Admissions information    Programme of study

The MA in Medieval Studies at Swansea University is an exciting new course that brings together the expertise of the medievalists in the School of Arts and Humanities (especially specialists in English, Welsh and French Literature, History and Classics).  The academic interests of the University’s medievalist community range from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance, and from the British Isles and France to Italy and the Holy Land, and they concern both history and literature;  areas of expertise include gender, warfare, aristocratic culture, and frontiers and borderlands.

The MA degree is designed for students with widely differing academic backgrounds, interests, and goals.  It can be used as preparation for doctoral research, or as a self-contained degree for its own sake. All candidates for the MA complete the degree by writing a dissertation on a topic of their choice, under the supervision of a member of staff from the School of Arts and Humanities. 

Many students who have successfully completed MAs at Swansea University have gone on to pursue research for a Ph.D. here.  Recent and current topics include the funerary monuments of Glamorgan, the Anglo-Latin poet Aldhelm and his female audience, the kingdom of Jerusalem in the 13th century and the political communities of medieval Hertfordshire.  The University has a vibrant research culture, including programmes of lively research seminars which candidates for the MA are encouraged to attend.

Postgraduate Diploma 

Students who wish complete the taught parts of the course (Semesters 1 – 2) but choose not to research for the dissertation will be eligible for the Postgraduate Diploma in Medieval Studies.  The Diploma provides candidates with the opportunity to study the same choice of thematic options as are available for the MA.  It is particularly appropriate for candidates who wish to gain the full range of research training modules available through the MA in Medieval Studies.

Postgraduate Certificate

Students may also complete the first semester of the degree in order to attain the Postgraduate Certificate in Medieval Studies.  This course is especially useful for research students at other universities who wish to receive research training that may not be available in their host institution, such as in palaeography, in Latin, or in medieval vernacular languages such as Old and Middle English, Old and Middle French, Middle High German, and medieval Welsh.

Swansea’s Medieval Heritage

Swansea University is an ideal place to study and research the medieval period.  For much of the Middle Ages, Swansea was the administrative centre of the great lordship of Gower, and today the city of Swansea lies in a region that is studded with the evocative remains of its medieval past.  These include the formidable castles of the Marcher Lords:  the most famous in the region include Pembroke and Kidwelly but many other less well known castles such as Carreg Cennen, Oystermouth and Weobley are also highly impressive.  Some prominent castles nearby, such as Dryslwyn, were built not by Anglo-Norman lords but by Welsh princes.  The impressive abbeys of Neath and Margam and the numerous medieval churches of Gower and the Vale of Glamorgan all lie close to Swansea.  Other important medieval sites in South Wales include the castles of Caerphilly and Chepstow and the cathedrals of St Davids and Llandaff;  also within easy striking distance of Swansea are Hereford Cathedral and the Herefordshire castles such as Goodrich, and the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth with its splendid collection of medieval manuscripts, including one of the original manuscripts of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and the muniments of Margam Abbey.