Module HIST3381: THE 'PERFECT PRINCE': IDEAS, IMAGES AND RITUALS OF MONARCHY IN LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Department: History

HIST3381: THE 'PERFECT PRINCE': IDEAS, IMAGES AND RITUALS OF MONARCHY IN LATE MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students at Level 3 to a comparative history of European rulership from c.1250-c.1500.
• to encourage students to think conceptually and critically about the meaning, articulation and limits of political power in the late middle ages.
• to introduce students to a range of historical, art-historical and literary material.
• to encourage an awareness of the interaction between politics and culture.
• to satisfy the generic aims of Level 3 single modules in history.

Content

• Following recent work which has provided new approaches to the study of the development of monarchical government, this module will be less concerned with examining the administrative and institutional apparatus of government than with exploring the political culture of late medieval Europe.
• The module will include the following themes, to be introduced in lectures and explored in more detail in seminars: Rules for ruling (contemporary ideas about good and bad governance in a range of sources, from the traditional 'mirrors for princes' literature, scholastic political thought, to the political philosophy of writers such as Sir John Fortescue and Niccolo Macchiavelli).
• Princely education and childhood (the upbringing and training of the 'perfect prince').
• The princely image in art, architecture and literature (the creation, dissemination and function of image-making in texts such as Joinville's Life of Saint Louis).
• Ritual (coronation, funeral, the royal touch, processions, entries into towns, the court, chivalry).
• Queenship.
• Reform and criticism of rulers (rebellion and deposition).

Learning Outcomes

• Understanding of the changing ideals and expectations of monarchy over time.
• Knowledge of the similarities and differences between various monarchical forms of government across Western Europe in the late middle ages (English, French, Spanish and Bohemian Kings, Holy Roman Emperors, Dukes of Burgundy and Italian Princes).
• Understanding of the role and historiography of ritual in the process of government.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/;
• In addition students will acquire the ability to handle different types of primary source material from different disciplines.

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at:
• http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Teaching will be by a combination of lectures and seminars.
• The lectures will introduce the students to the main historical, historiographical and conceptual issues relating to the key themes of the module.
• The seminars will be based around the more in-depth study of the original sources in translation.
• The two assessed essays (20% each), at least one of which will be based on a primary source, will develop students' independent learning skills and will encourage a greater critical ability in the interpretation of original texts.
• The two-hour examination will test students' ability to place their knowledge of the primary sources within a broader historical and historiographical context under timed conditions.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Coursework essays are formative as well as summative. They are to be submitted in two copies, of which one will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Preparation to participate in seminars and tutorials. At least one oral presentation or short written assignment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University