Coursera

Deciphering Secrets: The Illuminated Manuscripts of Medieval Europe (Coursera)

Offered by University of Colorado System,

Perhaps no other relic of the European Middle Ages captures our imagination more than illuminated medieval manuscripts, or those documents decorated with images and colored pigments. Serving as windows unto a lost world of kings, ladies, faith, war, and culture, they communicate complex visual and textual narratives of Europe’s collective cultural heritage and patrimony. In this fashion, illuminated manuscripts are dynamic messages from our communal past that are still relevant today in fields like graphic design and typography.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

In this seven-week course, students will explore the material creation, content, and historical context of illuminated medieval European manuscripts. Students will acquire an introductory knowledge of their distinguishing characteristics, their cataloguing and periodization (when they were created), the methods utilized to produce them, and their historical context and value.
Student achievement will be assessed using not only traditional multiple-choice quizzes, but more importantly will be evaluated based on individual student projects. In their final projects students will either (1) produce a board of commented images about medieval manuscripts or (2) prepare a physical manuscript using medieval methods. The best of these peer-evaluated projects will be posted on the Deciphering Secrets website, which is our collective citizen scholarship web presence that encourages and supports our global citizen scholars appreciation and contributions to transcription of medieval manuscripts.
Finally, we wish to highlight that this course is an exciting international collaboration between the University of Colorado (USA) and Universidad Complutense Madrid (Spain).

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Course Introduction. Introduction to medieval world and manuscript studies
WEEK 2: Medieval European Kingdoms (Part 1) and Writing Supports and Book Formats
WEEK 3: Medieval European Kingdoms (Part 2) and the Writing case and the Architecture of the Codex
WEEK 4: A Glimpse of Spain's King Alfonso X "The Wise" and preparing the page for Writing
WEEK 5: Paleography and a historical case study and writing the codex
WEEK 6: Exploring the global middle ages and online collections and codex decoration
WEEK 7: Bookbinding and course completion

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Coursera

Yale University

Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life (Coursera)

Humanities

Journey of the Universe weaves together the discoveries of the evolutionary sciences together with humanities such as history, philosophy, art, and religion. The course draws on the Emmy-award winning film, Journey of the Universe, and the book from Yale University Press. Journey explores cosmic evolution as a creative process based on connection, interdependence, and emergence. It examines a range of dynamic interactions in the unfolding of galaxies, Earth, life, and human communities. It investigates ways in which we understand evolutionary processes and the implications for humans and our ecological future.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

Earth Life Universe

Coursera

University of Colorado System

Coexistence in Medieval Spain: Jews, Christians, and Muslims (Coursera)

Humanities History

This course explores Jewish, Christian, and Muslim intercultural relations in Iberia from the Visigothic era (6th century CE) until the creation of Queen Isabel I and King Ferdinand II Catholic Spain (late 15th century). We evaluate the many identities of the peninsula known as Christian Hispania, Jewish Sefarad, and Islamic al-Andalus. We trace the origins and trajectory of conflict between these communities (the Muslim conquest of Spain, Christian Reconquista, prohibitions blocking intermixing of peoples, and expulsions).

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Architecture Jewish

Coursera

University of London,SOAS University of London

Global Diplomacy – Diplomacy in the Modern World (Coursera)

Social Sciences

The Global Diplomacy course is a unique offering to the MOOC environment. Bringing together cutting edge research in the broad fields of Diplomatic and International Studies, award winning distance learning delivery and the instructors previous experience of delivering a successful MOOC. Please see the volume Global Diplomacy: Theories, Types and Models authored with Dr Alison Holmes, (Westview, 2016), and the Understanding Research Methods MOOC from Coursera.

Jun 15th 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Art International Relations

Coursera

University of Barcelona

The Mediterranean, a Space of Exchange (from the Renaissance to Enlightenment) (Coursera)

Humanities History

The course The Mediterranean, a Space of Exchange (from Renaissance to Enlightenment) aims to explain the Mediterranean, using history and the analysis of the past, as a space generated by routes and circulation. We consider it crucial to disclose mobility as a historical factor: a mobility comprised of four major elements, namely people, objects, ideas and practices.

