Literature and Culture: the Medieval World

Catalog description

Why is the millennium between 500 AD and 1500 AD commonly understood as the Middle Ages" in the West? If what comes before is the Classical World and after is the European Renaissance, what makes the middle so middle-ish? This interdisciplinary course looks at what constitutes that middle period, those many medieval centuries divided into Early, Middle and Late Medieval. It will examine how this historical epoch, so often left out of our narratives about who we are, is indeed a cornerstone of the West. Through an exploration of foundational texts in disciplines such as literature, history, the arts, politics, religion, economics and science, we'll look at the ways in which the middle ages becomes the era that later periods react against or build upon. We will explore how the culture and institutions that still shape the world we live in today emerge out of this middle millennium.