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Medieval Latin Language & Culture: Intermediate - LFA00233L

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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 builds on the basic principles of Latin grammar, so that students are able to translate some simple primary source material by the end of the course (e.g. chronicles and court poetry). Students will also be introduced to elements of Medieval York political-religious intrigues in order to develop an understanding of the culture in which the medieval texts to be studied were produced.

Related modules

Medieval Latin Language and Cultures: Lower Intermediate 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 Intermediate 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 core Latin vocabulary, as well as an appreciation of the basics of Latin morphology and the historical relationship between the Latin and English languages.

  • The ability to understand and deploy the basic principles of Latin grammar and syntax, in order to engage with and interpret a range of Latin source material.

  • The ability to compose short sentences in Latin on a variety of topics, in order to support and develop grammatical learning.

  • An understanding of the Medieval world and its 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:

  • Chronicles
  • Letters
  • Hagiography
  • Philosophical works
  • Courtly poetry
  • Liturgical material including prayers and hymns

Grammar topics at Intermediate Level:

  • Review of subjunctive constructions covered at Lower Intermediate Level
  • Cum clauses
  • The use of the relative pronoun with the subjunctive
  • Impersonal verbs, plus the impersonal passive
  • Verbs of Fearing
  • Time and Place
  • Direct and Indirect Questions
  • Constructions using quominus and quin

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: Primacy, Controversy and Political Intrigue

This course will provide students with an interdisciplinary introduction to the controversial relationship between Canterbury and York throughout the Middle Ages. Through integrating eyewitness narrative evidence, papal letters, forged medieval documents, and later chronicle accounts, this module will try to elucidate how from 627 until the twelfth century, Canterbury tried to impose its primacy over York and how Archbishop Thurstan, advocating the position of York in front of the pope in Rome, finally settled the controversy. By studying twelfth- and thirteenth-century documents such as papal bulls, Bernard of Clairvaux’s letters and the Life of St William, this module will also explore the political intrigues behind the election, suspension, deposition and re-instatement of William fitzHerbert as Archbishop of York: a controversy in which kings, popes, abbots, bishops and archbishops were protagonists.

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

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.