English/MDST 315: Introduction to Medieval Culture(s)

2:30-3:45 TTH  Spring 2004

Dr. Jane Chance

This interdisciplinary course will examine the idea of the Middle Ages as expressed in its culture(s). At the same time, it will explore the way its social structures changed in response to the impact of cataclysmic events and forces. The major focus will fall on the three estates, aristocracy, clergy, and commons, their interrelated contexts and institutions of court and castle, monastery and friary, cathedral and university, field and town, and their progressive deconstruction and reconstruction. Along the way we will also examine the varying perspectives of feudalism and chivalry, the rights of the poor, and the role of medieval women (the fourth estate?).

Works of literature, history, philosophy, and theology from England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Middle East written primarily in the High Middle Ages will provide a frame for the interweaving of medieval art, philosophy, history, music, science, and gastronomy. Also included will be slide and videocassette lectures and full-length Swedish, British, French, Italian, and German films. Most texts will be read in translation; creative projects are encouraged.

Requirements: two papers (8-10 and 5-8 pp.), both revisable (given adequate time for grading), one medieval dish for the medieval banquet, and two exams (see below for further information). Class attendance and participation are expected.

Texts (all prices according to amazon.com; all on reserve):

Readings in Medieval History, ed. Patrick J. Geary, 3rd ed. (Broadview), pb. $34.95 ISBN 1-55111-550-6 On Order

William Langland, The Vision of Piers the Plowman, ed. A.C. Schmidt (Everyman), 2nd ed. $10.00 ISBN 0460875094 PR2010.S3 1978

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, ed. and trans. A. Kent Hieatt and Constance B. Hieatt (Bantam, 1982), pb. $5.99 ISBN 0553210823 PR1870.A1 H48

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. and trans. James Winny (Broadview, 1992), pb. ISBN 0-921149-92-1 PR2065.G3 1992

Maggie Black, The Medieval Cookbook (Thames and Hudson, rpt. 1996), pb. $17.47 ISBN 05000115481 TX717.B538 1992

(Selected Readings and Handouts Available at the English Department Office)

Recommended (On Reserve):

Robert Brent Toplin, ¡§The Filmmaker as Historian,¡¨ American Historical Review 93 (Dec. 1988): 1210-27.

Staiger, Janet. ¡§Securing the Fictional Narrative as a Tale of the Historical Real,¡¨ South Atlantic Quarterly 88 (Spring, 1989): 393-413.

Feature Films:

Peter Glenville, dir., Becket (Great Britain, 1964), G.B. PN1997.B361996, 148 mins.

Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden, 96 mins.) PN1997.S5 1985

Anthony Harvey, dir., The Lion in Winter (Great Britain, 1968, 135 mins.), PN1997.L565 1994

Roberto Rossellini, dir., The Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi (1950) (Italy), appr.  80 mins. PN1997 F716 1990

Ingmar Bergman, dir., The Virgin Spring (Sweden, 1959, 88 mins.) PN1997.V567 1986

Jean-Jacques Annaud, dir. The Name of the Rose (Germany, 1986, 128 mins.) PN1997.N35 1987

Piero Pasolini, Decameron (Italy, 1971, 111 mins.)PN1997.D3961990

Bertrand Tavernier, dir., Le Passion Béatrice (France, 1988, 132 mins.) Ordered

Carl Theodor Dreyer, dir. The Passion of Joan of Arc (France, 1928, 82 mins.)    

(silent) PN1997.P362 1996

Daniel Vigne, dir. Return of Martin Guerre (France, 1982, 123 mins.) PN1997.R47 1984

Introduction: The Three Estates

Week 1

Jan. 13 Tu Introduction to the Later Middle Ages: History, Literature, and Film.

Jan. 15 Th The Fair Field of Folk.

Read Piers Plowman, Passus 1-7 (Visio) in Schmidt

Sunday Film: Peter Glenville, dir., Becket (Great Britain, 1964), G.B. PN1997.B361996, 148 mins.

Week 2

Jan. 20 Tu The Three Estates: Aristocracy, Clergy, Commons (and Women?).

