Topic: 	Literature by Women in Medieval Europe
Above section meets with C321
Prof. McGerr		1:00-2:15     TR     BH 322

This course explores the rich tradition of texts authored by women
during the Middle Ages in Europe.  Our primary readings will come
from the ninth through fifteenth centuries and were written in
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and England.  The
readings will include secular and spiritual texts from a wide range
of genres:
lyrics, plays, letters, vision accounts, narrative fictions, and
autobiographies.  The list of authors includes “saints”
and “heretics,” members of royal courts and members of the merchant
class, mothers and nuns: Dhuoda, Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, Marie of
France, Heloise, Heldegard of Bingen, the trobairitz, Mechthild of
Magdeburg, Hadewijch of Brabant, Marguerite Porete, Bridget of
Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Julian of Norwich, Christine of Pisano,
Margery Kempe, and Florencia Pinar.  In each case, we will examine
the text from several perspectives and address such issues as the
position of medieval women in relation to literary, civic, and
theological authority; the role of literacy in medieval definitions
of authorship; and the treatment of gender within the individual
text.

Requirements: Students in C321 will take midterm and final exams and
write an analytical essay of 5-7 pages on a topic related to one or
more of our primary texts.  Students in C523 will take the midterm
exam, in addition to preparing a class presentation and completing a
research paper of 20-25 pages