England in the Time of King Richard III Course - University of Leicester
Online, United Kingdom
Course
DURATION
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
STUDY FORMAT
Distance Learning
Key Summary
About: This 100% online course from the University of Leicester explores 15th-century England through archaeology, history and literature, focusing on Richard III’s discovery and reburial. You’ll learn from Deirdre O'Sullivan and other scholars via weekly modules on medieval warfare, food, culture, death and commemoration. Runs multiple times; each run has a set start date and you can join after it starts. Date to be announced.
Career Outcomes: This course can support careers in museum and heritage roles, heritage curation, education, archaeology and fieldwork, and public history or research. It’s useful for those aiming for cultural resource management or professional interpretation.
Explore 15th century England through archaeology, history and literature. Learn more about Richard III’s discovery and reburial.
Travel back to the 15th century and explore life during the time of Richard III
The discovery of the skeleton of Richard III in a Leicester car park – and the recent revelations of an infidelity within his family’s bloodline – made headline news around the world.
Go beyond the headlines with this online course. You’ll learn from scholars at the University of Leicester not only about the discovery of Richard III but about England during his lifetime.
Each week you’ll examine a different aspect of the 15th century period, including medieval warfare, food and culture, death and commemoration, and more. Now’s your chance to travel back in time.
When would you like to start?
Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts.
- Date to be announced
Who will you learn with?
Deirdre O'Sullivan
Senior Lecturer in Archaeology in the School of Archaeology and Ancient History at the University of Leicester.
Who developed the course?
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a leading research-led university with a strong tradition of excellence in teaching. It is consistently ranked amongst the top 20 universities in the United Kingdom.
What topics will you cover
- Medieval battles and the Wars of the Roses
- Peasants and farmers
- Medieval towns, villages and houses
- Books, literacy and printing
- Death and commemoration
- Food and cooking in the 15th century
- The discovery and reburial of King Richard III
What will you achieve
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to:
- Describe the sequence of events and the key players in the Wars of the Roses, and explain the ways in which reputations are created.
- Describe the way English farming was organised before the Black Death.
- Explore the evidence for the scale of literacy in England before printed books.
- Summarise medieval beliefs about the afterlife.
- Identify what foods were, and were not, available in the 15th century and the differences in the diet of rich and poor.
- Reflect on some of the reasons why the discovery of Richard III has aroused such international interest.
- Explain the nature of armed combat in the middle ages.
- Identify 15th-century changes in the landscape and the benefits to ordinary people of the new developments.
- Describe how typefaces were first created and how rapidly printed books spread, and to whom.
- Identify the types of late medieval burial, burial customs, commemoration and memorial monuments.
- Describe the ways in which people cooked and ate at the table.
- Interpret the range of evidence that makes the identification of Richard III's body convincing.
Who is the course for
Anyone interested in medieval England or the recent discovery and reburial of Richard III will find something to fuel their interest here. No prior knowledge or expertise is needed.