Read Chaucer¡¦s General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in Hieatt and Hieatt

I The First Estate: The Aristocracy. Court and Castle

Jan. 22 Th Feudalism and Chivalry: The Ideal and the RealityRead Fulbert of Chartres, Letter to William of Aquitaine; Hugh of Lusignan, Agreement  between Lord and Vassal; and Galbert of Bruges, The Murder of Charles the Good, in Geary, pp. 386-406

            Handouts on 14th c. Chivalry 

            (Sign up for a medieval dish from the list at the back of the syllabus)

Sunday Film: Ingmar Bergman, ¡§The Seventh Seal¡¨ (1957, Sweden, 96 mins.) PN1997.S5 1985

Week 3

Jan. 27 Tu Chivalry and the Crusades: Chaucer¡¦s Knight

            Read ¡§The First Crusade: Four Accounts (Fulcher of Chartres, Solomon Bar Simson, Ibn Al-Athir, Anna Comnena), in Geary, pp. 407-42; Canons of the Fourth Lateran Council, pp. 466-69

Read: Chaucer¡¦s Portrait of the Knight in the General Prologue

Jan. 29 Th  Courtly Love and the Personal Voice.

Read: Excerpts from Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love, trans. John Parry; Troubadour and Trobaritz Lyrics (Handouts), Recordings

Chaucer¡¦s Portraits of the Squire and the Prioress

Sunday Film: Anthony Harvey, dir., The Lion in Winter (Great Britain, 1968, 135 mins.), ISBN PN1997.L565 1994

Week 4

Feb. 3 Tu Chivalry and Courtly Love in the Fourteenth Century: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Feb. 5 Th  (Continued); Late Medieval Castles: The Trés Riches Heures of the Duke of Berry  (slide lecture)

            Read: Franklin¡¦s and Cook¡¦s portraits in Chaucer¡¦s General Prologue

Sunday Feb. 8th Medieval Banquet (meet at my house): Bring One Dish

            II. The Second Estate: The Church. Monastery and Friary, Cathedral and University

            Week 5

Feb. 10 Tu The Design of the Monastery: Abbeys in England and France; Gregorian Chant; Books and Book-making

            In class: ¡§The Medieval Book¡¨ (VHS, 26 mins.) Z6.M415 1996 and recordings of Gregorian Chant

            Read: The Rule of St. Benedict, in Geary, pp. 169-98

            Gregory the Great, Dialogues (about St. Benedict¡¦s life), pp. 199-220

Feb. 12 Th Life in the Monastery  Paper Topic(s) for Paper #1 Due

            Read: Bede¡¦s Ecclesiastical History of the English Church and People, in Geary, pp. 224-35

            Portraits of Chaucer¡¦s Monk, Prioress, and Nun¡¦s Priest in the General Prologue

Sunday Film: Roberto Rossellini, dir., The Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi (1950) (Italy) 80 mins.

            Week 6

Feb. 17 Tu The Rise of the Mendicant Movement: St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226)

            Read St. Francis of Assisi¡¦s Rule, Clare of Assisi¡¦s Testament, the Canonization Process of St. Dominic, and Thomas of Cantimpré, Defense of the Mendicants, in Geary, pp. 470-92

            Read  Chaucer¡¦s Portrait of the Friar and the Pardoner

Feb. 19 Th The Beghards, Beguines, and Tertiaries, the Spread of Heresy, and the Golden Age of Mysticism                                 Bibliography for Paper #1 Due

            Read excerpts from Catherine of Siena, Dialogues, in Geary, pp. 815-23

            Read Chaucer¡¦s portrait of the Second Nun

Sunday Film: Ingmar Bergman, dir., The Virgin Spring (Sweden, 1959, 88 mins.) PN1997.V567 1986

            Week 7

Feb. 24 Tu  The Gothic Cathedral and Medieval Music

            Read: Otto Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, chap. 2: ¡§Measure and Light,¡¨ pp. 21-5

