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The term “Middle Ages” signifies the roughly thousand-year period between the decline of Roman imperial rule in the fifth century and the so-called rebirth of classical culture in the fifteenth century. Lectures and primary source readings address such fascinating topics as the Crusades; the place of Jews in Christian society; the rise of Islam; the development of kingship, empire, and papacy; the relations between Church and State; monasticism and innovations in religious life; agriculture and rural life; towns and merchants; chivalric romance; the rediscovery of Roman law and the flourishing of canon law; heresy and inquisition; and the birth of universities. In short, this course introduces students to the beauties and complexities of medieval Christendom.