The Seven Deadly Sins: A Journey into the Medieval Mind

Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust have animated European art, literature, and philosophy for centuries. But how did this classification of the “Seven Deadly Sins” come into being? How have ideas about the sins changed over the last thousand years? And what can a study of their history tell us about the culture of the past, and the way sin operates in today’s world?

With a historical focus on Medieval Europe (c.500–1500), this open course investigates the origin of the “Seven Deadly Sins” and their significance in the development of European society. Taking a different sin each week, we will consider how anxieties about the seven vices intersected with shifting medieval ideas of political and religious power, and how they continue to inform philosophies of human nature into the present.

Watch the course on Rutube.