger historical picture:
* The long process of creating a unified English state by assimilating successive waves of ethnically diverse invaders, developing a particular sense of “Englishness,” and forging the growth of English nationalism
* The competition for power as different individuals struggled to establish rule and demonstrate the skills demanded of a king who would rule successfully
* The tense relationship between kings and the nobility, including changes in the nature of noble rebellion
* The role of the most persistent of those tensions—over money and taxation—in the creation and evolution of both the Magna Carta and Parliament
* How changes in economics, religion, law and justice, literacy, disease, and other factors affected everyday life for English people of all classes
And because so much of history is driven by specific individuals and not just historical circumstance, each lecture is rich in intimate portraits that reveal those individuals at the key moments of their historical destiny. Among the extraordinary figures you’ll encounter 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 Chretien 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.
Course Lecture Titles
36 Lectures
30 minutes / lecture
1. From Britannia to Britain
A discussion of how the geography of Britain has shaped political events over the centuries introduces you to the significance of English history between the 5th-century fall of the Roman Empire and the 1485 advent of the Tudor dynasty.
2. Roman Britain and the Origins of King Arthur
The collapse of Roman rule, arrival of barbarian raiders and settlers, and resistance to Germanic immigration serve as a backdrop to a tantalizing mystery. Examine the evidence as to whether the unidentified champion who temporarily halted the advance of the barbarians could have been the King Arthur of later legend.
3. The Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
See how the victories of the shadowy figure possibly identified with Arthur offered only temporary stability, with the initiative soon shifting to the Germanic immigrants. Examine what we know about the societies that produced them and how their laws and culture were transformed by contact with Britain's.
4. The Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
Follow the parallel stories of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and the emergence of England's seven preeminent regional kingdoms. Those kingdoms drew—depending on their location—upon two different sources of Christian influence and custom.
5. Work and Faith in Anglo-Saxon England
Plunge into the substance of daily life for Anglo-Saxons of all social levels, including illness and mortality, the transition from paganism to Christianity, farming, trade, or even raiding. What is clear is that there is tremendous variation in the economic and religious experience of the population.
6. The Viking Invasions
Watch as the one- or two-boat raids of the late 8th century grew into vast armies of 50 ships or more by the middle of the 9th. Intent on settling permanently, the invaders' influence in eastern England would be profound, with patterns of landholding, legal institutions, and even language altered forever.
7. Alfred the Great
Explore the career of Alfred the Great, who led the heroic resistance that kept Wessex free of Viking control. Separate fact from legend in the life of the man who would create the Wessex dynasty that would eventually become the first ruling house of a united England.
8. The Government of Anglo-Saxon England
Grasp the well-organized ways in which the Anglo-Saxon state became perhaps the most successful in Christian Europe, with sophisticated coinage and access to the court system by all levels. Although crude by modern standards, it functioned quite well compared to its contemporaries.
9. The Golden Age of the Anglo-Saxons
Learn why the 10th century is often referred to as the Golden Age of the Anglo-Saxons. It produces not only vernacular literary masterpieces like Beowulf and The Battle of Maldon but inspiring sermons, monastic reform, and an artistic renaissance encompassing book production, metalwork, and needlework.
10. The Second Viking Conquest
The Golden Age ended as the Wessex dynasty was overturned by a second wave of Viking invaders, with Denmark's King Cnut seizing the throne and marrying the Wessex queen. See how the well-organized Wessex state functioned until Edward the Confessor restored the "legitimate" dynasty in 1042.
11. The Norman Conquest
Learn the reasons behind the overturning of the Anglo-Saxon regime by external invasion. This tightly focused lecture examines both the battle to succeed Edward the Confessor, who died childless, and the defeat of his successor by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.
12. The Reign of William the Conqueror
Witness an extraordinary consolidation of power as William used the military to overcome early resistance to his rule, systematically expropriated the nobility to install his own followers, and used both legal and administrative measures to fortify his position.
13. Conflict and Assimilation
Open a window on what life was like in post-conquest England through a variety of sources, including the famous Domesday Book compiled at William's order. This extraordinary compilation offered the king an unprecedented survey of English landholding and thus very exact information about wealth and the ability to pay taxes.
14. Henry I—The Lion of Justice
Examine the reign of Henry I in a lecture ranging from his many administrative innovations—including the development of royal accounting at the Exchequer—to the legendary temper that led to the castration of all the royal moneyers discovered to be cheating the treasury.
15. The Anarchy of Stephen's Reign
Experience the 14 years of civil war that erupted 4 years after Henry's death in 1135, with his daughter and nephew battling over Stephen's throne—largely because England's barons had no wish to be ruled by a queen.
16. Henry II—Law and Order
See how England returned to order as Henry II razed castles built without the crown's permission, consolidated justice in royal hands, and standardized its operations. But he also raced toward a fateful and ultimately deadly confrontation with his former chancellor and best friend, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury.
