MRST 110 - Medieval and Renaissance Culture

FDR: Offered as 110A when HL; or as 110 when HU; depending on topic.
Credits: 3
Planned Offering: 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, Pilgrimage, and European Encounters with Islam.

Topic for Winter 2011:

MRST 110A: Renaissance and Medieval Culture: The Knight and Society (3). This introduction to medieval studies turns to various disciplines to provide a comprehensive view of life in the Middle Ages. Throughout Western Europe, knights formed a distinct layer of society between the 8th and 14th centuries. We study the origin of knighthood, its mentality and complex codes, and how knights became a cohesive group that played a dominant role in the 12th and 13th centuries. We retrace the lives of the knights and their cultural impact by examining historical documents, artistic representations, and some of the literary texts that popularized chivalry, namely The Song of Roland, the Tristan et Iseut poems, and Chretien de Troyes’ romances. Emphasis is on discussions and collaborative research, with two written papers and a final project. (HL) Frégnac-Clave.