Medieval Studies

Welcome to the Centre for Medieval Studies
The Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS) at the University of York was founded in 1968 in order to promote interdisciplinary research into the Middle Ages, and it is now one of the most successful teaching institutions in this field anywhere in the world. The subjects taught include Archaeology, Art and Architectural History, History (social, economic, political, ecclesiastical, intellectual and gender) and Literature (including Old and Middle English, Old Norse, Latin and French).

About the Centre for Medieval Studies
The Centre for Medieval Studies (CMS) at the University of York was founded in 1968 in order to promote interdisciplinary research into the Middle Ages, and it is now one of the most successful teaching institutions in this field anywhere in the world. Its staff are drawn from:

Department of Archaeology
Department of Art History
Department of English and Related Literature
Department of History
The subjects they teach include Archaeology, Art and Architectural History, History (social, economic, political, ecclesiastical, intellectual and gender) and Literature (including Old and Middle English, Old Norse, Latin and French). The Centre and its constituent departments offer a range of interdisciplinary and single-discipline MA programmes which provide a stimulating and up-to-date introduction to postgraduate work as well as training in ancillary skills, including palaeography, and in research methods. After completing an MA programme or its equivalent, students may proceed to the postgraduate research degrees of MPhil and PhD. For more information please see the following Director's Reports:

Director's Report 2004-5 (Microsoft Word .doc | Adobe .pdf)
Director's Report 2005-6 (Microsoft Word .doc | Adobe .pdf)
Director's Report 2006-7 (Microsoft Word .doc | Adobe .pdf)
Research

The Centre is housed in a building of great character in the historic King's Manor, which is located near the centre of the medieval city of York. Its students and staff share an active and invigorating research environment. Some forty members of staff active in the Centre are engaged at the frontiers of research into medieval Europe from the fall of Rome to the development of the medieval nation state, from Anglo-Saxon poetry and Norse saga to Middle English romance and Latin liturgy and philosophy, from ship-burial to the building of cathedrals. As well as Britain, our expertise includes France, Italy and the Scandinavian countries. Staff work on medieval manuscripts, maps, buildings, works of art, and at archaeological sites often in teams including the Centre's students.

Staff and students also come together frequently in the Centre for a very full programme of discussion sessions, seminars and conferences. The Centre hosts a number of research seminars and conferences, with the interests of students in mind. These include the Early Medieval Studies Research Group, Medieval Political Culture Seminar, Medieval Household Research Group, Medieval Religion Research Group, the Romance Reading Group and the Anglo-Saxon Reading Group, the Anglo-Norman Reading Group, and the Chaucer Reading Group. These are convened by staff and by students and provide informal intellectual stimulus, with discussion meetings and papers from outside speakers. In addition the Centre hosts the York Medieval Seminar, in which distinguished international scholars are invited to give a formal lecture and meet informally with students in a seminar.


The Lords of Misrule is a medieval drama group based in the Centre. Some continuity is provided by higher degree students at the Centre, and others resident in York, but the core of the group has always been made up of students doing the MA in Medieval Studies. The Lords rehearse and perform several plays each year, with music provided by the medieval music group.

Students enjoy a lively social life based at the King's Manor, with informal gatherings in the city's many pubs, as well as organised trips such as the recent excursions to York Minster, the stained glass workshop at the York Glaziers Trust, the Danelaw Dark Age village at Murton Park, Stamford Bridge, York Archaeological Trust and the Hungate Dig.

The Centre also regularly organises local, national and international conferences on aspects of Medieval Studies. There have been four recurrent programmes of activity: the Quodlibet Lecture and the Medieval Theology conference; the Alcuin Conference on aspects of the early Middle Ages; the York Manuscripts Conference; and the Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Fourteenth Century. Students also organise conferences and symposia which draw both national and international speakers; and each year a conference is held in partnership with the University of East Anglia at Norwich. In addition, staff and students organise regular one-day and residential meetings on an ad hoc basis that draw participants from across the world and help reinforce the status of the Centre as a meeting place of international scholarship.

Back to Top

The Student Community

Students on all the Medieval MA and PhD programmes at York form a large and cosmopolitan community. In 2007-8 over 50 students were registered for MA degrees and nearly 60 for MPhil and PhD degrees. A good proportion of these students are from overseas and our students come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. Just over one half of all these students are registered in the CMS for interdisciplinary programmes of study. The rest are divided between the single-subject programmes in Archaeology, History, History of Art and Literature. Most of the teaching for all these programmes takes place in King's Manor, but some classes are based on the main University campus at Heslington.

More information for prospective students can be found here:

Prospective Students Info Page

Back to Top

The City of York

No other city in the UK can rival York as a place to study the Middle Ages. An important political, cultural, religious and trading centre since Roman times, the city is still dominated by the Minster, the largest Gothic building in northern Europe, whose treasures include the most complete collection of medieval stained glass in Britain. Within the encircling walls many of the streets still follow the medieval street plan. Medieval York had almost 40 parish churches, eight monasteries and friaries and countless chapels and chantries, and many of these buildings survive today. All Saints North Street and Holy Trinity Goodramgate are just two of the most famous medieval churches in the city, but there are also a number of secular buildings that date from the Middle Ages, including houses, guildhalls and the four great 'bars', the ancient defensive points of entry to the walled city. The King's Manor is itself built on the site of St Mary's Abbey, one of the most important abbeys in the north, the ruins of which can be seen in what is now Museum Gardens.

Further afield, but still within easy reach of York, are some of the greatest medieval abbeys in England, Fountains, Rievaulx and Jervaulx, important castles like Middleham, Bolton and Skipton, and the deserted village of Wharram Percy.

Situated almost exactly half way between London and Edinburgh, York is easy to reach from anywhere in the country. Intercity trains from London take under two hours and two and a half hours from Edinburgh. York is also well served by road links, being close to the A1, the M1 and the M62. For those travelling from overseas, Heathrow airport can be reached in three and a half hours, Manchester airport in about two hours. Ferries from Hull provide easy links to mainland Europe.


As a student city, York is big enough to feel cosmopolitan, but small enough not to be overwhelming. It is a friendly place which strangers can get to know quickly, but which can still hold surprises after many years. The City Council has pioneered the idea of bringing the city back to the people: cars are banned from a large part of the city centre (York was recently voted Number 1 Cycle City), which allows street life, traders and performers to flourish. Most importantly, York is a place where people enjoy life: in a recent "quality of life" survey, York was placed seventh out of 145 cities in the United Kingdom.

Beyond York lies some of Britain's most attractive and impressive countryside, with a great many places of natural beauty and historic interest. The city lies in the great plain of York, well worth exploring for its attractive villages and slow, lazy rivers. Further afield, to the north lie the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors national parks, and to the east the fishing villages and resorts of the coast, while to the west are the larger cities of Leeds and Bradford. Evidence of the county's predominantly agricultural economy is to be found in the great estates all around York: Castle Howard, Beningbrough Hall, Nunnington Hall and Duncombe Park are just some of the fine houses within easy reach. The region's ancient significance as a religious centre is represented by the wealth of abbey ruins, including Fountains, Rievaulx, Jervaulx and Byland.