During the Middle Ages Western Society got the characteristics it preserved until the 21st century. A mixture of cultures, with a set of norms and values of a predominantly Christian nature, but strongly influenced by its German and Roman roots, and by a confrontation with her Jewish and Islamic counterparts. The urbanizing society, the political institutions, an interplay of regional identity and centralistic political theory, these are the fruit of that medieval society. Therefore the middle Ages are such an essential building-stone of the study of history.
The team of scholars studying and teaching the medieval period at Groningen University, combines a wide range of topics and approaches. They vary from medical history to 10th century monasticism, from the Teutonic Hansa to miracle-registrations , from the history of Groningen to the relations between Europe and its outer world, from political structures to mentalities. Due to the renewed interest in historical heritage in the wider sense and for the older periods of our past, the middle Agesat the start of the 21st century enjoy a renewed attraction. Instead of labels like ‘dark’, ‘immobile’ and ‘feudal’ which the 19th century attached to the Middle Ages, one nowadays has an open eye for the creativity an dynamics, for the chain of Renaissances and Reformations that characterized this period.
Studying the Middle Ages means research in an age of which only a small percentage of the primary sources for our knowledge has been published. Therefore this period offers challenges in the field of difficult languages, hard-to-read writing and combining written, visual and material sources. Students who are eager to accept these challenges may do so while specialising as historians, but also by choosing for an interdisciplinary approach in medieval studies (Dutch: mediëvistiek).
Medieval studies in the Netherlands are a successful cooperation of disciplines studying the medieval period of their field. Internationally, Dutch medieval studies are among the forerunners of this inter- or multidisciplinary approach. Groningen, having one of the most multi-facetted departments of medieval studies, is coordinating the national research-school of Medieval Studies, of which the Groningen professor of medieval history, - Dick E.H. de Boer – is the academic director.
During the last few years students in Groningen – both in the Bachelor-study and in the (Research) Master are offered an opportunity to participate – as trainees – in all kinds of projects (related with publishing and editing, museum-presentations, and research) at an national and an international level.
The different possibilities for specialization in the field of medieval studies are given in the paragraph Teaching. Alumni with this specialization have successful careers in various professional fields, from education to the European Parliament, from broadcasting to museums or publishing houses.
