Italian and Mediaeval History

Italian and medieval history is an intellectually generous combination, bringing together one of Europe's great living languages and literary cultures with the study of the medieval world in which the Italian literary tradition was born. Italian carries within it the first masterworks of vernacular European literature, including Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and the medieval history strand provides the historical, political and cultural context in which those works emerged and which they helped to define. The combination allows you to engage with both the language and the history of the period not separately but in genuine dialogue.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year degree develops your Italian language and communication skills to a high level of proficiency, as the university describes, while also giving you the opportunity to engage with specialist topics in Italian literature, culture, history, politics and film. The medieval history strand covers the social, political, religious and cultural history of Europe and beyond in the medieval period, using primary sources and the full range of historical methods. A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to spend time in Italy, developing your language through immersion and deepening your understanding of Italian culture and contemporary society alongside its history.

The skills the combination develops, including advanced language competence, historical analysis, close reading of texts in their original language and the ability to interpret complex evidence, are valuable across many professional contexts.

Graduates go on to careers in education, translation and interpreting, publishing, journalism, heritage and museums, international business, arts administration, the civil service and a wide range of other fields where Italian language competence and historical understanding are assets. Further study in Italian, medieval studies, history or a related discipline is also a common route.