Jun 19th 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Mediterranean Mediterranean Civilization

Coursera

The Museum of Modern Art

What Is Contemporary Art? (Coursera)

Art and Culture

What is contemporary art? In this course, you’ll consider this question through more than 70 works of art made between 1980 and the present, with a focus on art from the past decade. You’ll hear directly from artists, architects, and designers from around the globe about their creative processes, materials, and inspiration.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Art Creativity

Coursera

The University of Sydney

Cultural Competence - Aboriginal Sydney (Coursera)

Humanities

This course explores some of the key themes and capabilities of cultural competence by exploring Aboriginal experiences and narratives of Sydney. Australia was ‘claimed’ for the British Crown in 1770, by Captain James Cook, but the invasion began in earnest when the First Fleet of British arrived in 1788 and established a penal colony in Sydney.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Colonial Australia

Coursera

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Structuring Values in Modern China (Coursera)

Humanities History

This sequence of four courses will propose a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Chinese cultural history conceived of as a succession of modes of rationality (philosophical, bureaucratic, and economic). The focus will be on the moments of paradigm shift from one mode of rationality to another. For each of these moments, cultural facts and artifacts—thought, literature, ritual—will be examined in relationship to changing social, political, and economic systems.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

Science History China

Coursera

University of Colorado Boulder

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: Comedy, Conflict, and Community (Coursera)

Humanities Art and Culture

This course introduces and explores William Shakespeare’s classic comedy, Twelfth Night. Interviews with actors who appeared in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s 2019 production of Twelfth Night, as well as lectures by scholars and theater professionals who work and teach at the University of Colorado Boulder, offer students insight into Shakespeare’s artistic vision and its applications.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Art Community

Coursera

Leiden University

Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Comparing Theory and Practice (Coursera)

Health & Society History

Terrorism has arguably been one of the defining factors of our age. It frequently makes headlines, threatening or attacking governments, private business and ordinary citizens. And in many parts of the world, it has been one of the most important threats to peace, security and stability. But what does this exactly mean? What is the nature of this threat? Who or what is threatened, how, by whom and why? What can be done about it or how can we at least limit the impact of terrorism and make sure that terrorists do not make headlines and manage to scare us? These are just a handful of questions that will be addressed in this course that consists of three parts.

Jun 15th 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Security Terrorism

Coursera

Wesleyan University

The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) (Coursera)

Humanities

This course examines how the idea of "the modern" develops at the end of the 18th century in European philosophy and literature, and how being modern (or progressive, or hip) became one of the crucial criteria for understanding and evaluating cultural change. Are we still in modernity, or have we moved beyond the modern to the postmodern?

Jun 15th 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Philosophy Culture

Coursera

University of Barcelona

Magic in the Middle Ages (Coursera)

Humanities History

Magical thought has always attracted human imagination. In this course we will introduce you to the Middle Ages through a wide conception of magic. Students will have an approach to medieval culture, beliefs and practices from the perspective of History and History of Science. Popular magic, as well as learned magic (alchemy, geomancy and necromancy) will be addressed. Moreover, we will also deal with how eastern practices and texts influenced western culture. In July 2016, the course will contain a brand-new module devoted to astrology. Magic in the Middle Ages offers a captivating overview of medieval society and promotes reflection about certain stereotypes associated with this period.

Jun 22nd 2026

5-12 Weeks

Astronomy History Middle Ages

Coursera

Tel Aviv University

The Emergence of the Modern Middle East - Part II (Coursera)

Humanities History

This course will discuss the developments in the Middle East from the early 20th century to the present. It will discuss the rise and retreat of Arab nationalism, the problems of internal cohesion of the Arab states, issues of religion and state, and the evolution of Islamist politics. It will also focus on the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict and its impact on the region and will conclude with an in depth analysis of the “Arab Spring” by placing these contemporary revolutionary events in their historical context.

Jun 15th 2026

5-12 Weeks

History Conflict Contemporary