The High Middle Ages

As with all of Prof. Daileader’s lectures, this was well done. He blends good content with dry humor and effective ways of explaining things to all of us ordinary people. I highly recommend all three of his middle ages lectures.

In a nutshell, "The High Middle Ages" was very educational - the subject matter was highly interesting and provided about the right amount of depth versus breadth - and also entertaining - the lecturer (Professor Daileader) has a great style and delivery.

Simply wonderful lectures. If you care for historical investigation done right, you will enjoy these lectures greatly.

OK, now I am completely certain that Professor Daileader knows much more about Medieval history than I do. That is a given. What bothered me was that during the lecture on heresies, he said there were NO heresies in the church prior to the High Middle Ages and he said the reason he was saying that was because it was only in the High Middle Ages when heresy became widespread. Obviously, he talked about the Bogomil, Waldensian and the Cathars heresies that the church had to deal with starting in the 11th century.However, what about the Arian heresy and the Donatist heresy of the 4th and 5th centuries? It seems to me that Professor Daileader's assertion is that nobody seriously questioned the church in the Early Middle Ages. However, Arianism was considered a big "problem" for the early medieval church, since Theodoric and the Ostrogoths were converted by Arian missionaries. The only reason that Arianism died out, from my limited understanding is because immediately after Theodoric's death, the Ostrogothic kingdom collapsed, thereby paving the way for Clovis and Charlemagne to conquer and effectively "Catholicize" the European continent through conquest. The Ostrogoths, for awhile at least, appeared in Italy and were widespread from anything I have read. Clovis chose Catholicism over Arianism, feeling that it would benefit the Franks politically, which is exactly what happened.Having said that, both Donatism and Arianism were definitely considered by both the church and contemporaries to be heretical in every sense of the word. So, I'm not sure why Daileader says there were no heresies until the High Middle Ages. He should know better.

Excellent presentation and informative content. Has made me rethink my views of the Middle Ages.

All three of these courses are exceptional, and it yearn for more lectures from Phillip.Also worthy are the videos as well. Please put more on from this brilliant professor.

A poor speaker who uses inflated and redundant descriptors tirelessly. I listened to this professor's entire Early Middle Ages lecture, which was brutal, but after an hour I am done with this one. The final straw was when he described the demesne. It is pronounced de-MAIN, not de-MEZ-na, which is just evidence item #345 of a person who does not know what he's talking about.