LOVE, LUST AND VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES Medieval Europe was undoubtedly gruff and violent but it also gave birth to courtly culture—raw warriors transformed into knights who performed heroic deeds, troubadours wrote epics in their honor and love songs about their ladies, women of the elite carved out a place in public discourse as patrons of the arts, and princely courts were increasingly defined by pageantry from jousting tournaments to royal coronations. This course will trace the development of this courtly culture from the eleventh to the sixteenth century, from its roots in Southern France to its spread to Northern France and then to various kingdoms in Europe. Central themes will include the transformation of the warrior into the knight, the relationship between violence and courtliness, courtly love, cultural production and the patronage of art, and the development of court pageantry and ceremonial. This is a class on cultural history and, as such, will rely on the interpretation of objects of art and material culture, literature as well as historical accounts. Course: Love, Lust and Violence in the Middle Ages Course Number: HIST 307-401 When: MW 2:00-3:30 Instructor: Prof. Ada Maria Kuskowski Contact Info: akusk@upenn.edu Office Hours: Office: College Hall 306E REQUIRED BOOKS Keen, Maurice. Chivalry. New Haven: Yale University Press (Yale Nota Bene), 2005. Georges Duby. William Marshall: The Flower of Chivalry. Pantheon, 1987. Chretien de Troyes, Lancelot (The Knight of the Cart), trans. by Burton Raffel. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. Geoffroi de Charny. A Knight's Own Book of Chivalry (The Middle Ages Series), trans. by Elspeth Kennedy and intro. by Richard Kaeuper. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. Andreas Capellanus, Andreas Capellanus on Love, trans. by P.G. Walsh. London: Duckworth (Paperduck), 1982. Lambert of Ardres, The History of the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres (The Middle Ages Series), trans. by Leah Shopkow. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
Sept 7— Labor Day Sept 9— Knighthood Geoffroi de Charny, Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry (91-3) Blackboard: C. Stephen Jaeger, "Courtliness as Social Change", in Cultures of Power: Lordship, Status and Process in Twelfth-Century Europe, ed. Thomas N. Bisson (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995), 287-309 Sept 11— Discussion: What obligations do vassals owe their lords, and vice versa? How does ideal square with practice? Blackboard: Fulbert on Feudal Obligations, Agreement between William V of Aquitaine & Hugh IV of Lusignan WEEK 4—KNIGHTHOOD Maurice Keen, Chivalry Chap. 2 & 4 Sept 14— Epic Knights Blackboard: Song of Roland selection; Tobias Capwell and David Edge, Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour in the Wallace Collection selection Sept 16— Knighthood and Faith Blackboard: Richard Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe selection Sept 18— Discussion: Was Lancelot the ideal medieval knight? Why or why not? Lancelot (entire text) WEEK 5 - CELEBRATION & RULES OF CONDUCT Maurice Keen, Chivalry Chap.5 & 9 Blackboard: Malcolm Vale, The Princely Court. ch. 5, “Court Life and Court Culture” Sept 21— Feasts Blackboard: “The Babee's Book, or A Little Report of How Young People Should Behave” p. (not editor’s intro numbered in Roman numerals); Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners selection Sept 23—Tournaments Froissart, “Tournament at Saint-Inglevert” p.373-381 Geoffroi de Charny p.47-60, 80-91, 95-7 Sept 25—What rules develop for jousts and tournaments? Why? Blackboard: Statute of Arms, Jousts in Smithfield, Rene d’Anjou’s Tournament Book