Courses

Required courses for the Medieval Studies Major:

  1. MDVL 210 (3 credits)
  2. MDVL 310 (3 credits)
  3. MDVL 490 (3 credits)

Required courses for the Medieval Studies Minor:

  1. MDVL 210 (3 credits)
  2. MDVL 310 (3 credits)

These required Medieval Studies courses for the major and minor are supplemented with a range of approved courses in Medieval Studies offered by various departments in the Faculty of Arts. Please contact the Medieval Studies program chair/ advisor for more information.


MDVL: Medieval Studies


Please click on individual course numbers in the left-hand column for current details about this years MDVL courses

 

Winter 2023

MDVL210 Introduction to Medieval Studies Sections

A survey of the study of the medieval period in Western Europe (400-1550), integrating history, literature, and the arts; topics vary from year to year; interested students should consult the Medieval Studies Advisor.

This course introduces students to the Middle Ages as a subject and to the interdisciplinary nature of the study of the period. Through three units, students encounter a range of historical, literary, and artistic material from medieval Britain and Northern Europe: the Anglo-Saxons and their culture in context (449-1066); the Vikings and their influence (c. 800-1100); and Britain as one element of a cross-Channel Norman kingdom during the renascence of the twelfth century.
Read More...

MDVL301 European Literature from the 5th to the 14th Century Sections

Selected works from the 5th to the 14th centuries in their cultural and social contexts.

The European Middle Ages did not occur in a bubble: medieval Europe was part of an interconnected social, political, economic and cultural continuum that spanned much of Eurasia and Africa, and included a myriad religions, languages and societies. In this interdisciplinary course we will explore some answers to these questions—as current now as they have been over the last several centuries—offered by some Medieval texts written in European vernaculars and in Latin, and having an influence throughout Medieval Europe. While our principal focus will be the study of literary works, we will also explore the historical landscape in which these landmarks are situated; the cultural background against which their actions are staged; and their relationship to an integrated creative and intellectual environment—including visual and plastic arts, music, ideas, and the sciences.
Read More...

MDVL310A Topics in Medieval Studies - TPCS MDVL STUDI Sections

Interdisciplinary approaches to selected topics in medieval history, literature, and the arts; topics vary from year to year; interested students should consult the Medieval Studies advisor.

In the third and last edition (1586) of François Hotman‘s exhaustive polemic against the hereditary nature of the French monarchy, Francogallia, the author inserted what he claimed was “a remarkable piece of evidence that was sent to me from a certain ancient manuscript of undetermined authorship.” This evidence purports to be the actual ordination sermon delivered by Archbishop Boniface of Mainz to Pepin the Short in 751, which confirmed the replacement of the Merovingian royal dynasty with Pepin and his Carolingian heirs at the request of the Gallic people. Unfortunately, Hotman’s “certain ancient manuscript” has never been found.
Read More...