Medieval Studies
Faculty of the Committee on Medieval Studies
Michael McCormick, Professor of History (Chair)
Thomas N. Bisson, Henry Charles Lea Professor of Medieval History
Daniel G. Donoghue, Professor of English and American Literature and Language
John Duffy, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Philology and Literature
Michael S. Flier, Oleksandr Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology
Patrick K. Ford, Margaret Brooks Robinson Professor of Celtic Languages and Literatures
Ioli Kalavrezou, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Art
Thomas Forrest Kelly, Harvard College Professor and Professor of Music (on leave spring term)
Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Professor of the Practice of Latin and Roman Languages (Divinity School) (on leave spring term)
Angeliki E. Laiou, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History (on leave 2000-01)
Francisco Márquez, Arthur Kinsgley Porter Research Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures
Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History (on leave fall term)
John E. Murdoch, Professor of the History of Science
Bernard Septimus, Jacob E. Safra Professor of Jewish History and Sephardic Civilization
Eckehard Simon, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures
Christine Smith, Professor of Architectural History (Design School)
R. J. Tarrant, Harvard College Professor and Pope Professor of the Latin Language and Literature
Alfred Thomas, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities (on leave fall term)
Jan Ziolkowski, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Medieval Latin and Professor of Comparative Literature
Other Faculty Offering Instruction in Medieval Studies
Roger E. Stoddard, Senior Lecturer on English
The standing committee on Medieval Studies exists in order to promote and coordinate work on medieval subjects broadly construed throughout the University, including Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and I Tatti in Florence as well as the various faculties and departments in Cambridge. Working in cooperation with the student-faculty Medieval Society, it sponsors events and activities of interest to medievalists. Among its most important activities are the frequent meetings of the Medieval Studies seminar (Monday afternoons), the sporadic Special Seminars in Medieval Studies, and fostering the Medieval Studies Library in Widener. Its electronic mailing list is the most comprehensive guide to late antique, medieval and Byzantine events at Harvard University and in the Boston area generally. No degree specifically in medieval studies is offered either on the undergraduate or on the graduate level, although it is possible to develop within many departmental programs an individual program emphasizing the medieval aspects of the field. A graduate student who wishes to follow an interdisciplinary doctoral program is required to enter and to work for at least a year in one of the regular departmental programs for the Ph.D. After a year, it is recommended that the student contact the chair of the Committee on Medieval Studies for guidance as to the alternatives available in medieval studies. With the assistance of the Committee on Medieval Studies, the student may petition the Dean of the Graduate School for permission to work under the guidance of a specially appointed Ad Hoc Committee in a specific area of Medieval Studies. If this petition is approved, the Ad Hoc Committee will supervise the graduate student’s program through the completion of the doctorate. Specific questions concerning Medieval Studies on either the undergraduate or the graduate level and requests for the pamphlet on Medieval Studies and the annual list of courses on medieval topics should be addressed to the Chairman of the Committee, Robinson Hall 202. For more information and to receive the MSC’s email on its frequent activities, contact medieval@fas.harvard.edu (and view its website at www.fas.harvard.edu/~medieval).
For Undergraduates and Graduates
[Medieval Studies 101. The Auxiliary Disciplines of Medieval History: Proseminar]
Catalog Number: 3759
Michael McCormick
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Familiarizes new scholars in art history, history, literature, and music with the research tools, techniques, and concepts required for advanced study of medieval evidence. “Medieval” ranges from Diocletian to the Renaissance, focusing on the Latin West but not neglecting Byzantium. Topics include general heuristics, hagiography, late and medieval Latin philology, late antique studies, numismatics, diplomatic, codicology, and an initiation to Latin paleography, from the 6th to the 17th century.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.
Medieval Studies 102. Intermediate Medieval Latin Palaeography and Manuscript Culture
Catalog Number: 7124 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Beverly Mayne Kienzle (Divinity School) and William P. Stoneman
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–4. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16, 17
An introduction to Latin manuscripts and the historical and cultural context of their production and use. This course includes a practical initiation to Latin palaeography, frequent visits to the Houghton Library and opportunities to work with both actual manuscripts and facsimiles of famous manuscripts, practice in transcribing previously unedited texts and discussion of problems in textual criticism. Student presentations on current research in the history of Western manuscript culture.
Prerequisite: A 100-level Latin course or the equivalent or instructor’s permission.
[Medieval Studies 103. Research Methods in Late Medieval and Renaissance Studies]
Catalog Number: 4215
James Hankins
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Introduction to manuscript research, paleography, codicology, and source criticism.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02.
Medieval Studies 105. Production of Manuscripts and Printed Books Before 1600
Catalog Number: 3251
Roger E. Stoddard and assistant
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An examination of the physical structure and means of production of early manuscripts and printed books based on examples in the Houghton Library.
