Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов-историков. Период: Средние века

А. П. Миньяр-Белоручева,  
Е. С. Москалева, Е. В. Княжинская 

Учебное пособие  
по английскому языку  
для студентов-историков 

Период: Средние века 

Издание второе, стереотипное 

Допущено Учебно-методическим объединением  
по классическому университетскому образованию  
в качестве учебного пособия для студентов высших 
учебных заведений по специальности  
030401 «История» направления 
подготовки 030400 «История» 

Москва 
Берлин 
2020 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 
 М57 

Рецензенты: 
И. Г. Рытова, кандидат филологических наук, доцент 
Е. А. Суслопарова, кандидат исторических наук, доцент 

Миньяр-Белоручева, А. П. 

М57 
  Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов-

историков. 
Период 
: 
Средние 
века 
/ 
А. П. Миньяр-

Белоручева, Е. С. Москалева, Е. В. Княжинская. — Изд. 2-е, 
стер. — Москва ; Берлин : Директ-Медиа, 2020. — 184 с. 

ISBN 978-5-4475-9966-9 

Данное учебное пособие по английскому языку включает 
фрагменты из книги Г. Уэллса «Краткий очерк всемирной исто-
рии» (H. G. Wells A Short History of the World) и направлено на 
овладение профессионально ориентированным языком историка. 
Читая оригинальные тексты на английском языке, студенты смогут 
усвоить лексико-грамматический материал и развить языковую, 
речевую, культурную и профессиональную компетенцию. Темати-
чески разделы учебного пособия связаны с историей Средних 
веков. 

Предназначено для студентов-историков, а также для всех ин-

тересующихся данной тематикой и желающих совершенствовать 
английский язык. 

УДК 811.111(075) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 

ISBN 978-5-4475-9966-9
© Миньяр-Белоручева А. П., Москалева Е. С., 

Княжинская Е. В., текст, 2020 

© Издательство «Директ-Медиа», оформление, 2020 

Предисловие 

Данное учебное пособие по английскому языку, предна-
значенное для студентов-историков, выполнено в соответ-
ствии с требованиями государственных образовательных 
стандартов высшего профессионального образования, предъ-
являемых к преподаванию иностранного языка в неязыко-
вых вузах с учетом профессиональной направленности 
обучения. 
Материалом для учебного пособия послужили ориги-
нальные тексты из книги Г. Уэллса «Краткий очерк всемир-
ной истории» (H. G. Wells. A Short History of the World), 
в которой автор широко известных фантастических романов 
излагает свой взгляд на всеобщую историю. Тексты настоя-
щего учебного пособия охватывают период Средних веков от 
времени правления императора Юстиниана до реформации 
католической церкви. 
Предлагаемое учебное пособие состоит из 15 разделов, 
включающих тексты и комментарий к ним, а также 
ряд заданий, направленных на развитие профессионально-
коммуникативной компетенции. Комментарий включает 
транскрипцию, перевод и пояснения исторических терминов, 
имен и названий, он поможет избежать трудностей произношения 
и перевода. Лексические упражнения предполагают 
расширение тематического словаря и дальнейшую работу 
над языком специальности. 
Большую роль в данном учебном пособии играют задания, 
связанные с осмыслением и анализом прочитанного. 
Вопросы и задания пособия ориентированы на приобретение 
навыков формирования оценки явлений в данной области 
знаний. Предлагаемое учебное пособие призвано помочь 
студентам-историкам выработать способность к восприятию, 
анализу и обобщению информации, используя оригинальные 
англоязычные материалы по истории Средних веков. 
В учебном пособии имеются упражнения для самостоятельной 
и аудиторной работы. 

