Medieval History
This 11-month Master of Studies programme is the standard entry route for all students who want to study Medieval History at Oxford and who do not already have a relevant Master’s degree. It can be taken as a free-standing degree programme, or as the first step to one of the research degrees of M.Litt. or D.Phil. Students wishing to proceed to the DPhil will be encouraged to develop their master’s and doctoral proposals in tandem during the first few months, so that they will be well placed to make doctoral applications. The admission of any candidate for further study at Oxford will depend on his/her overall performance in the master’s programme, together with the viability of any proposed research topic and the availability of appropriate supervision within the Faculty.This degree balances taught courses and independent research. Students will follow core and optional courses, but will spend at least a third of their time doing independent research, rising to nearly all their time after Easter. The onus in such research lies on the individual student. S/he should construct the contents and work pattern of the research element of the degree in close and regular discussion with his/her supervisor. All students are encouraged to attend some of the faculty’s many advanced research seminars.
Requirements for the degree include:
- Attend a Core Seminar, meeting weekly in Michaelmas Term, which will concentrate on the various approaches to medieval history of historians in the last fifty years.
- Attend a daily class for the first four weeks of Michaelmas Term on (a) the history of script in the middle ages and (b) reading medieval documents.
- Attend an Optional paper, meeting weekly during Hilary term, which will allow the exploration of a specific period and/or theme of medieval history of the student's choice. Students will be expected to submit one essay of between 8,000 and 10,000 words based on this course.
- Attend a weekly seminar in Trinity term to which each student will be expected to make a presentation.
- Submit a dissertation of up to 15,000 words on the candidate’s own research topic.
Language Training
All medievalists are invited to attend a Faculty-sponsored pre-sessional Latin class, which will then be supplemented by term-time teaching. Candidates who are not registering for the pre-sessional classes will be assessed for their basic competence in reading Latin texts at the start of Michaelmas Term, and in appropriate cases again in early March. These tests are not part of the assessment for the degree; they serve to indicate how far the student needs to make further progress in the study of the language in order to undertake competently research in the field of medieval history. Weekly classes for those who need to improve their Latin will be available throughout the three academic terms of the year. Teaching is also available for a wide variety of medieval and modern languages (including medieval Celtic and Germanic languages).Programmes
- Research degrees (by thesis only)
- Master of Letters (M.Litt.)
- Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.)