¡§The Gothic Cathedral,¡¨ VHS (16 mins.) NA5453.G68 1982   

¡§Medieval Art and Music¡¨ (1990, 35 mins.) NX449.M43 1990

            Recordings of medieval music (liturgical chant and late medieval polyphony)

Feb. 26 Th  The Cathedral and the Origins of Medieval Drama

            Videocassette on ¡§The York Cycle in the Fifteenth Century¡¨ (VHS, 1972, 19 mins.) PR649.Y8 Y67 1984

            Read Simson, The Gothic Cathedral, chap. 7: ¡§The Cathedral of Chartres,¡¨ pp. 183-234

            Read: Quem Quaeritis Trope, Hilarius¡¦s Suscitatio Lazari (handouts)

Midterm Examination Due 9 AM Friday

Midterm Break

Week 8

Mar. 9 Tu  Gender and Iconoclasm: Saxon Canoness Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, Resurrection of Drusiana, Calimachus, and The Fall and Repentance of Mary (videocassette, Santa Clara University, 73 mins.)

Mar.11 Th (cont.) Handouts on Hrotsvit

            Read Hrotsvit, Resurrection of Drusiana, Calimachus

Sunday Film: Jean-Jacques Annaud, dir. The Name of the Rose (Germany, 1986, 128 mins.), PN1997.N35 1987

Week 9

Mar. 16 Tu University, Curriculum, Scholastic Learning, and Aristotle: The Seven Liberal Arts

            Read: Chaucer¡¦s Portrait of the Clerk in GP

            Read St. Bonaventure, Siger of Brabant, and St. Thomas Aquinas, in Geary, pp. 493-523

III. The Third Estate: The Commons, the Disintegration of Authority, and the Rise to Power of the Middle Class (and Women)

Mar. 18 Th Heresy and the Inquisition        

Read Jacques Fournier, Inquisition Records, in Geary, pp. 524-44, and Marsilius of Padua, Discourses, in Geary, pp. 545-66

Sunday: Open

            Week 10

Mar. 23 Tu The Black Death

Read: documents from Joseph Byrne, ed. The Black Death, handout

Mar. 25 Th Boccaccio, Decameron

Read: Boccaccio, selections from The Decameron (handout)

Sunday Film:  Piero Pasolini, Decameron (Italy, 1971, 111 mins.), PN1997.D396 1990

            Week 11

 Mar. 30 Tu. The Hundred Years¡¦ War and the Disintegration of Authority

Read The Campaign of Crécy (1346), in Jean Froissart, Chronicles, in Geary, pp. 716-30

Paper # 1 Due

Apr. 1   Th   The Jacquerie, the Peasants¡¦ Revolt, Literacy, and Rebellion

Read: (Cont.) Froissart, in Geary pp. 730-41

Read: John Ball¡¦s Letter and sel. documents from Dobson, ed. The Peasants Revolt of 1381 (handout)

Read Chaucer¡¦s Portraits of the Miller, the Plowman, and the Parson

Sunday Film: Bertrand Tavernier, dir., Le Passion Béatrice (France, 1988, 132 mins.)

(Note: this film contains graphic images of violence, incest, and rape that may be upsetting to some)

Week 12

Apr. 6 Tu  The Rise of Women in the Professions

            Read: Chaucer¡¦s Wife of Bath¡¦s Prologue and Tale, in Hieatt and Hieatt 

            Videocassette on ¡§The Fifteen Joys of Marriage¡¨ 11 mins., HQ1143.F54 1972

Apr. 8  Th  Excerpts from Margery Kempe, Book, in Geary, pp. 567-99

            Videocassette on Margery Kempe by Kathy Garat BV5095.K4 M3 2000

Sunday Film: Carl Theodor Dreyer, dir. The Passion of Joan of Arc (France, 1928, 82 mins.) (silent) PN1997.P362 1996

Week 13

Apr. 13 Tu The Trial and Execution of Joan of Arc

Read: Christine de Pizan, ¡§The Ditie of Jeanne d¡¦Arc¡¨ (handout); The Trial of Joan of Arc, Geary, pp. 742-65

Apr. 15 Th  The Commons, the Medieval Village, the Middle Class, and Late Medieval Drama

Wakefield Master, The Killing of Abel, Videocassette, 40 mins.  PN 1997.K54 1985

OR Noah and the Flood, by the Fishers and the Mariners, Poculi Ludique Societas, 1977 (videorecording)  PN1997 .N62 1977 (22 mins.)

