History of Culture in the European Middle Ages 3700-CS1-2-HKES24-OG

The lectures outline the history of the culture of the European – primarily Latin – Middle Ages, showing its unity and diversity, lastingness and change, on the example of the most important phenomena of political history, social history, religion, science, art, literature.
The lectures teach students an interdisciplinary approach to issues of Mediaeval culture, how to notice features which prove both the unity and diversity of Mediaeval culture, to understand Mediaeval civilization processes. They help develop an attitude of respect for the culture of past ages and the ability to make conscious judgments.

The students are required to put in:
- 60 hours of participation in the lectures ("contact" hours)
- 90 hours of their own work (preparing for the exam, work necessary to achieve the planned effects of learning).

1) Image of medieval culture in later ages.
2) Three periods in the history of medieval culture (the Early, High and Late Middle Ages).
3) The three major sources of medieval culture: Christian culture, Greek and Roman antiquity, culture of the Barbarians.
4) The heavenly hierarchy, the Ecclesiastical hierarchy and the secular hierarchy.
5) Transformations of medieval spirituality.
6) Macrocosm and microcosm - image of the universe and the human being.
7) The medieval theological category of freedom.
8) Love for loved ones and love for God - the hierarchy of love in theology and literature.
9) Chaos, harmony, love and compassion - the Passion of Christ in theology, literature and iconography.
10) Carnival, jester, grotesque.
11) Heresies and the Inquisition.
12) White magic and witchcraft - between science and service to the devil.
13) On the relationship between woman and chaos in the medieval worldview.
14) The king - the idea and symbolism of power in medieval culture.
15) The chivalric culture.
16) The culture of the Third Estate.
17) Time as a category of medieval culture.
18) The rise and role of universities in medieval culture.
19) Daily life in the Middle Ages.
20) The medieval language of symbols.
21) Apocalyptic fears in the Late Middle Ages.

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

(in Polish) Wykład przeznaczony dla studentów, którzy: – umieją formułować wypowiedź ustną, prezentującą opracowany przez studenta temat w określonym czasie (poprawnie skomponowaną, zawierającą jasno sformułowaną tezę i właściwie zhierarchizowaną argumentację).

Course coordinators

Paweł Stępień

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course students will be able to:
- present the course, causes, and consequences of the most important processes of Mediaeval culture (based on the knowledge obtained from the lectures, required reading, and selected supplementary reading) [K_W02, K_W07, K_W12, K_U06, K_U11, K_K02, K_K05]

- analyse and interpret trends of Mediaeval culture using examples from that culture, selected by themselves or analysed during the lectures, e.g. works of art, architecture, literature, theology, philosophy, etc. (based on the knowledge obtained from the lectures, required reading, and selected supplementary reading), where:
a) in their analysis, they will identify features proving that an occurrence was distinctive within Mediaeval culture as well as features proving it was typical of Mediaeval culture
b) in their interpretation, they will decipher the symbolic meanings of the occurrence in accordance with the symbolic tradition of Mediaeval culture
c) on the example of the interpreted occurrence, they will indicate the continuity or differences between Mediaeval culture and today’s culture
d) they will make a judgment of the occurrence based on proper argumentation.
[K_W06, K_W08, K_W09, K_W10, K_W13, K_W14, K_W15, K_U01, K_U02, K_U05, K_U06, K_U07, K_U08, K_U13, K_K04, K_K07, K_K08]

Assessment criteria

1. Credits for the lecture series will be based on attendance, the final mark will be based on the results of the oral exam.
Two absences are allowed per semester, any further absences must be made up for during the teacher’s consulting hours, during a discussion on a piece of required and supplementary reading chosen by the teacher.

2. Exam requirements:
- knowledge of the issues presented during the lectures (20% of the final mark)
- familiarity with the required reading (20% of the final mark)
- preparing an oral statement on Mediaeval culture. The topic and the references will be agreed upon in advance with the teacher/examiner (60% of the final mark)

3. Assessment criteria:
- the statement’s relevance for the topic
- an independent, insightful, and cultural interpretation
- making use of existing research (references)
- composition of the statement (functionality, logic, clarity)

Bibliography

SUPPLEMENTARY READING
A. Crymble, Technology and the Historian: Transformations in the Digital Age. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 2021.
E. R. Curtius, Literatura europejska i łacińskie średniowiecze. Tłum. i oprac. A. Borowski. Kraków 2018.
A. Guriewicz, Problemy średniowiecznej kultury ludowej. Przeł. Z. Dobrzyniecki. Warszawa 1987.
A. Guriewicz, Średniowieczny śmiech na tle strachu [w zbiorze:] Humor europejski. Pod red. M. Abramowicza, D. Bertranda, T. Stróżyńskiego. Lublin 1994.
J. Hani, Symbolika świątyni chrześcijańskiej. Przeł. A. Q.Lavique. Kraków 1994 (lub wyd. nast.).
E.H. Kantorowicz, Dwa ciała króla. Studium ze średniowiecznej teologii politycznej. Z języka angielskiego tłum. M. Michalski i A. Krawiec. Warszawa 2007.
R.M. Karras, Seksualność w średniowiecznej Europie. Przeł. A. Bugaj. Warszawa 2012.
Kultura Polski średniowiecznej X-XIII w. Pod red. J. Dowiata. Warszawa 1985.
Kultura Polski średniowiecznej XIV-XV w. Pod red. B. Geremka. Warszawa 1997.
C.H. Lawrence, Monastycyzm średniowieczny. Formy życia religijnego w Europie Zachodniej wieków średnich. Przekład, wstęp i redakcja naukowa R. Rutkowski. Warszawa 2022.
A. Louth, Początki mistyki chrześcijańskiej (od Platona do Pseudo-Dionizego Areopagity). Przeł. H. Bednarek. Kraków 1997.
K. Modzelewski, Barbarzyńska Europa. Warszawa 2004.
M. Pastoreau, Średniowieczna gra symboli. Przeł. H. Igalson-Tygielska. Warszawa 2006.
J. Pelikan, Rozwój teologii średniowiecznej (600-1300). Przekład J. Pociej. Kraków 2009.
J.-P. Roux, Król. Mity i symbole. Przeł. K. Marczewska. Warszawa 1998.
J.-C. Schmitt, Gest w średniowiecznej Europie. Przeł. H. Zaremska. Warszawa 2006.
J.M.H. Smith, Europa po Rzymie. Historia kulturowa lat 500-1000. Nowe ujęcie. Tłum. A. Czwojdrak. Kraków 2008.
S. Swieżawski, Dzieje europejskiej filozofii klasycznej. Warszawa-Wrocław 2000.
M. Wilkowski, Wprowadzenie do historii cyfrowej. Wyd. 2, uzup. Gdańsk 2013 (do pobrania:
https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/2001/wprowadzenie_do_historii_cyfrowej_wilkowski.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y).
Przydatne linki:
https://networks.h-net.org/h-medieval (H-Net Network on the history, culture, religion, and society of Medieval Europe)
https://digital-scriptorium.org/ (Digital Scriptorium)

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 3700-CS1-2-HKES24-OG in USOSweb