- Department: History
- Module co-ordinator: Dr. John Jenkins
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: C
- Academic year of delivery: 2021-22
Pilgrimage, the journey to a holy place to seek help or give thanks, was such an important feature of medieval life that all Christian men and women, from the king to the lowliest peasant, were expected to undertake it at least once. Medieval England contained hundreds of pilgrimage sites, the most famous being the golden shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury, each with its own saintly relic or miracle-working image. In a turbulent age where the causes of illness and disease were poorly understood and a year’s bad harvest could spell disaster for a whole community, the power of pilgrimage to secure a saint’s protection was believed to be very real. Yet by the later middle ages dissenting voices were attacking the sacred journey as another frivolous corruption of Christianity.
Through a host of characters real and fictional, from Chaucer’s pilgrims to a Scotsman with worms in his feet, this module examines the motives that drove men and women to go on often arduous journeys, where they went and how they got there, and how this reflects on wider medieval society. In particular we will look at how endemic disease and social changes following the Black Death brought large short-term increases in pilgrim numbers, but may have sowed the seeds for its demise. Original pilgrim accounts, guidebooks, miracle stories, and the surviving sites and their treasures provide a rich and vibrant window onto life in medieval England.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2021-22 |
The aims of this module are:
Students who complete this module successfully will:
Teaching Programme:
Teaching will be in weekly 2-hour seminars taught over eight weeks. Each week students will do reading and preparation in order to be able to contribute to discussion.
The provisional outline for the module is as follows
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) 24-Hour Open Exam |
8 hours | 100 |
None
Formative work:
During the Spring Term students will prepare a presentation in pairs or small groups. Tutors will determine the formative work for the course: all groups will present either on a primary source or on an assigned historiographical question. Formative work will be completed in one or more sessions at the tutor’s discretion.
Summative assessment:
An open exam in the Common Assessment Period, comprising one essay question chosen from five options.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Online Exam - 24 hrs (Centrally scheduled) 24-Hour Open Exam |
8 hours | 100 |
The formative assessment is a group presentation and verbal feedback will be provided by the tutor in class followed by a written summary to each student within 10 working days. 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. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.
For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Should you wish to do any preliminary reading, you could look at the following:
Webb, Diana. Pilgrimage in Medieval England. Hambledon: London, 2000.
Finucane, Ronald C. Miracles and Pilgrims: Popular Beliefs in Medieval England. J. M. Dent: London, 1977.