MEDVL 2350 - [The Medieval Book: Objects and Texts]

(crosslisted) COML 2350, FREN 2350, ITAL 2350, ROMS 2350
(HB) (HA-AS, ALC-AS, HST-AS)

Spring. Not offered: 2021-2022. Next offered: 2022-2023. 3 credits. Student option grading.

L. Ferri.

The course provides a survey of the book from ca. 1100 to 1500, with emphasis on the development of the book in Western Europe, especially France, Germany, Italy, the Low Countries, and Spain. It focuses on the many roles of the book in medieval societies, with special attention paid to production, dissemination, and reading practices. The collection of manuscripts and incunabula in Kroch Library allows a “hands-on” approach to learning. Along the way, we will read excerpts from some of the most influential texts of the Middle Ages, such as the Song of the Nibelungs: The Romance of Alexander; the Scvias of St. Hildegard of Bingen: Dante’s Divine Comedy; Jacobus de Varagine’s Golden Legend; and the travel narratives of Marco Polo or Bernhard von Breydenbach.