Exactly what the title says. I'm 15, approaching 16, and I have just finished my GCSEs, the qualifications for finishing high school in the UK. I have gone throughout the entirety of Primary and Secondary school, and never even ONCE has ANY mention at all EVER been made to the Holy Roman Empire or the medieval-era Byzantines. Or the Seljuks, for that matter, or any of the Islamic caliphates. Or the Ottoman Empire. AT ALL. All my History classes have been (at set 1 level, the top level in high school) focused on, at primary school the Magna Carta and the Roman Empire (before the collapse), then in secondary school the mythology surrounding the foundation of Rome, the Feudal system and the Magna Carta in Year 7 (seriously? Mythology in History?), the Punic Wars, the Crusades and the native american tribes in Year 8, the build-up to WWI in Year 9, nothing in Year 10 (I took an option block wherein I did Geography in Year 10 and History in year 11 as my 'options' (beginning now in year 9 but orginally in year 10, some subjects are dropped and students are given choices on what classes to take although some are mandatory)) and America in the 1920s, America and race relations in the 50s and 60s, and Hitler's road to dictatorship in Year 11. But the HRE was never mentioned, despite being the main political entity in Europe during much of the medieval era. The Eastern Roman Empire and the split between East and West was never mentioned despite significant emphasis on the Romans in the education program. Muhammad's warlording-it-up and the ENORMOUS spread that Islam achieved in its early years never earned a passing mention. The Seljuk turks never even got a sniff. The entire unit about the leadup to WW1 managed to miraculously avoid the Ottoman Empire altogether. The Mongols were mentioned about twice, and got talked about more in my English class than in History. I mean, these nations/political entities changed the course of History massively, and most of my classmates have walked out of History forever not knowing a thing about them. Damn, one classmate said that at one time, the British empire spanned 'one third of the world', despite the complete implausible-ness of it. I'm just shocked that the state of education in the subject of History is so awful... *shudder*
