Medieval Christianity: Understanding Faith, Mysticism, and Worship during the Middle Ages

Ignite your sense of wonder by exploring medieval history with world-renowned historian Professor Christopher M. Bellitto.

Throughout history, humans have created images to understand their relationships with other Christians, the wider world, and God. For medieval men and women, those images came from Christendom. Christianity was the air they breathed: Christian ideas, devotions, and beliefs shaped their perspectives and mindsets.

With this course, Prof. Bellitto unearths this fascinating worldview for you today, transporting you to the world of the men and women who came before us. You’ll explore history and legends, heroes and threats, triumphs and disasters, literature and devotions. In addition to examining saints and sainthood, the Black Death, and Gothic art and architecture, you’ll look at famous figures such as the Knights Templar, Becket, Chaucer, Hildegard of Bingen, and King Arthur.

In these 15 masterful lectures, you will peel back layers of history to reveal new insights. As you do so, you’ll experience the world of wonder in which medieval Christians lived and feel its resonance in your own life. Much like medieval men and women, we use imagination to make sense of their earthly lives, to transcend our daily lives, to see the world with new eyes by sanctifying the ordinary. You will view life as they did: a marvelous journey that draws us closer to the extraordinary.

This course is part of the Learn25 Collection.