Studying at York
Ireland and Wales, c. 1300-1500: Ethnicity and Identity during the ‘Ebb-Tide’ of English Rule - HIS00172I
- Department: History
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
In 1066-1300—long before the global ‘British Empire’ —the English monarchy premiered many of its strategies of colonisation closer to home: in Ireland and Wales. The kings of England claimed lordship over both territories, in the process displacing many members of the local elite, stigmatising indigenous cultures, and building new castles and towns to dominate the landscape.
But what happened next? This module examines the years between 1300 and 1500, typically seen as a time when English power in Ireland and Wales was under threat. Gaelic Irish lords regained control of most of Ireland apart from the counties surrounding Dublin, while English settlers in Ireland increasingly adopted Gaelic Irish law and cultural habits. In Wales the separatist revolt led by Owain Glyndwr (1400-9) saw English-held towns and countryside destroyed, reducing the colonial presence in the region for decades after the rebellion’s suppression.
In this module, we focus on the ways in which men and women—from earls and merchants to alewives and vagrants—dealt with complex questions of ethnicity, identity, and loyalty during this period of shifting colonial power relations. How easy was it to distinguish between ‘English’, ‘Irish’, or ‘Welsh’, and how were these categories defined? Were these identities mutually exclusive? Was cultural ‘code-switching’ dangerous or expedient? We’ll explore these questions both through a political history of battles and rebellions, and also through a social history of hairstyles, dress, literature, sorcery, sex, and insults.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
The aims of this module are:
- To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
- To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material
Module learning outcomes
Students who complete this module successfully will:
- Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
- Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
- Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
- Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching
Module content
Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.
Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:
- Ireland, c. 1300: English, ‘English Rebels’, and ‘Wild Irish’
- Gaelicisation: Dress, Hair, Kinship, and the Statutes of Kilkenny (1366)
- Wales, c. 1300: Marches, Principality, and Welsh Law
- Welsh vs English? The Revolt of Owain Glyndwr (1400-9)
- Code-Switching: Literature and Language
- Everyday Interactions: Trade and Work
- Disputed Identities: Where Theory Meets Practice
- Concepts of Ethnicity in Medieval Europe: Englishness, Irishness, and Welshness in Context
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).
For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.
Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.
Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
Indicative reading
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:
- Sparky Booker, Cultural Exchange and Identity in Late Medieval Ireland: The English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018)
- Michael Brown, Disunited Kingdoms: People and Politics in the British Isles 1280-1460 (London: Routledge, 2013)
- Matthew Frank Stevens and Teresa Phipps, ‘Towards a Characterization of “Race Law” in Medieval Wales’, Journal of Legal History, 41 (2020), 290-331