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Regular version of the site
Master 2019/2020

The Сhurch in East and West: Later Middle Ages and Renaissance

Type: Compulsory course (Medieval Studies)
Area of studies: History
Delivered by: School of History
When: 2 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies: offline
Master’s programme: Medieval Studies
Language: English
ECTS credits: 6
Contact hours: 34

Course Syllabus

Abstract

Methodologically this seminar course will be based on Max Weber’s tradition, and its recent developments; students are supposed to be acquainted with that tradition and able to apply it in a creative manner. In seminars, problem of common and different in two Christian traditions will be analyzed on the basis of a very attentive readings of some relevant medieval and early modern sources; on the other hand some individual historical situations and conjunctures will be studied too. The same way, cultural trends generated by Renaissance and studia humanitatis will stand in focus of our attention – as much as they affected the European Church history. Students will acquire experience of working on primary sources (reading and interpretation; in English translations) dealing with the Church history; some sources will be read and studied in Latin; some – in other languages. Chronologically this course continues such courses as “The Christian East and emergence of the Islamic world” and “Byzantium: emperors and saints”. Methodologically and thematically this course is linked to such subject matters as “History of medieval Latin literature”; “Renaissance literature”; “Philosophy and scholarly thought in the late medieval and Renaissance period”.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • This course aims to familiarize students with basic confessional peculiarities of the Western Christian traditions (Catholicism, Protestantism) as compared to the Eastern Christianity, in the period running from the XIIth through the XVIth centuries. Thus, a comparative approach is crucial and central for this course. Besides, this course will explore some aspects of the impact exerted by specifically confessional factors upon states, societies, and cultures of the Latin West (in France, Germany and Poland taken as examples) in comparison with medieval and early modern Russia.
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • This course will develop students’ skills to analyze critically and comparatively a range of problems in religious, political and social history of Europe using appropriate theoretical and historical perspectives.
  • Students will acquire a systemic understanding of basic religious factors influencing social, political and cultural evolution of Europe in Modern time. They will be able to form solid and argued judgments in a range of specific questions in history of France, Poland, Russia and other Europe’s countries. They will evaluate critically key concepts and comparative approaches as far as these Europe’s regions are concerned.
  • Students are expected to demonstrate appreciation of diversity and multicultural contexts in this studies area.
  • Students who will successfully complete the course will be equipped with an adequate knowledge and skills to pursue their studies in European and East European history. By this token, the students who are planning to continue their studies and to enroll into MA and Ph.D. programs are the most welcome.
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • From the late medieval peccatology to Humanism? Missing Humanism in the Orthodox cultures of Eastern Europe - a pseudo-problem? – Seminar.
  • The “Great schism” of the XVIth century: why Reformation in Europe? What is Catholic Reform? What is confessionalization (Konfessionalisierung)? – Lecture
  • Catholic priest (XVth – through XVIth centuries): preacher, teacher, miles Christi. - Lecture
  • Church, religion and politics in the Muscovite stardom, XVth – XVIIth centuries. – Seminar.
  • Religious tolerance in Poland and France, XVIth – XVIth centuries. – Lecture.
  • Orthodox and Latin Christianity facing Islam in the early modern period. Puzzle of religious toleration “à la moscovite”. – Lecture.
  • Social discipline (Sozialdisziplinierung) and the “well-ordered police state” (Polizeistaat): two forcoes which made the West different? – Lecture.
  • Religion, confession, state and society in late medieval and early modern Europe. Max Weber’s legacy and beyond. - Lecture.
  • The Bible, “sacred books”, theological learning and Christian epistemology: late medieval West, Byzantine tradition, Rus’. – Lecture.
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking term paper (20 000 signs or more)
    its topic should be related to the program of our course and will be chosen by the student in consultation with the instructor; students could take one of subjects of our class discussion
  • non-blocking exam
    a written detailed analytical plan on one of the topics discussed in our classes, and a short oral conversation with the instructor on topics treated. Thus, the exam will make 0,5 of the final grade.
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.5 * exam + 0.5 * term paper (20 000 signs or more)
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • Blockmans, W., & Hoppenbrouwers, P. C. M. (2017). Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500 (Vol. Third edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1620912
  • Cuomo Andrea Massimo. (2017). Medieval Textbooks as a Major Source for Historical Sociolinguistic Studies of (highregister) Medieval Greek. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.71B75567
  • Threat by association: Do distant intergroup threats carry-over into local intolerance? (2014). British Journal of Social Psychology, 53(3), 405–421. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12046
  • История Средних веков. Т.1: ., , 2010
  • История Средних веков. Т.2: Раннее Новое время, , 2010
  • Многоликое средневековье, Иванов, К. А., 2001
  • Тысячелетнее царство (300 - 1300). Очерк христианской культуры Запада, Воскобойников, О. С., 2014

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Bouchard, C. B. (2007). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 1: c. 500-c. 700. Canadian Journal of History, 42(1), 85. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjh.42.1.85
  • Ian J. Shaw. (2017). Christianity: The Biography : 2000 Years of Global History. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1948947
  • Zupka, D. (2016). Ritual and Symbolic Communication in Medieval Hungary Under the Árpád Dynasty (1000-1301). Leiden: Brill. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1368118