Medieval Women

• Announcements
• About the Syllabus
• Course Objectives
• Required Reading
• Class Participation
• Written Assignments
• Important Links
• Instructor Contact Information
• Weekly Schedule of Readings and Lectures
  

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A Note About This Syllabus

This syllabus is permanently under construction. This course is a work in progress. How it proceeds will be, at least in part, a function of your interests. I will have some things to say about various topics, but much of the class's agenda should be driven by your reading and thinking. The reading and written assignments are intended to give you a basis from which to investigate ideas and historical circumstances which may not be touched upon in the class.
 
The syllabus and the schedule of lectures and reading is therefor only a skeleton which will be fleshed out with additional or alternative readings as needed or as the interests of the class dictate. From time to time I may add links to on-line resources of interest. Watch this space for changes. You should check for changes or new material daily, they will be clearly noted in the "Announcements" section on this page.

Course Objectives

This course seeks to acquaint students with the history of women in Europe during the middle ages. (c.500-1600 CE). Such a project will naturally present certain epistemological problems since such women are largely silent in the historical record. We will discuss those theoretical problems at some length. We will investigate what can be known of particular historical women. And we will consider changing representations of women in the middle ages and the changing attitudes of the dominant culture toward women.

Required Books and Reading

There is quite a lot of reading assigned for this class: history is all about reading and writing! The books in the list that follows are required reading and they are available for purchase at the University Bookstore and on 24 hour reserve at the Odegaard Library reserve desk. There will be other required readings assigned from time to time and these will be made available via on-line reserve.

• Judith M. Bennett, A Medieval Life: Cecilia Penifader of Brigstock c. 1297-1344, McGraw-Hill (1998).
• Caroline W. Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women, University of California Press, (1987).
• Andreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love, Columbia University Press, (1990).
• Penny S Gold, The Lady and the Virgin: Image, Attitude and Experience in Twelfth-Century France, University of Chicago Press, (1987).
• Guillaume De Lorris & Jean De Meun, The Romance of the Rose, Oxford University Press, (1999).
• Christine Pisan, Book of the City of Ladies, Viking Penguin, (2000).
• Hanna Fenichel Pitkin, Fortune is a Woman: Gender and Politics in the Thought of Nicollo Machiavelli, University of Chicago Press, (1999)
• Betty Radice, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Viking Penguin, (1974).

Nota Bene! When we meet to discuss these texts AND the texts on ERes, you MUST HAVE COPIES OF THEM IN HAND! It is simply not possible to have a useful discussion of a text unless you have it, or detailed notes on it, before you!

Class Participation

The assigned readings are complex and contain some very unfamiliar ideas. Primary sources from the period are sometimes obscure and nuanced. It is very difficult to grasp such readings in a vacuum. Accordingly, we'll be spend a good deal of time discussing this material together. Since the class is rather large to do this as a single group, I'd like to divide into two sections that will usually meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In this first week we will meet on Thursday and Friday to discuss the Scott article in order to give us time to read it and find our feet.
 
Your participation in these discussion sections is crucial and will comprise 20% of your grade. I will expect you to have read the assigned material in advance and to come prepared with some detailed notes on your reading and a list of questions, observations, talking points that you will be able to share with your colleagues. I may occasionally ask you to turn in these notes for review. Also I will be asking you to submit a statement of topic, a preliminary bibliography and an abstract of your argument for the term paper. The quality and timely submission of these REQUIRED assignments will also contribute to your class participation grade.

Written Assignments

In addition to your participation in class (20% of the course grade), you will be evaluated on three written assignments as well:

• A 3-4 page review essay on Penny S Gold's The Lady and the Virgin. This paper will be due on Friday, February 7 and we will discuss it together on that day. (20% of the course Grade).
• A 7-10 page term paper on a subject of your choice. This paper will be due on Friday, February 28. Note: a .2 grade deduction will be made for each day this paper is late, unless you have sought and been granted an extension ahead of time. (30% of the course Grade).
• A final examination which is scheduled for 8:30-10:20 a.m. Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2003 (%30 of the course grade).

Additional information on these assignments will be posted here as the quarter progresses.
 
Nota Bene! ALL of the written assignments INCLUDING the topic statement, bibliography and abstract MUST be completed in order to pass the class.

Important Links

From time to time there will be links posted to on-line articles or other items of interest on the internet. These will appear in the announcements section above; in the schedule of lectures and readings if appropriate; and, so they don't get lost they will be listed here as well in no particular order.

• Electronic Reserves (ERes)
• Other Items On Reserve
• Discussion list (EPost). The purpose of this discussion list is to provide an additional forum for the discussion of any course related subject. (You should interpret "course related" as broadly as you see fit).
• Important information on accessing UW restricted resources from home can be found HERE and HERE.
• History Departement Writing Center web site. The writing center's e-mail address is hwc@u.washington.edu
• Information for students: Here is the general "Information for students" that I am asked to distribute allong with the syllabus.
• Feminae: medieval women and gender index. An extremely useful on-line database.
• Ermengard of Narbonne to Louis VII of France: The letter I read in class, because it's so cool.
• Aristotle on the subject of women: fragments from On the Generation of Animals and The Politics
• Héloïse: Interesting, but not necessarily relevant information on Héloïse as she appears in a traditional Breton folk song describing her as a sorceress who could change herself into a black bitch, or a raven, or a will-o-the wisp, or a dragon.
• Enhedu' Anna: Interesting, but not necessarily relevant information on the 23rd century BC poet and priestess.

Instructor Contact Information

I am easy to get in touch with. I check my e-mail several times a day. I will hold only one regular office hour per week, but I am more than willing to meet with you at a time that is mutually convenient. I encourage you to come see me to discuss your papers or anything else.

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E-mail		jjcrump @ u. washington. edu (Note the spaces intended to foil the spammers. Don't use copy and paste.)
Office		Smith Hall #4 (It's in the far SE corner of the basement)
Office Hours		Monday 10:30AM - 11:30AM And by appointment
Mail		Department of History Office Smith 315
Phone		616-1972, Office 543-5790, Department office