The twelfth-century renaissance: culture and society
Constant Mews
8 points * 2 lectures and 1 tutorial per week * Second semester * Clayton
This subject examines the flowering of cultural activity in France, England and the Rhineland 1070-1170, known as `the twelfth-century renaissance', and its relationship to wider changes in European society at this time. It will look at the writings (available in translation) of particular individuals, notably Guibert of Nogent, Abelard and Heloise, John of Salisbury and Hildegard of Bingen, in terms of their response to changing perceptions of self and the external world which developed in the twelfth century. Their writings will be studied in the broader context of a desire for renewal within an increasingly ambitious and sophisticated society during the time of the Crusades. The subject will also examine the tensions provoked by competing visions of cultural and religious renewal.
Assessment
Written (4000 words): 60% * Examinations (2 hours) 40%
Prescribed text
The letters of Abelard and Heloise Penguin
Recommended reading
Benson R L and Constable G Renaissance and renewal in the twelfth century U Toronto P
Duby G The knight, the lady and the priest Penguin
Gold P S The lady and the virgin: image, attitudes and experience in twelfth-century France U Chicago P
Haskins C H The renaissance of the twelfth century Harvard UP
Morris C The discovery of the individual 1051-1200 U Toronto P