Medieval Studies
Faculty of the Committee on Medieval Studies
Michael McCormick, Professor of History (Chair) (on leave 2001-02)
Eckehard Simon, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures (Acting Chair)
Thomas N. Bisson, Henry Charles Lea Professor of Medieval History
Charles Donahue, Jr., Professor of Law (Law School)
Daniel G. Donoghue, Professor of English and American Literature and Language
John Duffy, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Philology and Literature, Associate of Eliot House (on leave 2002-03)
Michael S. Flier, Oleksandr Potebnja Professor of Ukrainian Philology, Associate of Adams House
Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Professor of History of Art and Architecture
Seamus Heaney, Ralph Waldo Emerson Poet in Residence
Ioli Kalavrezou, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine Art (on leave spring term)
Thomas Forrest Kelly, Harvard College Professor and Morton B. Knafel Professor of the Humanities (on leave spring term)
Angeliki E. Laiou, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History (on leave 2001-02)
Roy Mottahedeh, Gurney Professor of History
John E. Murdoch, Professor of the History of Science
Tomás Ó Cathasaigh, Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Irish Studies
Katharine Park, Samuel Zemurray, Jr. and Doris Zemurray Stone Radcliffe Professor of the History of Science and of Women’s Studies
Christine Smith, Professor of Architectural History (Design School)
Alfred Thomas, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities, John L Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities
Jan Ziolkowski, Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Medieval Latin
Other Faculty Offering Instruction in Medieval Studies
Beverly Mayne Kienzle, Professor of the Practice of Latin and Roman Languages (Divinity School)
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 201. 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 2002–03.
[Medieval Studies 102. Intermediate Medieval Latin Palaeography and Manuscript Culture]
Catalog Number: 7124 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Beverly Mayne Kienzle (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
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.
Note: Expected to be given in 2002–03. Students will work with William P. Stoneman, Librarian of Houghton Library.
Prerequisite: A 100-level Latin course or the equivalent or instructor’s permission.
[Medieval Studies 105. Production of Manuscripts and Printed Books Before 1600]
Catalog Number: 3251
Roger E. Stoddard and assistant
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
An examination of the physical structure and means of production of early manuscripts and printed books based on examples in the Houghton Library.
Note: Expected to be given in 2002–03.
Medieval Studies 117. Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England
Catalog Number: 5468
Charles Donahue, Jr. (Law School)
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
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 omitted in 2002–03. 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 constitutional and 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. 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: Seminar]
Celtic 107. Early Irish History
Celtic 113. Gaelic Women’s Poetry
Celtic 114. Early Irish Historical Tales
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 203r. Middle Irish]
[Celtic 205r. Readings in Early Irish Prose]
[Celtic 208. Early Irish Society]
Celtic 226r. Readings in Middle Welsh
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 90cg. A Fascination with Purity: The Gawain Poet
*English 90cy. The Medieval Lyric
English 101. The History and Structure of the English Language
English 102. Early Bible Translations
English 103f. Anglo-Saxon Language and Culture: Before Love
English 115b. Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
English 182b. Orality and Literacy: From Beowulf to Dylan (and beyond)
*English 209. Necessary Truths: Religious Ideology and Vernacular Politics in Late Medieval England
*English 296. Descriptive and Analytical Bibliography: Graduate Seminar
*English 300hf. Old and Middle English: Doctoral Conference
*Folklore and Mythology 103. Oral Literature
French 70a. Introduction to French Literature I: From the Middle Ages to Modernity
[French 100. History of the French Language]
[French 102. Introduction to Medieval Literature and Old French]
[French 213. In Search of a Medieval Subject]
French 214. The Romance of the Rose and Its Medieval Reception
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 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-13. Charlemagne and the Birth of Medieval Civilization]
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 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 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 2314. Research Methods in Renaissance History: Seminar
[*History 2353 (formerly History 2251). Topics in Pre-Petrine History: Seminar]
*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 14. Introduction to Early Medieval Art]
History of Art and Architecture 15d. Introduction to Italian Renaissance Painting and Sculpture ca. 1260–1600
History of Art and Architecture 40. Court and Cloister in the Later Middle Ages
[History of Art and Architecture 140r. Byzantine Art]
History of Art and Architecture 146. The Illuminated Manuscript
History of Art and Architecture 240r. Byzantine Art
History of Art and Architecture 248. Vision, Visions and Visuality in Medieval 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 123. Semantics of Desire: The Erotic Theme in Dante’s Poetry
[Italian 140. The Novella from Boccaccio to the Storytellers of the 16th Century]
Italian 144. Life and Comedy in the Renaissance
[Italian 155. Machiavelli and Guicciardini]
[Italian 230. Petrarca and the Divided Self]
[Italian 235 (formerly 135). Boccaccio and the Birth of Novella]
Italian 249. From Love to Madness: Orlando’s Journey in Boiardo and Ariosto
[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 125. Byzantine Religious Tales
Medieval Greek 285. The Literature of Iconoclasm
[Medieval Latin 205. Waltharius Seminar]
Medieval Latin 251 (formerly Medieval Latin 151). Virgil in the Middle Ages
Music 191r. Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Music: Proseminar
Music 191rr. 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]
[Religion 1432. Theology of the Icon]
*Scandinavian 200a. Introduction to Old Norse
Scandinavian 200br. Old Norse Literature: Edda and Saga
Slavic 130a. Heretics, Hussites, and Holy Women: Identity, Culture, and Society in Medieval and Early-Modern Bohemia
[Slavic 211. History of Muscovite Literature, 1400-1700: Conference Course]
[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 120. Medieval Spain in the Poem of the Cid
[Spanish 201. The History of the Spanish Language]