[Medieval Studies 117. Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England]
Catalog Number: 5468
Charles Donahue, Jr. (Law School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
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.
Note: Expected to be given in 2001–02. Normally alternates with History 1133. Offered concurrently, but with a separate section at the Law School.
[Medieval Studies 119. Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval Continental Europe]
Catalog Number: 4410
Charles Donahue, Jr. (Law School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
A survey of the main outlines of continental European legal history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the “rise of absolutism” at the beginning of the 17th century. Focuses on the main expressions of European legal culture over this long period of time: the “barbarian law codes” (6th–10th centuries), the revival of the academic study of Roman and canon law (11th–13th centuries), the customary law (13th–16th centuries), the schools of academic law (14th–17th centuries: the “commentators,” the “humanists,” the “natural law school”), the tentative moves toward codification (13th–17th centuries). In each period an effort is made to relate the types of law produced to the social, political, and religious history of the period.
Note: Expected to be given in 2002–03.
Cross-listed Courses
[Ancient Near East 121. History of the Study of the Hebrew Bible: From the Renaissance to the Present: Seminar]
[Arabic 245r. Classical Arabic Literature: Seminar]
Arabic 248r. Medieval Arabic Writings on Grammar and Literary Theory: Seminar
[Celtic 114. Early Irish Historical Tales]
Celtic 115. Kingship in Pre-Norman Ireland
[Celtic 138r. The Mabinogi]
[Celtic 150. Celtic Paganism]
Celtic 184. Early Irish Literature
[Celtic 200. Introduction to Old Irish]
[Celtic 201. Continuing Old Irish]
[Celtic 204r. Readings in Early Irish Poetry]
Celtic 205r. Readings in Early Irish Prose
[Celtic 208. Early Irish Society]
Celtic 225a. Introduction to Middle Welsh
Celtic 225b. Continuing Middle Welsh
[Celtic 226r. Readings in Middle Welsh]
[Celtic 227. Welsh Bardic Poetry: Seminar]
[Celtic 230r. Sources for Medieval Welsh Culture and Society]
[Comparative Literature 111. From Type to Self in the Middle Ages]
Comparative Literature 112. Religion and Literature in the Middle Ages
[*Comparative Literature 210. Comparative Themes in the Literatures of Medieval Spain: Seminar]
*Comparative Literature 211. Mysticism and Literature: Seminar
[*Comparative Literature 280. Literary Theory and Criticism in the Middle Ages: Seminar]
*English 90cl. Comic Literature in the Middle Ages
*English 90e. Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde and Other Early Poems
English 101. The History and Structure of the English Language
English 102d. Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: Literature from the Time of King Alfred
English 115b. Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
English 116. Women and Medieval Literature
[*English 200b. Beowulf]
*English 296. Descriptive and Analytical Bibliography: Seminar
*English 300hf. Old and Middle English: Doctoral Conference
[*Folklore and Mythology 103. Oral Literature]
French 70a. Introduction to French Literature I: The Beginnings of Literary Space
French 100. History of the French Language
French 102. Introduction to Medieval Literature and Old French
[French 109. Representations of Death and Mourning in French Medieval Literature]
Germanic Philology 200. Introduction to Middle High German
Germanic Philology 225. History of the German Language
Government 1060. The History of Ancient and Medieval Political Philosophy
[Hebrew 165. Maimonides’ Book of Knowledge and its Medieval Critics]
[Hebrew 168. Medieval Hebrew Poetry]
[Hebrew 171. The Problem of Language in Medieval Jewish Thought]
[Hebrew 174. Political Thought: Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages]
Hebrew 176. Aristotle’s Ethics in Medieval Jewish Thought
[Hebrew 217. The Medieval Torah Commentary: A Practical Introduction: Seminar]
[Historical Study B-11. The Crusades]
Historical Study B-13. Charlemagne and the Birth of Medieval Civilization
[Historical Study B-19. The Renaissance in Florence]
History 10a. Western Societies, Politics, and Cultures: From Antiquity to 1650
*History 90a. Major Themes in Medieval History
History 1101. Medieval Europe
[History 1111. World of Late Antiquity]
History 1133. Medieval England (ca. 871–1485)
[History 1136. Romanesque Southern France (800-1250)]
[History 1141. Medieval Thought: Conference Course]
History 1150. The Jews in Muslim and Christian Spain