Unit 1  
Justinian the Great 

The  Emperor  Justinian was  about  forty-five  years  old 
when he ascended the throne. Of his personal appearance we can 
form some idea from the description of contemporary writers and 
from portraits  on  his  coins  and  in  mosaic  pictures.  He  was  of 
middle  height,  neither  thin  nor  
fat;  his  smooth  shaven  
face  was 
round, he had a straight nose, a firm chin, curly hair which, as he 
aged,  became  thin  in  front.  A  slight  smile  seems  to  have  been 
characteristic.  The  bust  which  appears  on  the  coinage  issued 
when  he  had  reached  the  age  of  fifty-six,  shows  that  there  was 
some truth in the resemblance which a hostile writer detected be-
tween his countenance and that of the Emperor Domitian. 
His intellectual talents were far above the ordinary standard 
of  Roman  Emperors,  and  if  fortune  had  not  called  him  to  the 
throne,  he  would  have  attained  eminence  in  some  other  career. 
For  with  his  natural  gifts  he  possessed  an  energy  which  nothing 
seemed  to  tire;  he  
loved work,  and  
it  
is  not  
improbable  that  he 
was the most hardworking man in the Empire. Though his mind 
was of that order which enjoys occupying itself with details, it was 
capable  of  conceiving  
large  
ideas  and  embracing  many  
interests. 
He permitted himself no self-indulgence; and his temperance was 
ascetic. In Lent he used  
to fast entirely for two  days, and  during 
the  rest  of  
the  season  he  abstained from  wine  and  
lived  on  wild 
herbs dressed with oil and vinegar. He slept little and worked far 
into the night. His manners were naturally affable. As Emperor he 
was easily accessible, and showed no offence if a bold or tactless 
subject  spoke  with  a  
freedom  which  others  would  have  resented 
as disrespectful. He was master of his temper, and seldom broke 
out  
into  anger. He  could  exhibit,  
too,  
the  quality  of  mercy. Pro-
bus,  the  nephew  of Anastasius,  accused  of  reviling  him,  was 
tried for treason. When the report of the trial was laid before the 
Emperor he tore it up and said to Probus, “I pardon you for your 
offence against me. Pray that God also may pardon you”.
1 

1 Malalas, John [Chronographia] XVIII. 438. “We shall meet another in-
stance in the case of the conspirator Artabanes”. (Примеч. J. B. Bury History 
of the Later Roman Empire).  

The reign of a ruler endowed with these estimable qualities, 
animated by a strong and unflagging sense of duty, devoting him-
self day and night to the interests of the State for thirty-eight 
years, could not fail to be memorable. Memorable assuredly it 
was. Justinian wrought2 not only for his own time but for posteri-
ty. He enhanced the prestige of the Empire and enlarged its bor-
ders. He bequeathed, by his monumental work in Roman law, 
an enduring heritage to Europe; while the building of the 
Church of St Sophia would in itself be an imperishable title to 
the gratitude of men. These achievements, however, are only one 
side of the picture. The successes and glories of his reign were to 
be purchased at a heavy cost, and the strain which he imposed on 
the resources of the State was followed by decline and disaster 
after his death. Perhaps no more scathing denunciation of the 
character, aims, and methods of a ruler has ever been written 
than the notorious indictment which the contemporary historian 
Procopius committed to the pages of a Secret History, wherein 
Justinian is represented as a malignant demon in human form. 
Though the exaggerations of the writer are so gross and manifest 
that his venomous pen defeats its own object, there is sufficient 
evidence from other sources to show that the reign of Justinian 
was, in many ways, far from being a blessing to his subjects. 
The capital error of Justinian’s policy was due to a theory 
which, though not explicitly formulated till quite recent times, has 
misled many eminent and well-meaning sovrans3 and statesmen 
in all periods of history. It is the theory that the expansion of a 
state and the exaltation of its prestige and honour are ends in 
themselves, and valuable without any regard to the happiness of 
the men and women of whom the state consists. If this proposi-
tion had been presented nakedly either to Justinian or to  
Louis XIV, he would have indignantly repudiated it, but both 
these monarchs, like many another, acted on it, with most un-
happy consequences for their subjects. Justinian possessed imag-
ination. He had formed a high ideal of the might and majesty of 
the Empire of which he was the master. It humiliated him to con-
trast its moderate limits with the vast extent of territory over 
which the word of Constantine or Theodosius the Great had 

                                                 

2 устар. worked (Здесь и далее примечания составителей). 
3 поэт. sovereigns. 

been law. He was dazzled by the idea of restoring the old bounda-
ries of the Roman Empire. For though he only succeeded in 
recovering, as we shall see, Africa, Italy, and a small strip of 
Spain, his designs reached to Gaul, if not to Britain. After he had 
conquered the African provinces he announced his ambitious pol-
icy. “We have good hopes that God will grant us to restore our au-
thority over the remaining countries which the ancient Romans 
possessed to the limits of both oceans and lost by subsequent ne-
glect”4. In drawing up this magnificent programme, Justinian did 
not consider whether such an extension of his government would 
make his subjects, who had to bear the costs of his campaigns, 
happier or better. He assumed that whatever increased the power 
and glory of the state must also increase the well-being of its 
members. The resources of the state were not more than suffi-
cient to protect the eastern frontier against the Persians and the 
Danubian5 against the barbarians of the north; and if the Emper-
or had been content to perform these duties more efficiently than 
his predecessors, he would unquestionably have deserved better 
of his subjects. 
His conception of the greatness of the Empire was indissol-
ubly associated with his conception of the greatness of its sovran, 
and he asserted the absolutism of the autocrat in a degree which 
no Emperor had hitherto attempted. This was conspicuously 
shown in the dictatorship which he claimed over the Church.  
He was the first Emperor who studied dogmatic questions inde-
pendently and systematically, and he had all the confidence of a 
professional theologian. A theologian on the throne is a public 
danger, and the principle of persecuting opinion, which had been 
fitfully and mildly pursued in the fifth century, was applied rigor-
ously and systematically under Justinian. His determination to be 
supreme in all departments made him impatient of advice; he did 
not like his commands to be discussed, and he left to his ministers 
little latitude for decision. His passion for dealing personally with 
the minute details of government had the same unfortunate  
results as in the case of Philip II. Like other autocrats, he was 
jealous and suspicious, and ready to listen to calumnies against 

