Program in Medieval Studies

www.virginia.edu/medievalstudies/

Overview Every period in history is better illuminated and understood by using evidence from research in different fields rather than studying it solely from the point of view of a single discipline. People of the past, after all, did not live their lives according to the departmental divisions of a modern university. Medieval studies, particularly in the last half century, have benefited enormously from this interdisciplinary approach. Work, for example, in family history, genealogy, gender studies, folklore, anthropology, archaeology, religious and intellectual history, textual criticism, iconography, linguistic analysis, and statistical research has advanced and deepened our knowledge of the highways and byways of the period.

Faculty  At the University of Virginia, a strong program in teaching and research is supported by more than thirty-five faculty members who offer upwards of eighty courses on medieval topics in the departments of history, classics, religious studies, philosophy, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, art history, music, and government. The University libraries have significant holdings of printed works in the primary and secondary sources; and the Medieval Circle at the University, founded in 1968 as a forum for the discussion of current topics and research in progress, is flourishing in its thirtieth year.

Students  For the able and interested student, the major provides a way of pursuing medieval studies free of existing departmental requirements, a program of language study within the field, a sound training for graduate work, and a chance to share knowledge and opinions with other scholars on the incunabulum period of Western civilization. Moreover, by its comprehensive structure, it promotes cordiality, collegiality, and an exchange of views across departmental lines.

The major in medieval studies, because it helps to develop and refine powers of criticism and imagination, and because it encourages, through practice, the ability to think and write with clarity and precision, furnishes the skills necessary to succeed in a wide variety of vocational fields. The administrative responsibility of the major rests with an interdepartmental committee appointed by the dean of the College and chaired by Professor Everett U. Crosby in the Department of History.

Requirements for Major  The major is open to all qualified students in the College. Students should be competent in a modern foreign language at the second-year course level or better, and they must complete:

1. 30 credits in courses approved by the student's advisor with passing grades and at least a 2.0 GPA, distributed over the following fields of study:
   • History (9 credits)
   • Language (6 credits, at the 200-level or above, other than Latin 201- 202)
   • Literature (9 credits)
   • Art or Music (3 credits)
   • Philosophy, Religious Studies or Political Thought (3 credits);
2. the satisfactory completion of Latin 201-202, or the equivalent.
3. a senior essay on an approved subject and written under the supervision of a member of the faculty to be submitted to the chair of the committee in the spring of the final year (6 credits).

The problems inherent in an interdisciplinary major—sources and methods in different fields and developing a program of study from a vast array of courses—can be dealt with to a large extent by fitting the program to each student's abilities and needs through individual consultation, seminar work, and careful supervision of the senior essay, which is designed to furnish a measure of coherence in the student's view of the period.

The major may be combined with another departmental program as a double major, or it may be taken as a minor subject provided at least 18 credits are in medieval courses approved by the student's advisor.

Additional Information For more information, contact Everett Crosby, Program Chair, Department of History, 220 Randall Hall, Charlottesville, VA 22903; (434) 924-6407.

MSP 308 - (3) (Y)
Colloquium in Medieval Studies
Discussion and criticism of selected works of and on the period. Taught by different members of the medieval faculty.

MSP 480 - (3) (Y)
Seminar in Medieval Studies
For advanced students dealing with methods of research in the field. Taught by different members of the medieval faculty.

