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Medieval Latin Language and Cultures: Elementary - LFA00231L

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  • Department: Language and Linguistic Science
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: F
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
    • See module specification for other years: 2024-25

Module summary

This module allows students to reinforce their knowledge of the basic principles of Latin grammar, as well as building on that knowledge through an introduction to some of Latin’s complex sentence constructions. By the end of the course, students will be able to translate a range of primary source material (e.g. short texts from documentary Latin and prose such as chronicles and fables). Students will also be introduced to elements of Medieval Northumbria culture, in order to develop an understanding of the culture in which the texts they are studying were produced.

Related modules

Medieval Latin Language and Cultures: Beginner or equivalent

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2023-24
B Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

This module will steadily build the knowledge, skills, and strategies necessary to examine and interpret a range of Medieval Latin documents over the course of a semester, and develop a comprehensive knowledge of Latin translation skills at elementary level.

Students will engage, individually and in groups, in comprehension activities and tasks emphasising three core research skills:

  1. reception activities (reading comprehension);

  2. production activities (prose composition);

  3. analytical activities (cultural context & literary style).

The mediums of instruction are English and Latin.

Module learning outcomes

  • The ability to recognise and employ a range of both basic and more specialised Latin vocabulary, as well as a heightened appreciation of the basics of Latin morphology and the historical relationship between the Latin and English languages.

  • The ability to understand and deploy both the basic principles of Latin grammar and syntax, as well as some complex sentence constructions in order to engage with and interpret a range of Latin source material.

  • The ability to compose sentences from English into Latin that incorporate a range of both basic and complex syntactical constructions, in order to support and develop grammatical learning.

  • An understanding of Medieval Northumbria culture and literature, which enables the student to critically evaluate a range of source material in relation to the politics and culture of the society in which it was created.

Module content

Translation Passages

For the first few weeks of the module, translation passages will comprise some short, basic sentences (many of which will be taken from Medieval authors). Students will then progress onto short paragraphs of Latin, which will include:

  • Complex documentary Latin
  • Chronicles,
  • Fables
  • Hagiography
  • Sermon exempla

Grammar topics at Elementary Level:

  • A review of the grammar covered at Beginners level (nouns, adjectives and active verbs etc.)
  • Group 4 & 5 nouns
  • The formation and use of the future perfect tense
  • Pronouns (demonstrative, personal and relative)
  • Passive and deponent verbs (all tenses)
  • The formation and use of participles (present, past and future)
  • The formation and use of the ablative absolute
  • Indirect statements

Seminars will include a range of different exercises including both translation (Latin to English) and prose composition (English to Latin) to help explain and build grammatical knowledge, with plenty of opportunities for revision as the semester progresses.

Medieval Latin Culture: Kings and Monks of Northumbria

The course will provide students with an interdisciplinary introduction to the political and religious backdrop against which Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People was written. By integrating historical, artistic and literary evidence, this module will explore the lives and deeds of the three Northumbrian kings (Edwin, Oswald and Oswiu) who became overlords of all England. In addition, the module will deal with the foundations, under royal patronage, of major monastic houses. Through the work of notorious monks and kings, the history of Early Medieval Northumbria will come to light. Moreover, by examining surviving illuminated manuscripts, the lives of monks and nuns, and the practices of Northumbrian scriptoria, will be uncovered.

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) 60
Essay/coursework 40

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Closed/in-person Exam (Centrally scheduled) 60
Essay/coursework 40

Module feedback

Weekly feedback on translations. Feedback on exams and essays as per University regulations.

Indicative reading

There is no text book for this module. All materials will be provided during the course.

You will need to have access to a Latin dictionary. Should you wish to purchase a paper dictionary, the following works are recommended for this course:

Collins Latin Dictionary and Grammar 2nd ed. (Glasgow: Collins, 2016)

C.T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary (Oxford: OUP, 1963)

D.P. Simpson, Cassell’s Standard Latin Dictionary: Latin/English, English/Latin (London: John Wiley & Sons, 1959; rev. ed. 1977)

Please note that there is no need to buy a dictionary, as you can access a number of academic Latin dictionaries online for free. One particularly useful volume is:

  • Lewis and Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: OUP, 1879; reissued 1963)

This work is now available via: http://logeion.uchicago.edu


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.