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English Literature: Medieval Studies

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English Literature: Medieval Studies

MA

This programme is currently under development and may be subject to change

Key information

Duration: 1 year full time or 2 years part time

Institution code: R72

Campus: Egham

UK fees*: £11,600

International/EU fees**: £23,700

The course

English Literature: Medieval Studies (MA)

This specialised pathway within the MA in English Literature offers an opportunity to study the literature of the English Middle ages from its earliest forms in Old English through to Middle English texts written up to the end of the medieval period. The course is taught by academic specialists who are actively engaged in research on the Middle Ages and its literatures, and who will inspire and challenge you to do your best work. We introduce you to many aspects of medieval society and culture, while giving you the opportunity to concentrate on the areas that interest you most. The course is run as a collaboration between the Departments of English and History and taught with contributions from experts in the Departments of Classics and Languages, Literatures and Cultures; students registered on the MA English pathway will have the opportunity to take a range of options from History, on topics that range across medieval Europe to Byzantium. This MA pathway offers training in a wide range of skills for postgraduate research in Medieval Studies that will enhance your understanding and appreciation of medieval texts. This training provides important preparation for students seeking to pursue doctoral research. 

As part of the University of London, you will have the opportunity to participate in events taking place beyond Royal Holloway. Your registration includes membership the Institute of English Studies and the Institute of Historical Research in Senate House, London WC1 for the duration of your studies. Staff from the English Department convene the London Old and Middle English Research Seminar, which holds seminars twice termly, presenting new research on medieval literature by scholars from the UK and further afield. You will also have access to specialist libraries in and around Senate House such as the Warburg Institute. 

You may choose to study for a Postgraduate Diploma in Medieval Studies, taking on the taught part of the course without completing the dissertation. This is designed for those who want advanced instruction in Medieval Studies but cannot commit to undertaking an independent research project. The MA and Postgraduate Diploma are designed to be flexible, so you can study either of them full time or part time.

We offer a wide range of postgraduate scholarships to help with funding your studies. We especially encourage eligible applicants to apply for one of the following:

Bedford Society Scholarship - £8,100 tuition fee reduction for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, a First Class degree or equivalent.

Professor Barbara Raw Scholarship for MA in Medieval Studies - £10,000 scholarship for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, at least a 2:1 or equivalent.

Dinah and Jessica Nichols scholarship - £6,250 scholarship for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, a First Class degree or equivalent.

Professor Barbara Raw Masters Scholarships for English - £10,000 scholarship for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, at least a 2:1 or equivalent.

Dr Pirkko Koppinen Scholarship - £12,000 tuition fee reduction and living costs contribution for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, at least a 2:1 or equivalent.

Herringham Scholarship - £7,900 tuition fee reduction for Home or international students with, or expected to achieve, a First Class degree or equivalent.

  • As part of the University of London, you will have the opportunity to participate fully in the variety of events taking place in the Institute of Historical Research and the Institute of English Studies. Staff from the English Department also run the London Old and Middle English Research Seminar (LOMERS).
  • You may pursue a wide range of disciplines in small groups, as well as come together weekly to form a close-knit cohort, providing the foundations for a supportive research environment.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Core Modules

Students on the Medieval Studies pathway take the Research Development Course, three optional modules (at least two of which must be on medieval topics), and write a dissertation on a medieval topic agreed with the dissertation supervisor. Students must also complete an academic integrity course.

  • All students pursuing the MA in Medieval Studies and the MA in Crusader Studies take this module, and so it creates and fosters an intellectual community of medievalists during your time on the degree. The module aims to make you aware of the issues and topics associated with the study of the Middle Ages on a wide and interdisciplinary basis, give you the skills that you need to undertake research in the field of Medieval Studies, and provide opportunities for you to engage in and practise academic dismodule, particularly in an oral context.

  • Using the skills learned during the taught parts of your MA, you will carry out your own independent research project. You will write a thesis of around 15,000 words on a topic of your choice which critically reflects upon established scholarship and provides original insight and independent judgements.

  • This module will describe the key principles of academic integrity, focusing on university assignments. Plagiarism, collusion and commissioning will be described as activities that undermine academic integrity, and the possible consequences of engaging in such activities will be described. Activities, with feedback, will provide you with opportunities to reflect and develop your understanding of academic integrity principles.

     

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

Students on the medieval pathway are strongly advised to attend Introductory Latin for Research, although this module cannot be taken for credit.

This list presents a selection of optional modules that are likely to be available; new modules may be offered or existing modules withdrawn as we refresh the curriculum, and applicants will be informed if any significant changes are made. 

  • This module examines the development of Arthurian literature and legend across four centuries and three languages. Beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, it focuses on the different ways in which Arthur’s reign was represented and understood in the Middle Ages.

  • This interdisciplinary module explores the traditions and forms and varieties of medieval story-telling. You will read texts in Old and Middle English, French, Latin and Italian in translation. You will explore various narrative genres, such as epic, chronicle, romance, and fabliau, and two of the major tale collections of the period, the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales.

  • In this module you will develop an understanding of the Old English poetic tradition, particularly as exemplified by the Exeter Book Riddles. You will look at unusual perspectives on Anglo-Saxon culture and literature, and examine topics such as military, religious and everyday worlds, the wonders of creation, animals, sources and analogues, sexuality and runic riddles.

