Mediaeval History & Archaeology

Medieval history and archaeology together offer two complementary routes into understanding the past. Medieval history asks you to engage with sophisticated modes of thought and expression across medieval Europe and the Middle East, grappling with complex issues and developing a clear understanding of the historical background that underlies the present day. Archaeology provides the material evidence that written records cannot supply, recovering the objects, buildings, settlements, and landscapes that medieval people left behind and reading them as evidence about how people actually lived.

Together, the two disciplines train you to work with different kinds of evidence and different scholarly traditions, building a richer and more complete picture of the medieval world than either can offer alone.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time MA (Hons) programme develops your skills in historical analysis and interpretation alongside practical archaeological methods and theory. You will read primary sources in translation and original languages, engage with debates in medieval scholarship, and develop your understanding of material culture, landscape, and settlement through archaeological study. A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to study in a different European or international institution and encounter different national traditions of medieval scholarship.

Entry typically requires around 200 UCAS tariff points.

Graduates of medieval history and archaeology go on to careers in heritage, museums, archives, historic environment consultancy, academia, teaching, journalism, publishing, and the civil service. The research skills, close textual analysis, and capacity to synthesise evidence from multiple sources that the degree develops are valued across a wide range of professional contexts. Many students continue to postgraduate study in history, archaeology, or medieval studies.