Department of French and Italian

Prerequisite: FRIT-F 300

This course serves as a general introduction to the cultural history of medieval France from the Carolingian Empire to 1500. We will move thematically, rather than chronologically, with each week focusing on different aspects of social, political, philosophical, literary, artistic, and religious life in medieval France. All classwork, class discussion, and written work will be conducted in French.

Weekly readings include secondary texts that offer broad perspectives paired with a variety of primary sources (medieval texts and objects) that we will use to study key figures and events in closer detail. Topics include medieval manuscripts, the crusades, pilgrimage and travel, feudalism, gothic cathedrals, and the origins of the French language. We will also study the way the Middle Ages is represented in media and popular culture.

Some class meetings will be devoted to the detailed discussion of readings and elaboration of key concepts; other class meetings will be devoted to labs. Class discussions focus on specific topics and aim to illuminate the methods of and approaches to the study of the Middle Ages. Lab days provide students hands-on and collaborative experience with medieval objects and with historical tools or knowledge, for example: writing with medieval quill pens and reading medieval calendars. The reading and response assignments each week provides an essential foundation for both the discussion and the lab components of the course, and for the development of writing skills in French.

FRIT-F 361      #13491        1:15P- 2:30P      TuTh      GA 3015    Prof. Elizabeth Hebbard

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