The Middle Ages: disintegration and renewal --
The New Testament and the invention of Christianity --
Augustine's Confessions: journey of a restless heart --
Boethius: the classical tradition on trial --
Beowulf and the heroic ideal --
From epic to romance: the Song of Roland and the Arthurian adventures of Chretien de Troyes --
Francis and Aquinas: mendicant friars who transformed the Church --
Dante and the Commedia --
Boccaccio and the art of the story --
Chaucer on the road to Canterbury.