The interdisciplinary minor in medieval studies (18 credits) offers students an understanding of the historical, cultural, and social forces of the Middle Ages (approximately 500 to 1500 C.E.). The societies of medieval Europe and its Mediterranean neighbors began the first universities, established the nation-state, developed extended fictional narrative and the idea of romantic love, and laid the foundations of modern science, constitutional government, banking, and capitalism. In many ways, the Middle Ages contributed to the world that today’s students have inherited and need to understand.