Before Europe: The Early Medieval World, 250-c.1050 |
This course examines the formation of western Christendom from its origins in the Christian Roman Empire to its consolidation in the eleventh century. As we move from Merovingian Gaul, Lombard Italy, and Anglo-Saxon England to the Carolingian Empire and its successor kingdoms in Germany, France, and Italy, we will examine such issues as the cultural and political legacy of the Roman and Carolingian worlds; the nature and forms of secular and sacred power; gender roles and relations; ethnic and social identity; and the forms, patterns, and meaning of communication (political, economic, ritual, literary, religious) both inside and outside early medieval Europe. |
The World of Bede |
This course will examine the works and world of the Venerable Bede (c. 673-731), one of the great Christian thinkers and historians of the Middle Ages and a key witness to the history of early medieval Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. Through close study of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People along and other contemporary primary sources, we shall address such as the nature of Christian vs. Germanic rulership; the nature of religious conversion in early medieval societies; monasticism and conceptions of sanctity; Ireland and England as outposts of classical and Christian culture; and the problems of historical thought and writing in the early Middle Ages. |
Medieval Thought in Context |
This course is intended to survey the main lines of medieval thought, from its roots in Late Antiquity/the patristic period and to examine the specific contexts in which medieval learning was developed (monastery, cathedral school, court, university) and the uses to which it was put (spirituality, administration, political and social theory & polemic, science). 200 or 300 level |
