Studying at York
The Uses of Writing in the 'Dark Ages' from Late Antiquity to the Age of Charlemagne & Beyond - MST00040M
Module summary
The course will provide an integrated introduction to selected themes in the history of education, communication, Latin literacy, book-making and palaeography, mainly in the centuries between the end of the western Roman Empire and the Carolingian Renaissance, but with some consideration of later developments. The course will offer insight into the cultural setting of Latin learning in the post Roman world and will also introduce students to the physical form in which historical and literary evidence survives and the material and institutional settings which ensure its preservation.
Weekly seminars will focus on key primary texts and classic approaches to the problems raised by the texts. Topics covered may range from the roman postal system to runes and ogam, from land charters to medieval textbooks.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
The module aims to:
- Develop skills of source analysis and interpretation;
- Assess a range of source material and relevant secondary works; and
- Develop students’ powers of evidence-based historical argument, both orally and in writing.
Module learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course students should:
- have an understanding of education, communication, Latin literacy, book-making andpalaeology in the centuries between the end of the western Roman Empire and the Carolingian Renaissance.
- be familiar with the cultural setting of Latin learning in the post Roman World.
- be able to relate the physical form in which historical literary evidence survives to the material and institutional settings which ensure its preservation.
- be able to use the knowledge gained from the seminars to formulate cogent and sophisticated approaches to other historical problems that depend on textual evidence.
Module content
Teaching Programme:
Students will attend eight weekly two-hour seminars in weeks 2-9.
Probable seminars may include:
- Roman Foundations
- How the Monastery became a school
- The Monastery as a school, part II
- Ways of Reading
- The Insular World
- The Book as Treasure
- New forms of the book
- A long view
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module 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.
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:
Bowman, A. and Woolf, g. eds. Literacy and Power in the Ancient World. Cambridge: 1989.
Brown, M. Manuscripts from the Anglo-Saxon Age. London: 2007
McKitterick, R. ed. The Uses of Literacy in Early Medieval Europe. Cambridge: 1990.
Dronke, P. Women Writers of the Middle Ages. Cambridge: 1984.