17. Henry II—The Expansion of Empire
With Becket dead and martyred, Henry faced the difficult task of keeping a secure hold on his many continental dominions and managing his children's futures. Learn how the many royal titles created by his family's politically intertwined bloodlines created just as many possible conflicts.
18. Courtly Love
Take a pause from political intrigue to look at the culture that flavored the royal and princely courts, with a focus on the rise of courtly love, the music and poetry that were its backdrop, and the creation of a rich tradition of vernacular Arthurian romances.
19. Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade
View the reign of Richard the Lionheart primarily through the lens of his experience as a crusader, with implications focusing on the position of Jews in England, the development of royal administration in his absence, and the ambitions of his brother.
20. King John and the Magna Carta
Experience the disastrous reign of King John. His technical violation of a feudal oath to the French king led to the loss of Normandy and several expensive efforts to regain his lost land—efforts that ultimately led to the signing of the Magna Carta.
21. Daily Life in the 13th Century
Another pause in the political narrative allows for a close look at life in a 13th-century English village—life that had changed materially for the better since the Anglo-Saxon and Norman periods.
22. The Disastrous Reign of Henry III
A key theme of the course comes into sharp focus as you see how Henry's many ill-advised foreign ventures created a never-ending need for money to be provided by England's barons. Their frustration triggered a revolt and the nucleus of what would ultimately become Parliament.
23. The Conquests of Edward I
Explore the reign of Henry's far more talented son, Edward I, from the perspective of both his military career—as a crusader and in Scotland, Wales, and France—and his role as a lawgiver, including greatly expanding the role of Parliament in making statute law.
24. Edward II—Defeat and Deposition
Step into the life of a king whose reign was one of great controversy. Edward is beset by intimations of sexually based patronage given to a favored knight, growing baronial resentment, an infamous defeat by the Scots, deposition by his own wife, and ultimately his murder.
25. Edward III and the Hundred Years' War
See how repeated trade conflicts with the French drove Edward to claim the French throne. What would become the Hundred Years War produced both stunning victories and years of stalemate and plundering that left the French countryside impoverished but made the fortunes of many English knights and soldiers.
26. The Flowering of Chivalry
Learn the intricacies of the tournament and the practice of heraldry as you observe the evolution of the knight. What was once little more than a noble's hired thug evolved into a figure expected to participate in knightly culture and maintain new standards of proper, often heroic, behavior.
27. The Black Death
England, already weakened by a series of famines, was devastated by the disastrous epidemic that swept across Europe and arrived on its shores in 1348. It left in its wake social, economic, and religious effects that would endure for many decades.
28. The Peasants' Revolt of 1381
Grasp how both religious frustrations and economic grievances stemming from the dislocations of the Black Death combined to bring about the most significant event in Richard II's early reign: the Middle Ages' most serious revolt against the English crown.
29. Chaucer and the Rise of English
A journey through some selected works, including Piers Ploughman and The Canterbury Tales, highlights the rise of vernacular English poetry in the 14th century, with English also becoming a principal vehicle for religious writing.
30. The Deposition of Richard II
Appreciate the extraordinary turns history can often take. Richard II's reign, which once seemed so promising, disintegrates in factional fighting and disputes so bitter they ultimately led not only to his deposition but to judicially sanctioned murder.
31. Daily Life in the 15th Century
Examine how the population losses of the plague years finally produced the low rents and high wages that were once the goal of the Peasants' Revolt. The position of the gentry could also be precarious, with landowners often forced to defend their holdings in court or at sword point.
32. Henry V and the Victory at Agincourt
Resume the chronology of England's evolution as war with France is renewed and Henry V wins a historic victory at Agincourt in 1415. But gains of this great triumph of the Hundred Years War would ultimately prove only temporary.
33. Henry VI—Defeat and Division
The tensions over dynastic succession were made even more problematic by a multitude of ambitious royal cousins and were forced to the surface by growing discontent over the failing campaign in France. They ultimately led to the Wars of the Roses between the Yorkists and Lancastrians.
34. The Wars of the Roses
Take a look at the reign of the Yorkist Edward IV and the last effort of the Lancastrians to unseat this popular but notoriously lazy king, whose unexpected marriage to a socially inconsequential widow alienated many of his most important followers.
35. Richard III—Betrayal and Defeat
Let yourself be riveted by one of history's most dramatic chapters, highlighted by the imprisonment of Richard III's two nephews in the Tower of London and their probable murder, and a battlefield demise immortalized—though with considerable license—by Shakespeare himself.
36. England in 1485
Process everything you have learned in a final lecture that explains what England had become at the beginning of the Tudor dynasty. A thorough integration of the course's major themes leaves you with a clear understanding of what has taken place and a solid foundation for understanding the future of what would become the world's most powerful and influential nation.
More info: _http://www.teach12.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=8410

Download Links: