The Medieval Legacy

By: Carol Symes, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Carol Symes

Though it ended five centuries ago, the medieval era continues to permeate our world in far-reaching ways. Whether we pay attention to them or not, the influences and imprints of the Middle Ages are all around us, sometimes evident and sometimes less so.

In these 36 revealing lectures, you’ll learn how to recognize the medieval impacts on the modern world, and to grasp their significance and implications. Professor Symes’s challenging and incisive perspectives provides a historical inquiry of extraordinary relevance and meaning:

• Representative Government and Organized Labor. Find the origins of the forms of representative government that we now take for granted and learn how medieval trade guilds evolved, prefiguring our own labor unions.
• Romance and Chivalry. Delve into the powerful and enduring culture of chivalry, the moral ideals and codes of valor of which still resonate strongly today. See how these ideals took shape in medieval epics and chivalric romance literature.
• The Scientific Method. Study the work of the great medieval scientists, from al-Haytham and Avicenna to Ockham and Copernicus, and their integral contributions to the inductive-deductive method and the experimental science that gave us the modern world.
• Race Thinking and Racism. Trace how the notion of race arose in the 14th and 15th centuries. Observe the factors of religious ideology, travel literature, and the racialization of the slave industry in conceptions of “white” European superiority.
• The Phenomenon of Medievalism. Examine the ways in which the medieval past—or ideas about it—have been claimed and appropriated in more recent times; in 19th century British movements in art; in European and American architecture; in 19th century nationalist movements, and in our own era in literature, film, and popular culture.

The Medieval Legacy offers you a deep look at a stunning millennium of change and innovation which continues to inform our contemporary world.

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

©2022 The Great Courses (P)2022 The Teaching Company, LLC

Excellent!

Important names, information and books from a feminist point of view. (l’m a male historian.)

She’s great and the info’s better

Super entertaining.!!
So worth the time. I will definitely listen to this again, just a ton of information

Nuanced and engaging

Presents information about the period and connection to today in a novel way, bridging gap between historical fact and contemporary practices. The professor’s willingness to advance theories that some might see as controversial also serves as a nice counterweight to lecturers who play it safe or refuse to take on outdated academic orthodoxies.

Brilliant Course!

Professor Symes brilliantly uncovers how so much of today’s consciousness is shaped by medieval thought, rituals, politics, linguistics, etc. Her passion and expertise for the subject is infectious and I especially love her lyrical use of various old and contemporary languages. I have already listened to a few chapters more than once with deep appreciation. Thank you for enriching my understanding of our world Professor Symes and The Great Courses!

It’s exhausting to be a white male in 2023

I don’t doubt she has vast historical knowledge, but listening to her go on and on about protofeminism and marginalized people at every opportunity just makes me cringe internally and I couldn’t get to the end. And her reciting poems in medieval French isn’t about enlightening her audience, it’s about demonstrating her arcane knowledge. I know who she’s aiming her lecture series at, and it isn’t me.

Fantastic lecture series

I’ve loved all of the Great Courses series that I’ve listened to but this would have to be one of my favorites. The lecturer makes the information very entertaining

Rad!

Dense but engaging. Lively narration. The professor manages to use accents, songs, etc. in a way that brings the lectures to life instead of being cringey.

Interesting and lively

The idea of the book is to explain how the European Middle Ages impact on today's societies. Each lecture deals with a specific subject, say books, games, health, etc. The lecturer made a deal of an effort to prepare the lectures in order to make them to the point, lively, and informative. This said, I hope the author writes someday a book on the subject for children because there is need for an unbiased book that tries to inform simply on a complex subject.

Poorly organized and biased

I’ve listened and studied at least 15 great courses and this is the only bad one. Poorly organized but worse the author tries to subtly promote her liberal views on today’s world implying some special insight from her study of the past. Classic liberal academician who has never lived in the real world and is elitist. Please just present the history!!

Too woke to be worth the time

Self indulgent, repetitive and in places rather silly. Another academic on the gender bandwagon. Many other courses are a better choice.