Visionaries and heretics, priests and peasants, prostitutes and persecutors were all players in a time of social turmoil and rebellion. The syllabus will include works by Chaucer, Margery Kempe, and Julian of Norwich and about the Lollards, pilgrimage, the Peasants' Uprising, family life, Mary Magdalene, monasteries, and mystics. We will also visit a selection of country houses that express the sweep of architectural and social changes of the period, including Fountains Abbey and Fountains Hall, Penshurst Place, Knole, Burghley House, and Hardwick Hall. The course will consider such topics as the role of women in a warrior culture, funeral iconography and customs, metal-smithing, pagan and Christian world views, monasticism, saints' legends and lives, and church reform. The artistic and social achievements studied in this course will indeed challenge that concept.
Dormitories have kitchenettes with limited facilities.
Cleaning service is provided. Bathrooms are shared between no more than four people. The group flight will leave Friday, July 6, and return Monday, August 13. All fees are subject to possible changes.