For the 2020-2021 Academic Year this course is being taught remotely. This means there will be no face-to-face teaching and you will not need to be present in person in Cambridge. The course content will be delivered, and the learning outcomes met, through the use of video-based teaching platforms and a dedicated course Virtual Learning Environment. ”
To transition to remote delivery of the course our academic staff are updating the course structure and timetable. This will allow the course to be academically engaging and of the quality expected from the Institute. A course guide will be available containing this detailed information no later than the end of July. Details of the Unit start dates and assignment submission deadlines are under the Teaching & Assessment tab. For an overview of the course scroll down this page.
What will I be studying?
The certificate is taught over three termly units, via remote delivery. Students are expected to attend all scheduled teaching sessions.
Unit 1: The Landscape Archaeology of Medieval England
The unit demonstrates how English social and economic history can be traced in medieval rural settlements, fields and pastures. The first part of the course takes the period from 1000 to 1350; the second focuses on the later Middle Ages until about 1500. It begins with an examination, through the landscape, of the impact of the Norman Conquest on landholding and settlement; it moves on to explore the influence of rapidly-increasing populations and international markets on settlements, field patterns and non-arable landuse; the final sessions of the course critically compare the relative influences on the landscape of the Black Death, significant climate change, and shifts in economic emphasis in attempting to explain the character of later medieval landscapes.
Unit 2: Politics and the State in Medieval England
This course will explore the interface between politics and the development of the state in later medieval England, with a particular focus upon the interface between foreign policy and war, and law, justice and public order – an area of constant debate since the emergence of history as a professional discipline in the mid-nineteenth century.
Unit 3: Art and Architecture in Medieval England
The period from 1000-1530 saw a flowering of all the arts of painting, sculpture and architecture as well as new and original art forms such as narrative stained glass. This unit traces the rise of Romanesque and Gothic architecture and its associated sculptural decorations, the rich local resources of paintings and all kinds of liturgical fittings such as metalwork, embroidery and ivory carving.
What can I go on to do?
The Institute offers two 60 credit complementary one year Certificate courses about Early Medieval and Medieval England which are taught and awarded at first year undergraduate level (FHEQ 4). The Certificates are currently taught in alternating years and can be studied independently of each other, and in any order.
Students who have successfully completed the Undergraduate Certificate in the Study of Medieval England (60 credits at FHEQ level 4) and the Undergraduate Certificate in the Study of Early Medieval England (60 credits at FHEQ level 4, planned for the academic year 2021/22) can apply to be awarded the Undergraduate Certificate of Higher Education in the Study of Early Medieval and Medieval England (120 credits at FHEQ level 4).
Credit awarded by the Institute can also be transferred into the degree programmes of other higher education providers. However the amount of credit which can be transferred into degree programmes varies from institution to institution and is always at the discretion of the receiving institution.