Basic Courses

AR H 101 - (3) (Y)
Ancient and Medieval Architecture

ARTH 221 - (3) (Y)
Early Christian and Byzantine Art

ARTH 222 - (3) (Y)
Medieval Art in Western Europe

ARTH 231 - (3) (Y)
Italian Renaissance Art

CLAS 202 - (3) (Y)
Roman Civilization

HIEU 206 - (3) (Y)
The Birth of Europe

HIEU 211 - (3) (Y)
England to 1688

HIME 201 - (3) (Y)
History of the Islamic Middle East, 570-1300

HISA 202 - (3) (IR)
History and Civilization of Medieval India

ITTR 226 - (3) (S)
Dante in Translation

ITTR 227 - (3) (IR)
Petrarch in Translation

ITTR 228 - (3) (E)
Boccaccio in Translation

PHIL 111 - (3) (Y)
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

RELC 205, 206 - (3) (Y)
History of Christianity

RELC 233 - (3) (E)
Christian Social and Political Thought I

RELC 246 - (3) (Y)
Aspects of Catholic Tradition

RELI 207 - (3) (Y)
Classical Islam

Advanced Courses

ARTH 316 - (3) (IR)
Roman Architecture

ARTH 333 - (3) (IR)
Renaissance Art and Literature

ARTH 516 - (3) (IR)
Roman Architecture

ARTH 518 - (3) (IR)
Roman Imperial Art and Architecture I

ARTH 519 - (3) (IR)
Roman Imperial Art and Architecture II

ARTH 522 - (3) (IR)
Byzantine Art

ARTH 533 - (3) (IR)
Italian Fifteenth Century Painting I

ARTH 537 - (3) (IR)
Italian Renaissance Sculpture I

ARTH 541 - (3) (IR)
Northern Art of the Fifteenth Century

CLAS 314 - (3) (E)
Age of Augustine

ENMD 311, 312 - (3) (Y)
Medieval European Literature in Translation

ENMD 325, 326 - (3) (Y)
Chaucer I, II

ENMD 481, 482 - (3) (Y)
Advanced Studies in Medieval Literature I, II

ENMD 501 - (3) (Y)
Introduction to Old English

ENMD 505, 506 - (3) (IR)
Old Icelandic

ENMD 520 - (3) (Y)
Beowulf

FREN 341 - (3) (Y)
Literature of the Middle Ages and 16th Century

FREN 401 - (3) (Y)
Literature of the Middle Ages

FREN 402 - (3) (IR)
Renaissance Literature

FREN 508 - (3) (SI)
Introduction to Reading Old French

FREN 509 - (3) (SI)
Introduction to Old Provencal Language and Literature

FREN 510 - (3) (Y)
Medieval Literature in Modern French

FREN 520, 521 - (3) (Y)
Literature of the 16th Century

GERM 510 - (3) (IR)
Middle High German

GERM 512 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Lyric Poetry

GERM 514 - (3) (IR)
Arthurian Romance

PLPT 301 - (3) (Y)
Ancient and Medieval Political Thought

HIEU 311 - (3) (IR)
Early Medieval Civilization

HIEU 312 - (3) (IR)
Later Medieval Civilization

HIEU 313 - (3) (E)
The World of Charlemagne

HIEU 314 - (3) (IR)
Anglo-Saxon England

HIEU 315 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Iberia

HIEU 316 - (3) (IR)
Byzantine Civilization

HIEU 317 - (3) (IR)
Eastern Christianity

HIEU 318 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Christianity

HIEU 321 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Italy

HIEU 322 - (3) (IR)
Renaissance Culture

HIEU 323 - (3) (IR)
Age of Reformation: 1450-1650

HIEU 324 - (3) (IR)
The Religious Reformation

HIEU 328 - (3) (IR)
Tudor England

HIEU 332 - (3) (IR)
Scientific Revolution

HIEU 379 - (3) (IR)
History of Russia to 1700

HIEU 505 - (3) (IR)
History of the Roman Empire

HIEU 506 - (3) (IR)
Roman Imperialism

HIEU 510 - (3) (IR)
Early Christian Thought

HIEU 511 - (3) (O)
Medieval England: 1042-1216

HIEU 512 - (3) (O)
Medieval England: 1216-1399

HIEU 513 - (3) (IR)
Medieval France

HIEU 516 - (3) (E)
The Medieval Church

HIEU 517 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Society

HIEU 518 - (3) (IR)
Historians in the Middle Ages

HIEU 519 - (3) (IR)
War and Society in the Middle Ages

HIEU 521 - (3) (IR)
Early Modern Germany

HIEU 526 - (3) (IR)
Russian History to 1700

HIEU 527 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Society

HIEU 551 - (3) (IR)
Seminar on Early Christian Thought

ITAL 311 - (3) (S)
Renaissance Literature

ITAL 410 - (3) (E)
Medioevo (Italian Culture and Literature in the Middle Ages)

ITAL 420 - (3) (SI)
Umanesimo (Italian Culture and Literature in the Humanistic Period)

LATI 309 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Latin

LATI 310 - (3) (IR)
Vergil

LATI 311 - (3) (IR)
Ovid

LATI 502 - (3) (SI)
Latin Writings of the Roman Empire

LATI 503 - (6) (SI)
History of Medieval Latin Literature

LATI 505 - (6) (SI)
Latin Paleography

LATI 509 - (3) (SI)
Roman Literary Criticism

LATI 516 - (3) (SI)
Vergil's Aeneid

LATI 520 - (3) (SI)
Ovid's Metamorphoses

LATI 522 - (3) (SI)
Tacitus

LATI 528 - (3) (SI)
Christian Latin Writings of the Empire

MUSI 101 - (3) (Y)
History of Music I, 1100-1750

MUSI 400 - (3) (E)
European Music to 1500

MUSI 500 - (3) (E)
Music History to 1500

PHIL 311 - (3) (E)
Plato

PHIL 312 - (3) (O)
Aristotle

PHIL 314 - (3) (IR)
Medieval Philosophy

PHIL 513 - (3) (O)
Topics in Medieval Philosophy

RELC 323 - (3) (IR)
Images of Christianity

RELC 324 - (3) (O)
Medieval Mysticism

RELC 325 - (3) (E)
Medieval Christianity

RELC 326 - (3) (Y)
The Reformation

RELC 538 - (3) (SI)
Counter Reformation and the Council of Trent

RELC 551 - (3) (E)
Seminar in Early Christian Thought

RELG 305 - (3) (E)
Religions of Western Antiquity

RELI 311 - (3) (E)
Muhammad and the Quran

RELI 312 - (3) (O)
Sufism

SPAN 340 - (3) (Y)
Spanish Literature to 1700

SPAN 450 - (3) (E-O)
Spanish Literature From Middle Ages to Renaissance