Programme description

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.

You will have access to world-class resources. You will get 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). 

In addition to that, you will belong to a thriving community of scholars by becoming 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. 

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How the programme works

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 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 enroll 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.

On the whole 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, and you will be able to select them in order to build your own path. You can find a list of examples under the ‘Programme structure’ section.