| Welcome to the dynamic world of Paris in the twelfth century! Although Jerusalem is the center of the world, Paris after 1100 is the "place to be." The capital of resurgent monarchy under Louis VI, Louis VII and Philip Augustus, Paris is the scene of unprecedented cultural ferment and creative experimentation by the leading religious figures, artists, musicians, and writers. The increasingly astute monarchs, who unlike their counterparts in England and the Holy Roman Empire have not clashed seriously with the papacy, find in the Church a useful partner in creating a new and powerful state. Men and women struggle to better understand their faith, the self, their sexuality, and their place in an increasingly complex and challenging society.
The geography of Paris changes daily before our eyes. The vineyards, vital for liturgical and social purposes, are being driven back as the city swells. The king issues sanitation regulations. The self-contained cathedral schools are quickly being replaced by the flurry of buildings and monastic houses on the Left Bank. People are beginning to call the buildings and the students who populate them a university. "The Queen of Theology," as the University of Paris quickly becomes known, is a magnet for students from all over Europe thirsting for knowledge and new ideas. Burning questions are in the air. As students in these new, exciting - and sometimes dangerous - times, we will often venture into unknown territory.
This is the world you have entered. We will re-enact the critical debates and have roundtable discussions of the potential and problems of the time, university life, faith, and culture. In class, you will take on the roles of some of the leading figures we study (e.g., Guibert of Nogent/his mother/his teacher/his fellow religious; Abelard, Heloíse, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Peter the Venerable; Abbot Suger, etc.), offering new and often conflicting interpretations of their roles in society and the importance of their contributions as you try to get inside their heads. The past has often been called a foreign country - so you will be expected to study it critically, and at the same time try to become part of it in order to understand.
By the end of the course, students will be expected to understand and be able to analyze the interconnections between artistic and cultural life within the context of the growth of monarchical and church power, university life, and increasingly self-conscious expression. Let us begin!
We in our wandering,
Blithesome and squandering,
Tara, tantara, teino!
Eat to satiety,
Drink with propriety;
Tara, tantara, teino!
Laugh till our sides we spliot,
Rags on our hides we fit;
Tara, tantara, teno!
Jesting eternally,
Quaffing infernally:
Tara, tantara, teno!
Discussion, debates, role-playing, and films will be supplemented by powerpoint/slide presentations and Gothic music.
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Course Requirements
Midterm examination (essay) Nov. 16 (30%)
Abstract and substantial bibliography for final paper due Nov. 30
Final paper, approximately 15 pages, due Dec. 17 (40%)
Class presentations and participation (30%)
Books Available for Purchase
John F. Benton, ed. Self and Society in Medieval France: The Memoirs of Abbot
Guibert of Nogent
Michael Camille, Gothic Art: Glorious Visions
Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances
Charles Dollen, ed., St. Bernard of Clairvaux: On the Love of God and Other Selected
Writings
Erwin Panofsky, ed. Abbot Suger of the Abbey of Saint Denis
Betty Radice, ed., The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Charles Radding and William Clark, Medieval Architecture,
Medieval Learning
Note on Plagiarism
I expect all my students to follow a personal honor code. Unfortunately, there have been several recent cases in the department of plagiarism, so the following should help clarify what is and is not plagiarism.
To plagiarize is 1) to steal and use the writings and ideas of another as one's own; 2) to appropriate passages or ideas from another and use them as one's own (American Heritage Dictionary). It includes:
Quoting directly without acknowledging the source
Paraphrasing without acknowledging the source
Constructing a paraphrase that closely resembles the original in language and syntax*
*Mark Hellstern, et al, The History Student Writer's Manual(Saddle River, NJ, 1988), p. 121. You should consult style manuals for details on how to cite material.
Plagiarism will not be tolerated in this course - it will result in an automatic F.
