| Unit name | The Body and Theology: Asceticism in the Middle Ages |
|---|---|
| Unit code | THRS30066 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Muessig |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Covering the period from the early church to 1550, this unit will investigate various ascetic practices found in the medieval world. The unit will address the following questions: Why did many medieval individuals want to practice celibacy? What does this tell us about perceptions of holiness, sexuality, and the body? Why were holy women remembered for their fasting, vigils, and bodily mortifications more than their male counterparts? Emphasis will be placed on the study of particular monks (Bernard of Clairvaux), women religious (Catherine of Siena), and theologians (Ambrose, Augustine, Aquinas) who greatly influenced the theory and practice of bodily renunciation in the Middle Ages. Lives of holy people will be analysed in order to demonstrate the diversity of religious practice in the Middle Ages and the central role that bodily renunciation played in spiritual expression.
The aims of the unit are to:
a) introduce students to the key ascetic practices found in the medieval world; b) analyse the lives of holy people and the diversity of religious practice in the Middle Ages; c) develop an understanding of issues relating to the role of bodily renunciation in medieval Christian spiritual expression.
On successful completion of this unit student will have a sound knowledge and critical understanding of the key ascetic practices found in the medieval world. Students will have further refined their skills in assessing, presenting, analysing and evaluating complex ideas and arguments, and in researching and writing essays.
1 x 1 hour lecture (shared with THRS 20054 - THE BODY AND THEOLOGY: ASCETICISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES) and 1 x 1 hour seminar per week.
One summative coursework essay of 3000 words (50%) and one unseen examination of two hours comprising 2 questions out of 8 (50%). Both elements will assess knowledge and critical understanding of the key ascetic practices found in the medieval world; skills in assessing, presenting, analysing and evaluating complex ideas and arguments, and in researching and writing essays.
P. Brown, The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity (London: Faber and Faber,1989). BR163 BRO
C.W. Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: the Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women (Berkeley: University of California Press,1987). BR253 BYN
R.M. Bell, Holy Anorexia (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986). BX4656 BEL
C.H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, 3rd ed. (London: Longman, 2001).
