A History of the Middle Ages: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

A History of the Middle Ages, credited to Dana Carleton Munro, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of A History of the Middle Ages by Dana Carleton Munro. Read in English by Pamela Nagami. This overview of the 9th through the 13th centuries in Europe and the Middle East begins with the empire of Charles the Great, which extended the sway of Christendom. Munro writes that "among the Saxons Charles found it necessary to forbid human sacrifice and the eating of the bodies of witches." In the century after Charles's death his empire was divided and invasions of Saracens, Slavs, Hungarians and, above all, Vikings strengthened the hold of feudal localism as people were compelled to seek the protection of the nearest strongman. Despite these challenges, the Capetians established a successful dynasty in what would become France. English institutions developed under Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Plantagenet kings. The German Emperors encountered the resourceful Italian city-states and challenged the popes. The Moslem world rose and threatened Constantinople and western crusaders invaded eastern lands. Nor in his survey of the martial and political landscape, does Professor Munro neglect the monastic orders, the new universities, and the daily lives of the people, both high and low. (Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.)

Recording facts

• Recording title: A History of the Middle Ages
• Author credits: Dana Carleton Munro
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 24
• Listed recording duration: 6:41:34

Catalogue topics

• middle ages
• crusades
• Knights
• Islam
• papacy
• feudalism
• richard the lion-hearted
• frederick barbarossa

Track guide

1. 01 - Ch. 1: Introduction — 12:26
2. 02 - Ch. 1: The Empire of Charles the Great, Pt. 1 — 14:47
3. 03 - Ch. 2: The Empire of Charles the Great, Pt. 2 — 12:30
4. 04 - Ch. 3: The Church — 12:47
5. 05 - Ch. 4: The Invasions — 11:50
6. 06 - Ch. 5: Feudalism — 21:18
7. 07 - Ch. 6: The German Kingdom (to 1122) — 19:39
8. 08 - Ch. 7: The Kingdom of France (to 1108) — 17:50
9. 09 - Ch. 8: England (to 1135) — 21:39
10. 10 - Ch. 9: The Moslem World (750-1095) — 17:02
11. 11 - Ch. 10: The Byzantine Empire — 18:02
12. 12 - Ch. 11: The Crusades, Pt. 1 — 12:31
13. 13 - Ch. 11: The Crusades, Pt. 2 — 17:17
14. 14 - Ch. 12: The Monastic Orders — 21:06
15. 15 - Ch. 13: Life of the Nobles (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries) — 20:17
16. 16 - Ch. 14: Life of the People (Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries) — 19:55
17. 17 - Ch. 15: Schools and Universities — 15:59
18. 18 - Ch. 16: The Church in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Pt. 1 — 12:15
19. 19 - Ch. 16: The Church in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, Pt. 2 — 12:45
20. 20 - Ch. 17: Germany and Italy, Pt. 1 — 16:06
21. 21 - Ch. 17: Germany and Italy, Pt. 2 — 19:00
22. 22 - Ch. 18: France (1108-1314) — 16:29
23. 23 - Ch. 19: England (1135-1327) — 21:23
24. 24 - Ch. 20: The Other European Nations — 16:41

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.