You might find it worth while to download the Colby provided EndNote application and attend one of the library's tutorials. The CBB Plagiarism Resource Site has many helpful links or view this Bowdoin site for EndNote information. |
Schedule of Classes: Note: Study/reading questions will be given out before each class.
| Sept. 14 |
PART I: FRANCE IN THE 12TH AND EARLY 13TH CENTURIES
INTRODUCTION: MEDIEVAL PARIS
Elizabeth Hallam, Capetian France, ch. 4 (reserve)
Robert Berger, "Medieval Paris as an Artistic Capital"
(reserve)
Film clip from "The Louvre" (it was a fortress/
palace, not an art museum)
http://www.philippe-auguste.com/uk/
http://mw.mcmaster.ca/virtualparis/
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| Sept. 21 |
PART II: REDISCOVERY OF THE SELF
"AUTOBIOGRAPHY" AND MONASTIC LEARNING
John F. Benton, ed. Self and Society in Medieval France:
The Memoirs of Abbot Guibert of Nogent
ROLE PLAYING
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| Sept. 28 |
PETER ABELARD
Betty Radice, ed., The Letters of Abelard and Heloise,
"Introduction, Historia Calamitatum," pp. 9-106
"Peter Abelard's Sic et Non Introduction" (handout)
Film: "The Saint and the Scholar;""Stealing Heaven"
(outside of class)
Music: Hymns Composed by Peter Abelard
ROLE PLAYING
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| Oct. 5 |
HELOISE
Radice, Letters, "Personal Letters, Letters of Direction,
Letters of Peter the Venerable, Hymns," pp. 109-295
Music: Peter the Venerable's "Chants of the
Transfiguration"
DEBATE
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| Oct. 12 |
PART III: FAITH AND/OR REASON
BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX: The Struggle for the Church
Dollen, St. Bernard of Clairvaux: On the Love of God and Other
Selected Writings
http://www.abbayedefontenay.com/abbayedefontenay.htm
ROLE PLAYING/DEBATE
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| Oct. 19 |
FALL BREAK |
| Oct. 26 |
UNIVERSITY LIFE
Charles Radding and William Clark, Medieval Architecture,
Medieval Learning, chs. 2,4,6
Merry Wiesner, "Life in a Medieval University" (reserve)
ROLE PLAYING
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Nov 2 |
PART IV: ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ART AND ARCHITECTURE: TEACHING, READING, MEMORY
AND CULTURE
FRENCH ROMANESQUE
Roger Stalley, Early Medieval Architecture, chs. 5-10 (reserve)
Radding and Clark, Intro, chs. 3,5
http://architecture.relig.free.fr/cluny.htm
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/vezelay.html
MIDTERM EXAMINATION (first half of class)
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| Nov. 9 |
FROM ROMANESQUE TO GOTHIC:
A POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS STATEMENT
Erwin Panofsky, ed. Abbot Suger
Radding and Clark, Medieval Architecture, Medieval
Learning, Introduction, chs. 7,Conclusion
Slides of Romanesque architecture
Films: "The Jeweled City"
DEBATE
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| Nov. 16 |
"THE FRENCH STYLE: BOOKS FOR THE ILLITERATE"
Michael Camille, Gothic Art: Glorious Visions
Digital version of "Amiens Trilogy"
http://www.beloit.edu/~arthist/historyofart/gothic/gothic.htm
http://www.learn.columbia.edu/Mcahweb/index-frame.html
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| Nov. 23 |
COURTLY AND POPULAR LITERATURE
Cline, Chrétien de Troyes: Perceval or the Story of the Holy Grail
[The romances will be assigned individually]
Marie de France, "Eliduc" (reserve)
"A French Fabliau," "Renard the Fox" (reserve)
*PRESENTATIONS BASED ON PERSONAL
ASSIGNMENT IN CHRETIEN DE TROYES
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| Nov.30 |
WAS THERE A TWELFTH-CENTURY RENAISSANCE?
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
ABSTRACT AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
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| Dec. 7 |
PRESENTATIONS |
| Dec. 17 |
FINAL PAPERS DUE |
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