Medieval Lit and Culture

MDVL 201/ENGL 202/CWL 253

Knights in shining armor fighting monsters. Saints performing miracles. Kings leading armies into battle. Monks offering prayers through their daily offices. Peasants tilling the fields. These are some of the most popular and enduring images of the Middle Ages, and in this course we will explore the literature, art, and history that gave rise to our ideas of the romance and chivalry of the medieval period. Our goal will be to read a broad range of medieval literature (all in modern English translation) from around the world: England, the Continent, the Arab world, and Asia. We will explore a variety of genres, including epics, sagas, romances, fabliaux, riddles, lyrics, and saints’ lives, and we will work to situate each work in its social and historical contexts with visits to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, the Spurlock Museum, and the Krannert Art Museum.

This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for a Literature and the Arts or Western/Comparative Cultures course.

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