                                                 

4 Novellae Constitutiones 30, § 11, published just after the conquest  
of Sicily, in 536. (Примеч. J. B. Bury History of the Later Roman Empire). 
5 Границы придунайских территорий. 

his  most  
loyal  servants.  And  
there  was  a  vein  of  weakness  
in  his 
character.  He  faltered  at  one  supremely  critical  moment  of  his 
reign,  and  his  consort, Theodora,  had  an  influence  over  him 
which  no  woman  could  have  exercised  over  an Augustus  or  a 
Constantine. 

Notes 

1. The Emperor Justinian [GA'stInIqn] — Юстиниан I 
(ок. 483–565  гг.), император  Византии  (Восточной  Римской 
империи) с 527 г. 
2. The Emperor Domitian [dq'mISqn] — Домициан Тит 
Флавий (51–96 гг.), римский император с 81 г., последний из 
династии Флавиев. 
3. Probus ['prqVbqs] — Флавий  Анастасий  Павел  Проб 
Сабиниан Помпей  Анастасий (упоминается  в 517 г.), 
государственный деятель Восточной Римской империи. 
4. Anastasius ["xnqs'teISIqs] — Анастасий (ок.  430–
518 гг.), император Восточной Римской империи с 491 г. 
5. The Roman Law ['rqVmqn  'lL] — Римское  право, 
наиболее  развитая  система права,  сложившаяся  в 
крупнейшем государстве античности — Древнем Риме. 
6. The Church of St Sophia ['s(q)nt  sqV'fI:q] —  
Собор Святой Софии  в Константинополе, выдающееся 
произведение  византийской  архитектуры.  Сооружен  в  532–
537 гг. Анфимием из Тралл и Исидором из Милета. 
7. Procopius — Прокопий  Кесарийский (между  490  
и  507 гг. — после 562 г.),  византийский  писатель;  советник 
полководца  Велисария. В  официозных сочинениях —  «Вой-
ны» и «О постройках» — Прокопий Кесарийский прославлял 
императора  Юстиниана  I;  вместе  с  тем  написал  памфлет, 
направленный  против  него  и  его  жены Феодоры  («Тайная 
история», ок. 550 г.). 
8. Louis XIV ['lu:Is] — Людовик  XIV, также 
известный  как  «король-солнце» (1638–1715 гг.), король 
Франции и Наварры с 1643 г. Из династии Бурбонов. 
9. Constantine ['kOnstqntQIn] — Константин I, или Кон-
стантин Великий, Флавий Валерий (ок. 285–337 гг.), император 
в Древнем Риме. Правил в 306–337 гг. 

10. Theodosius the Great ["TIq'dqVsIqs Dq greIt] — 
Феодосий I, или Великий, Флавий (ок. 346–395 гг.), римский 
император с 379 г. 
11. The  Roman Empire ['rqVmqn 'empaIq] — Римская 
империя  (c  30/27 гг. до  н. э. по 491 г.),  один  из  важнейших 
периодов  истории Древнего  Рима,  когда  он  достиг 
наибольшего процветания в большинстве сфер. 
12. Gaul [gLl] — Галлия, историческая область Европы, 
включавшая территории между рекой По и Альпами и между 
Альпами, Средиземным морем, Пиренеями и Атлантическим 
океаном. 
13. The  Persians ['pq:Sqnz] — персы, фарсы  (самоназвание — 
ирани), иранский  народ,  этнолингвистическая 
общность  многочисленных  региональных  групп  населения 
Ирана и некоторых прилегающих стран, для которой родным 
языком является персидский. 
14. Philip II ['fIlIp] — Филипп II (1527–1598 гг.), король 
Испании с  1556  г.  Из  династии  Габсбургов.  Вступил  на престол  
после  отречения  своего  отца  Карла  V  и  раздела  империи,  
по  которому  получил  Испанию,  Королевство  обеих 
Сицилий,  Нидерланды,  Франш-Конте,  Милан,  владения  в 
Америке  и  Африке.  Своей  политикой  содействовал  упрочению 
абсолютизма. 
15. Theodora [TI:q'dLrq] — Феодора  (ок. 500–548  гг.), 
византийская императрица. 
16. Augustus [L'gAstqs] — Август  (до  44 г. до  н. э.  Гай 
Октавий,  с  44 г.  Гай  Юлий  Цезарь  Октавиан,  с  27 г. до  н. э. 
Гай Юлий Цезарь Октавиан Август) (63 г. до н. э. — 14 г. н. э.), 
римский император с 27 до н. э. Внучатый племянник Юлия 
Цезаря, усыновленный им в завещании. 

