Division of History of the Middle Ages

The Division of History of the Middle Ages was established as a sub-department of the History Department at the Faculty of Letters. Since the University Reform of 1933, the  Medieval History, became a separate department in 1946 in Türkiye based on the courses previously given by Distinguished Prof. Şemseddin Günaltay, Distinguished Prof. İ. Hakkı Uzunçarşılı, and Distinguished Prof. Mükrimin Halil Yınanç,. The main topics of Middle Ages include Islamic History, Seljukid History, Anatolian and Byzantine History, History of the Crusades, and Medieval European History.

The question of when does  the Middle Ages begin and end  is a subject of debate among historians. However, it is generally accepted that the Middle Ages began with the Migration Period in 375 AD or the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. The Middle Ages is considered to end with the fall of the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 or with the discovery of the Americas in 1492. The developments that occurred during this period are covered in the courses within the Division of History of the Middle Ages.

In the Islamic History course, topics such as the first Islamic historians, pre-Islamic Arabs, pre-Islamic Hijaz, the beginning and spread of Islam, the life of Prophet Muhammad, the Caliphs' period, Umayyad period, the Abbasid period, political, social, economic, cultural, and religious contexts are discussed. The Medieval Turkish History course includes the Islamization process of the Turks, Turkification of Anatolia, Oghuz Turks, the history of the first Muslim Turkish states, Seljukid History, and the fundamentals of Seljukid civilization. The Medieval European History course also covers subjects such as the history of the Roman Empire, the emergence and spread of Christianity, feudalism and manorialism, the church and the papacy, the Crusades, and medieval cities.

In addition to the undergraduate courses and topics, the Division provides postgraduate education, conducts scientific research, and trains prospective academics. The department is currently active with 2 Assistant Professor and 1 Research Assistant.