MA History-Medieval and Early Modern Pathway

Explore your interests in the medieval and early modern world and develop knowledge and skills that could enhance your career potential or prepare you for doctoral research. During this degree you will access Lancaster's expertise in the medieval and early modern eras across Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas, and from political, to cultural, military, and social history.

The core modules will build your fundamental skills in historical research, Latin, palaeography and manuscripts, while optional modules allow you to pursue your particular interests, including placement opportunities.

As one of your options you may wish to undertake a rewarding work placement module in a heritage organisation or a school.‌

Core modules

Researching and Writing History: hone the skills that are fundamental to the historian’s craft at this level of study
Dissertation: demonstrate your knowledge, understanding and skills, and apply them to a topic of your choice working closely with an expert supervisor

And a choice of two modules from:

Medieval Primary Sources: Genre, Rhetoric and Transmission: discover the significance of different types of evidence, such as manuscripts, and learn how to decode medieval sources in their original and printed forms.
Introduction to Latin Translation for Historians: this intensive course is for students with little or no previous knowledge of Latin and will enable you to read sources such as title deeds, court rolls, government records, wills and inscriptions.
The Early Modern World: consider the seismic shifts in thinking which are particular to the early-modern period, exploring themes, concepts and current historical trends in this global introduction to the Early Modern World.

Find further details on the core modules.

Optional Modules

You have a free choice of two optional modules from the list on the course structure page, where detailed descriptions are provided, and can choose the modules that are most relevant for your interests. (Please note that some modules may not run in all years.)

If you would like to discuss the modules available and potential dissertation topics before you apply, please get in touch with the subject area specialists (see the link below) or the Postgraduate Coordinator in History, Becky Sheppard.

Medieval and Early Modern History Specialists

The research interests of our staff are diverse and range from power and people in Muslim and Christian zones to how historical and linguistic evidence is uncovered through the study of names.

Dr Sarah White supervises the module Warfare in the Medieval World, 1100-1500.

Her research looks at the intersection of law and religion. She studies this primarily through the works of the canon lawyers of twelfth- and thirteenth-century England and how these writers achieved practical solutions for the problems of their day by using the increasingly specialised legal knowledge. Her forthcoming book argues that court procedure, based on Roman law and tempered by the canonists, became a guiding force and vehicle for argument in dispute resolution.

Her upcoming research is an interdisciplinary project examining the school of the Anglo-Norman canonists to bring a new perspective to the church/state debate, challenging the assumed divides between law and theology and providing a more accurate view of the medieval underpinnings of the relationship between secular and religious authority. This research explores how interconnected different legal traditions were in solving disputes on local to international levels and how these writers made sense of the world during periods of rapid change.

Our Medieval and Early modern History specialists