Read ¡§A Medieval English Village: Plans of Wharram Percy,¡¨ Geary, pp. 798-800; A Merchant¡¦s Diary by Gregorio Dati, in Geary, pp. 836-51

Read Chaucer¡¦s portrait of the Guildsmen in the General Prologue

Sunday Film: Daniel Vigne, dir. Return of Martin Guerre (France, 1982, 123 mins.) PN1997.R47 1984

Week 14

Apr. 20 Tu  Private Life in the Middle Ages

Read: George Duby, The History of Private Life, pp. 3-31, 509-540, 581-610 (handout)

Apr. 22 Th  Wrap Up; Evaluations                       Film Paper Due

Final Examination

Requirements:

Requirements: two papers (8-10 and 5-8 pp.), one medieval dish for the medieval banquet, and two exams (midterm and final), due Feb. 26th and by the end of the exam period in May.

       Papers and Projects:

I.                   Medieval Banquet  (Feb. 8th, Sunday)

Each student will cook a medieval dish deriving from one of two medieval cookbooks. The menu and recipes (found in Maggie Black, Medieval Cookbook) are for the following dishes:

                                          Appetizers

Cabbage Chowder  Green Pea Pottage  Jowtes with Almond Milk  Mushroom Pasties

(pp. 72-73)                     (pp. 87-88)                (pp. 63-65)                         (pp. 832-83)

                                          Entrees

Blankmanger   Broiled Venison     Pike in Galantyne  Braised Beef      Pork Rolls 

(pp. 45-46)             (p. 114)                   (pp. 58-60)                (pp. 89-90)      (pp. 92-93)

Lombard Chicken Pasties   A Grete Pye     Poached Fowl and Bacon w. pudding 

(pp. 42-48)                                 (pp. 118-19)    (pp. 89-95)

Pork Roast in Spiced Wine    Departed Creamed Fish (mortrews)

(pp. 116-17)                   (pp. 74-75)

                                          Side Dishes

Leeks and Sops in Wine    Buknade          Braised Spring Greens

(pp. 57-58)                        (pottage soup)                (pp. 39-41)

                                     (pp. 101-2)

                                          Breads

White Bread and Rolls         Barley Bread               Girdle Breads

(pp. 37-38)                             (pp. 55-56)            (pp. 24-25)

                                          Desserts

Fried Fig Pastries    Rose Pudding    Fig and Raisin Cream   Lombard Slices                     

(pp. 66-67)               (pp. 109-110)    (pp. 49-50)                    (pp. 123-4)

                                        Ypocras (or Piment, 3)

                                           (Hippocras)

       (pp. 66-67)

Recipes and numbers will be adjusted to fit the size of the class.  

II.                 Medieval Project (8-10 pp.), due March 31st @ 9AM

A long paper (8-10 pp.) or creative project (normally supplemented by a paper).

In previous years student selected these topics for papers:

Irish monasteries

Robin Hood and Forest Law

Images of the Devil in the Middle Ages

El Lazarillo de Tormes (a fifteenth-century Spanish work)

Motets by de Vitry and Machaut

Chivalry and the Samurai

The Ars Nova

Gawain¡¦s Five Faults

Oblatio (child abandonment)

Epicureanism in Dante

Medieval alchemy

Images of Fortune in Boethius and Dante

The Good Samaritan in Piers Plowman

Social Structure in Chaucer¡¦s Prologue to the Canterbury Tales

Students are encouraged to talk to the instructor about topics in which they are interested.

Creative projects in the past have included:

--Medieval costume¡Xa fourteenth-century lady¡¦s dress based on literary evidence from Chaucer and Langland and manuscript illuminations, supplemented by a paper explaining why the dress looked as it did and how it would have been made then.

