The greatest story in the world, period 2 (of 3)

A panoramic history follows the collapse of Roman unity and the subsequent reshaping of Europe as migrating peoples, internal conflicts, and external pressures fragment and reconstitute political order. It treats Britain's transition into a medieval kingdom, the spread of Christianity and papal influence, the rise and practice of feudalism, Viking and Norman settlements, and the Crusades with their mixed effects. Attention is given to shifting relations among England, France, and regional powers, the presence of Muslim polities in the west and the Turks in the east, and the gradual strengthening of monarchs, closing with the cultural and political changes that usher in the Renaissance and wider global encounters.