Medieval Culture and Daily Life
| Instructor: Brian W. Gastle | Office: Memorial 319 | ARSC 390.082 |
| E-Mail: bgastle@Udel.edu | Phone: x6597 | Class Time: MWF 2:30-3:20 |
| http://odin.english.udel.edu/bgastle/index.html | Fax: X1586 | Office Hours: MW 3:30-4:30 |
Class Description
This class will explore both how people lived their "daily lives" in the late middle ages (our focus will primarily be London at the end of the 14th century) and how modern culture (our own daily lives) has co-opted a sense of the "medieval" to construct its (our) identity.
First, we will attempt to re-construct what it was like to live in Europe in the 1390's, looking to literary, historical, and artistic "texts" for both realistic and idealistic examples of late medieval culture. Such an examination will therefore lead us to question the implicit dichotomy between literary and historical texts. For this section of the class, you will be expected to research a specific medieval identity/profession (merchant, weaver, scribe, innkeeper, prostitute, brewer, vintner, saddler, etc.-- even Chaucer had a day-job).
Second, we will apply our knowledge of the "real" middle ages to our own culture's
representation of that period. Why, for example, is the quote "I'm going to get medieval on your
ass" so popular or relevant; why not "I'm going to get Renaissance or Victorian or Classical on
your ass;" why is the pseudo-medieval genre of Speculative Fiction (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) so popular;
or why was it so important to construct Kennedy's administration (and to some extent Clinton's
via Kennedy) as "Camelot?"
Required Texts
| Boccaccio, Decameron | Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe |
| Dean, Medieval Political Writings | Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
| Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales | Photocopy Package (on reserve) of Historical Documents |
REQUIREMENTS
| Essay #1 | Expository/Close Reading | 4-6 pages | 20% |
| Essay #2 | Expository/Close Reading | 4-6 pages | 30% |
| Essay #3 | Research Paper | 5-10 pages | 35% |
| Participation | Class Discussion, etc. | 15% |
You will have ample opportunity to edit and revise drafts of your papers. Therefore, unless there are extenuating circumstances of epic proportions, I will not accept rewrites of previously graded papers.
In order to pass the class you must turn in all assignments. Note the logic of that phrase; turning in all the assignments does not guarantee a passing grade, but you will most certainly not pass if you fail to turn in an assignment.
All assignments are due at the beginning of each due-date class. I reserve the right to penalize late papers, usually reducing the grade 2/3 per day late. Please do not sacrifice class time for last minute revisions.
All assignments must be typed or word-processed.
SCHEDULE
| Wed | 9/3 | Introductions |
| Fri | 9/5 | "Bring out your dead . . ."
Working up to the end of the fourteenth century and the Plague of 1348 Read: Introduction to The Decameron |
| Mon | 9/8 | Sex and Death (What's the difference?)
Read: Two Decameron Tales |
| Wed | 9/10 | Allegory, Religion, Misogyny, and Social Conscience
Read: Decameron Day 10, Tale 10 (Griselda), & Conclusion |
| Fri | 9/12 | English Public Record and the Plague
Introduction to Middle English Read: 1348 Historical Documents (reserve package) |
| Mon | 9/15 | "He's oppressing me!"
Introduction to Medieval Estates and Estates Satire Read: Chaucer's General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales |
| Wed | 9/17 | "Three [estates] is a magic number . . ." Work, Pray, and Rule
Read: cont. General Prologue |
| Fri | 9/19 | The Best of Pilgrims, the Worst of Pilgrims
Read: cont. General Prologue |
| Mon | 9/22 | The Peasants are Revolting (Peasants usually are.)
Read: Dean, Political Writings Peasant's Revolt Texts (pp. 119-158) |
| Wed | 9/24 | John Ball
Read: Dean, Political Writings Peasant's Revolt Texts (pp. 119-158) |
| Fri | 9/26 | The Chronicle Accounts -- Historical "Objectivity"
Read: Peasant's Revolt Westminster Chronicle (reserve material) |
| Mon | 9/29 | "I'm averting my eyes, Oh Lord."
Lollardy, Catholicism, Blasphemy and Reform (Those who Pray) Read: Dean, PW from Prologue to Wycliffite Bible (pp. 60-75) |
| Wed | 10/1 | Heavenly Ideals vs Earthly Reality
Read: Dean, PW Anticlerical docs. (pp 31-59) |
| Fri | 10/3 | Immaculately Conceived -- Irreverently Rendered
Read: Two Decameron Tales |
| Mon | 10/6 | "Vengeance is mine"
Read: Chaucer, Summoner's Tale |
| Wed | 10/8 | Damnation and Edification
Read: Chaucer, Pardoner's Tale |
| Fri | 10/10 | Separation of Church and Estate
Read: Chaucer, Parson's Tale Prologue Dean, PW Plowman Writings (pp. 243-58) |
| Mon | 10/13 | "Silly English Ka-niggits"
Aristocratic Ideals (Those Who Fight) Read: Chaucer, Knight's Tale |
| Wed | 10/15 | Aristocracy and Patriarchy
Read: cont. Knight's Tale |
| Fri | 10/17 | Requitals and Chaucer's Material Girl
Read: Chaucer, Miller's Tale |
| Mon | 10/20 | Fall Break Day |
| Wed | 10/22 | "He is Brave Sir Robin . . . He will bravely run away . . ."
Courtly Love and the Court (Those Who Rule) Read: from Andreas Capellanus, "Art of Courtly Love" (reserve) |
| Fri | 10/24 | Traditional "Romance" Genre
Read: from Andreas, "AoCL" Tale of the Britain |
| Mon | 10/27 | Mock-Romance
Read: Chaucer, Tale of Sir Thopas |
| Wed | 10/29 | Allegory, Genre, and Didacticism
Read: Chaucer, Tale of Melibee |
| Fri | 10/31 | It's Good to be the King?
Read: Richard II Coronation/Deposition Records (reserve) |
| Mon | 11/3 | "I must face the peril . . . No, it's too perilous . . ."
Romance, Arthuriana, and English Identity Read: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
| Wed | 11/5 | "Like" a Virgin (but not really)
Read: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
| Fri | 11/7 | The Alliterative Tradition and Gendered Ideals
Read: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight |
| Mon | 11/10 | From Romance to Reality to Sur-Reality
Read: from Book of Margery Kempe |
| Wed | 11/12 | All Dressed-Up and Nowhere to Go
Read: from Book of Margery Kempe |
| Fri | 11/14 | Gender Trouble and Social Critique
Read: from Book of Margery Kempe |
| Mon | 11/17 | "Huge tracts of land . . ."
Business and the Middle Ages Read: Guild records and Wills; from Riley's Memorials (reserve) |
| Wed | 11/19 | What do the Simple Folk Do?
Read: from Paston Letters (reserve and online) |
| Fri | 11/21 | Winds of Change -- The Response to Capitalism
Read: Dean, PW Anti Simoniac Poetry (pp. 179-225) |
| Mon | 11/24 | Read: Dean, PW Anti Simoniac Poetry (pp. 179-225) |
| Wed | 11/26 | Thanksgiving Recess |
| Fri | 11/28 | Thanksgiving Recess |
| Mon | 12/1 | Genre and Mercantile Identity
Read: Chaucer, Merchant's Tale |
| Wed | 12/3 | Corpus and Corporation
Read: cont. Merchant's Tale |
| Fri | 12/5 | Internal Self-Fashioning
Read: Chaucer, Shipman's Tale |
| Mon | 12/8 | The Business of the Middle Ages |
| Wed | 12/10 | Last Day of Class |