Social Formations and Cultural Patterns of the Medieval World

By Dr. Shilleima Chanu Naoroibam | Assistant Professor, Department of History, G.P Women’s College, Dhanamanjuri University

Learners enrolled: 171

I start the introduction of this course with the saying, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’. The statement candidly speaks of the importance of the course. Let me provide you with a brief introduction about this course. It is a general and concise course which would provide the basic information on the early social formations and cultural patterns in the Medieval world. The course has been designed specially to meet the requirements of the undergraduate students. However it incorporates a wide range of fascinating information, which will appeal to the general learners as well.

The course is meant to acquaint learners with the historical social formations from the Roman civilization to feudalism in Europe and intended to focus on West Asia especially Arabian peninsula.

The themes that would be discussed include the Roman Empire, the making of medieval Europe and the advent of Islam.

It mainly focuses on the establishment and political structure of the Roman Republic, Augustus Caesar’s age, decline of the Roman Empire.

It discusses on socio-economy of the Roman civilization especially the slave mode of production and crisis associated with it.

Further it intended to understand the socio-religious aspect of the Roman world, especially the rise of Christianity.

This course further examines the rise of feudalism in Europe in Medieval time and advent of Islam in the Arabian peninsula.

After successful completion of this course the learners are expected to understand the history of the Roman Empire—its polity, society, economy and religion. Again the learners are expected to learn the basic ideas of feudalism in Europe especially its polity, economy, technology, socio-cultural aspects and finally the factors responsible for the decline of feudalism. And above all these the learners are expected to learn the rise of Islam and its impacts in the Arab world.

The course is a 6 credits course and is divided into 4 units comprising 40 modules—each module includes descriptive videos, text materials, glossary, FAQs, reading references, quizzes and assignments.

So dear learners I invite you all to get enrolled in this course and let us all learn together and have a fair and comprehensive knowledge of Europe and West Asia. Thank you.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Duration :	15 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	5
Level :	Undergraduate
Start Date :	15 Jan 2024
End Date :	28 Apr 2024
Enrollment Ends :	29 Feb 2024
Exam Date :	26 May 2024 IST
Exam Shift :	I

Note: This exam date is subjected to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

WEEK 1
1	Early History of Rome
2	Establishment of Roman Republic and Military Expansion
3	Political structure of the Roman Republic
4	The last Century of the Roman Republic and the Rise of Military Commanders
WEEK 2
5	The Augustan Age
6	Late Roman Empire
7	Reforms of the Gracchi brothers
8	8.1 Nature of economy of the Roman Empire
	8.2 Roman slave economy
WEEK 3
9	9.1 Social structure of roman society
	9.2 Transformation and Stratification of the Roman
10	Slavery and Roman Society
11	Roman Art and Architecture
12	12.1 Religion in the Roman world
	12.2 Religions that influenced Roman
WEEK 4
13	Christianity in the roman world
14	Roman Urbanisation and Trade
15	Roman household and family
16	Roman culture
WEEK 5
17	Crisis of the slave mode of production
18	18.1 General Economic Crisis
	18.2 Political crisis
	18.3 Military Crisis
19	Social upheavals: Crisis of the Roman Empire
20	20.1 Germanic invasion
	20.2 Eastern Roman Empire and Germanic invasion
WEEK 6
21	21.1 Western Roman empire and Germanic invasion
	21.2 Fall of Western Roman Empire and Germanic invasion
22	Basic terms of feudalism in medieval Europe
23	Feudal mode of production and serfdom
WEEK7
24	Agricultural production in mediaeval Europe
25	Craft production in mediaeval Europe
26	Technological innovations in mediaeval Europe
WEEK 8
27	Medieval town in Europe
28	28.1 Trade and commercial activities in medieval Europe
	28.2 Condition and composition of artisans
29	29.1 Christianisation of Europe
	29.2 Teaching of Christianity
WEEK 9
30	30.1 Criticism of Medieval church
	30.2 Reformation
	30.3 Growth of Popular Religion
31	The crisis of the fourteenth century
32	32.1 General debate on the decline of feudalism
	32.2 The Market–Centric Explanation
WEEK 10
33	33.1 Demographic Model
	33.2 The Class-Relations Model
34	Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism
35	Salient features of capitalism
WEEK 11
36	36.1 Crafts and Industry in fifteenth century Europe
	36.2 Trading and Commercial Activities in the Fifteenth Century
37	37.1 European Rural economy in the 16th century
	37.2 European Urban economy in the 16th century
	37.3 Trade organisations in the sixteenth century
38	38.1 Pre-Islamic Arab world I
	38.2 Pre-Islamic Arab world II
	38.3 Pre-Islamic Arab world III
WEEK 12
39	39.1 Prophet Muhammad and the beginning of Islam - I
	39.2 Prophet Muhammad and the beginning of Islam-II
40	40.1 Islam after the death of Prophet Muhammad
	40.2 Theories on the rise of Islam
41	41.1 The Umayyad Caliphate
	41.2 The Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258)
WEEK 13
42	42.1 The rise of sultanate
	42.2 Sufism
43	43.1 Arab trade after the rise of Islam
	43.2 Arab trade with India, China and Southeast Asian countries
44	44.1 Motives of voyages, exploration and techniques
	44.2 The Early Sea Voyages
WEEK 14
45	Discoveries and voyages
46	46.1 Indian Ocean Trade Network - I
	46.2 Indian Ocean Trade Network - II
47	47.1 Impacts of Early Colonialism
	47.2 Economic Impacts of the Colonial Empires
WEEK 15
48	Plantation, Mining and Slave Trade in the early Colonial Empire
49	The Impacts of Colonial Empire on crops, demography, Art
50	The Rise of Portuguese colonial empire

Books and references

Anderson, Perry, (2000) (Reprint) Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism (London and New York: Veso Classics).
Bloch, Marc, (2006) Feudal Society, Vol. 1 (New Delhi: Asha Jyoti Book Sellers and Publishers).
Bloch, Marc, (2006) Feudal Society, Vol. 2 (New Delhi: Asha Jyoti Book Sellers and Publishers).
Dobb, Maurice, (2006) (Reprint) Studies in the Development of Capitalism (New York: International Publishers).
Duby, Georges, (1978) The Early Growth of the European Economy (New York: Cornell University Press).
Farooqui, Amar, (2001) Early Social Formations (New Delhi: Manak Publications).
Garnsey, Peter & Saller, Richard, (2014) The Roman Empire: Ecomony, Society and Culture (London: Bloomsbury).
Gbbon, Edward, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Vol. 1 (New York: The Modern Library).
Hodgson, Marshall G. S., (1961) The Venture of Islam Vol. 1 (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press).
Hilton, Rodney (ed.), (2006) (Reprint) The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism (New Delni: Aakar Books).
Robinson, Chase F., (2010) The New Cambridge History of Islam, Vol.1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Whalen, Brett, E., (2014) The Medieval Papacy (London: Palgrave Macmillan).

Instructor bio

Dr. Shilleima Chanu Naoroibam

Assistant Professor, Department of History, G.P Women’s College, Dhanamanjuri University

Dr. Shilleima Chanu Naoroibam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, G.P Women’s College, Dhanamanjuri University. She has received her M.Phil and Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her areas of interest are World History, Modern Indian History and Gender History. She teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

She has published many articles in many national and international journals. She has also contributed chapters for books. She has presented papers in national and international conferences and seminars. She is engaged in many academic committees at the college and Dhanamanjuri University.