{"id":279,"date":"2019-10-21T12:11:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T16:11:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/fcurta\/?page_id=279"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:55:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T12:55:45","slug":"early-middle-ages","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/people.clas.ufl.edu\/fcurta\/early-middle-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Middle Ages"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Early Middle Ages<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Time and Location<\/h3>\n\n\n
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Tuesdays 10:40-11:30 AM; Thursdays 10:40-12:35 AM
\nFlint 119<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

“The past is a foreign country.” There is perhaps no period in history to which the words of the American historian David Lowenthal may apply better than to the Early Middle Ages. The\u00a0early<\/i>\u00a0part makes it exotic: it is\u00a0not<\/span>\u00a0about gallant knights, courtly love, or crusaders, all of which “happened” much later, after AD 1000. By contrast,\u00a0this<\/i>\u00a0was a world of warriors and missionaries, though the names of\u00a0Beowulf<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Boniface\u00a0may not be as familiar to you as those of King Arthur and Joan of Arc. Moreover, the study of the Early Middle Ages presents a number of serious challenges, especially the combination of written sources and archaeological evidence. In fact, the lack of written sources explains why some historians refer to the early Middle Ages as the\u00a0Dark Ages<\/i>. In this course, we will examine some of these problems and attempt to present, if not a definite picture, then at least a survey of the current knowledge on this topic. Our focus will be on social and cultural history, our approach chronological and sometimes thematic. From Huns to Vikings, we will bring some light into the study of the Dark Ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Textbooks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n