- Department: History
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. Jeremy Goldberg
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
This course provides an introduction to the historical sources, debates and methodologies on the medieval family in the later Middle Ages, with particular attention to English and Tuscan sources. This is a lively research field, but even for the period in question, there has been little attempt by historians to synthesise scholarship, and there are no general studies of the medieval family. Attempts by early modern historians to impose assumptions, such as the absence of a concept of childhood or of romantic love as a factor in the making of marriages, on the period simply do not stand up to scrutiny. What is becoming apparent is the cultural diversity of later medieval Europe and perhaps a growing appreciation of just how much about the basic building blocks of the social fabric are still but indifferently understood.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Autumn Term 2021-22 |
The module aims to:
Students who complete this module successfully should:
Students will attend eight weekly two-hour seminars in weeks 2-9.
Seminars may include:
1.The Medieval Household
2.Infancy and Childhood
3.Adolescence and Servanthood
4.Marriage Patterns
5.Courtship and the Making of Marriage
6.(Heterosexual) Sex and Sexuality
7.Widows, Widowers, and Old Age
8.The Aristocratic Family: An English Case Study
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
None
Students will complete a 2,000-word essay for formative assessment, due in week 6 or 7 of the autumn term, for which they will receive an individual tutorial. They will then submit a 4,000-word assessed essay for summative assessment in week 2 of the spring term.
For further details about assessed work, students should refer to the Statement of Assessment for Taught Postgraduate Programmes.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Following their formative assessment task, students will receive written feedback consisting of comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission. They will also receive verbal feedback at an individual tutorial. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.
For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 20 working days of the submission deadline. Supervisors are available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment for Taught Postgraduate Programmes.
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:
Fleming, Peter. Family and Household in Medieval England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000.
Klapisch-Zuber, Christiane. Women, Family and Ritual in Renaissance Italy, trans. Lydia G. Cochrane. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1985.