Postgraduate Course: Charlemagne and the End of Antiquity (Online) (PGHC11634)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The crowning of Charlemagne as emperor in Rome 800 is sometimes perceived as marking the end of Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. On this course, we'll assess this viewpoint by examining the nature of Charlemagne's empire and its relation with the Roman past. We'll also think about how this perspective on the Carolingian Franks is reflected in public knowledge today through the Wikipedia website, which you'll edit as part of this course. |
| Course description |
After introducing Charlemagne and the Franks, the course begins with the debates around why Charlemagne was crowned emperor, reflecting on the Frankish conquests and on relations with East Rome (Byzantium) and the papacy.
We'll then explore the continuities and changes from Late Antiquity visible in Charlemagne's Francia through several complementary angles. First we'll discuss the Carolingian Renaissance, the label commonly attributed to the marked revival of learning and interest in the Roman legacy associated with Charlemagne's court, which rescued many ancient Latin texts from oblivion. Then we'll move onto four 'case studies' for discerning ancient Roman influence: the role played in Charlemagne's empire by Roman law, the Roman legacy of unfreedom and enslavement, changes in trade patterns, and the development of medical knowledge. Finally, we'll think about Frankish ideas (and practices) of history: did they perceive themselves to be in temporal continuity with the ancient empire of Rome, or did they rather view themselves as being part of a new, post-Roman world? The course concludes with a final reflection on whether Charlemagne can be seen as marking the end of Late Antiquity. As part of this course, you will learn how to edit a Wikipedia page, though the assessment will be based on participation in the form of weekly contributions to the discussion forums and a reflective essay.
The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: enslavement and conquest. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Online Activities 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
4000-word reflexive essay (80%)
Non-written Skills:
Forum posting participation (20%) |
| Feedback |
Feedforward. All students will be requested to submit a plan for their reflective essay for feedback in advance of the submission deadline. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Set the reign and coronation of Charlemagne in its cultural and political context
- Understand historiographical debates around Carolingian attitudes to and reception of the past
- Articulate an interpretation of the periodisation of Late Antiquity
- Demonstrate their knowledge through editing the online encyclopedia Wikipedia
- Reflect on their learning on the course (including but not limited to Wikipedia editing)
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Reading List
- Burridge, Claire, Carolingian Medical Knowledge and Practice, c.775-900. New Approaches to Recipe Literature (Leiden, 2024)
- Effros, Bonnie and Moreira, Isabel, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Merovingian World (New York, 2020)
- Esders, Stefan, ¿Roman Law in the regnum Italiae under the Emperor Lothar I (817-855): Epitomes, Manuscripts, and Carolingian Legislation¿, in Fabrizio Oppedisano, ed., Between Ostrogothic and Carolingian Italy. Survivals, Revivals, Ruptures (Florence, 2022), pp. 19-40
- Gantner, Clemens, et al., The Resources of the Past in early medieval Europe (Cambridge, 2015)
- Hen, Yitzhak, Roman Barbarians: the Royal Court and Culture in the early medieval West (Basingstoke, 2007)
- Leyser, Conrad, ¿Late Antiquity in the Medieval West¿, in Philip Rousseau, ed., A Companion to Late Antiquity (Malden, 2009), pp. 29-42
- McCormick, Michael, The Origins of the European Economy: Communications and Commerce, AD 300-900 (Cambridge, 2002)
- McKitterick, Rosamond, History and Memory in the Carolingian World (Cambridge, 2004)
- Nelson, Janet L., ¿Revisiting the Carolingian Renaissance¿, in Jamie Kreiner and Helmut Reimitz, eds., Motions of Late Antiquity: Essays on Religion, Politics, and Society in Honour of Peter Brown (Turnhout, 2016), pp. 331-346
- Prien, Roland, ¿The copy of an empire?: Charlemagne, the Carolingian Renaissance, and Early Medieval perceptions of late antiquity¿ In: Corinna Foberg and Philip Stockhammer, eds., The Transformative Power of the Copy (Heidelberg, 2017), pp. 309-330
- Rio, Alice, Slavery After Rome, 500-1100 (Oxford, 2017)
- Sarti, Laury, Orbis Romanus: Byzantium and the legacy of Rome in the Carolingian World (Oxford, 2024) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Some of the University's graduate attributes to which this course contributes:
- personal and academic learning that makes a positive difference to themselves and to the world around them.
- personal and intellectual autonomy to critically evaluate ideas, evidence and experiences from an open-minded and reasoned perspective
- effective and proactive individuals, skilled in influencing positively and adapting to new situations with sensitivity and integrity
- skilled communication to enhance their understanding of a topic or context and to engage effectively with others |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Charles West
Tel:
Email: cwest3@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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