Kent Navalesi ☕️

I'm excited to announce that registrations are open for my online course, "The Barbarian Kingdoms (376-751)," hosted by @medievalists!

What: Six weekly Zoom sessions, starting May 29, where we'll discuss the history and culture of the Franks, Visigoths, Lombards, and others! See the module descriptions below, and feel free to DM with questions!

Where: Zoom
When: Thurs, 1:00-2:30 PM ET

Fee: $149
Registration: https://medievalstudies.thinkific.com/courses/barbarian

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The Barbarian Kingdoms (376-751)

An introduction to the history and culture of the Goths, Franks, Vandals, and Burgundians. Through readings, lecture, and discussion, students will learn about the barbarian transformation of the Roman world and become conversant with current issues in the scholarship.

Medieval Studies Courses from Medievalists.net
May 5, 2025 at 3:16pmWeb
Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

Modules

Week 1
The Roman World in Flux: Barbarian Migration and Ethnogenesis

This module begins with the Germanic peoples' impacts on the late Roman world, most importantly their migration and settlement in Roman territory, the "barbarization" of the army and bureaucracy, and the eventual establishment of independent kingdoms in the wake of the empire's demise. Students will learn not only the history

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@histodons @medievodons @edutooters #histodons #history #LateAntiquity

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

and settlement in Roman territory, the "barbarization" of the army and bureaucracy, and the eventual establishment of independent kingdoms in the wake of the empire's demise. Students will learn not only the history of the barbarian kingdoms' origins but also the state of modern debates about the meaning of nation, ethnicity, and identity in the late Roman world.

Week 2

Politics and Warfare

How were the barbarian kingdoms governed, and how did they conduct war? This module will

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

introduce students to the structures and norms of early medieval governance, with a focus on the role of violence in elite competition for power, from harem assassinations to large-scale slaughters on the battlefield. We will learn how kings tried (and failed) to maintain loyalty within their courts and how the barbarian way of war impacted wider civilian society.

Week 3
Law, Economics, and Inequality

How were disputes and delicts dealt with, and who meted out justice? How was wealth

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

distributed? This module will interrogate the nature and reach of early medieval civil and canon law as well as broader conceptions of criminal and economic justice. Most importantly, we will learn how expectations of justice were predicated on issues of class, gender, and religion.

Week 4
Women and Gender

What roles could women play in the home, in government, and in the church? How did early medieval people think about masculinity and femininity?

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

This module will explore the female lifecycle from birth, to marriage, to childbearing, and the limited opportunities for leadership and self-determination provided by the church. We will see how women of different classes navigated barbarian society and how instances of gender-bending temporarily challenged both men's and women's prescribed gender roles.

Week 5
Religion and the Church

This module will examine the religion of the Germanic peoples, their conversion to

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025

Christianity, and the various forms of religious conflict that their kingdoms witnessed. We will study the enormous role that the church played as a religious and civic authority in medieval society and the ways it was resisted by religious outsiders and the laity. More broadly, students will learn how early medieval people across religious traditions conceived of the cosmos and the spiritual world.

Week 6
Archaeology and Material Culture

This final module uses

Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 12, 2025
online multimedia to introduce students to the material remains of the barbarian kingdoms as they exist today in museums and archaeological sites. Students will learn how to "read" the iconography of barbarian jewelry, weaponry, and other artwork, and they will become acquainted with elements of early medieval architecture. Finally, students will learn about recently-developed technologies currently helping archaeologists shed light on this period.
Show threadJA WestenbergMay 26, 2025
@KentNavalesi @medievalists @histodons @medievodons @edutooters this looks epic.
Show threadKent Navalesi ☕️May 26, 2025

@Daojoan

Thanks for the boost and the kind words 🙏