Tasks 

1.1. Practice the following for pronunciation. 

Justinian [GA'stInIqn] 
Domitian [dq'mISqn] 
Anastasius ["xnqs'teISIqs] 
The Roman Law [Dq 'rqVmqn 'lL] 
Louis XIV ['lu:Is Dq 'fL'tI:nT] 

Constantine ['kOnstqntQIn] 
Theodosius the Great ["TIq'dqVsIqs Dq 'greIt] 
The Roman Empire [Dq 'rqVmqn 'empaIq] 
Gaul [gLl]  
The Persians [Dq 'pq:Sqnz] 
Theodora [TI:q'dLrq] 
Augustus [L'gAstqs] 

1.2. Find  in  the  text  and give  Russian  equivalents  
of the following: 

to  form  some  idea; contemporary  writers; to  attain  eminence; 
Lent; to  abstain  
from  wine;  affable  manners; to  resent  as  disre-
spectful; to  break  out  into  anger;  posterity;  to  be  purchased at  
a  heavy  cost;  notorious  
indictment; the  reign  of  Justinian; to  be 
dazzled by the idea of; to bear the cost of smth.; impatient of ad-
vice; to leave to smb. little latitude for decision; suspicious. 

1.3. Give English equivalents of the following: 

взойти  на  трон; быть  среднего  роста;  обдумывать  крупные 
проекты; умеренность, доходящая до аскетизма; не обижаться; 
хорошо владеть собой; находиться  под следствием по обвинению  
в  государственной  измене;  передать  потомкам 
бессмертное  наследие;  упадок; веские  аргументы; главная 
ошибка;  покорить североафриканские  провинции; заметно, 
очевидно; слушать  клеветнические  измышления;  ревнивый; 
иметь влияние на кого-л. 

1.4.  A.  Study  the  following  idioms  and  phrases. 
Make  up  your  own  sentences  using  these  idioms  and 
phrases. 

1) far above smth — гораздо выше чего-л.; 
2) far into the night — до поздней ночи; 
3) far from being… — далеко от того, чтобы быть…, вовсе 
не было…; 
4) it is not improbable — вполне вероятно; 
5) due to — благодаря, вследствие, в результате, из-за; 
6) to be ends in themselves — являться (само)целью; 
7) without any regard to — не принимая во внимание; 

8) the rest of smth. — остальной, остаток чего-л.; 
9) to be dressed with smth. — быть приправленным чем-л.; 
10) to do smth. day and night — делать что-л. постоянно, 
ср.: «денно и нощно»; 
11) could not fail to be — не могло не быть; 
12) the vast extent — большая протяженность; 
the vast extent of territory — огромная территория; 
13) vein — склонность, настроение. 
There was a vein of weakness in his character. — Ему была 
присуща некоторая слабость характера. 

B. Translate from English into Russian. 

1. His intellectual talents were far above the ordinary stand-
ard of Roman Emperors, and if fortune had not called him to the 
throne, he would have attained eminence in some other career.  
2. He slept little and worked far into the night. 3. Though the ex-
aggerations of the writer are so gross and manifest that his ven-
omous pen defeats its own object, there is sufficient evidence 
from other sources to show that the reign of Justinian was, in 
many ways, far from being a blessing to his subjects. 4. For with 
his natural gifts he possessed an energy which nothing seemed to 
tire; he loved work, and it is not improbable that he was the most 
hardworking man in the Empire. 5. The capital error of Justini-
an’s policy was due to a theory which, though not explicitly for-
mulated till quite recent times, has misled many eminent and 
well-meaning sovrans (sovereigns) and statesmen in all periods of 
history. 6. It is the theory that the expansion of a state and the 
exaltation of its prestige and honour are ends in themselves, and 
valuable without any regard to the happiness of the men and 
women of whom the state consists. 7. In Lent he used to fast en-
tirely for two days, and during the rest of the season he abstained 
from wine and lived on wild herbs dressed with oil and vinegar.  
8. The reign of a ruler endowed with these estimable qualities, 
animated by a strong and unflagging sense of duty, devoting him-
self day and night to the interests of the State for thirty-eight 
years, could not fail to be memorable. 9. It humiliated him to con-
trast its moderate limits with the vast extent of territory over 
which the word of Constantine or Theodosius the Great had  
been law.