The Beginning of the Middle Ages: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Beginning of the Middle Ages, credited to Richard William Church, 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 The Beginning of the Middle Ages by Richard William Church. Read in English by Pamela Nagami In 395 A.D. Theodosius, the last ruler of the undivided Roman Empire died. To his young and incompetent son, Honorius, he left the government of its western half. Honorius depended upon the great general, Stilicho, to withstand the Visigoths under Alaric. But when he fecklessly abandoned his general to execution by palace intriguers, Alaric conquered and sacked Rome (410). Thus opened the era of chaotic leadership, social disintegration, and barbarian conquest, which used to be called the Dark Ages. The Franks emerged and helped to found the temporal power of the Papacy. Charlemagne consolidated a wide realm and revived learning. But his last years were overshadowed by the first incursions of the terrible Vikings, who in their shallow-draft vessels penetrated the Seine and the Loire into the heart of Gaul and, landing on the British coasts, conquered half of England. - Summary by Pamela Nagami, M.D.

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Beginning of the Middle Ages
• Author credits: Richard William Church
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 26
• Listed recording duration: 7:38:02

Catalogue topics

• middle ages
• Charlemagne
• Franks
• popes
• Wessex
• vikings
• goths
• arianism

Opening tracks: first 24 of 26

1. 00 - Introduction — 28:13
2. 01 - Ch. 1: Teutonic Settlements in the West, Pt. 1 — 18:00
3. 02 - Ch. 1: Teutonic Settlements in the West, Pt. 2 — 17:55
4. 03 - Ch. 2: The New Nations, Pt. 1 — 13:14
5. 04 - Ch. 2: The New Nations, Pt. 2 — 17:08
6. 05 - Ch. 3: Condition of the Teutonic Settlements, Pt. 1 — 12:45
7. 06 - Ch. 3: Condition of the Teutonic Settlements, Pt. 2 — 19:09
8. 07 - Ch. 4: Conquest of Britain by the Saxons and Angles, Pt. 1 — 12:13
9. 08 - Ch. 4: Conquest of Britain by the Saxons and Angles, Pt. 2 — 11:41
10. 09 - Ch. 5: The Franks, Pt. 1 — 15:39
11. 10 - Ch. 5: The Franks, Pt. 2 — 14:31
12. 11 - Ch. 5: The Franks, Pt. 3 — 20:07
13. 12 - Ch. 6: Roman Empire in the East, Pt. 1 — 19:55
14. 13 - Ch. 6: Roman Empire in the East, Pt. 2 — 20:44
15. 14 - Ch. 7: The Carolingians--Charles the Great, Pt. 1 — 21:42
16. 15 - Ch. 7: The Carolingians--Charles the Great, Pt. 2 — 18:47
17. 16 - Ch. 7: The Carolingians--Charles the Great, Pt. 3 — 22:34
18. 17 - Ch. 8: The Carolingians--Successors of Charles, Pt. 1 — 19:01
19. 18 - Ch. 8: The Carolingians--Successors of Charles, Pt. 2 — 15:25
20. 19 - Ch. 8: The Carolingians--Successors of Charles, Pt. 3 — 22:18
21. 20 - Ch. 9: Consolidation and Unity of the English People, Pt. 1 — 19:12
22. 21 - Ch. 9: Consolidation and Unity of the English People, Pt. 2 — 16:09
23. 22 - Ch. 10: Results of the Break-up of the Frank Empire, Pt. 1 — 14:41
24. 23 - Ch. 10: Results of the Break-up of the Frank Empire, Pt. 2 — 18:34

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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.