  • This module examines a wide range of prose and poetry written in and about medieval London. You will explore the way that London, its inhabitants and its institutions are represented in medieval literature, and consider the city as a place where texts were composed and books were made.

  • In this module you will develop an understanding of how the crusading movement arose at a time of significant change for women. You will look at the effects of the Gregorian Reform and contemporary societal change on women’s traditional roles. You will examine how medieval historians used gendered language and moral tales to express their disapproval of women who took the cross, and the role of women in supporting crusader battles, often becoming the casualties of warfare. You will consider the role of noble women in providing political stability through regency and marriage after the First Crusade in the Latin society established in the East, including the dramatic reign of Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, and the effects of crusading on women who remained in the West.

  • The aims of the module are to develop an understanding of the significance of pilgrimage in the medieval world through a combination of contextual study of the ideals and practices associated with this dimension of medieval piety, and specific study of contemporary pilgrimage accounts from the fourth to fifteenth centuries. Students should thereby be able to consider specific aspects of pilgrimage and the practices associated with it within a broad context of changing practices of piety. They should appreciate the value of interdisciplinary approaches to the understanding of medieval texts, and comparative approaches to medieval religious history. The content will be based on study of a number of pre-selected contemporary pilgrimage accounts from Latin and Byzantine sources, in translation. Typical topics will include: the practice of pilgrimage in religious traditions from Late Antiquity onwards, Saints' cults and sacred space, specific pilgrimage destinations, pilgrims' writings, gender, class, material culture, etc.

  • This module traces the response of the rulers of the Byzantine Empire to the First Crusade, which passed through their territory in 1096-7. It places the crusade in the context of previous Byzantine interaction with the Latin West, especially attempts by the emperors to secure military help both before and during the reign of Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118). The events of the First Crusade - its preaching by Urban II in 1095, its arrival at Constantinople in 1096-7, its progress through Byzantine territory to Antioch, the ‘third wave’ of 1101 – will all be discussed in this context through a range of Byzantine and Western source material in translation. Among the issues discussed will be the role of Alexios I in the preaching and launching of the crusade, the nature of the oaths sworn in Constantinople in 1097, the importance of the schism between the Byzantine and western Churches and the origin of the hostility between Bohemond and Alexios I.

  • This module takes a long-term view of the crusade which captured and sacked Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine empire, in April 1204. Starting in around 1192, it places events in the context of relations between the Byzantines and previous crusades, of the internal situation of the empire and of the position in the Latin east in the aftermath of the Third Crusade. It then examines how the Fourth Crusade was preached and planned, how it was diverted first to Zara and then to Constantinople, and how it came to attack and pillage the city.  Translations of accounts left by contemporaries and eyewitnesses (both Byzantine and Western) will be studied in detail and subjected to critical analysis.

For full-time students the course lasts an academic year from September to September; part-time students pursue the course over two years, completing the Research Development Course and one of their chosen options in their first year, and the remaining two options and the dissertation in their second year.

Courses are taught by means of a weekly structured two-hour seminar, and each course lasts for a term of 11 weeks in total. A full-time student thus has four hours of seminars a week for two terms and then further dissertation workshops and discussion groups in the summer term, in addition to individual supervision in the process of completing dissertations. Courses are assessed by academic essays and by a range of other kinds of assessment, including shorter commentaries and presentations. Students will receive formal written feedback on written and oral assessments throughout the two terms and can see staff individually during their office hours. 

The dissertation, to be completed over the summer period, will be a piece of original written work of up to 12,000 words (excluding bibliography and appendices). The topic of the dissertation will be agreed between the student and whichever member of staff is allotted as supervisor. Dissertations are submitted at the end of the programme in the first week of September.

2:2

UK Lower Class Honours degree (2:2) or equivalent in History or a related subject in the Humanities or Social Sciences.

Applicants come from a diverse range of backgrounds and we accept a broad range of qualifications (including first degrees in subjects other than History).

An interview and sample essay may be required if we would like more information upon which to base a decision. Applicants unable to attend an interview, such as overseas students, will be interviewed by telephone.

International & EU requirements

English language requirements

  • IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
  • Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51.
  • Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III.
  • Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
  • TOEFL iBT: 88 overall, with Reading 18 Listening 17 Speaking 20 Writing 26.
  • Duolingo: 120 overall, 135 in Literacy, 135 in Production and no sub-score below 100.

The course prepares students with the skills and knowledge to pursue doctoral study, and for a wide range of professional occupations where the ability to understand and explain complex information is key. Our recent graduates have gone on to pursue careers in education, media, law, the culture and heritage industry, and many other related fields.

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £11,600

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £23,700

Other essential costs***: There are no single associated costs greater than £50 per item on this course.

How do I pay for it? Find out more about funding options, including loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries.

* and ** These tuition fees apply to students enrolled on a full-time basis in the academic year 2025/26. Students studying on the standard part-time course structure over two years are charged 50% of the full-time applicable fee for each study year.

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase all postgraduate tuition fees annually. Be aware that tuition fees can rise during your degree (if longer than one year’s duration), and that this also means that the overall cost of studying the course part-time will be slightly higher than studying it full-time in one year. The annual increase for continuing students who start their degree in 2025/26 will be 5%.  For further information, see the  fees and funding , and terms and conditions.

** This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2025/26. Find out more 

*** These estimated costs relate to studying this particular degree at Royal Holloway during the 2025/26 academic year, and are included as a guide. Costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing, have not been included.

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