disc 1: Medieval beginnings : the fall of empires -- Constantinople, Aksum, and Tang China -- The rise of Islam and Europe's knights -- Creating an Islamic culture -- The medieval spread of religions -- The medieval rebuilding of empires -- disc 2: North America and Viking explorers -- Medieval growth and prosperity -- The Crusades' clash of cultures, 1097-1291 -- Medieval towns and trade networks -- Cathedrals to pagodas : sacred architecture -- Universities and intellectual discovery -- disc 3: Life in a medieval palace -- Medieval tales of heroes and lovers -- Mongol conquests : from China to Russia -- Marco Polo travels East to China -- Medieval pilgrims and travelers -- Fictional travels and monstrous races -- disc 4: High Middle Ages in the Pacific : Polynesia -- High Middles Ages in the Americas -- Late medieval disasters : climate and plague -- Religious struggles in the age of faith -- Medieval warfare ends with gunpowder -- Medieval empires fall as Islam revives.