MRST 110 - Medieval and Renaissance Culture

FDR: Offered as 110A when HL; GE3 or as 110 when HU; GE4a, depending on topic.
Credits: 3
When Offered: Winter

An introduction to the interdisciplinary study of the Medieval and Renaissance periods through the study of a particular topic. Recent studies: The Crusades, Monasticism, Chivalry, Elizabethan England, the Birth of Italian Literature, and European Encounters with Islam.

Topic in Winter, 2010:

MRST 110A: Pilgrims and Pilgrimage (3). This course explores the idea and practice of pilgrimage in Christian Europe from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. Why was pilgrimage important and what did it offer early Christians? What made certain space sacred? And how did literary portrayals transform the significance of pilgrimage? Throughout the course, we juxtapose historical sources with works of art (visual and literary), devotional treatises, and architecture. Sources include first-person accounts and travelogues, visual art and architecture, and literature. We also study several popular destinations in Europe and Asia, including Canterbury, Compostela, and Jerusalem. The result is a multifaceted approach to one of the most important institutions in medieval Western Europe from the 7th through the 16th centuries. (HL, GE3) Jirsa

Staff.