Medieval Institute

Director
:
    Thomas F.X. Noble, Ph.D.
    Dept. Tel.: (574) 631-6603

The Program of Studies. The Medieval Institute, established in 1946, is a center of research and advanced instruction in the culture of the Middle Ages. The institute admits graduate students interested in pursuing the Ph.D. in an interdisciplinary program of medieval studies. Undergraduates may choose to major or minor in medieval studies.

Course Descriptions. The following course descriptions give the number and title of each course. Lecture hours per week, laboratory and/or tutorial hours per week, and semester credit hours are in parentheses. The University reserves the right to withdraw any course without sufficient registration.
CRNs for independent study courses may be obtained from the Institute office, from the Summer Session office, or from insideND.
 
MI 30288. Taking Heaven by Storm: Holy Knights, Militant Monks, and Violence in the Middle Ages
(Cross-listed with HIST 30281)
3 credits, Molvarec (3-0-3)
3:15–5:10 MWR, 6/17–7/31
CRN 3760; ID # MI 30288 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last 7/10
Enrollment Limit: 2
This course explores the development of monastic and chivalric impulses in Medieval Europe from A.D. 400 to 1500. Two of the most persistent images, even to this day, which represent the Middle Ages are that of the monk and the knight. Monasteries and knighthood were social institutions that significantly shaped societal sensibilities and culture in the West. From the beginning of the Middle Ages, monastic groups and knightly orders took pages from one another’s book. Their influence upon one another is seen in monks who came to think of themselves as spiritual warriors and in some knights who came to consider themselves military monks. Rhetorical and physical violence was employed by both knights and monks throughout the period, and instances of this will be examined.
In addition to considering the historical realities of monastic and knightly mentalities during the medieval era, this course will also look at representations of monks and knights from the Middle Ages until the 20th-century in art, literature, and film. Such images are instructive in consideration of not only the periods that produced them, but of the Middle Ages themselves. Students interested in religious or military history, films, Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, or other representations of the Middle Ages in popular culture, are especially welcome.
 
MI 40004/60004. Medieval Latin
(Cross-listed with CLLA 40116)
3 credits, Mantello (6-0-3)
10:30–12:25 MWF 6/17–7/31
CRN 2989; ID # MI 40004 01
CRN 2990; ID # MI 60004 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
Enrollment limit: 12
Prerequisites: Both elementary and intermediate classical Latin or the equivalent, taken recently for college credit.
MI 40004/60004 is an introduction to the Latin language and literature of the late antique and medieval periods (ca. AD 200–1500). Designed to move students toward independent work with medieval Latin texts, the course will emphasize the close reading and careful translation of a variety of representative medieval Latin texts and documents, with attention to vocabulary and word formation, orthography and pronunciation, morphology and syntax, and prose styles and metrics. The course will also provide a review of the principal constructions of classical Latin and an introduction to some of the areas of medieval Latin scholarship, including lexica, bibliographies, great collections and repertories of sources, and reference works for the study of Latin works composed in the Middle Ages. ($45 materials fee.)
The Medieval Academy of America’s Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA) offers two full-tuition scholarships for students taking a three-credit summer program Latin course through the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame. Application details and eligibility information is available at nd.edu/~medinst/programs/summer.html.
 
MI 46020. Directed Readings
Variable credits, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # MI 46020
 
MI 60005. Paleography
(Cross-listed with CLLA 40118)
3 credits, Mantello (6-0-3)
2:30–4:25 MWF 6/17–7/31
CRN 2980; ID # MI 60005 01
Last “add” date: 6/22
“Drop” dates: refund, 6/26; last, 7/10
Enrollment limit: 12
Prerequisites: Both elementary and intermediate classical Latin or the equivalent, taken recently for college credit, or MI 40004/60004 or the equivalent.
This course is an introduction to the study of medieval writing materials and practices and of Latin scripts from antiquity to the early Renaissance. Designed to provide students with the skills necessary to make use of Latin manuscripts in their research, the course will focus on practical exercises in identifying, transcribing, dating, and localizing the various scripts. It will be of interest (1) to a wide variety of students whose courses are centered in or touch upon the Middle Ages and who wish to work with unpublished Latin materials of the medieval period; (2) to professional Latinists and other humanists who study the classical tradition and the transmission of texts before the age of printing; and (3) to librarians and others with an interest in manuscripts, diplomata, incunabula, and rare books. ($45 materials fee.)
The Medieval Academy of America’s Committee on Centers and Regional Associations (CARA) offers two full-tuition scholarships for students taking a three-credit summer program Latin course through the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame. Application details and eligibility information is available at: nd.edu/~medinst/programs/summer.html.
 
MI 66020. Directed Readings
Variable credit, Staff (V-V-V)
CRN varies with instructor
ID # MI 66020
 
MI 77001. Field Examination Preparation
Variable credits, Noble (V-V-V)
CRN 3245; ID # MI 77001
 
MI 77002. Dissertation Proposal Prep
Variable credits, Noble (V-V-V)
CRN 3246; ID # MI 77002
 
MI 88001. Research and Dissertation
Variable credits, Noble (V-V-V)
CRN 1421; ID # MI 88001
 
MI 88002. Nonresident Dissertation Research
1 credit, Noble (0-0-1)
CRN 1420; ID # MI 88002