This programme will provide you with what you need to pursue advanced research in medieval history, and it will help you to expand your own research interests through small, seminar-based classes.
Resources
You will also have access to world-class resources, most notably the impressive combined collections of the National Library of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh Main Library.
In addition to this, you will belong to a thriving community of scholars by becoming a member of the highly cross-disciplinary Edinburgh Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CMRS), which organises regular research seminars as well as a range of other academic and social events.
Core course
Our programme includes a core course that offers knowledge of the principal categories of surviving primary evidence from the Middle Ages and the technical skills to use them. You will have the opportunity to work with a range of sources, from manuscripts held in the university library’s Special Collections, to objects in the city’s museums (subject to availability).
Option courses
You will then be able to choose from two sets of optional courses, subject to availability. One set will allow you to further expand your research skills, including courses on Paleography, Latin and research methodology, for example. The other set contains courses reflecting the research specialism of our medieval historians.
It may also be possible to enrol on relevant courses in other parts of the University, such as the School of Divinity, the Edinburgh College of Art, and the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, which gives the opportunity to learn the value of an interdisciplinary approach to medieval research.
The optional courses that we offer range widely in terms of chronology (from Classical Antiquity to the Renaissance), geography (the western fringes of Europe to the eastern Mediterranean) and methodology. You will be able to select these in order to build your own path.