Prelude: The Roman world transformed (c.300-c.600). Imperial politics ; Heresy and orthodoxy ; Patristic thought ; Saints ; Barbarian kingdoms
The emergence of sibling cultures (c.600-c.750). The resilience of Byzantium ; The formation of the Islamic world ; The impoverished but inventive West
Creating new identities (c.750-c.900). The material basis of society ; Byzantium, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe ; The Abbasid reconfiguration ; Al-Andalus ; The Western church and empire
Political communities reordered (c.900-c.1050). Regionalism: its advantages and its discontents ; Byzantine expansion ; Scholarship across the Islamic world ; Kings, queens, and princes ; Northern Europe and beyond
The expansion of Europe (c.1050-c.1150). Maps ; Commercial take off ; Church reform ; The Crusades and reconquista ; The Norman conquest of England ; The twelfth-century Renaissance ; Cluniacs and Cistercians
Institutionalizing aspirations (c.1150-c.1250). New heroes in the East ; The Crusades continue ; Grounding justice in royal law ; Local laws and arrangements ; Bureaucracy at the Papal Curia ; Confrontations ; Vernacular literature ; New developments in religion sensibilities ; Religious feeling turned violent
Discordant harmonies (c.1250-c.1350). The Mongols ; Transformations in the cities ; Heresies and persecution ; Rulers and ruled ; Modes of thought, feeling, and devotion
Catastrophe and creativity (c.1350-c.1500). The plague ; The Ottomans ; Byzantium: decline and fall ; War and social unrest in France and England ; Crises and changes in the church and religion ; The Renaissance ; Finding a new world
Appendix: A topical arrangement of readings.
