Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Masterworks of art and architecture in Western Europe from the decline of Rome to the dawn of the Italian Renaissance. Explores the creative tension between the impulse to originality and the authority of classical models in the search for new art forms. Emphasis on representative works considered in their totality (architecture, painting, sculpture, and minor arts) as experiential wholes; and on the plurality of geographical and cultural contexts (Italy, Germany, France, and Spain).

An introduction to the medieval history and culture of Slavs, Germans and Hungarians, ca. 800-1300 CE. Weekly meetings emphasize close reading of often-overlooked primary sources in translation, including chronicles, saint's lives, letters and charters. A collaborative GIS (Geographic Information Systems) project introduces students to new digital methods in historical spatial analysis, allowing them to map this fascinating civilization and its sources.

A survey of the ideas and events that shaped the structure of English law and governance from the Anglo-Saxon invasions to the Reformation Parliament. Topics include the formation of the kingdom of England, the emergence of institutions of royal governance, the relations between church and state, the development of Parliament, and the various institutional reactions to political conflict and social change.

A survey of continental European constitutional and legal history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the "Rise of absolutism" at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Focuses on the main expressions of European legal culture over this long period of time. In each period an effort is made to relate the types of law produced to social, political, and religious history.

Familiarizes scholars in all areas of medieval studies with the research tools and techniques for advanced study of late antique and medieval evidence: Latin palaeography, codicology, hagiography, late Latin philology, late antique studies, numismatics, diplomatic.

Introduction to Latin manuscripts and the historical and cultural context of their production and use. Opportunity to work with actual manuscripts and facsimiles, transcribe previously unedited texts, and discuss problems in textual criticism. Student presentations on research projects. All classes held in Houghton Library.

A literary and historical survey of preaching and the sermon from the early to the late Middle Ages, as practiced by bishops, monks, friars, religious women, lay people, and dissident Christians. Readings from sermons and other primary sources, current research on the history of preaching, and methodological issues. Focus on sermon and sermon-related manuscripts in the Houghton Library collection.

Reading and analysis of Hildegard of Bingen's exegetical work with attention to genre, intertextuality, and multi-mediality. Students will investigate sources and parallels to Hildegard's exegesis in the manuscripts of the Houghton collection. Research project required. All meetings held in Houghton Library.

Medieval scrolls continued to be made far into the era of the codex. They were used for reasons of format or solemnity, and to serve a variety of purposes (archival, legal, musical, and poetical). This seminar will study the phenomenon of the rotulus (scroll) and will prepare an exhibition at the Houghton Library of the fascinating and important scrolls in the Harvard libraries' collections. The course will meet at Houghton Library, with visits to other sites including the Morgan Library and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Experience with Latin paleography is desirable but not required.

Crusading expeditions in the Holy Land, Spain and Eastern Europe from 1096 until the end of the Middle Ages shaped the political, socio-economic and cultural map of Europe and the Middle East. This course explores the multifaceted encounters between crusaders, Byzantines, Jews, Armenians and Muslims through the material traces they left behind: architecture, Byzantine objects dispersed across Western Europe, coins, sculptures, frescoes, and manuscripts from the East and the West.

Examines literary theory and criticism inside curriculum (trivium) and outside (oral culture); manuscripts and commentary tradition; biblical exegesis; arts of poetry, letter-writing, preaching; Platonic and Aristotelian traditions; allegory/allegoresis; sign theory. Includes Augustine, Snorri, Dante, Boccaccio.

Focuses on dissertations in progress and other research topics of mutual concern.