Course Description
The intellectual history of medieval Europe. The nature of Christian behavior will be examined in the development of premodern ideas on the human body, politics, law, and religion.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional research and/or paper(s) are normally required for graduate level coursework.
Athena Title
THE MEDIEVAL MIND
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
In popular discourse the Middle Ages are sometimes stereotyped as a time of ignorance, intellectual stagnation, and dogmatism. In reality, there was nothing “dark” about the Middle Ages; the period was one of the most intellectually and culturally vibrant in history. Indeed, some modern scholars believe that the foundations of Western intellectual history were laid in the Middle Ages rather than in the Greco-Roman or the Judeo-Christian traditions. In this course we will examine a variety of topics relating to European intellectual history, from its origins in late antiquity to the fifteenth century. We will approach medieval thought and learning by topic, in a more or less chronological order. Our investigation will consider medieval philosophy and theology, historiography, schools and universities, literature, natural science, orthodoxy and heresy, mysticism, and humanism. The course is reading intensive; in addition to the textbooks and reserve material, you will be assigned relevant primary sources (all in translation), some of which are quite lengthy and dense. The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
Introduction / The Classical inheritance Roman Christianity & the Latin Church Fathers From Ancient to Medieval Monastic thought and practice The Carolingian Age The Romanesque Age Scholasticism & the Twelfth Century Renaissance High Medieval Literature Sub-University Culture High Medieval Philosophy High Medieval Science Mendicants and Mystics High and Late Medieval Heresy Late Medieval Scholasticism The Fourteenth Century