Sargan, James
MWF 11:30 AM
Park Hall 0136
The High Middle Ages—the period between roughly 1066 and 1347—was once thought of as a “Dark Age” in European history: a violent age in which technological development stagnated and reading and learning was scarce. We now know this to be false. These centuries saw the birth of the university (Bologna, Italy, 1088); the mechanization of the clock; the first eyeglasses; windmills; the adoption of ‘Arabic numerals’; and the planning and executing of the Gothic Cathedrals. In England, texts circulated in three languages—Latin, English, and French. The written word formed the basis of religious practice, administration, and legislation, as well as providing entertainment and edification, so even those who could not read themselves encountered the written word regularly as they navigated their lives. But what was it like to consume literature at this time? What might the “reading” experience be like for those to whom the written word was available? In this course we will read through and around a couple of manuscript collections from the late thirteenth century that brought vernacular literature into middle class households.