Michael Tunnicliffe
After its sack by Alaric in 410 Rome briefly recovered, but was sacked again by the Vandals in 455 and the last Emperor was deposed in 476. In place of the Roman Empire a new political reality emerged with a series of so called “barbarian kingdoms” ruled by Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Franks and Lombards. In Spain after 711 Muslim forces took control of most of Iberia. Yet in the east the “New Rome” of Constantinople and its Byzantine Empire survived, and even attempted re-conquest under Justinian in the 6th century. This course will examine a period once dubbed The Dark Ages but now styled the Early Medieval Period to see the story of the European history from the end of the old Rome to the Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in the year 800.
Recommended reading (for publication in brochure):
Bertrand Lançon 2000 Rome in Late Antiquity, Edinburgh University Press
Peter Heather 2005 The Fall of the Roman Empire: A new History Pan Books
Michael Grant 1998 From Rome to Byzantium: The Fifth Century AD Routledge
William Rosen 2008 Justinian’s Flea Plague Empire and the Birth of Europe Pimlico
Peter Heather 2010 Empires and Barbarians: Migration, Development & the Birth of Europe Pan
John Man 2005 Attila the Hun Bantam
Edward James 1988 The Franks Blackwell
Peter Heather 1998 The Goths Blackwell
Day: Thursdays Time: 13.45-15.45 GMT/BST
10 Sessions, starting the 24th September to the 3rd December, with a half-term week on October 29th, 2026
Virtual Learning Environment. Zoom
Series:
| Price | Concessions | Minimum No. | Maximum No. |
| £70 | n/a | 7 | 24 |
Please send you bookings to:
Michael Tunnicliffe 5 St George’s Way, Northwich, CW9 8XG, 01606 42116 mtunni@sky.com