Medieval History (MA)

The MA Medieval History at Birkbeck is led by world-class academics, bringing their cutting-edge research into the classroom through a variety of groundbreaking subjects. The MA is distinguished in the UK by its global reach, and local depth: our expertise ranges from the Indian Ocean in the early middle ages, the archaeology of the high medieval Silk Road, and late medieval Italy, Germany, the Low Countries, France and the UK.

This programme is unique in its emphasis on writing histories of the middle ages that cross disciplinary boundaries - including archaeology, history, literature, art history and musicology - and in equipping its students with skills to analyse a vast range of sources, including castles, cathedrals and caravan inns, coins, pottery, clocks, bells and burial sites, alongside chronicles, parish records, illuminated manuscripts, maps, altarpieces and inscriptions. As a Medieval History MA student, you will also have the option to take modules organised by colleagues in the History of Art, English and other institutions within the University of London, to create a course tailored to your interests.

In the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck, you will encounter dynamic researchers who are transforming their fields. Dr Rebecca Darley’s work on coin circulation in the regions surrounding the western Indian Ocean and Byzantine Empire is driving new understandings of early medieval economies, political, social and cultural change and exchange. Dr Kate Franklin’s path-breaking fieldwork in the Caucasus is rewriting the history of the Silk Road through charting the local experiences of this global trade route. Dr Matthew Champion’s research has profoundly shifted understandings of how time was perceived and experienced in the late middle ages.