[History 1158. The Mediterranean in the Late Middle Ages, 1204–1500: Conference Course]
History 1166. Family, Sex, and Marriage in Western Europe 1300-1700: Conference Course
[History 1212. The Imperial System: Byzantine Society and Civilization, 8thc.-1204: Conference Course]
[History 1353 (formerly History 1251 and 1551). Medieval and Early Modern Russia]
History 1877a. History of the Near East, 600–1055
[History 1877b. History of the Near East, 1055–1517: Conference Course]
History 1878a. Ottoman State and Society I (1300–1550)
History 2101. Medieval Societies and Cultures: Proseminar
History 2122. Early Medieval History: Seminar: Communications in the Early Medieval Mediterranean
[*History 2124. Medieval History: Seminar]
[History 2126. Medieval Law]
[History 2271r. Topics in Byzantine History: Seminar]
[*History 2353 (formerly History 2251). Topics in Pre-Petrine History: Seminar]
[History 2375. Popular Culture in Renaissance and Reformation Europe (1350–1650)]
*History and Literature 97. Tutorial — Sophomore Year
History of Art and Architecture 12x. Introduction to Islamic Architecture (650-1650)
[History of Art and Architecture 12y. Introduction to Islamic Art: Visual and Portable Arts in Context]
[History of Art and Architecture 15d. Introduction to Italian Renaissance Painting and Sculpture ca. 1260–1600]
History of Art and Architecture 140r. Byzantine Art
History of Art and Architecture 240r. Byzantine Art
[History of Art and Architecture 251r. Italian Art of the Renaissance: Seminar]
History of Science 107. History of Medieval Science
[History of Science 112. Medicine and Society in Medieval and Renaissance Europe]
*History of Science 207r. Medieval Science: Seminar
[History of Science 215. Science and Culture in Late Medieval and Renaissance Europe: Seminar]
History of Science 297r. Topics in the History of Medieval Latin Science
*History of Science 298r. The Establishment of Medieval Latin Scientific and Philosophical Texts: Seminar
Italian 120a. Dante’s Inferno
Italian 120d. Dante’s Purgatorio and Paradiso
Italian 140. The Novella from Boccaccio to the Storytellers of the 16th Century
[Italian 220. Poesia del ’200]
[Italian 230. Petrarca and the Divided Self]
[Italian 235 (formerly 135). Boccaccio]
[Italian 256. Themes and Dreams of the Italian Renaissance]
Latin 3m. Latin Prose Selections (Medieval)
Linguistics 168. Introduction to Germanic Linguistics
Linguistics 250. Old Church Slavonic
[Literature and Arts A-26. Dante’s Divine Comedy and Its World]
Literature and Arts A-68. Poets and Poetry in the Celtic Literary Tradition
Literature and Arts A-78. The Vikings and the Nordic Heroic Tradition
[Literature and Arts B-35. The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent: Art, Architecture, and Ceremonial at the Ottoman Court]
Literature and Arts B-46. Art in the Wake of the Mongol Conquests: Genghis Khan and His Successors
[Literature and Arts C-20. The Hero of Irish Myth and Saga]
Literature and Arts C-22. European Culture in the Middle Ages
[Literature and Arts C-25. The Medieval Stage]
Literature and Arts C-28. Icon—Ritual—Text: Reading the Culture of Medieval Rus’
Literature and Arts C-43. The Medieval Court
Medieval Greek 115ar. Introduction to Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek 120. Readings in the Cappadocian Fathers
Medieval Greek 185. Workshop in Greek Paleography
[Medieval Latin 117. Fairy Tales and Their Tellers in the Middle Ages]
[Medieval Latin 120. Wisdom and Learning]
Medieval Latin 150. Abelard and Heloise
Medieval Latin 151. Virgil in the Middle Ages
[Medieval Latin 205. Waltharius Seminar]
Music 191r. Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Music: Proseminar
Music 205. Medieval Notation
Music 211r. Topics in Medieval Music: Seminar
Music 212r. Chant: Seminar
Music 213r. Topics in Medieval Polyphony: Seminar
*Music 214r. Renaissance Music: Seminar
[Religion 1420. History of Ancient Christianity from the Beginnings to the 4th Century]
Scandinavian 103. Scandinavian Mythology and Folklore
[Scandinavian 151. The Viking World]
[*Scandinavian 200a. Introduction to Old Norse]
[Scandinavian 200br. Old Norse Literature: Edda and Saga]
[Slavic 130a. Survey of Czech Literature from the Beginnings to 1774]
[Slavic 162e. Survey of Polish Literature from the Beginnings to 1795]
[Slavic 170. The Waning of the Muscovite Middle Ages]
Slavic 280r. Slavic Culture: Seminar
[Slavic 291. Problems in the History of Early Ukrainian Literature]
[Spanish 70a (formerly Spanish 100a). Hispanic Literature: The Middle Ages]
Spanish 116. Early Renaissance Spanish Prose on its Way to the Novel
Spanish 201. The History of the Spanish Language
Spanish 282r. Spanish Literature: Seminar