--Chain mail of the later Middle Ages, made according to instructions and visual evidence available in primary material, supplemented by a paper describing the medieval methods garnered from the medieval materials.

--The ¡§Diary of a Medieval Jew¡¨ (researched by an examination of medieval historical documents and supplemented by a historical introduction)

--A parody of a medieval morality play, Everystudent; and

--A parody of Dante¡¦s Inferno called ¡§The University as Hell.¡¨

--Performance of a medieval play

II.                 Paper on Medieval Ideas in Modern Films (5-8 pp.), due April 22, 2004

Along the way, this survey of the ¡§reel Middle Ages¡¨ has examined modern filmic versions of well-known masterpieces of medieval literature and of significant medieval historic events reflected in literature, chronicles, and treatises. In the course we will explore how we impose our own cultural overlay onto our interpretations and translations like a palimpsest¡Xthat is, a manuscript scraped and reused for another, different, text.

How and why are the directors of the films we have seen this semester interested in medieval ideas? How are medieval ideas realized? How is film an appropriate medium for the use of such ideas? What differences do you detect between the ideas or images presented in medieval primary sources and in these modern films? What continuity, if any, exists from film to film¡Xdo the directors share the same or different ideas? How do their modern visions differ from the medieval versions of each?

You may wish to cite examples from the medieval texts we have read thus far to define and elaborate on medieval idea. You must also use at least four of the following films in some way in your paper:

Peter Glenville, dir., Becket (Great Britain, 1964), G.B. PN1997.B361996,   148 mins.

Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden, 96 mins.) PN1997.S5 1985

Anthony Harvey, dir., The Lion in Winter (Great Britain, 1968, 135 mins.), ISBN PN1997.L565 1994

Roberto Rossellini, dir., The Flowers of St. Francis of Assisi (1950) (Italy) 80 mins.

Ingmar Bergman, dir., The Virgin Spring (Sweden, 1959, 88 mins.) PN1997.V567 1986

Jean-Jacques Annaud, dir. The Name of the Rose (Germany, 1986, 128 mins.) PN1997.N35 1987

Piero Pasolini, Decameron (Italy, 1971, 111 mins.)PN1997.D3961990

Bertrand Tavernier, dir., Le Passion Béatrice (France, 1988, 132 mins.) Ordered

Carl Theodor Dreyer, dir. The Passion of Joan of Arc (France, 1928, 82 mins.) (silent) PN1997.P362 1996

Daniel Vigne, dir. Return of Martin Guerre (France, 1982, 123 mins.) PN1997.R47 1984

Some possible themes, figures, or symbols  you may wish to consider:

(1)   The Black Death (or Death in general)

(2)   The Apocalypse

(3)   Chivalry and the Knight

(4)   Love in the Middle Ages

(5)   The Virgin Mary

(6)   The Church

(7)   This World and the Next

(8)   Water and Mirror Symbolism

(9)   Art and the Artist

(10)                       Biblical Quotation and Imagery

(11)                       Parable, Myth, Legend, and History

(12)                       The idea and image of return

III.             Midterm and Final Examinations

Students will be asked before the midterm and final examinations to contribute identification and essay questions to a study guide, which will be passed out to all students a week before the exam and which will form the basis for the actual midterm and final examinations in the course.

Office Hours: 4-5 TTH and by appointment

Office: Second Floor Herring Hall

Phone: x2625  E-mail: jchance@rice.edu  Fax: 713-349-5991

Home Address (for Banquet): 2306 Wroxton Rd.

(Cross streets: Greenbriar and Bissonnet. Wroxton is one street south of Bissonett and intersects Greenbriar. Going south on Greenbriar, turn right on Wroxton; house is 2nd on the right. Swing in the front yard.)

Disability Notice:

1.      Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first two weeks of class.  All discussions will remain confidential.  Students with disabilities will need to contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.

2.      Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact me after class or during office hours.  Additionally, students will need to contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.

3.  If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs.  Additionally, you will need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the Ley Student Center.